02 Feb
0
5412
Title image above is copyright © The Caledonian Tree Co. Ltd
All text and images are copyright © The Caledonian Tree Co. Ltd
First reproduced here 2nd February 2023
When the tap root reaches the base, increased air in the growing medium dehydrates the tip, pruning it and stimulating lateral root b..
13 Jan
0
5133
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
(This article was originally published 10th January 2023 here on our Jujube Tree Nursery site.)
First published here 13th January 2023.
I noticed random jujube trees looking a bit ‘not right’ one day in November 2022. And then almost overnigh..
05 Nov
0
6183
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 5th November 2022
NOTE: this newsletter went out to subscribers of two previous sites mentioned herein: Urban Heirlooms and Garden Clippings, which have since been combined into this single site Wollongong Nursery.
Hello every..
04 Nov
0
5742
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 4th November 2022
Introduction
People new to the growing of tomatoes may see one variety described as determinate and another as indeterminate, but are none the wiser, as these terms are not always defined at the time. Going f..
07 Jul
0
10975
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 7th July 2022
Part One covered how I was inspired by three composting concepts to fill a raised bed which would always be self-fertile. The end result was essentially a hybridisation of Esther Deans’ no-dig garden and sheet mu..
06 Jul
0
5353
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 6th July 2022
My go-to method for filling a raised vegetable or garden bed was inspired by three composting concepts that weren’t quite the hot composting method per se, but which came close for the purposes I needed — that of..
06 Jul
0
4492
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
(This article was originally published 26th October 2020 here on our Jujube Tree Nursery site.)
First published here 6th July 2022.
Composting is an age-old technique of converting waste organic matter into nutrient-rich soil amendments that ..
03 Nov
13
26588
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 3rd November 2021
Introduction
I do enjoy my citrus collection, and they are all healthy-looking and fertilised and watered regularly. But at the same time I’m sadly a very out-of-sight out-of-mind kind of person, and the tree..
02 Nov
1
7730
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 2nd November 2021
Updated 29th October 2025
I’d never be without this classic remedy for arthropod* pests. Simple and dirt-cheap to make, lasts forever, and with the added bonus that arthropods* can never develop resistance to..
07 Aug
0
8903
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 7th August 2021
My background is microbiology and biochemistry, but I developed an intense interest in botany much later, and wow, that discipline just does your head in, as investigating what exactly a fruit is reveals!
(Just..
24 Jul
0
5846
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
(This article was originally published 8th December 2020 here on our Jujube Tree Nursery site.
First published here 24th July 2021.
Edited to include the public domain image below, of a flower’s anatomy, not available at time of original post...
17 Jul
0
2417
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 17th July 2021
Many plants respond very well to an Air-Pot container, but sometimes a little too well to the point they outgrow it quite quickly — their root balls become so dense that they uptake water faster than can be held..