Yates Garden Winner Queensland
Presenter: Phil Dudman
Episode: 24 (13th October 2007)
Earlier in the year the Garden Gurus together with Yates ran a state by state water wise gardening competition. The prize was a consultation with one of the Gurus. Phil Dudman visited Queensland prizewinner Susan McKinnon from Windsor.
Phil:
“Hi Susan, it’s great to meet you. Your backyard is loaded with potential. What is it that you would like to achieve?”
Susan:
“Sanctuary, food garden.”
Phil:
“I see you’ve already got a start with all these wonderful veggies in boxes which are great, but they can dry out quickly. Sometimes needing watering twice a day, so long term you would save a lot of water by growing them in something bigger. I see you’ve already got something in mind.”
“These prefab corrugated iron beds are a great idea. They’re raised so the drainage is good and you can fill them with lovely organic soil which will help hold moisture. As far as the position goes I reckon this spot is the go. You could extend your courtyard out to here off the kitchen and there’s some lovely morning sun and protection from hot afternoon sun.”
“We know that mulching is important to keep moisture in the soil and in permaculture we look at growing our own. Lemon grass is ideal it’s great for cooking and you could grow it as a border to the golden penda hedge. It’ll look fantastic and you could harvest it and pop it straight onto the veggie bed. It’ll give you all the mulch you’ll need.”
“I see you installed some rainwater tanks, which is fantastic. The most efficient way to use that to water your veggies would be with a dripper system but you’d need to install a small pump first to get it up to the bed. Use one of these modern irrigation hoses you can see the little holes. It’s easy to install all you need is some standard irrigation fittings.
“With this type of raised bed you can sometimes have little patches that can be dry and water repellent. That’s where a wetting agent comes in handy. It’ll ensure the bed is always evenly moist.”
Susan:
“I’ve got some fruit trees I want to plant. Have you got some water saving ideas for planting?”
Phil:
“When you’ve dug your hole use some of this stuff. Its ag-pipe, usually we would use it for draining water away. But you can wrap it around the base of the hole leave one end out of the ground and when you put the water down the pipe it sends it deep down to the roots where it’s needed so there’s little wastage.
“Susan I hope these ideas have helped. There’s one other part of your prize and that’s $1000 worth of Yates water wise products. With that you can’t go wrong.”
Susan:
“Thank you Phil and thank you Yates.”
Episode: 24 (13th October 2007)
Earlier in the year the Garden Gurus together with Yates ran a state by state water wise gardening competition. The prize was a consultation with one of the Gurus. Phil Dudman visited Queensland prizewinner Susan McKinnon from Windsor.
Phil:
“Hi Susan, it’s great to meet you. Your backyard is loaded with potential. What is it that you would like to achieve?”
Susan:
“Sanctuary, food garden.”
Phil:
“I see you’ve already got a start with all these wonderful veggies in boxes which are great, but they can dry out quickly. Sometimes needing watering twice a day, so long term you would save a lot of water by growing them in something bigger. I see you’ve already got something in mind.”
“These prefab corrugated iron beds are a great idea. They’re raised so the drainage is good and you can fill them with lovely organic soil which will help hold moisture. As far as the position goes I reckon this spot is the go. You could extend your courtyard out to here off the kitchen and there’s some lovely morning sun and protection from hot afternoon sun.”
“We know that mulching is important to keep moisture in the soil and in permaculture we look at growing our own. Lemon grass is ideal it’s great for cooking and you could grow it as a border to the golden penda hedge. It’ll look fantastic and you could harvest it and pop it straight onto the veggie bed. It’ll give you all the mulch you’ll need.”
“I see you installed some rainwater tanks, which is fantastic. The most efficient way to use that to water your veggies would be with a dripper system but you’d need to install a small pump first to get it up to the bed. Use one of these modern irrigation hoses you can see the little holes. It’s easy to install all you need is some standard irrigation fittings.
“With this type of raised bed you can sometimes have little patches that can be dry and water repellent. That’s where a wetting agent comes in handy. It’ll ensure the bed is always evenly moist.”
Susan:
“I’ve got some fruit trees I want to plant. Have you got some water saving ideas for planting?”
Phil:
“When you’ve dug your hole use some of this stuff. Its ag-pipe, usually we would use it for draining water away. But you can wrap it around the base of the hole leave one end out of the ground and when you put the water down the pipe it sends it deep down to the roots where it’s needed so there’s little wastage.
“Susan I hope these ideas have helped. There’s one other part of your prize and that’s $1000 worth of Yates water wise products. With that you can’t go wrong.”
Susan:
“Thank you Phil and thank you Yates.”
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