Your home & garden 25 11 2015

November 2015

Home &

GARDEN STIHL DEALERS 3 DAY SUPER SALE STIHL DEALERS DAY SUPER SALE STIHL DEALERS 3 3 DAY SUPER SALE

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Beerwah Small Engines Beerwah Small Engines 7 Beerwah Parade BEERWAH 4519 Ph: 07 5494 6644 7 Beerwah Parade BEERWAH 4519 Ph: 07 5494 6644 Beerwah Small Engines 7 Beerwah Parade BEERWAH 4519 Ph: 07 5494 6644

NOVEMBER 25 2015 |

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Home &

GARDEN

What’s on for gardeners in December

STATUES & WALL HANGINGS FROM

$8

SPECIAL R E M M U S Hay Bales

$8 EACH

• Forest Heart Native Plant Nursery – November 27 and 28. Official launch celebrations … music, displays, bush foods, gardening sessions and advice, kid’s activities. 20 Coral Street, Maleny, 5435 2193.

• Elimbah-Caboolture Herb Club – no meeting for December or January.

Call Ruth on 5496 7649 to find out more.

• Native Plants Sunshine Coast (was called Society for Growing Australian Plants) – Sunday December 13, 2.00pm at Fairhill Native Plants and Botanic Gardens, Yandina for a talk by Nick Hansa followed by afternoon tea at Elements Cafe. For catering purposes, please advise by December 6 if you are attending. There will be a charge for afternoon tea. Contact either sgapsuncoast@gmail.com or 5494 9187. All welcome.

• Hibiscus Society, Sunshine Coast Branch – there will be no monthly meeting in December. Next monthly meeting is Sunday, January 10.

For more information call 5476 2771.

• Faunawatch – no December outing. Phone 0422 429 594 for details on how to get involved in Faunawatch.

• Peachester Garden Club – No meeting in December. Christmas break-up Tuesday, December 1 at The Hideaway. Next meeting Thursday, January 21 at Peachester Hall 9.30 am. Contact Trish on 5496 9169 for details.

• Glasshouse Country Orchid Society – no December meeting - the next being Thursday February 11. For further information please call Jan on 5494 2301.

GMAN Christmas Plant Sale

The weather has been great for growing and our nursery is now well stocked. What a great idea to give local native plants for Christmas presents. Mark your diary for December 5 for our Christmas plant sale at Uniting Park in Glass House Mountains township from 8.00am until 11.00am. All tube stock is still $1.00. Enquiries to Gwen on 5493 0029.

IN FLOWER NOW - Agapanthus

Hardwood Chip $37 m3

Cypress Chip $59 m3

20mm Honey Stone $92 m3 20-60mm Tumbled Sandstone $160 m3

POSITRACK & EXCAVATOR FOR HIRE WITH OPERATOR

Try our new and improved

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20 Tytherleigh Ave Landsborough

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Delivery all areas ~ Courtesy trailer available www.savagelandscapesupplies.com.au 38

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NOVEMBER 25 2015

Looking for a great low maintenance gap-filler or driveway border? Look no further than Agapanthus (or ‘Aggie’s Pants’ as they are affectionately called).

They’re in flower at the moment and are making a wonderful display in gardens from Maleny to Elimbah and beyond.

Within the two basic flower colours – white and blue – there are a whole range of shades and hues.

There are also a range of plant and flower sizes from the robust 2m tall 'Dutch Blue' to the dainty 'Snowball' with leaves to only 30cm.

They need full sun to flower well and they don’t like having soggy feet. So, if you’ve got clay soils, raise them up a bit.

Mulch well around them to protect their roots from baking in the sun.

Cutting off the flowers when they’ve finished will not only tidy them up, but will allow the plant to put its energy into growing rather than making seed pods.

All the local nurseries will have a selection of Aggie’s Pants for you to choose from.

NE W

NATIVES & FRUIT TREES WATER LILLIES & PARROTS

2620 Steve Irwin Way, Glenview QLD email: info@gogreenrainforestnursery.com.au web: www.gogreenrainforestnursery.com.au

PH 5494 5980 Mon – Sat: 9 to 4 www.gcnews.com.au

Mountain Mowers open for Christmas break and maintenance is put to great use with their free on-site appraisal service. They will come to you and assess what would be the best products to use for your property and advise you on your lawn care needs. They also offer a pickup and delivery service and have a huge range of accessories in-store and a fast turnaround of any orders.

They are proud to be bringing back the ever-popular Greenfield ride ons to the Hinterland and now have a great range of zero turn mowers and push mowers as well as the new Grillo climber series mowers, designed specifically to tackle those hard to tame sloping blocks.

There is plenty of hassle-free off-street parking and room to drive straight through, even with a large trailer. The big, open showroom also comes complete with a waiting area and comfy couch.

Doc and Col can repair most makes and models and all repairs are done on-site with ample room

Have you been putting off all of those garden jobs until you get time off over Christmas? How annoying is it to find you need new equipment or repairs ... but everyone is closed for the Christmas break!

Mountain Mowers is here to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. Doc and Col are staying open over the Christmas and New Year break and will only close their doors for the Public Holidays.

Based in the old Maleny Rural Traders building in 6 Lawyer Street, Maleny, Mountain Mowers stocks a huge range of quality equipment from Greenfield, Worldlawn, Oleo-Mac, Bushranger, Craftsman and now Grillo.

With over 52 years' experience between them, Doc and Col want to bring back friendly oldfashioned service. They proudly stand behind the quality products they sell with fantastic aftersales service and advice.

Doc and Col’s extensive knowledge of lawn care

in the workshop to keep everything undercover.

Mountain Mowers has everything you need to take the stress out of those backyard jobs.

Drop in and see Doc and Col for a friendly chat and make your Christmas just that little bit merrier!

Business feature

50 years combined industry experience Great deals on Craftsman Ride-ons

Tame your slopes with Grillo climber mowers

CLOSED 25th – 28th DECEMBER & 1st JANUARY. OPEN NORMAL HOURS FOR REST OF CHRISTMAS PERIOD.

Bushranger hand-helds in stock Sales, Service & Repairs of most makes & models

• Spare Parts • Pick Up & Delivery Service • Plenty of Off-Street Parking

Oleo-Mac Chainsaws Call Doc or Col for friendly, old-fashioned service

Shed 6, 6 Lawyer Street, Maleny

Ph: 5494 3172

Email: mountainmowers@outlook.com www.gcnews.com.au

OPEN Monday to Friday - 8am to 5pm Saturday - 8am to 12noon NOVEMBER 25 2015 |

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Home &

Forest Heart free celebration Forest Heart is your local native plant nursery. Our speciality is supplying the local native plants of the Sunshine Coast and South East Queensland. Local native plants don’t just belong in the bush, they’re great in your garden too and here in the South East you’re spoilt for choice with over 3000 species of local native plants.

At Forest Heart we aim to bring our knowledge, skills and passion for our local native plants and ecosystems to the wider community. We’ll do this by supplying the best our native flora has to offer for all of your garden, bush food, timber and revegetation needs through quality affordable stock and great advice.

We’ll also be stocking a wide range of books and other educational material, nest boxes, tree guards, bush regeneration and revegetation tools.

Join us for our exciting free celebration at our official launch on Friday, November 27 and Saturday, November 28 with bush foods, kid’s activities, Geckoes Wildlife presentation and workshops.

Official proceedings start at 10.00am on Friday morning. There will be something for everyone. For families there are kid’s eco-activities on Friday morning, and a Geckoes Wildlife animal show Saturday morning.

Interested in trying some great Wildfood treats, such as chocolate and wattle seed cake, warrigal green and feta pastries, and wild raspberry creams? We will have two Wildfood sessions each day with a range of different tastes and ingredients.

For those wanting to increase their knowledge, we have four free presentations: wildlife friendly backyards, bushfoods, tips and tricks for revegetation and nest boxes from everyday items. Connect with others in our informal natural fibre weaving circle on Friday afternoon.

Your Local Native Plant Nursery Join us for our Official Launch

Friday 27th & Saturday 28th November Friday, November 27

Saturday, November 28

9.00am Kids eco activities 10.00am Official Launch 10.30am Wildfood Tasting experience 11.30am Wildlife Friendly Backyards talk 1.00pm Wildfood Tasting experience 2.00pm Bushfood Talk 2.30pm Weaving Circle 3.00pm Nestbox demonstration

8.00am 9.00am

Eco storytime Geckoes Wildlife animal show 10.30am Wildfood Tasting experience 11.00am Tips and Tricks for Revegetation talk 12.30p Wildfood Tasting experience

FREE

GARDEN Get Up & Grow with Jade King

Gardening Gifts

It is amazing to think that Christmas is just around the corner! Every year I love to share my passion for productive gardening by giving a gift from the garden. It also saves me having to go shopping at this crazy time!

There are so many gifts you can make that originate from your garden that could help save money, whilst also having more sentimental value when the receiver knows how much effort and time you have poured into their gift. Here are some ideas for you to get stuck into.

Preserves and conserves

There is nothing quite like a selection of home-made jams, pickles and chutneys in a nice basket as a gift. With beetroot, tomatoes, beans, onion, corn, cucumber and strawberries being harvested in mass quantities, it is great to make bottles of pickled beetroot, green tomato pickles, bread and butter cucumber, sweet tomato chutney, corn relish and strawberry jam!

Herb baskets

Collect a few herbs that can be divided easily, like chives and most mints and pot them up in a nice container or Hessian lined basket. Add a little personalised label and some ribbons and you have a gorgeous gift to give.

Creative containers

I’ve been amazed recently by the creativity of some people in the garden when it comes to garden feature containers. These have included cups and saucers, old toy trucks and boots and the more practical PVC pipe stands. Recycling any of these things and turning them into a mini garden gift with seedlings would brighten anyone’s day!

Pressed flower cards

Collect some flowers from around the garden and press them flat in an old phone book. To quicken up the drying process, put the book of flattened flowers in your car for a week and it works like an oven. This is a trick I’ve previously discovered by accident! Once the flowers are dry, stick them to your card and laminate it. These are absolutely beautiful and make great gift tags or book marks too.

Garden DIY kit

This is a great idea for both young and old. Grab a pot and get a sealable bag with the pot required amount of potting mix in it. Choose some flower or vegetable seeds and place these and the bag of potting mix into the pot and wrap it up.

Fresh vegetable basket

It is the season of abundance in the veggie patch and quite often you have a few hundred more cucumbers, zucchini, squash, choko etc than you can handle. Normally you would just pass them on, but with it being the end of year and a thousand ‘thank you’s’ to be said, why not make a gift basket of your harvest and attach a thank you card? Easy, cheap and effective!

These are just a few ideas for gifts from your garden. However, if time becomes an issue as it so often does, and you are keen to avoid the rush of people, don’t go past the Coochin Creek Co-op in Beerwah behind the Shell Service Station. It has all the wonderful things a gardener could desire, from seeds to all essential gardening implements.

Until next time in Get Up and Grow…

Jade likes her family to be able to live as self sufficiently as possible from her garden and she loves to share her knowledge with others.

Family Event

Phone: 5439 0999

20 Coral Street, Maleny Call 5435 2193

Tuesday to Friday – 9am til 4pm Saturday – 8am til 1pm www.forestheart.com.au nursery@forestheart.com.au 40

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NOVEMBER 25 2015

Fax: 5439 0077 paintplacebeerwah@tpg.com.au

1/28 Simpson St, Beerwah Q. 4519

www.gcnews.com.au

Thinking about renovating in 2016?

With the summer season here, why not consider making your home as comfortable and enjoyable as possible? We are blessed to live in one of the most beautiful parts of Australia so why not make the most of what is for many people their biggest asset - and look at renovation or addition work to really embrace our beautiful lifestyle.

Here at Jaz Build, we encourage our clients to consider any preparation and potential renovation decisions in plenty of time. Typically people will call with last minute requests that are impossible to complete in time, but by planning and booking ahead these jobs can be easily completed to let you relax and enjoy the experience.

Jaz Build has found that clients are enjoying the great benefits of investing in their own property, and creating a perfect entertaining space.

A new bar, deck or outdoor entertainment area will bring the party to you and save you money in the long term.

A new deck can add value to your home and offer much needed sun protection for the family and pets.

Decks also cool the house and outdoor zones, and provide a great extension of the family home, as well as the opportunity to have some fun in a safe and comfortable entertaining environment.

Other popular additions for summer include pizza ovens, fire pits, pool decking and outdoor BBQs, as well as new patios to extend the family living area.

Also popular are requests for extensions to provide extra room for guests and / or more space for the family.

Jaz Build have a great team of professionals to ensure the very best service delivery for clients.

The team includes, Greg Small Electrical, Nick Cole Plumbing, John at 2 Bob Earthworks, Bill at MCD Kitchens and John at Glasshouse Country Pest Control.

We offer people a design advice that can include changing the feel of a dull room to lighten the space and revitalise your home. You can't buy the views we have in city real estate – so make the most of this lucky country region and let us assist in helping you fully enjoy your living space.

Business feature

JAZ BUILD AND RENOVATIONS CUSTOM HOME BUILDERS

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Barry 0420 718 788 Jannean 0452 558 788 www.gcnews.com.au

jazreno@live.com.au

QBCC No 76420 NOVEMBER 25 2015 |

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Home &

GARDEN

For a backyarldl ynour eeds

$35m3 5494 3233

malenylandscapes@bigpond.com 2 Lawyer Street, Maleny

Growing plants from cuttings

Growing your own plants from cuttings can be a very satisfying way to boost your garden stocks without breaking the bank account.

It can also be a rather sociable way to meet the neighbours – “nice hydrangea, do you mind if I take a cutting?”

But best of all is that you end up with exactly the same plant that you took the cutting from. Same flower colour, same growth habit, same leaf shape, same genetics. This can’t be guaranteed if you grow a plant from seed.

So, what are some of the basics about taking and striking cuttings?

Some plants strike better from softwood cuttings, some from hardwood cuttings, and some from semi-hardwood cuttings. Each different plant will have different requirements.

Ask another gardener or one of our local nursery staff if you’re not sure.

Cuttings must be as fresh as can be. Don’t take cuttings and leave them for a few hours. Try to keep them cool and in a plastic bag.

Take the cuttings from a healthy plant that is not under moisture stress.

It is debatable whether the end of the cutting needs to be directly below a leaf node, but it’s probably safer to use this approach.

Again, it is debatable whether it’s beneficial to use a rooting compound or not – but it doesn’t hurt, so use one.

The potting mixture needs to allow for free drainage and lots of oxygen around the stem. You can make your own using 75-80% coarse washed sand and the rest as peat moss.

After a couple of days, the cuttings stop taking in moisture through their stem, so it’s important to keep the humidity high around the cutting so that it doesn’t lose water.

The easiest way to do this is to use bent wire and a plastic bag pulled over and tied at the top.

Most people tend to strip back the leaves to a couple and then cut them in half to reduce moisture loss. Modern research tends to suggest this may not make too much difference, but like the rooting compound, it doesn’t hurt.

The cuttings will also tend to strike better if they are kept slightly warm from the base. You can do this using a commercial warming tray, or you can try sitting the bagged pot on top of a hot water unit. Keep the pots in the shade, and keep the mixture moist but not saturated as this will rot the cuttings.

Only fertilise the cuttings once they have formed roots. Look at the base of the pot – if you can see roots through the drain holes, then it’s time to fertilise with a half strength soluble fertiliser.

After about eight weeks (longer in cooler weather), the cuttings should have taken root and they can be taken out of their protective bag. The next important step is to harden them off.

You can do this by keeping them under shade cloth in a semi-shade location, but protect them from drying winds. It’s best to separate cuttings into different pots at this stage.

After two weeks, take them out from the shade cloth. Then after another two weeks, you can put them into a more open spot to finish hardening off.

After another eight weeks, they are ready to be planted out or potted up into larger pots.

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NOVEMBER 25 2015

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