Gardening Forum

[DiscoMick]

Interesting thread. I think Incisor has shown there is enough interest to justify a gardening section on AULRO.


A couple of comments:

Be careful if using corrugated iron for garden beds. It has very sharp edges which cut hands. It also goes rusty, which is bad. On the other hand, my daughter got her boyfriend to knock up a large compost bin using corrugated iron, so it can work.


Re. bathtubs, that works well. Also, our neighbours scored a bootload of toilets from the tip and have turned them into planters as well.

[DiscoMick]

We have dragon fruit in our Maleny garden. They only flower for one night a year, if they have been fertilized.

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[Don 130]

I am thinking of buying a native stingless bee hive to try to improve the crop. Only thing holding me back is the cost of around $500. I have been trying x pollinating the fruit trees with a cotton bud but I usually end up knocking the flowers off . Bees seam to do better job.

I'm told you can get one from a friendly local tree lopper if you ask nicely and perhaps grease a palm
Don.

[ramblingboy42]

I just threw a couple of dunnies out.....if I'd know they make good planters I might have used them

[1950landy]

I'm told you can get one from a friendly local tree lopper if you ask nicely and perhaps grease a palm
Don.

I will have to ask the guy I use , I recomended him to a friend today so if he gets the job he will owe me.

[LandyAndy]

I just threw a couple of dunnies out.....if I'd know they make good planters I might have used them

There is a garden shop(home business) in Albany that specialises in succulents.She has hundreds of old dunnys with all sorts of spikey plants growing in them.
Andrew

[BMKal]

Don't ditch them sheets of iron,when people see pics of my beds they will grab them.My beds are made from sheets of iron from the tip tek screwed to broken guide posts from the depot and filled with dirt from the oval heap which is road sweepings from the road sweeper,woodchips,all the grass and dirt from the oval when its vertimowed.Its a great compost mix,just gets a tad water repellent which is easily treated.


Andrew

Hey Andrew - what is the best way to treat woodchip so that it can be used as mulch ?

We've just had two huge eucalypts cut down around at the young bloke's place and the stumps ground out earlier today, and there's at least a couple of trailer loads of woodchip around there that I will pick up when I've finished cutting and carting all the firewood.

SWMBO doesn't want to use it as mulch, as she believes that the eucalypt oil will leach out of it and make the soil hydrophobic. If it isn't suitable for mulch, will use it to build up footpaths / walkways between vegie garden beds. They were done with woodchip when I first built the raised beds a few years ago, but the original woodchip is pretty much rotted away and full of weeds now - some fresh stuff won't go astray.

The back corner next to the gate is rapidly filling with green timber that will be good for the fire in a couple of years. Have brought three large trailer loads around here so far, and at least that many again to come once I've finished cutting it all up. Running out of room to store it.

[bob10]

Hey Andrew - what is the best way to treat woodchip so that it can be used as mulch ?

Wood chips used as mulch are a termites smorgasboard.

[LandyAndy]

When fresh Brian they can be a problem,yes the oil does make the soil hydrophobic,the professional grade water wetter granuals with the big green frog on the packet are excellent.
Worse still when green they can attract white ants so be carefull where you use them.The footpaths and perhaps a huge compost heap.
Andrew

[DiscoMick]

Hey Andrew - what is the best way to treat woodchip so that it can be used as mulch ?

We've just had two huge eucalypts cut down around at the young bloke's place and the stumps ground out earlier today, and there's at least a couple of trailer loads of woodchip around there that I will pick up when I've finished cutting and carting all the firewood.

SWMBO doesn't want to use it as mulch, as she believes that the eucalypt oil will leach out of it and make the soil hydrophobic. If it isn't suitable for mulch, will use it to build up footpaths / walkways between vegie garden beds. They were done with woodchip when I first built the raised beds a few years ago, but the original woodchip is pretty much rotted away and full of weeds now - some fresh stuff won't go astray.

The back corner next to the gate is rapidly filling with green timber that will be good for the fire in a couple of years. Have brought three large trailer loads around here so far, and at least that many again to come once I've finished cutting it all up. Running out of room to store it.

You could do what the local council does and just stack it in a big mound and leave it for a few weeks to go hot inside and for the oil to leach out. When you use it just make sure it isn't right up against the house walls - leave a gap.

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