kimberleyglissan's ideas
3. Feed your plantsDecember is peak growing time for most plants and they therefore need to keep replenishing their energy levels. Liquid feed flowering climbers, perennials and shrubs such as clematis, dahlias, day lilies, delphinium, hydrangeas, roses, and lilies every two to three weeks to encourage plenty of blooms.Alyssum, aster, calendula, marigolds, godetia, petunias, sweet peas and other summer-flowering annuals also need to be fed regularly to put on a lovely display.
Recognising the risk, Professor Mark P Taylor, Dr Paul Harvey and laboratory technician Kara Fry have teamed up to tackle the issue with a program aptly named VegeSafe. What started in 2013 when they offered free soil testing at Macquarie University’s open day has since evolved into a larger study that has tested the toxicity of over 5,200 garden soil samples from more than 1,700 properties across the country. In Australia, the guideline for lead levels in domestic residences’ soil is 300 milligrams per kilogram (or 300 mg/kg). Professor Taylor and his team have discovered that of the Sydney residences they have tested so far, the average concentration of lead in households’ garden soil is 415 mg/kg and the highest lead level recorded was over 6,000 mg/kg.
13. Location: Richmond, USA
9. Location: Seattle, USA
6. Location: DC Metro, USA
Clear glass front door
2. MealboardWhile beautifully styled recipe books (like the ones seen in this classic London kitchen) make for a gorgeous display, storing your favourite recipes in digital form just makes sense. The MealBoard app takes things a step further, combining recipe management, meal planning, your supermarket shopping list and pantry management in a single app.
5. Clip topiary Flowers not your thing? Clipped evergreen shrubs can make just as much impact. Think buxus, corokia, coprosma, lonicera, hebe or dwarf pittosporum. Impress your guests with a row of clipped balls or cones on the deck, or down a flight of stairs into the garden. If you prefer your foliage brighter, consider grey-leaved westringia, chocolate Corokias, silver teucrium or coloured Coprosmas.
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