Hillandale Garden and Nursery, NSW

HILLANDALE is cool climate garden, within a 420ha property, halfway between Lithgow and Bathurst.

Hillandale Garden. Picture: Sarah Ryan

287 Eusdale Rd, Yetholme

Owners: Sarah and Andrew Ryan Open this weekend 10am to 4.30pm $7 entry, under 18s free

Describe your garden: It’s a 2.5ha cool climate garden, within a 420ha property, halfway between Lithgow and Bathurst. It’s essentially a natural garden set in a cool tree-fern gully, with grand old trees, rhododendrons and woodland plants. In contrast, a colourful herbaceous border runs down its northeastern side. Water is usually a feature of the place, with a spring-fed creek running through the garden to a picturesque dam, but with the current drought it’s dry for the first time since we came here 14 years ago. Andrew has built many stone bridges, walls and steps using stone collected on the property.

What makes it special: There are 100-year-old rhododendrons up to 15m tall, planted by the previous owner’s grandmother. They love the basalt soil and elevation of 1150m. They’re the spring show, and in autumn the trees which Andrew loves are glorious colours, so for summer colour I added the double herbaceous border of more than 300 species, which runs 120m down a hill - you can see all the layers and colours in a glance.

Biggest challenges: Usually it’s the cold with heavy snow and frosts, but currently it’s battling heat and drought. However, under the oak trees in the woodland area it’s still cool and green.

What’s in flower: The perennial border is at its spectacular peak, with asters, dahlias, salvias, Eupatorium, Monarda, Rudbeckia, Helenium and Helianthus and ornamental grasses.

Extras: Teas and light lunches, jams and sauces by the Yetholme branch of the Red Cross, the most terrific group of women. Plants and seeds for sale, propagated from the perennial border. And cards by watercolour artist Gabby Malpas.

hillandalegardenandnursery.com.au

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OTHER GARDENS THIS WEEKEND

Waterfall Cottage

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NSW 2104. $8

Dreamweaver

4 Wararba Cres, Caboolture,

QLD 4510. 10am-dusk

Giverny Estate

69 Cherry Lane, Toolangi, VIC 3777

Tree Elle

4993 South Coast Hwy,

Bow Bridge, WA 6333Flora

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FLORA

AS we read of the increasingly difficult plight of our drought-affected farmers, I wish we would appreciate more their effort and struggle to produce the food we eat.

It’s a physical life, chosen for love of the land and growing things, not for money or ease. When extreme temperatures, storms or drought ravage crops, we shouldn’t complain about higher prices but marvel that the cornucopia is still available.

We must buy only Australian-produced food to support those who are the backbone of this wide land. Perhaps we can emulate the British Growers Project, whose inspirational four-minute video is a fascinating glimpse into their world.

If you’ve never seen huge greenhouses filled with perfect truss tomatoes or the heroic scale of vegetable production, search British Growers Project on YouTube.

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TWIG

Q: Two callistemon trees overhang our vegetable patch. Will their leaves adversely affect the soil underneath?

GINA MORRIS, via email

A: Bottlebrushes are among the plants including conifers, casuarinas, eucalypts and black walnut, which exhibit allelopathy. These plants exude chemicals from their leaves and/or roots to suppress germination or growth of nearby plants. Regardless of this effect, vegetables are best grown well away from shade and root competition from trees.

Q: How do I kill and keep bindii at bay? My lawns are covered in them, even after mowing.

RENEE ANNISON, BLUE HAVEN, NSW

A: You must treat bindii or jo-jo in late winter, before they flower and produce their prickly seeds. Use a selective lawn herbicide suitable for your lawn type, such as Bindii and Clover Weeder, Buffalo Master or BuffaloPro. It may take a few years to clear it all. Bindii favours compacted soil, so aerating your lawn will help.

Q: I keep reading nasturtiums love full sun. So why do mine thrive in early spring but shrivel and die when we get real Adelaide sun? They’re well mulched and watered.

LIZ CHRISTIE, ADELAIDE

A: Nasturtiums love sun but not the blazingly hot summers you can get. In such areas they need protection from scorching afternoon sun. You can sow seed any time from spring, after which they should flower in 10-12 weeks. They’re happy in quite poor and dry soil.

Q: Our dwarf peach, planted five months ago, developed spots and holes in the leaves, which started falling. Now it’s leafless. Please help!

JANELLE GILES, via EMAIL

A: Shot hole is a fungal disease that affects stone fruit. Control with preventative sprays of copper hydroxide just as the flower buds swell and again at autumn leaf fall. To clean up spores, gather and destroy fallen leaves, then spray the branches and ground with lime sulfur in winter.