Garden tips: blackbirds, bearded iris, year-round flowers

Birds can be a pest in your vegie patch, up-ending just-planted seedlings. How do you stop them?

The delightful Daisy design outdoor beanbag cover, this month’s prize for best reader question.

Blackbirds are very active, up-ending all my just-planted seedlings in the vegie patch. How can I stop them?

WILL SNOW, ADELAIDE

Blackbirds can be persistent. Try stringing black twine between stakes, about 20cm above seedlings, to stop birds landing. “Humming line” is microfilament tape that vibrates when strung tightly. Hanging old CDs so they spin and flash light is a good bird deterrent, or buy Birdscare Flash Tape. A fake snake also can help. Igloo-like tunnels covered with mesh fabric offer wide-ranging protection, or stretch white bird netting above the bed and peg the sides firmly. Try gardenware.com.au and greenharvest.com.au for products.

From our living room we look over our fence into our neighbour’s house. What would form a green screen to 3m? It gets western sun and is concrete, so plants must be in pots. We could build a structure for a climber.

NICK MCCONNELL, BRISBANE

Even in large pots, plants that can grow that tall inevitably will outgrow their pots, becoming pot-bound and difficult to keep alive. It would be better to cut the concrete to form a strip bed next to the fence. Thoroughly prepare the soil, then plant a hedge or a few narrow trees such as blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus) or Eumundi quandong (Elaeocarpus eumundii). Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ is very fast and has a spreading canopy.

I’m told you can’t kill a bearded iris but I can. I plant on a mound with the rhizome exposed, with ample sun, but the leaves still die back, rhizomes wither and I get no flowers. The chocolate clay soil has compost and sheep poo worked in.

EVE PHILLIPS, HOBART

Bearded irises suit your climate and you correctly gave them full sun and good drainage to combat your heavy soil. Manures near rhizomes can cause rot, leaf dieback and few flowers. They like alkaline soil; add dolomite or lime if yours is acidic. The rhizome top should be just showing; exposing it all could cause withering. As new rhizomes form, old ones wither and should be discarded.

What easy, low maintenance, all-year-round flower to 1m can I plant? It receives equal sun and shade and the soil is sandy.

SKYE D, NEWCASTLE

Most plants have seasonal flowers but some long-flowering options include Polygala ‘Little Bibi’, Tibouchina ‘Peace Baby’, shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeana), or one of the shrubby begonias such as B. fuchsioides.

Send your questions to [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. Visit helenyoung.com.au.

September’s best question wins the delightful Daisy design outdoor beanbag cover worth $170 from IS Gift. The waterproof, UV-proof cover is 140cm x 140cm with inner zipped bag, beans not included. isgift.com.