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Sep 142016
Jun 132017
Duo or multi planting is our preferred option (rather than double or multi grafting) when two or more trees are wanted in a small space. The resulting multi trunked, single canopy tree, is easy to manage and prune. You can radically increase the number and variety of fruit trees in your back-yard orchard with duo or multi planting. This allows you to enjoy a wider range of fruit over a much longer period.
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Jun 072017
Acer palmatum and Acer japonicum
Of all the ornamental trees, the Japanese Maples are easily my personal favourites. Light, airy, layered.
The Acer palmatum is generally seed grown, so there is some degree of variability within trees, but generally speaking this is a delightful small airy vase shaped tree with a 5 lobed leaf, bright green in spring, mid green over summer, turning orange, crimson and yellow over autumn. Roughly 3-8m x 4m. It is from this species that the vast majority of the cultivars are derived.
Acer japonicum is sometimes called the Full Moon Japanese Maple. The rounded leaves have 9 – 13 lobes and give a wonderful light and airy effect. It leafs up early in spring with lovely lime green leaves, deepening to green over summer and then autumn sees stunning, almost iridescent, oranges and deep crimson reds. The larger leaf surface gives an amazing autumn display. Slightly taller at 4m to 8+m in height, you will need to allow room for it to spread.
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Jun 042017
Nothing compares to the taste of homegrown strawberries, and those monster things you buy in punnets at the shops are generally a poor (and expensive) imitation. So, why not grow some strawberries at home! Good position and good soil are the keys to successful strawberries. Strawberries are actually a European cool-climate plant, and need to be treated with a bit of love in our part of Australia. For those of you growing strawberries during the warmer periods of the year, we suggest growing under a little shade cloth cover. This is ‘slip, slop, slap’ for your strawberries to stop the sunburn… they’ll thank you for it! In the cooler months, a nice, warm, full-sun to part-shade spot is perfect… morning sun with protection from the afternoon rays.
Jun 012017
Asparagus are a hardy perennial vegetable that is highly versatile in the kitchen. They are great on the bbq and fantastic in stir frys. Asparagus are best grown from crowns in winter as they are guaranteed to be male plants, which are generally thicker and higher yielding than females. They can also be purchased and planted from seed-grown stock at any other time of the year, however there is no guarantee the plants will be male.
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Jun 012017
Rhubarb adapts well to all climatic zones and most soils with good drainage. It can be grown in full sun or part shade, but avoid planting in heavy shade. Rhubarb plants are gross feeders and beds should be prepared by working through liberal quantities of well-rotted manure. Plant crowns 1-1.5m apart with the top of the crown level with the soil surface. Harvest very sparingly in the first year.
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May 312017
A few years ago I wandered into the Wolf Bar in Carlton and was enveloped in the warm and heady nostalgic aroma of mulled wine. It shot me straight back to university days in the 70s and 80s, and every June since has seen me reaching for cloves, cinnamon sticks and red wine. I just love this time of year: the satisfaction of a major clean and tidy up in the garden, planting for spring with all the hopes and promise ahead, the camellias in bloom and debating squeezing in just one more gorgeous tree only available in the bare root season. It may be getting chilly, but now I have my mulled wine. Read on!
May 292017
We sometimes speak to customers who are a little confused about what exactly an indigenous plant is. Yes, they are all Australian Natives, however the definition is a little more detailed. Specifically, indigenous plants are those that occur naturally in your local area. Obviously this term will refer to different plants according to where you live.
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May 282017
Due to the removal of native trees across Australia for building, logging, agricultural or firewood purposes, millions of natural tree hollows are lost every year. The devastation is particularly apparent in urban environments, where the loss of established trees has seen a dramatic decline in native fauna over the last fifty years due to a lack of appropriate habitat and nesting sites. Even if you live in an area with quite large trees, hollows usually take over 100 years to develop. Thus it may be many years before appropriate nesting / roosting sites are available for many species. It is this lack of habitat that places significant stress on our native animal populations, and can result in once common garden residents becoming rare or non-existent in our suburbs.
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May 182017
Sculpture and ceramics
by Nicola Hoyle & Ann Maree Gentile
19th May to 9th July 2017
Exhibition Opening – 2-4pm, Saturday 20th May
We are pleased to welcome Ann Maree and Nicola back to the Bolin Bolin Gallery. They have had a number of successful exhibitions in our gallery. Regulars to our gallery will know & love their work. Ann Maree makes colourful and quirky ceramic sculptures. Recently she has been making lots of birds. Some of her new work has been influenced by recent travels in France. Nicola’s metal sculptures and bird baths often feature in the gallery and garden at Bulleen Art & Garden, and are exemplified by the gallery sign in the new Bolin Bolin Gallery.
Find out more about this exhibition at http://gallery.baag.com.au/?p=3353
May 092017
Persimmon are a highly ornamental deciduous fruit tree with dense bright green foliage, spectacular orange and red autumn colours, light grey bark, and a beautiful twisted form in old age. In same cases, the large orange fruit are held on the bare branches after leaf-fall, creating a jeweled sculpture! Height is 3-10 m, tending to under 5m in the home garden.
May 072017
Are you looking for something special to give your mum this Mother’s Day? Then come on down to BAAG and have a look – we’ve got gifts that every kind of mum will appreciate. If she’s a green thumb mum, you’re sure to find something in the nursery that she’ll like. If she’s an arty mum, she’ll no doubt love something from the gallery. If she’s a bookworm mum, you’re sure to find something from our bookshop that will please her. If she’s the kind of mum that likes beautiful and eclectic giftware, we’ve all manner of treasure in the shop. And if she’s a crafty mum or the kind of mum that would prefer an experience or activity, you could always book a spot for her in one of our Art workshops or Sustainable Gardening & Living Classes.
Don’t forget there is always a BAAG Gift Voucher for those of you who are really not sure what to get Mum. You can either grab a Gift Voucher at the front counter when you are in here, or for those who prefer to shop online you can buy a Gift Voucher at our website and we will mail it out to you free of charge (or directly to your Mum if you prefer!)
May 022017
What garden is complete without a plethora of peas? A great winter crop, peas add vertical interest to the vegie patch, and give a decent yield for the amount of space they consume. And besides, there is no greater pleasure than a handful of home grown peas eaten straight from the pod. So go on, pop in some peas – you’ll be pleased you did!
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May 012017
Autumn foliage at its most stunning. The cold days and nights bring out the deep reds, translucent oranges and butter yellows in our wonderful deciduous trees. Take the time to enjoy autumn’s late flowering salvias, wonderful quince fruit (with their heady scent) and savour the late season apples. Take a bolt to the Dandenongs and combine autumn colours with early flowering camellias. I just love this last hurrah before winter. So rug up and enjoy May in your garden!
Apr 012017
Our customer base is a pretty savvy and well informed one, and this is always re-enforced in March and April as sales of our native plants soar. Our customers are well aware that this is the ideal time to plant natives and all of a sudden I am doubling orders for natives as they walk off the bench. The weather can still provide us with warm days in April, but without the hot sun and with rain happening or imminent it’s an ideal time for gardening and planting. Now is also the perfect time to start preparing your winter vegie patch. There’s plenty to do in the garden in April, so put summer behind you and get cracking!
Mar 312017
Autumn is the best time to plant your winter vegetable garden. As the weather cools and the rain starts to fall more frequently it is a pleasure to get back into the garden, remove spent summer crops and plant vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, broad beans and peas. It is an advantage to start planting at the beginning of autumn as many winter vegetables require a long growing period. Read on for everything you need to do to ensure a bumper winter vegie crop.