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• Check out the native zoysia grass, Nara. It makes for a beautiful lawn that requires less water, is highly salt-tolerant and, when fertilised in autumn and winter, maintains its colour through colder periods. It can be trimmed or left natural, and copes well in up to 40 per cent shade.
• Add an Australian-bred tibouchina from the Tibouchina Fantasy Flowers Collection by Plant Management Australia to your yard. Perfect for both tropical and cool-climate zones is the compact ‘Peace Baby’, which features stunning large white flowers through the warmer months.
• Grow your own garlic so you can be sure that the produce you’re eating is top quality! Buy bulbs from a reliable source and plant into free-draining soil in a spot that receives full sun. Add plenty of compost or well-rotted animal manure, then fertilise and water regularly.
• Start planning for a stunning display of bulbs in spring with mass plantings of daffodils, dutch iris, hyacinth, lachenalia, ixia, muscari and ranunculi.
• Refresh geraniums and pelargoniums that have bloomed their hearts out over summer and autumn by trimming away ragged or unhealthy-looking foliage.
• Increase your stocks of bearded iris by lifting and dividing them. Replant in a sunny spot and water regularly.
• Give your citrus trees a little late summer attention. Feed them now with a plant food that’s specially formulated for citrus – these formulas contain the full range of trace elements your plants need. Water well before and after application, spreading the fertiliser around the dripline area (the zone beneath the outer branches). Check for pests, too – spray bronze orange bugs with an insecticide such as Confidor, and treat aphids and scale insects with a horticultural oil.
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