GET READY FOR INSPECTION

You might like to do this as your last task of your ‘Fabulous Fast Fix’ session but washing down paths, steps, the outside of pots, and even giving flat fences created from metal a quick once over can make all the difference.

Then again, you might need these tips to take fabulous video calls in your garden.

So, if your garden has started to look more like a sleeping couch potato than a lush wonderland, let’s look at ways that quickly make a big difference and will make others think you are the street green thumb! My suggestions are in order of importance so whether you have 15 minutes, an hour, or a day, go through them in order and you will get as close to a fabulous garden as your time allows.

1. Pick it Up

Right now it is pretty windy and that means additional leaves, branches and things in general falling everywhere.

At any time, the very first thing you should do is collect everything that has fallen into your garden.

Ideally sort and compost, but at least pile up in one area in a corner somewhere and cover to protect from the wind.

This means raking the lawns and ground and sweeping paths, but it also involves getting in and picking out fallen debris in plants.

The only plant that looks good with a crown full of leaves and twigs is the birds nest fern and friends.

Oh, and it should go without saying, but pick up the dog and cat poop.

Do one last look around because your friends are guaranteed to relieve themselves one minute before your inspection.

2. Wash or Wipe It

Patios and fences can be a haven for old spider and cobwebs and if they are currently unoccupied then sweep those away too. Now this one will sound strange but stay with me, clean the outside of bins.

In any inspection, people are going to probably walk past your bins and if they are dirty, it will just put the feeling of messiness in people’s minds.

3. It’s all in the Edges

The difference that trimming the edges of a lawn can make is even better than mowing it. You can get away with a lawn a few centimetres longer than might be optimal if the edges are neat and clean.

This is where the eye goes to in a garden.

The edges! We humans are wired to look for edges so play on that and do the borders of everything first.

Even if your garden is a flowing organic jungle, neat edges will still create a feeling of tidiness and care.

NEWS & EVENTS

FROG HABITATE WORKSHOP SOMERSBY with SWAMP, ARCH ENTO TECH and RAPTOR REPTILES 10am – 1pm 18th March

Hands on learning experience in creating a native frog pond, how to start one and what plants to grow. You will also build your own frog hotel to take home and install in your home garden, bush habitat or nature space.

This will be a wonderful interactive family experience as well as for all those nature and frog lovers.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/564434387447

Permie Kids - Killcare, Wednesdays 3.30 - 5.30pm

Nature based activities in the garden for 8–12-year-olds. Bookings Essential - $25 per class - SMS Anna 0407 591 278.

Coming up: 22 March - Worm Farms; 29 March - Building habitats for native animals; 5 April - Natural decorations - egg blowing and decorating.

Musical Kitchen in the Garden at SWAMP Tuggerah - 9:30 – 11:30am Friday 31 March best suited for children 1 – 6 yrs of age

Mandy dos Santos and Phoebe Cormack share this wonderful experience with local families and children by hosting a seasonal foodie music session, each season of 2023.

They come together singing and engaging in musical play, sharing original songs with others. There will also be an opportunity to engage with some musical and food activities, including making your own seasonal morning tea. And of course, enjoying the magic of the community garden and the season we find ourselves immersed in.

Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/57evd7yr

Gardening Planner

This week you could plant: culinary herbs, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrot, cauliflower, chicory, cress, endive, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, salsify, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, swedes, turnips, ageratum, alyssum, calendula, candytuft, carnation, cineraria, columbine, coneflower, delphinium, dianthus, everlasting daisy, forget-me-not, foxglove, godetia, gypsophila, hollyhock, larkspur, linaria, lobelia, nemesia, nigella, pansy, polyanthus, poppy, primula, snapdragon, statice, stock, sweet pea, viola, wallflower

Cheralyn Darcey is a horticulture author and along with Pete Little, hosts ‘At Home with The Gardening Gang’ 8 - 10am live every Saturday on CoastFM96.3, on air locally or streaming by asking ‘play coastfm963’ Archived articles: florasphere.com | Send your gardening questions, events, and news to: gardeningcentralcoast@gmail.com

While native grasses look stunning arched in a cascading fountain of leaves over a path, a collected rabble of botanical debris sitting under them just feels messy. Clear away what’s underneath and this will not only define the path and edges but also make your feature plants pop.

4. Trim it Off

Stand in the front of your garden space, in a position that a visitor is likely to first stand and look.

What do you see that looks messy because it is hanging into the garden? Are there palm fronds that are tangled in a heap of overgrowth? Vines choking other plants? Small branches that are just too much for now? Off you go and chop them all off.

Now isn’t the time for major tree lopping, it’s a tidy up. Hedges can be a bit of a headache, especially if you rent and are not too sure how to go about trimming them.

For a fast fix, don’t try and to get a perfect geometric shape. Simply trim of the scraggly bits and overgrowing edges so you have whatever shape the hedge happens to be right now but in a neat form.

5. Indoor Tidy Up

Your indoor plants are going to be on show too.

So they look their very best, trim off dying foliage, get rid of spent flowers and wipe over leaves with a damp cloth.

If your plants are used to it, a quick misting of water can look lovely during inspection.

Here’s clever trick, sprinkle a nice new layer of potting mix around your plants.

Do this a few days before the inspection so any earthy spells can dissipate.

If your indoors are lacking in houseplants, cut a selection of foliage from your garden and pop into vases just before your visitors arrive.

• Little Ruby or Little Maroon is the perfect mounding ground cover that has stand-out deep burgundy foilage with a compact, spreading habit.

• Loves humidity and can tolerate frost better than most forms. • Uses: Ground cover, border containers and green walls.

Full sun to part shade