New Gardeners

New Gardeners Professional advice for people who are new to gardening. Tim Toucan, the author of the site, has been working in horticulture for more than 35 years.

New Gardeners is designed to introduce the novice to a variety of interesting and informative facts and ideas about gardening. The content is generally focused on plants, flowers, and home produce, but can cross over into other areas such as propagation, and natural landscapes. At present he works for a large garden centre in metropolitan Sydney, and propagates succulents in his back garden on a s

mall scale. He is also the avid collector of over more than 1,000 horticultural books - much to the disapproval of his long suffering wife. Between 1998 and 2009 Tim lived in the UK. During this period he worked for a garden centre, and practiced as a garden consultant. Whilst abroad, Tim also became qualified to teach and train adults in further education, and was employed by The City of Bristol College as a horticultural teacher. Tim has been back in Sydney for over 5 years now. His business offers a consultation service where he makes an assessment of all the present and potential aspects of your garden. He also advises on garden design and reconstruction. Written notes on care and maintenance are included in the service. All of the photographs posted on the site are taken by himself, and a ceramic artist living in Sydney by the name of Denise McDonald. Tim hopes to inspire people who feel inquisitive, yet hesitant about making a start in gardening, to take that first step into the unknown and experience the joy of communing with the fascinating green lifeforms with whom we share our planet. The garden gnome waving to you at the top of the page is called Garthy.

Vandal proof public plant containers. Hobart, Tasmania. Karl Byrom
01/05/2024

Vandal proof public plant containers. Hobart, Tasmania. Karl Byrom

Binghamia insignis - Campaulaceae Family. Only took 10 years to flower.
27/03/2024

Binghamia insignis - Campaulaceae Family. Only took 10 years to flower.

Bauhinia galpinii - South Africa, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe. February, Sydney, Commonwealth of Australia. "Named after John...
20/02/2024

Bauhinia galpinii - South Africa, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe. February, Sydney, Commonwealth of Australia. "Named after John and Caspar Bauhin, 16th century Swiss botanists. The two brothers are represented by the unusually two-lobed leaves." [Coombes 1985].

Plants need less than 5% of the water they absorb in order to stay alive. If a plant is wilting it is not dying - it is ...
25/11/2023

Plants need less than 5% of the water they absorb in order to stay alive. If a plant is wilting it is not dying - it is simply thirsty. With many plants [not all of them] they can get so dry that their leaves fall off, but with lots of persistent watering the foliage can grow back again.

05/09/2023

mmm

The adjective 'rare' seems to be a contentious subject when it comes to talking about some species of plants. It's like ...
22/11/2021

The adjective 'rare' seems to be a contentious subject when it comes to talking about some species of plants. It's like the 'when is a w**d not a w**d' riddle di-dee. Dichondra argentea [Silver Falls] is sold in Sydney garden centres by the dozen, but is rarely seen growing in this habitat. Gives you a clue about how much water it really needs too ! Thought this qualified for as 'rare' because it is very uncommon to see such a plant established in such an apocalyptic environment. To whether it's a w**d or not... well, I won't enjoy to go there right now, if that's OK.

Balck Eyed Susan - Thunbergia alata. Flowering now ! Usually hate orange, but I can live with this... even if some peopl...
27/04/2021

Balck Eyed Susan - Thunbergia alata. Flowering now ! Usually hate orange, but I can live with this... even if some people think its a w**d.

Punica granatum 'Andre le Roi'. A tough, drought hardy deciduous shrub which is native to a broad region between Iran an...
08/10/2020

Punica granatum 'Andre le Roi'. A tough, drought hardy deciduous shrub which is native to a broad region between Iran and northern India. The fruits are inedible. The cultivar translates as 'King Andy'.

ALWAYS HAVE A MORROR STRATEGICALLY PLACED SOMEWHERE IN THE GARDEN SO THAT YOU CAN SEE ANYONE WITH A MACHETE SNEAKING UP ...
22/09/2020

ALWAYS HAVE A MORROR STRATEGICALLY PLACED SOMEWHERE IN THE GARDEN SO THAT YOU CAN SEE ANYONE WITH A MACHETE SNEAKING UP BEHIND YOU !

Seaw**ds are plants, types of algae in fact. Without them we'd all be dead. The more basic algal groups can either live ...
18/09/2020

Seaw**ds are plants, types of algae in fact. Without them we'd all be dead. The more basic algal groups can either live in salt or fresh water, but the more specialised autotrophic seaw**ds only grow in salt water.

Thomasia pygmaea - Tiny Thomasia - a short-lived perennial from South-West West Australia.
11/09/2020

Thomasia pygmaea - Tiny Thomasia - a short-lived perennial from South-West West Australia.

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