I review these products during tasks I personally carry out within my garden on a regular basis. Using the right product or tool for the job makes the difference of doing it the easy way or the hard way, so I really value a product which can make my life easier.

I am hoping that garden related companies will send me ‘products’ to test and evaluate. However I must stress that I will not be anything but fair and make no promises to these companies other than to tell the truth. Many of the products here are what I have already purchased for my own gardening use and are happy with.
You may ask, what are your qualifications? Well Judy and I opened our garden through the ‘Australia's Open Gardens’ for
10 years. We now open to support a specific charity.
We had our 18th Open Garden in 2019.
We won Gardening Australia’s 2009 ‘Golden Trowel’, have appeared on the ‘Garden Guru’s and ‘Gardening Australia’ twice and on various other television shows. We have given over 200 presentations to garden clubs on Sub tropical gardening and open our garden for bus tours. What is more important is that we have learnt from our gardening mistakes.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Organic Fertilizer



We used to use a chemical fertilizer once a year and that was just prior to our 'Open Garden' it gave the lawns and plants an instant lift and a good colour.
The biggest drawback is that main fertilized company in Australia 'Intec' is now owned by a Chinese company and Judy and I prefer to support 'Aussie' products, that's why I am doing this review.
For the rest of the year we only use 'Organic Xtra' and 'Eco88'they contains all we need for our plants to stay healthy.
Organic Xtra has all the proven properties of
  • composted manure
  • blood and bone
  • feather and fish meal
  • seaweed
  • natural minerals
  • and Sulphate of Potash.
  • This  blend contains scientifically balanced ratios of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and at least 13 essential trace elements. 
Because Organic Xtra is naturally composted, it delivers a slow release of essential nutrients and trace elements, without the risk of burning 
Organic Xtra improves the health of the soil, your garden will be benefit from billions of beneficial micro-organisms in just a few weeks.
Obviously the main component is composted chicken manure and you can purchase it in pellet or powder form.
We always have a bag handy, and it's not too expensive.
When potting we always put a little bit in the pot and it certainly helps.
For a great all round fertilizer with everything you cannot go past Eco88, it is a bit more expensive, but you get more 'bang for your buck'.

Achieve fast growth and long lasting colour with Eco88(s), a quality, balanced fertiliser that combines organic and inorganic elements. This premium fertiliser is suitable for the whole garden and fantastic for lawns due to its balance of nutrients, granular form and added iron.

Eco88(s) was originally formulated specifically for turf but today is now used as a general purpose fertiliser. The added iron produces more vibrant colours in flowers and deep green foliage.
Eco88(s) contains two forms of nitrogen (sulphate of ammonia and organic nitrogen) along with phosphorus, sulphate of potash and essential trace nutrients to ensure fast greening, strong leaf growth, and bright colours.
The added organic material improves soil nutrition and balance and we use sulphate of potash rather than muriate of potash as it is better for the environment.
As with all of our fertilisers, Eco88(s) is quality checked at each stage of processing so you can be assured that it is free of pathogens, low in moisture, easy to apply and delivers long lasting results.
It's a local product made in Queensland so we should all support 'Aussie' made products.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Hedge Shears


As you are obviously aware I am a big fan of Fiskars products.
Why, it's really quite simple.
They are very well made, last for ages and are easy to use.
I have recently bought a Fiskars Compost Fork and a Ergonomic Garden Fork both are great to use.
In this article I will review the Hedge Shears.

The best thing is the quality of metal used and the special coating which helps with the cut and sharpness of the blades. 

A lot of thought has gone into the design of these shears and being ergonomic means less blisters and tired arms.
Another great product by Fiskars.