Comments for The Rebel Gardener

Comment on Grevillea, How to grow. by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:05:02 +0000

Hi Pam. The first thing to understand about Grevilleas is there are so many different types and as such they have varying growth habits. Some Grevilleas can be pruned quite hard, back to bare wood and in some instances you can even coppice them and they will grow back. Having said that though you can’t do this to all of them. Therefore knowing the type of Grevillea is important. So in your case if you don’t prune below last years growth you should be ok. If you live in an area where you get frost then I’d wait till the frost season is over otherwise if you don’t get frost and they are starting to put on new growth then you could probably do it now seeing we are nearly in Spring.
One way to discover how hard you can prune your Grevillea is to prune a branch at the rear of the plant that is out of view well back below the green growth and then wait to see if it regrows. How it responds will indicate how hard you can prune it. Harsh pruning can be a good option for an old unruley plant that you may be considering replacing. I’ve rejuvenated many old tired looking natives this way and it’s a lot easier that replacing them and then waiting for the new plant to grow. Quite often you can reinvent a plant this way but be careful as sometimes it’s best to just prune part of it……….then wait…….and then do the rest after it’s responded to the first prune.
The most important point about pruning Grevilleas though is that you do prune them. I don’t know of many that won’t respond well to at least a tip prune and as such they will look a lot neater and flower a lot more. All the best, hope this helps.

Comment on Silky Oak, what you really need to know by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:03:33 +0000

The best solution for this is to seek professional advice from an arbourist.

Comment on Grevillea, How to grow. by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:01:08 +0000

The phosporus in the dynamic lifter may have caused this. Try feeding them with a high nitrogen/low phosphorus fertilizer such as Powerfeed. This may help.

Comment on Grevillea, How to grow. by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:58:44 +0000

There could be a variety of reasons for this problem. If they are grevillea trees they could be Grevillea Robusta which is semi deciduous. If they are they should recover in spring. If not I’d check the drainage and make sure the soil isn’t sodden.

Comment on Silky Oak, what you really need to know by mary williams

mary williams — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 00:33:40 +0000

Can anyone give me advice on the tree roots of a silky oak? We have a tree thats about 40 feet tall which the local bird life (and us) adore. The problem is though that the trunk is about two feet away from our house – we’re concerned this may cause a problem as the tree continues to grow. Does it have to go?

Comment on Grevillea, How to grow. by debra evershed

debra evershed — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:48:30 +0000

i have once put some dynamic lifter on my soil where my young grevillia plants are.. this was after they had lost their leaves..they were planted in january and now in august i think it was in may that i noticed that they had no leaves.. what can i do to save them?

Comment on Grevillea, How to grow. by debra evershed

debra evershed — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:45:32 +0000

i had my garden landscaped and among the plants was two grevillia trees.. they survived in summer, planted in december but i noticed in the last couple of months that they have had no leaves and just somelittle balls on top. what can i do to save them?

Comment on Free Plants, Propagating Plants from Cuttings. by jacinta

jacinta — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:39:27 +0000

fantastic, we live on 500 acres with a 21/2 acre garden in the making. you have just saved me heaps of money. I tried this method with rosemary and voila enough to make heaps of hedges. thanks again. I am going to try now on echium.

Comment on Grevillea Robusta, an alternative way to grow. by Elder Catalan

Elder Catalan — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:57:32 +0000

Me podrian decir entonces como podar un gravillea mas o menos de 4 metros de alto para que su fallaje sea mas denso

Comment on Banksia Seminuda by Steve Bromley

Steve Bromley — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:16:09 +0000

Wow Sarah, that’s the place, Redbreast Nursery.It’s a great nursery for native plants. Max did a great job propagating so many Seminudas from only a couple of plants I traded him about 5 years ago. There are trays of tubestock as well as more advanced ones in pots. I almost bought one myself, but I have literally run out of room.!!! I do recall initially planting mine out and was staggered after only a few months the planted one had outgrown the remaining potted ones three times over!!!, so expect a good growth spurt in spring, providing they’re in good spots. Mike warned against having other plants too close as the roots may inhibit its growth. So hardy though and the really cold winters here in New Norfolk have not deterred it one bit, good luck with your two plants. I’d be interested to know how they fare.

Best wishes Steve

Comment on Banksia Oblongifolia by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:47:53 +0000

Hi Karen It depends on your requirements for the plant along the fence line. B oblongifolia isn’t the quickest grower and if you want a windbreak or screen then there would be many better choices depending on you specific requirements. I could recommend some but they may not be available in your area. I always suggest going to a good local nursery and asking what they have available that is suitable.

Comment on Banksia Oblongifolia by karen copeland

karen copeland — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:48:15 +0000

hi, my daughter has a 13 acrea block just below Toowoomba – horses – and we are building and estbaliching the garden from scratch. we are think ing of the banksia oblongifolia along the front fence line and i think it will work. struggle with how to prune natives but it seems all would be ok

Comment on Bonsai Bottle Tree by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:19:08 +0000

Yes Boris you are quite correct “bonsai” is term that is often misrepresented and the form of this plant wouldn’t be considered a bonsai. The intent of the article was more to display what is possible with this plant and then let people make up their own minds.

Comment on Bonsai Bottle Tree by Boris

Boris — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:27:33 +0000

What you have created is not a bonsai, but a curious looking plant in a pot. You should have done some research on bonsai before writing your article.

Comment on Agave attenuata by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:07:07 +0000

Hi Darrin
I just held the cutting upside down and let the plant starter soak into the cut end. You could probably even strike it without the plant starter if you wanted to.

Comment on Agave attenuata by Darrin

Darrin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:49:36 +0000

Thank you for this information.
I have a question: how long would you soak the ends in the starter for?
Thanks

Comment on Banksia Seminuda by Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:38:10 +0000

Steve, Yes I purchased the Seminuda in Tassie. Purchased from Red Robin Nursery in Margate, (Channel Highway, about 20 minutes south of Hobart). Do you think my Seminuda could be part of the original stock?

I went back there a few weeks ago and purchased a second Seminuda as the first is doing so well – it’s grown upwards by about 40cm since I planted it in February which I’m quite pleased with. Now I just need it to branch out on the sides a bit!

Comment on Free Plants, Propagating Plants from Cuttings. by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:44:08 +0000

Hi Bill, I’ve struck many Leucadendrons using this method, in particular Safari Sunset. I’ve even struck a Leucadendron laureolum hybrid from a cutting I got from a bouquet of flowers my wife once received. Just be patient though as they make take a few months to form roots, keep them in the shade and don’t let them dry out. If you’re in San Diego, I take it you’re in the middle of a hot summer at the moment so try and keep them in a cool/er place. Please let me know how you go. All the best.

Comment on Free Plants, Propagating Plants from Cuttings. by Bill

Bill — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:02:50 +0000

Read your article and hope to try some Luecadendrons the next few weeks. I live in San Diego so I hope I have some success.

Comment on Grevillea, How to grow. by Rebel Gardener

Rebel Gardener — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:19:37 +0000

Thanks Linde I hope it helped