Gardening tips: Ex-NRL star turned landscaper and Selling Houses Australia host Dennis Scott tells what you need to do this spring
Former NRL star turned expert landscaper and Selling Houses Australia co-host Dennis Scott reveals what you have to do to your garden right now.
Property
Don't miss out on the headlines from Property. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Dennis Scott loves the outdoors and always has. It’s in his blood.
As a kid, the landscape gardener and co-host of Foxtel juggernaut Selling Houses Australia, spent hours working, playing and exploring the sprawling cattle farm his family ran in central Queensland.
When he wasn’t on the vast property he spent time with his grandfather Arthur, a generous-hearted man who worked as a groundskeeper at the local bowls club. And it was here he learned everything there is to know about gardening.
“I was always by his side and, like most kids, asking questions,” says Dennis.
“I was constantly asking, ‘Why are we doing this? Why are we doing that?’. He didn’t teach me anything specific but I did learn why we were pulling weeds and the reasoning behind mulching and the broader concepts of gardening. That combined with living on a property inspired my love of the outdoors. I have never lost that.”
That said, it took some years before Dennis made his love of wide open spaces and gardening his life’s work. He started off his working life as a qualified heavy commercial vehicle mechanic. He then signed up to play NRL professionally (he played 128 games for the Brisbane Broncos, Canterbury Bankstown and the Melbourne Storm) and stayed doing so for 14 years. In between seasons he dabbled in carpentry and at one point became a qualified carpenter. He also undertook a diploma of sports journalism and studied and received a formal qualification in landscape gardening.
When his football career ended he knew which area truly spoke to his soul.
“I love the outdoors and green spaces and landscape gardening just makes sense for me,” says Dennis.
“Gardening is such a great activity for people of all lifestyles and ages and levels of skill. It’s good for the environment, it gets kids off their laptops and away from their screens and it’s a lovely way to relax and reconnect,” he adds.
If you like the idea of gardening but feel daunted by your lack of knowledge, Dennis suggests you just have a go. He recommends ignoring intimidating Latin names and complex-sounding chemicals and do your best to simplify the practice altogether until (or even if) you’re keen to learn more and take it further.
“The best thing to do is just get stuck in,” he says.
“There’s no better feeling than being surrounded by greenery. Even if it’s just a couple of indoor plants.”
If you’re not sure where to start, head to your local garden or hardware store and ask for advice and a few basic tips.
Explain where you plan to plant or pot your plants and see if the experts can provide you with a shortlist of those that will likely thrive in those spaces.
“Us gardeners love to give advice,” says Dennis.
“We know that gardening makes you feel good … and in the crazy environment we’re in right now, a little peace of mind goes a long way.”
Tip: True beginner’s or time-pressed gardeners might like to consider a Cast Iron Plant or a Zanzibar Gem. These both grow in low light or dappled sun, says Dennis. “They literally thrive on neglect,” he adds.
TOP SPRING GARDENING TIPS
Spring is the season that will set you up for the rest of the year, at least when it comes to lush gardens. Here, Dennis Scott reveals his top spring gardening tips
Garden Tools
We have all heard the saying a bad tradesman blames his tools, well the same can be said for a gardener.
Having the right tools and ensuring they are well maintained not only makes the job more enjoyable it will improve the end result, and now is the time to pull out those tools that have sat dormant during the cold winter months and get them fired up for some spring action.
Start by giving them a good clean, removing any residual build up from the previous season.
This is as simple as some warm soapy water.
Steal some dishwashing liquid, mix in with a half a bucket of water and with a stiff brush give them a scrub. This cleaning mixture can be used on anything from your favourite secateurs to the work horse of the garden tools the shovels and spades.
Once cleaned, sharpen all cutting edges to ensure a clean cut is achieved during pruning, separating bulbs or shaping shrubs and hedges. This will also help prevent disease entering your beloved plants. Use mineral spirits or linseed oil on timber handles to prevent splintering.
I clean my tools at a minimum every change of season or when needed.
Clean up
Once your tools have been cleaned the fun begins with a general clean-up of all your garden beds and lawn areas. Remove any debris from your gardens and lawns that has accumulated from storms during the winter months and the inactivity by yourself.
Spring growth is about to happen so the sooner this can take place the easier it will be for your garden to start blooming again!
The garden clean-up will include any broken or damaged branches that your trees or shrubs may have, it’s the perfect time to prune and shape. It also provides a great opportunity to involve the kids and get them outside.
Spread the love
Grab your newly sharpened shovel, spade, pitch fork, hopefully not the crow bar and loosen the soil around your existing plants and empty garden beds. Once done rake this out removing the build up of winter weeds. Now to add some fresh compost and nutrients to all the garden beds.
You may already have an active compost bin going that you can go to and use however if not a good quality store bought compost or manure will do the job and add nutrients depleted over the cooler months. You can also use a liquid form from all reputable hardware outlets and nurseries. This has a dual effect of adding moisture to soils with dry conditions.
If you have plans to add new plants to your garden, ideally this needs to be done a few weeks prior to planting. This will enable the new soil mixture to settle in and prevent burning the roots of any new additions.
Start planning
A good plan for your garden is one of the most important parts of the puzzle. What, where, when are all considerations to ask yourself when planning your garden layout and plant selections. You want to get to a point where your garden is looking good at all times of the year.
Does the lawn need attention, do you want a fire pit zone, perhaps a new entry arbour, this is the chance to get a good plan for the warmer months to come. Perhaps it is as easy as mixing perennials with annuals to ensure you keep colour in your garden longer.
Consider plant placement, you want your taller plants to the rear so as not to block the light. Mixing textures and colours will add interest into your garden creating an invitation not only for you but others to enjoy and compliment.
Maintain, maintain, maintain
Upkeep during all seasons is key. We need to be proactive in our gardens not reactive when things go wrong or past the point of help.
It is a good idea to start a maintenance routine for your garden and lawn and spring is a good starting point. With spring flowers will start blooming, which you will need to dead head and help promote more flowers (depending species).
Dead heading is the process where you cut off drooping flowers that have seen better days. Cut these back to a green healthy stem.
Your lawns will need to be mowed more often, fertiliser added and the application of a good soil wetting agent, oh wait then there is mulch.
There are so many varieties of mulch available, in my book though anything is better than nothing. I have even seen shredded newspaper used. If accessible my preference is a good quality organic mulch such as Tea Tree or cypress. These can be found in bags or in bulk from your local landscape supplies yard.
Mulch should be applied at a rough depth of 75mm, helping hold down the weeds and keeping moisture in your freshly prepared soil in the warmer months to come. It will also break down and provide nutrients to both the soil and plants.
Gardens can be a confusing beast, plants with tongue twisting names and chemical names that have more letters and numbers on the periodic table. But with a practical approach to your gardens and lawns things don’t need to be difficult or intimidating. Above is a great start to get you spring vibe started on the right foot. The truth is – the best time for new beginnings is now.
Foxtel’s local production Selling Houses Australia is currently in production and will return to screens shortly. Award-winning host and real-estate expert Andrew Winter will co-host alongside interior design expert Wendy Moore and landscape designer Dennis Scott.
For more gardening tips, tricks and advice grab a copy of At Home, with your Saturday newspaper or visit us online At Home.
Originally published as Gardening tips: Ex-NRL star turned landscaper and Selling Houses Australia host Dennis Scott tells what you need to do this spring
Shock jobs with the best chance of buying an SA home
Leaving school and looking to buy your first home? New research has revealed which uni and TAFE courses will get you onto the property ladder the fastest – and the list may surprise you.
Revealed: Real reason behind Coast’s record property prices
The supply of new Gold Coast units on the market has plummeted, with a report warning the crunch on the property sector has worsened in the past 18-months.