Buy Sands Australia: Building an Above-Ground Turtle Pond in Your Backyard
If you have a large backyard, adding a water feature to it is a great way to start a turtle pond while infusing your outdoor space with an element of tranquillity where you and your family can sit around and relax. If you want to add an attractive turtle pond without the tiresome effort of digging a hole, you can buy sands Australia, concrete blocks, cement, and other materials to be used for the above-ground turtle pond from a nearby landscape supply store (such as Labrador Landscape Supplies in the Brisbane and Gold Coast areas).
Climate considerations
Depending on your area, putting an aquatic turtle outdoors is something you can do only during the spring and summer. If your state or territory has warmer temperatures nearly all year round, aquatic turtles will be able to live outdoors. You can also select a species that hibernates in the winter.
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Preparing Your Garden Soil and Using Organic Compost for Growing Roses
Some people like a decorative garden rather than growing a vegetable garden. This is a quick guide on preparing your garden soil and using organic compost for planting and growing roses. After all, roses can be successfully grown in every Australian state and territory. This means roses will survive and thrive in almost any soil in any garden on the continent.
Have the ideal pH
The acidity or alkalinity of the soil’s pH will affect how roses can get nutrients from the soil. If your soil has a very high pH, your roses will become stressed and not grow well. Roses grow better in typical natural garden soil, which is only slightly acidic to neutral (6.0 to 7.0). If you’re not sure about your soil, have it tested so you can make adjustments to your soil or just grow the roses in containers. (Labrador Landscape Supplies can test your soil and has adequate soil and organic compost for soil adjustments or container planting)
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Landscape Supply Near Me: Blending Landscaping with a Garden Shed
So, you’re planning to have a garden shed? Why not make it multi-functional? Half or a small part can be storage for gardening equipment and other tools, while the rest of the area can be converted into a nice sitting area or a fun playhouse for the kids. Better yet, you can blend some landscaping with the shed, so the structure doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb in the backyard. It will also be a significant advantage if there is a “landscape supply near me” to facilitate the easy buying of landscape supplies and materials.
Here’s how to start
Create the landscape
If you want to integrate the garden shed into the surroundings, but there is no existing landscape yet, you can create your own around the shed to beautify the structure. Start by locating the shed in a logical spot in the backyard to create a landscape garden, or in the back corner of the yard. Don’t place the shed too close to the house. Place small trees, shrubs, planters, and other greenery around the shed’s base to blend the shed into its surroundings.
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Organic Compost: The Best Fruits to Grow in Your Garden
You don’t need an orchard to grow your own fruit at home. All you need is your backyard, no matter what the size. And if space is limited, you can grow fruit in containers. You can even use hanging baskets. You can even do container gardening if you want to do some planting indoors. However, you need to know what fruits will grow in a container. You also need to make sure you get the right organic compost for your fruits.
Consider these examples
Strawberries can grow in ground soil, containers, or even hanging baskets
They love sunshine and well-drained soil. This is how versatile this fruit is, even growing in window boxes.
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Cypress Mulch: The Dos and Don’ts of Mulching
Mulch is usually organic material laid over the soil’s surface to retain moisture, prevent weeds from sprouting, regulate soil temperature, and prevent erosion. Bare soil exposed to sunlight will heat plant roots and require more water, and it’s an invitation for weed seeds. Some mulch, such as cypress mulch, can add an attractive finishing touch around flower beds, path curbs, shrubs, and trees. However, you can’t just buy truckloads of mulch and dump it into your garden. There are dos and don’ts you need to remember, or your garden may suffocate.
Do use the right mulch
Organic mulches break down into the soil, adding nutrients to it. Inorganic mulches such as plastic and rubber may keep moisture in the soil and prevent weeds, but has no nutrient value for the soil.
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Is Mulch (Or Cypress Mulch) Good for Flower Gardens?
If you are a gardener of flowers and other decorative plants, you might want to add mulch with soil, water, and fertiliser for a healthy garden. Many amateur and novice are unaware that mulch can be good for flower gardens, aside from being beneficial to vegetable and herb gardens. Of course, natural and organic mulch, such as cypress mulch, is much better and effective rather than inorganic mulch.
Why mulch?
Organic mulch helps to keep both roots and soil cool by retaining much soil moisture. This is especially useful for young flower plants that need time to establish their roots, whether in hot or cold weather. Mulch also prevents weeds by acting as a physical barrier between weed seeds and the soil. This prevents the weed seeds from germinating. Organic mulch even fertilises the soil as the mulch slowly decomposes. In this way, mulch encourages earthworms to come to the soil surface to feed on decomposing organic matter.
Of course, mulch adds a decorative element to any flower bed landscape, providing a sense of aesthetic beauty between flowerbeds.
What soils benefit from mulch?
All types of soil receive beneficial nutrients as the organic mulch breaks down. However, sandy and clay soils, more than others, need mulch in flower gardens. This is because sandy soil allows moisture to drain away quickly. Mulch retains much moisture for the soil. Clay soil has poor aeration characteristics, so mulch helps with aeration.
Determine how much mulch is needed
Gardeners can place between one to four inches of mulch for flowerbeds. More than four inches may cause fungal problems. This applies to all types of organic mulch, including cypress mulch. You can use these calculations to estimate how much mulch to buy. If in doubt, ask for help from your local landscape supplies store (such as Labrador Landscape Supplies).
When to apply mulch
Mulch can be applied anywhere and anytime if the soil is bare. If applied in the spring, mulch suppresses the growth of weeds. In summer, mulch will protect plants from heat by retaining moisture. In autumn and winter, mulch will protect plants from the cold and frost heaving.
Mulch suppliers for Brisbane and Gold Coast areas
Mulch, especially cypress mulch, is popular not only in flower and vegetable gardens but in general landscaping. Labrador Landscape Supplies provides a wide variety of different organic mulches and even garden bark to suit every particular need of landscaping projects. Call us today for your mulch needs on 07 5537 2841, or you can enquire at http://landscape-supply.com.au/.
- Published in Garden Landscaping
Plants to Grow in the Autumn and What Organic Compost to Use
May is the month wherein most of the Australian continent is starting to get cold. And yet there are still loads to do in your garden because there are plants that can still thrive in the cold, if you didn’t know yet. Regardless of frost damage, many plants will thrive even if you start planting them in May. Their growth will also improve if you have the right soil and organic compost mixture.
Flowers and shrubs
If you’re just into decorative gardening, you can start planting flowering bulbs so they can grow and establish their roots deep in the soil. You can plant beauties like daffodil, jonquil, freesia, ranunculi, anemone, crocus, hyacinth, tulips, native calostemma, pansy, viola, polyanthus, primrose, chorea, bottlebrush, and gum tree. The autumn rains also mean that you don’t need to do much hand watering.
Herbs
You can add to your tasty plant collection with river mint, shallots, rosemary, mint, lemongrass, tarragon, thyme, parsley, oregano, garlic bulbs, and coriander. These grow well in autumn and during winter. Consider also planting more seeds, so you have a succession of plants to harvest.
Fruits
If space allows it on your property, you can plant these that thrive in autumn and winter: orange, lime, and lemon trees. These trees don’t like competing for space, so don’t allow lawn or grass to grow up close to the trunk. You can also plant strawberries, but in the shade. They grow more fruit and fewer leaves in the shade and don’t like sun exposure.
Balcony gardening
If you love gardening in containers, the autumn is perfect because the weather is pleasant enough outside, and you can watch over your plants or seeds much better. All herbs, strawberries, and dwarf citrus will grow well in containers. For decorative plants, try succulents and cacti. Always check if plants in containers need watering. These plants can be easily moved away from direct heat that can cause stress.
Always enquire from your local landscape supplies on the right mixture of soil and organic compost (in the Gold Coast and Brisbane area, you can enquire from Labrador Landscape Supplies). Loamy soil is best for autumn planting. If your natural soil is heavy on clay or sand, mix it up with organic compost as well as fallen leaves, kitchen vegetable waste, and even manure. Organic matter also aids in aeration, drainage, and encourages good microbes in the soil.
Labrador Landscape Supplies
The right kind of soil and organic compost mixture in your container garden or adding better soil or compost in your natural soil can make all the difference when growing your plants in the autumn. Labrador Landscape Supplies provides high-quality soil and compost for any garden. We also have the best landscape materials for all your landscaping and gardening projects. Call 07 5537 2841.
- Published in Garden Landscaping
Preparing Your Soil for Laying Turf (While also using organic compost)
If you want your new lawn to look magnificent and eye-pleasing, you need to lay turf as professionally as possible. Before you even apply one single blade of turf, you need to prepare your garden’s soil accordingly. It’s no secret that a good lawn means good preparation. You need to allow plenty of time to get the soil ready for your turf laying, and sometimes it will even mean adding organic compost to improve the soil’s nutrients.
Clear the Area
Every last bit of plant scrap needs to be removed from the lawn area. This means every pinch of wild grass, plants, leaves, roots, twigs, stones, etc. In short, everything. If there is a carpet of old grass before, this can be composted down and made into organic compost. If you use a systemic weed killer, wait at least 3 weeks after application before cleaning out the soil.
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It’s All About the Potting Mix and Organic Compost
The pandemic has created a huge following for container gardening. Urban and small-space gardening is still on the rise, houseplants and even vegetables are filling up social media posts. However, some beginners seem to get confused between potting mix, topsoil, and organic compost.
Potting mix and topsoil
A potting mix contains inorganic and organic materials and may also include mineral soil and a little sand. Bags of potting mix marked as “sterilised” means that the mix can kill weed seeds and pests. Some potting mixes are marked as “soilless.” Instead, they contain peat moss and organic compost for moisture retention, and vermiculite or perlite for drainage. Some potting mixes are specially made to accommodate the needs of specific plants. These will usually be labelled as orchid mix, flower potting mix, etc.
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Four Tips to Continue Gardening with an Extended Pandemic (Don’t Forget the Organic Compost)
These are troubling times as most of Australia is in lockdown again as a “second wave” is hitting the country. But, for many, they see a silver lining as they continue to tend to their gardens. For those who now want to start their gardens, we offer these four tips for you. And yes, do prepare to get some organic compost from your local landscape supply (In South East Queensland and Brisbane, that would be Labrador Landscape Supply).
Embrace the opportunity
Firstly, before you even start, get to know what’s around your garden-to-be and how much area you want to cultivate. Time will seem to move slowly during lockdowns so embrace the time to garden. So, go into the area where you intend to garden and observe what’s going on.
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