premium-gekko-gardening

Important Winter Gardening Tips in Brisbane

2019-07-29T22:47:17Z

7 Important Brisbane Winter Gardening Tips

Your garden has been prepared for winter, either by us, yourself or your grandparent who you’ve convinced to lend their experience. Your garden has been given the best chance to survive winter (it’s Brisbane so most gardens do survive), however, during the cooler months, there are things you need to be doing. We have compiled 7 of our top tips to help your garden easily make it through Brisbane’s winter.

1. Commit to some garden time

Gardens don’t look after themselves, we at Premium Gekko Gardening , do look after gardens, however, you can look after yours too. If you don’t have a ‘green thumb’ then it’s best to let us to the tricky stuff, but there is still plenty you are able to do! Gardening not only helps your back and front gardens look beautiful, it helps you too. Five minutes spent outdoors is proven to positively impact your mood and physical and mental wellbeing.

2. Winter Watering

Brisbane has a subtropical climate, so for us, winter marks the beginning of our dry season. During the winter months, Brisbane normally receives no more than 70mm of rain each month. This is just half of what some of the summer months regularly receive. So, what does that mean for our gardens? It means good, thorough watering is required. None of this five minutes to water everything business that we often hear about. Understand how much water your plants need and then a couple days a week spend a good five minutes per plant watering.

It is better to do less frequent deep watering than frequent shallow, superficial

watering.

If you need help identifying your garden plants and their watering needs or are wanting to establish an irrigation system then give us a call on 0415 792 913.

3. Winter Plant Pruning

Pruning is an important part of winter gardening, especially if you have roses, hydrangeas, wisteria or grapevines. While plants are bare during winter it is the perfect time to easily remove the dead or crowded growth and to spot invasive climbers and remove them.

The best way to make sure your gardening doesn’t damage your garden is to do your research, and learn what is best for your garden.

4. Garden Hygiene

When plants die they become potential sources of infection for the rest of the healthy plants, to even for other species of plants. So, whenever a plant dies (which is hopefully not too often) make sure you remove them swiftly. Another important aspect of garden hygiene is collecting fallen leaves and fruit. These too are sources of infections for other plants, this is particularly noticeable in productive gardens (where there are many fruit bearing plants/shrubs/trees).

5. Winter Flowering Plants

Despite many plants resting during the winter, there are spring bulbs, winter-flowering natives and shrubs that flower in early spring that are all growing actively. These plants need to be well looked after during winter as they are not dormant like other parts of your garden. The active winter plants should be watered and fertilised for peak performance.

6. Fertilising Winter Crops

During winter, it is important to feed the winter crops and flowers, as mentioned before, because they are actively growing during this stage. However, when feeding these plants, it is highly recommended that you move away from a high nitrogen feed to a low nitrogen one. That way, you are promoting robust growth whilst reducing the risk of fungal diseases.

7. Lawn Tip

Lawns seem simple to maintain and with the right tools, knowledge and experience, they are. However, for the untrained or gardening novice, lawns are hard to get right. We will write another article specifically addressing lawn care. For now, we will leave you with this lawn tip, which is appropriate for the winter months.

A great way to alleviate the compaction and maximise the penetration of water is to the spike the lawn. Allowing water to penetrate deep into the root zone of the turf is invaluable for its growth.

Hopefully, we’ve equipped you with the knowledge to help keep your garden healthier during the cooler, drier Brisbane winter months. Whether you use our services or not, basic garden care goes a long way to maintaining a beautiful garden in-between our visits or just in general. Put our tips into practice and you’ll certainly notice a difference in your lawn come spring time! For more information regarding winter garden care, or our services , please don’t hesitate to contact us .

Why hiring a professional gardener is best for you and your garden

2019-07-29T05:00:26Z

Why and how to hire a professional gardener in Brisbane

Is your garden looking rather sad? Are your hedges over grown, shrubs unruly and no sign of those healthy spring blooms? Perhaps it’s time to contact a professional gardener. By having a horticulturalist complete an analysis on your garden , they can find out what’s going wrong and how to fix it. Here’s a few reasons why hiring a professional gardener is the best decision for you and your garden.

Your time is not wasted

Gardening may be a hobby for some and profession for others, but for a lot of people, gardening is time-consuming, stressful and generally unenjoyable. Gardening itself is not a waste of time, however finding the time to do it can be a challenge if you’re very time-poor. What does waste your time is you gardening if you have no interest in it, especially when there is an easy alternative.

There is a whole industry dedicated to the knowledge and skills involved in gardening, which takes time and dedication to learn. Whether you work full-time in an office or at home, it can be hard to find the time to get out into your garden to complete those regular maintenance tasks. Even if you can find the time, often it can be hard to know where to start or what to do to keep your garden looking great.

Don’t waste your precious free time – contact a professional gardener who can get the job done right.

Your garden doesn't accidentally get killed

Have you ever decided to complete some garden maintenance yourself, only to realise that your garden looks sad, sick or a general mess afterward? It may take a week or two, but if you have done something wrong in your garden, it will eventually show up. Perhaps you thought throwing the fertiliser you found in the shed everywhere in the garden might do the trick? Or maybe you thought it was time prune all your plants back? With any luck your garden is robust enough that even if you have a few gardening mistakes, hopefully it will survive.

We have many clients that have given gardening a go themselves, only to realise that they have killed off half their plants accidentally.

The best way to make sure your gardening doesn’t damage your garden is to do your research, and learn what is best for your garden.

It’s also important to remember that every garden is different. You can’t just ‘wing it’. If becoming a gardening buff doesn’t sound like your thing, it might be time to contact a professional gardener. In fact, diagnosing and treating plants that are not performing perfectly is a specialty of our gardeners at Premium Gekko Gardening.

You won't waste money buying expensive tools and equipment

When it comes to gardening, great tools can really make a difference. However, great tools do come at a steep price. If you aren’t committed to maintaining your garden yourself, you’re better off not wasting money investing in expensive garden tools. A professional gardener will come with all the tools needed to complete your job effectively.

You get a beautiful garden

Do you wish to look out into your garden and think “wow, that’s lovely!”?

By hiring a professional gardener with experience and a great reputation, you are giving yourself the best chance possible to have a truly beautiful garden.

At Premium Gekko Gardening , our clients have told us that since getting regular garden maintenance, their family spends much more time in the garden. If you have a backyard, why not enjoy it by having it well maintained by a professional?

You no longer have any garden related-stress

Living in Australia means that when our gardens are overgrown, it becomes a serious matter, especially in the warmer months. We are of course referring to snakes. Snakes just love overgrown gardens and long lawns. If you have pets or children, to help keep them safer it really is best to hire a professional gardener to regularly trim back your plants and mow your lawn. At Premium Gekko Gardening, our expert gardeners wear full protective clothing when maintaining gardens and doing big clear ups.

For safety, you should always have closed in shoes, preferably boots or runners and long pants when you are clearing out your own garden.

Protective clothing can give you better protection from snakes and other creepy-crawlies, and you should always work with due caution. Protective clothing also offers sun protection – a hat, long sleeved shirt, sunscreen, and sunglasses is optimal. But to avoid all this garden related-stress, contact a professional gardener.

Let us help

Premium Gekko Gardening offer regular scheduled residential maintenance programs that completely manage your gardens through all seasons in Brisbane. Our services are personalised to suit your garden and lifestyle. We can get your sad looking garden happy in no time, and keep it that way! For an obligation-free garden analysis and quote please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Autumn garden task list

2017-05-23T00:00:00Z

What needs done in your garden in Autumn in Brisbane

With milder temperatures, Autumn is a great time of year for gardening in Brisbane!

Follow this Autumn gardening advice from our Horticulturalist team to keep your garden flourishing this year.

Trim the hedges before the onset of winter to keep them compact and bushy from ground level.
Spray your lawn weeds now. Aerate the lawn and scatter lime lightly over it. Rejuvenate lawns with an autumn feeding to ready them for winter weather.
Check for borer damage on all deciduous trees, paying attention to the trunk at soil level. It‘s easier to check when trees are dormant and bare.
Make planting holes between the roots of large trees and insert small plants with tiny root systems that establish themselves readily. Bromeliads thrive under trees.
Compost fallen leaves regularly, otherwise they will smother your plants and grass.
If you have cymbidium orchids, they should be placed in full sunshine to encourage good flower spikes during winter and spring.
Divide perennials. Lift them from the soil, divide at the root and replant into well-conditioned soil.
March and April are big vegetable planting months in SE Qld. Try tomatoes, capsicums and eggplants; lettuce; radish; beetroot and silverbeet; beans; cucumber and zucchini; cabbage, broccoli; turnip, onion and garlic.
Regularly removing spent flowers from annuals directs energy into producing more flowers.
Propagate Frangipani cuttings, letting them dry for a few days prior to planting.