This is the very useful comment made by ‘Roughbarked’.

Milk cartons as pots and tree guards.

I use a knife and stab the cartoon on each of the four faces once, in or near each corner. If you use a knife long enough you can stab right through two sides at once, flip the carton stab it again the same way and the job is done. I also cut the folded top part off so that all cartons have a neat and equal size. The stabbing leaves only slits so the water can drain but not drain too rapidly. Yes, the bottom of the carton will deteriorate and I have often just slipped the old carton off and slid the lot into a new one.

The benefits of milk cartons as a pot for natives are the long straight sides and the corners. The roots will hit the corners and follow the water down to the slits I cut. This creates a healthy root system that cannot become pot bound.

When planting out from milk cartons, I will point out that it is the only useable pot for natives, that does not have to be upended. I just tear or cut the bottom off, grasp the carton by the top and drop it downwards. The plant roots and mix all stay together and slide out into the hole you have dug. The milk carton slides upwards. Stop it just before it slides all the way off. Water and backfill the hole leaving the milk carton as a tree guard. Done with skill, this does not require stakes to hold the carton erect. The carton will remain for up to two years as a tree guard that is biodegradable and will not cause the trees stress by becoming a tourniquet, as some plastic tree guards do.

Collection of Eucalyptus nuts

The Eucalyptus gum nuts (woody fruits) that are left on the tree after it has flowered, contain seed and chaff. When they have ripened some fall off naturally, or are nipped off by parrots and lorikeets.

These gum nuts can be collected and placed in a container or paper bag and left in a dry place until the valves in the top of the nut open and release the seed and chaff.

Some trees hold the nuts way past the first year. It is always best to take the older nuts as then you will be sure that the seed is mature and will germinate.

Some species of Eucalypt do not set much seed in the nuts, and some seed will not germinate.

Eucalyptus macrocarpa gum nut with seeds and chaff

Some easy ways to germinate the seeds:

Containers

Use a clean pot, about 100-150 mm across the top, with holes in the bottom.

Seed raising mix

You can buy seed raising mix from garden centres and some large supermarkets. It keeps, so just store it in a clean container, with a lid.

You can make your own with clean (washed) coarse sand and cocopeat.

• The cocopeat is available from garden centres and supermarkets. The block is the size of a house brick and is made from coconut husks.
• Half fill a 9 litre bucket with water, place the cocopeat brick in the water and leave it to absorb the water and expand and become moist and crumbly.
• Use about two parts peat and one part sand mixed together.

Sow the Seed

• Fill the pot to within 2 cm of the top of the pot and tap the pot on the table to settle the mix.
• Press the surface of the mix lightly to make it smooth.
• Sprinkle a pinch of the seed/chaff over the surface of the mix.
• Sprinkle a very light layer of the seed raising mix over the seed.
• Label the pot with the name of the species and the date.
• Labels can be made from the lid of an icecream container, or pop sticks.

130mm pot sown with Eucalyptus macrocarpa seeds

Caring for the pot of seeds

• Stand the pot in a container like an icecream container and fill the ice cream container with water.
• The water will soak up through the seed raising mix and wet the surface of the mix and the seeds.
• The surface of the mix should be kept moist, not soggy, so once the moisture is there, keep the water level in the ice cream container at about 3cm.

(You could use a fine spray from a hose to water. Be careful that it is fine so that you do not wash the seed out of the pot.)

Seed container in icecream cotainer

• Keep the pot in a sheltered, well lit spot, out of direct sun if the weather is hot.
• Seed should begin to germinate in 2-4 weeks, depending on the air temperature.
• When the seed has germinated, keep the water level in the icecream container quite low, or remove it altogether, keeping the potting mix just moist.

In the words of the author

‘Realistically it provides a simple method of matching plants to your conditions mimicking the intuition good gardeners develop over many years and recognizes a site’s limitations.  Modifications are discussed to extend the range of suitable plants.  It is not limited to native plants nor to Australia.  It benchmarks each garden’s attributes so the process works anywhere in any climate!’

This tool would work well with the lists of plants that have been published, so that the best choices can be made and if that plant must be one of them, it provides ideas for modifying the conditions so that there is a good chance of success. See details for purchasing here.

There is a number of species which do very well in the alkaline soils locally and once established, manage on the local rainfall of 334mm a year, falling mostly during the winter.

The first requirement is good drainage. This can be achieved by raising the planting area by  as little as 10cm, more would be safer, if this is a problem. An issue for me is that some parts of the block have little top soil and a planting hole can become a sump 9or like a plasti c pot without drainage holes) when there is clay underneath. I try to break through this and use gypsum in the hope that the overall drainage is improved. Otherwise the raised bed has to be used.

For frost sensitive species it pays to plant during spring to gain the growth and hardiness required before the first frosts in the following autumn.

Like all new plantings, the root ball of the plant needs to be kept moist until the roots have moved out into the surrounding soil. Always make sure that the drippers, if using them, flow onto the root ball. I have had most losses because of this failure.

The soil here is mostly very alkaline. Some areas of the town and outlying districts go down to neutral. The soil structure  is quite good apart from patches of ‘non wetting’ or water repellant sand. It is the limestone rubble that is the problem. At least the drainage is good. None of the books will say what plants will adapt to these highly alkaline soil conditions. In fact there are many plants which will grow happily in alkaline soil, even though the books do not say this. It is the highly alkaline soil which makes life a little more difficult. It has to be a trial and error situation. So my list will reflect what I know to be true.

It is worth getting the soil tested. A test kit costs something like $25 and will last for years. If there is an opportunity to have soil tested at a plant sale, take advantage of the offer. Sometimes plants which are acid soil lovers will grow in alkaline soil, even if not to the ultimate size that is listed. Others will look very yellow and deteriorate. There are remedies which will improve this, like iron chelates or sulphur watered in to the soil surrounding the plant. Follow the directions  on the container.

In poorly drained soil it is worth raising the level of the soil by creating small catchment areas and adding the soil to one side in the form of a mound. Planting on the mound will make an amazing difference to some plants. I have heard that the raised area will also decrease the effects that high alkalinity has on some plants.

I will begin the list tomorrow.

I found the only plant of Templetonia retusa, a prostrate form with apricot flowers. This plant is usually called Cocky’s Tongue because of the unususal shape of the flower reminiscent of a cockatoo’s tongue. It is a pea flower, similar to Sturt’s Desert Pea. I had been disappointed that I must have lost the plant, so it was a thrill to discover it in a box of overgrown plants waiting to be planted.

Another plant that I found was a seedling Correa which now looks like it might be a prostrate form of Correa alba. It will be interesting to see the flower to confirm this. The plant appears to have potential so we will see. I rescued another Correa seedling from a another pot which contained a  good plant, and repotted it. That will have to be treated as a cutting as I broke a bit of the root, removing it. I have no idea what that might be at this stage of growth. Another surprise coming.

I have not been impressed with the flowering of two Westringea seedlings, although the foliage is attractive. They will go out into this heathland too, I think.

I find nicking the seed to be more successful than the boiling water treatment. It is more labour intensive having to handle each individual seed but the results warrant it, I feel.

I still remember the first time I saw these growing in their natural habitat. We were heading for Arkaroola in northern SA and pulled off the road to have morning tea. It wasn’t until we were out of the car that we realised that we were in the middle of a huge patch of these plants and the first flowers for the season were just coming out. Fabulous photos (in those days, slides!) gave us great enjoyment later, too.

When you see the environment that they grow in it gives an appreciation of how far the roots must travel in order to survive the summer. The plants are sometimes perennial but probably best treated as annuals. They give a glorious display of their brash pea shaped flowers. Ants will carry the seed around the garden and they will pop up in the spots that you don’t want them but haven’t the heart to pull them out. The self sown ones always do better.

A lot of research has been done on breeding colours for export markets and on the growing of these plants. At one time it was always declared that you did not water these plants in the garden. After all look at where they grow in the wild in barren, parched locations. However, logically, they grow and flower when there is moisture available. So in the home garden they need water if you want growth and flowers. Apparently they do particularly well in self watering pots and also appreciate fertiliser. I haven’t tried this yet. I just want them in the ground, self sowing merrily away! To see some lovely photos of Sturt Desert Peas have a look at this web page.

Good gardening practice will always give good results for planting any types of plants, and Australian natives are no exception to this rule.

1. *Weed control is most important. Remove all weeds from the area to be planted. Be aware that cultivating the soil often will encourage weeds to establish. (On the other hand some native grasses will establish on uncultivated soil).

2. *Prepare the soil by forking to at least the depth of the root system, plus half again, and a diameter of 30-50cm (12-18inches) depending on the pot size.

3. Dig in whatever well rotted organic matter you may have, or keep it to apply to the soil surface.

4. I find it a useful thing to fill the planting hole with water and allow the water to drain away. This not only gives moisture in the subsoil to encourage roots downwards, but enables you to check the drainage of the area.

5. Create a raised planting site by bringing in soil from another area of the garden, if poor drainage is a problem or

6. Add gypsum to the soil if water seems to sit too long in the planting hole. About a kilo per square metre is recommended on poorly draining soils ie those that are mostly clay.

7. If water sits on the surface and seems to “bead”, non wetting soil is probably the problem. Buy a suitable soil re-wetting agent and follow the directions on the container. These are usually added after the planting is done.

8. *In general it is a good idea to soak potted plants in a bucket of water with some soil wetting agent added to it just before planting. (Unless you know for sure that the pot already contains this.) Soak long enough for bubbles to stop rising.

9. Adding fertilizer to the soil immediately below the plant can be a good thing. Use about a tablespoon of slow release fertilizer suitable for native plants, or use blood and bone added to the soil used to put around the plant in the planting hole.

10. *When placing the plant, create a small depression in the soil to act as a water catchment for rain or as a dam for hand watering.

11. *Plants need to be established by regular watering around the roots for several weeks, then weekly watering then leave greater intervals, depending on the amount of rainfall received. Don’t expect the plant to survive on natural rainfall if autumn rains have not begun in your district.

12. *Mulch the area surrounding the plant, keeping the mulch back a little from its stem.

13. *Use inorganic mulches like small sized gravel or sand that is free of weed seed.

14. *Or use organic mulches which will break down over time and need replenishing, but in doing so will add humus to the soil.

15. *Suitable organic mulches would be bark or wood chip, pea straw, rotted lawn clippings, or other rotted vegetable material or waste material.

The points marked * are the minimum that should be done.