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Smart Gardening in December
- A grape vine on a north or west-facing pergola is a tried and tested strategy for keeping your house cool in our climate. These drought tolerant and beautiful vines offer delicious fruit and shade when the weather heats up, and drop their leaves to let sun through in winter. Check out our other tips on how to use landscaping for energy efficiency.
- Is your vegie patch getting enough water? Stick your finger in the soil to check around the root zone (about 15cm). It should feel a bit moist and cool, and some soil should stick to your finger. If it feels dry then it’s time to water! In hot weather most common vegies need watering at least twice per week, and possibly daily during heatwaves. Aim to maintain a ‘damp sponge’ around the roots of your vegetables. Perennial plants and trees cope with less consistent moisture but will appreciate a few deep waterings over summer. Indigenous food plants are more drought tolerant choices. A thick layer of mulch will keep your soil moist and cool. Don’t forget to check your worm farm too!
- Watering by hand takes time and if you are going away on holiday during hot weather your plants can really suffer. You might consider drip irrigation or a wicking bed. You can also stand pots in a deep saucer that can be filled with water for the pot to soak up on hot days, or make wicking pots from recycled food grade plastic buckets. Make sure your garden is sheltered from hot winds which generally come from the north and north west.
- How do you get your vegie patch through a heatwave? Use some temporary shade (old bed sheets work well) to protect sensitive plants during >35 degree days – it’s like sunscreen for your vegies! More great tips here.
- If your tomato leaves are yellowing from the lowest leaves first and then rapidly drying to a crispy brown, it may be Tomato Russet Mite – at 0.15-0.2mm long you won’t see them without magnification but they can cause a serious reduction to your harvest. Spraying with wettable sulphur at the first sign of damage with monthly repetitions is a cheap, safe and effective control.
- Are you getting cherry slug on your pears and stonefruit? Try hand-squashing or blasting with a hose for smaller trees, or dust with wood ash (wear a mask and stand up wind) or flour.
- Get to know some edible wild greens (aka weeds!) that can be harvested for the table. Delicious summer weeds include fat hen, amaranth and purslane. Many weeds are more nutritious than cultivated vegetable varieties and have a long history of culinary use around the world. There are some notes on our website here. (Obviously make sure you have correctly identified the plant and avoid weeds growing in any soil that may be sprayed or contaminated.)
- Edible flowers add a lovely festive touch to salads and desserts. Common edible flowers include alyssum, violets, violas, marigolds, calendula, borage, nasturtiums, brassica flowers and many more... For inspiration see this list of edible flowers.
- For a list of what to plant in December, see Gardening Australia’s Vegie Guide.
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Greywater for food gardeners
When: Wednesday 27 Jan 6:30-8:00pm
Where: Register via Eventbrite.
Greywater will be an increasingly important resource as our climate becomes hotter and drier. Water that has been used in your shower or laundry can be safely used to irrigate food gardens as long as simple safety guidelines are followed. This info session will look at examples of inexpensive, low-tech greywater systems to drought proof your garden.
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Nature strip gardening information session
When: Monday 22 February 7-8pm
Where: Register via Eventbrite.
Looking for more space to garden? Many councils have guidelines that allow residents to plant out their nature strips to reduce maintenance, create habitat for local plants and animals or grow some food. Join us for an information session on what you can do in Hobsons Bay, with examples, tips and design ideas for a functional, beautiful and low-maintenance nature strip.
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Other Sustainability Events
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Free energy advice for Hobsons Bay residents
Are you interested in lowing your energy bills, but don’t know where to start? Hobsons Bay City Council partnered with the Australian Energy Foundation to provide you with free simple energy advice you can trust. Book your free consultation and find out more about saving energy at home on Hobsons Bay’s website.
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WorkshopMyGarden
WorkshopMyGarden are offering a range of free online gardening events for home gardeners including How to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes (16 Dec), Root vegetable growing (23 Dec) and Vegetable and herb growing for beginners (8 Jan). For more information, please see the WorkshopMyGarden events page.
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Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
The Victorian Government has provided $9.3 million in funding for the development of six Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategies (Strategies) across Victoria. These Strategies will provide an opportunity to identify and prioritise actions for the next five years.
By developing the Strategies at a regional level, communities impacted are able to directly feed into the Strategy's development by telling us where climate change adaptation challenges, issues and concerns are - at a local level. We need to start identifying ways to adapt early to save costs and hardships, and work towards solutions.
Melbourne’s Climate Journey Discussion Paper is the initial step toward developing a Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Greater Melbourne. The Discussion Paper summarises a broad range of issues and options that can be considered in the region. The Discussion Paper aims to stimulate conversation and facilitate online community involvement and ownership by Melburnians.
This community-led approach means the Strategy will be designed by the Greater Melbourne community in which it will be implemented.
Read the discussion paper and have your say at A Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Greater Melbourne :: Engage Victoria
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Zoom recording links
Have you missed one of our recent online events? Many of them have been recorded so we have you covered! Visit the My Smart Garden past events page at the website for the list of links and recordings. Have a look around and discover the many online resources we have available.
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December Reading
Create an Oasis with Greywater – Art Ludwig
This is an essential reference for reusing laundry and shower water in the garden. The book covers a range of systems available from very simple and low budget to high end, and steps you through how to design your own system, tips for working with plumbers as well as all the common mistakes to avoid. A supplementary DVD on the Laundry to Landscape Greywater System is available through Hobsons Bay Libraries.
Good Gardens with Less Water – Keven Handreck
A great overview of the water efficiency tips you need to keep your garden green and growing strongly through the warmer months. The key is starting with your soil, and the book has plenty of advice for turning your most precious resource into a water-holding sponge. There are also tips on choosing drought-tolerant plants, how to calculate the right amount of water, watering systems, mulches, greywater, pots and more!
Dryland Water Harvesting Vol 2 – Brad Lancaster
A manual on water design for dry climates. You’ll learn how to ‘plant the water first’ before you plant trees, by doing a water audit and then implementing strategies to harvest rainwater. (Be aware that the infiltration basin technique described in the book will drown some fruit trees during a wet year on Melbourne’s heavy clay soils.)
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If you would like to submit a relevant gardening event to the My Smart Garden eNewsletter, please send a 50 word summary to contactus@mysmartgarden.org.au
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