The Weekly News 5@5
Central Coast Newspaper’s Weekly News 5@5 for the first week of October 2022. In the bulletin this week: Premier Opens part of Wyong HospitalA-League season kicks off at CC StadiumSpeculation…
gardening
Down in the Garden: Office Plants that Thrive
Planning on a home office for 2022? Going back to work soon and want to take a green friend with you? Indoor plants can make us healthy, happy, calm, more…
Down in the Garden: Gardening Gift Guide
Whether it’s for Christmas or to fulfill that New Year’s resolution to garden more, I’ve put together a few ideas to inspire the gardener or garden dreamer in your life….
Down in the Garden: Merry Christmas Trees, Bushes and Flowers
The ancient tradition of bringing evergreen plants into our living areas in December was a way to celebrate life continuing during the winter months. This carried on throughout different beliefs…
Down in the Garden: Gardening with La Niña
It’s going to be a long-wet summer due to La Niña moving in on us. For gardeners it means an adjustment to the way you have been planning, planting, and…
Down in the Garden: A Bird-Attracting Garden
A garden without the colourful flashing of feathers and joyful birdsong would be rather dull in my books. There are also many other benefits in encouraging native birds to your…
Growing Lovely Lavender
An evergreen shrub with currently 47 species and 450 varieties, what was once the humble staple of cottage gardens is an often an overlooked shrub in modern gardens today. Slow…
Down in the Garden: The Top 10 Unkillable Garden Plants
I must be honest, there is no such thing as an ‘unkillable’ plant but there are more than a few out there that come close. These are the hardy plants,…
Down in the Garden: Marvellous Melons
Growing your own melons is an exercise in patience but you will end up with the sweetest, most lovely fruit imaginable. The average watermelon or honeydew will take between 80…
Down in the Garden: Plant Now for a Magical Botanical Christmas
If you get a wiggle on this week, you can have fresh, homegrown additions to your Christmas feasting. Plant seedlings rather than seeds and make sure you are planting into…
Down in the Garden: Get the Tropical Look for Your Garden
On the Central Coast we are in a temperate area and while some tropical plants can grow well in various pockets and may even thrive with additional care, many plants…
Down in the Garden: Grow Frangipani, a Tropical Garden Favourite
While staying on our tropical journey, I thought we could explore the frangipani as it provides what many of us are looking for in a Coast Garden with a bit…
Down in the Garden: How to Grow Zinnias and Sunflowers
Need a happy boost in your life? If you start now, you can easily have a garden bed full of dazzlingly cut flowers that will not only make your garden…
Down in the Garden: Growing Flowering Shrubs
Annuals are great for a fast and easy splash of colour in the garden but if you are ready to enter a long-term commitment with a flowering plant at your…
Down in the Garden: Growing Mulberries
Like many of us, I have happy memories of a mulberry tree in my childhood. This one stood in the centre of the playground at Orange Grove Primary School in…
Down in the Garden: How to Feed Your Plants in the Garden
Plants don’t just need water; you must also feed them! Out there in the wild, in their places of origin, they will settle themselves into positions that naturally have the…
Down in the Garden: How to Grow Terrific Tomatoes
Growing tomatoes is easy, even by the Coast. Sure, they can have their fair share of challenges but overall, they are one of the easiest and most rewarding of crops….
Down in the Garden: Spring Veggie Patch Blitz
Spring is the season of veggie patch creation, renewal, and readiness. Everyone should grow at least a few vegetables! I’m not going to give you too much pressure here because…
Down in the Garden: Native Australia Shade Lovers
This would have to be one of the most often asked questions I receive, “Can Australian Native plants grow in the shade?” and it is also an answer that surprises…
Down in the Garden: Sun Mapping
Air, food, water, and light are the staple elements your plants need and finding the correct amount of each will make the difference between life and death. Getting it as…