Horticulture Innovation Australia, Author at Hort Journal Australia

A winged fire ant queen preparing to fly to her mate and begin a new colony. Photo by Johnny N. Dell, BugwoodWiki

Nursery Papers – Watch out for red imported fire ands

12/10/2023 Horticulture Innovation Australia 247 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

Summary: The red imported fire ant eradication program has been tackling Queensland’s fire ant infestation since 2001, but recent reports show infestation areas have grown from 40,000 hectares to more than 750,000 hectares over the past 22 years.

Of Australia’s invasive ant species, fire ants pose the most serious threat to our biosecurity status because they move and colonise quickly, and have significant environmental, social and economic impacts.… Continue reading

Aussie Flat Bush™ Rhagodia ‘SAB01’ PBR

Plant Palette

Aussie Flat Bush™ Rhagodia ‘SAB01’ PBR: Resilience meets beauty

11/10/2023 admin 309 Views 0 Comments Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design

Immerse yourself in the beauty of Australia’s native flora with the Aussie Flat Bush™ Rhagodia spinescens, a low-growing, compact shrub with fine blue foliage.

Found throughout mainland Australia, Aussie Flat Bush™ Rhagodia has adapted to both inland and coastal situations, demonstrating its versatility.… Continue reading

Blue Horizon™ Eremophila glabra ‘EREM1’ PBR

Plant Palette

Unleashing the magic of nature with Blue Horizon™ Eremophila glabra ‘EREM1’ PBR

11/10/2023 admin 308 Views 0 Comments Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design

Presenting the marvel of Blue Horizon™ Eremophila glabra prostrate, a game-changer in the world of gardening and landscaping. This plant isn’t just a pretty face; it’s a hardy, adaptable ground cover that transforms ordinary landscapes into extraordinary vistas.

Blue Horizon™ Eremophila, with its denser ground cover form and fewer gaps, offers a lush carpet of blue-grey foliage that adds a touch of serene beauty to gardens.… Continue reading

Preserving Coventry’s heritage apple varieties (Image: Coventry University)

Newsbuds

Creating a community tree nursery from an abandoned allotment

11/10/2023 admin 249 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

A 50-year old find at an abandoned allotment sees Coventry University researchers create a community tree nursery. The unexpected discovery in Coventry, England, has led to a project looking to preserve the city’s trees.

Coventry University researchers Liz Trenchard and Sam Green came across apple trees growing at the abandoned allotment site while walking around Charterhouse Park.… Continue reading

Cyperus squarrosus, Bearded Flat Sedge

Newsbuds

Extinct plant species rediscovered in Victoria’s mallee

11/10/2023 admin 248 Views 0 Comments

A small plant species listed as extinct in Victoria has been re-discovered by botanists assessing recently flooded river land in Victoria’s north-west.

Cyperus squarrosus also known as Bearded Flat Sedge had been listed as extinct in Victoria for more than 60-years, with its last verified sighting in 1953.… Continue reading

A cross section of pileus surface of Pseudobaeospora taluna, highly magnified showing green reaction in an alkaline solution (Image: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria)

Newsbuds

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria discovers new species of fungi

11/10/2023 admin 259 Views 0 Comments

A recent investigation of collections of fungi Pseudobaeospora in Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria’s National Herbarium of Victoria has resulted in characterisation of the new species, Pseudobaeospora taluna.

Pseudobaeospora is a rarely encountered mushroom genus. There are no veils and so the whole sporing body is of rather simple construction.… Continue reading

Typical antlion pit (Images supplied by Denis Crawford)

Pest and Diseases

Some insects are tool users

11/10/2023 Denis Crawford 229 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Denis Crawford

Most people are familiar with mammals and birds that use tools, but they may not be aware that some insects also use tools.

I first became aware of animals using tools through the work of Jane Goodall in Africa during the 1960s.… Continue reading

Cottonwood flower (Hibiscus tiliaceus) (Image: Dan Austin)

International Plant Propagation Society

Rethinking the humble hedge

11/10/2023 Dan Austin 265 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Dan Austin

In Australia, we are spoiled for choice when it comes to the plants available for our gardens. Garden centres offer up a myriad of options for just about any purpose, but the popularity of a handful of favourites still leads to some species being overused and causing a sense of horticultural déjà vu when travelling around the country.… Continue reading

Careers

Ten pathways in amenity horticulture – Part 2

11/10/2023 Daniel Fuller 244 Views 0 Comments

By Daniel Fuller

Last month we looked at six of ten career pathways in amenity horticulture. They included 1) Production, 2) Retail nurseries, 3) Plant breeding, 4) Garden Design and Landscape Architecture, 5) Landscape construction, and 6) Landscape maintenance. This month we look at the remaining four sectors.… Continue reading

Business File

Are you in a rut running your business?

11/10/2023 John Corban 216 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By John Corban

For several months you may have felt that everything at work is tough, whether its winning work, trying to find a new employee, managing team members or managing cash-flow, your energy is flat and you feel you and your business is in a rut.… Continue reading

Shapes and colours in mass planting cannot be overlooked (Image: Patrick Regnault)

Plants

Let your creativity flow when exploring mass planting

11/10/2023 admin 218 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Patrick Regnault

Mass planting has been used to great effect over a long period of time, sometimes with flair. There are inconveniences with mass planting such as lack of diversity and monotony. Both can be overcome if we use layers and let our creativity flow.… Continue reading

Capers (Image: fedelacarrera1 Pixabay)

Plant Nutrition

Capparis – what am I eating?

11/10/2023 Clive Larkman 259 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Clive Larkman

If you look up the word ‘Caper’ you will get a reference to a silly activity or dance-like movement, neither of which really points towards the tart little garnish we eat with cheese, pasta and whatever else we can imagine.… Continue reading

Omeo Storks-bill seeds photographed in the National Seed Bank (Image: John Fitz Gerald)

Botanic Gardens

The Rare Bloom Project – building horticultural knowledge for conservation

11/10/2023 ANBG 229 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Zoe Knapp and Amelia Stevens

The Rare Bloom Project™ is a three-year program delivered through a partnership between Botanica by Air Wick and the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia (WWF) in collaboration with the Australian Seed Bank Partnership (ASBP). It aims to improve conservation outcomes for 120 Australian native wildflowers from fire-affected areas through seed banking, germination research and restoration.… Continue reading

The University of Adelaide's Waite Arboretum provides an invaluable resource to better understand which trees can survive in Adelaide's changing climate as the trees planted there are not watered after establishment (Image: The University of Adelaide)

Landscape

Future trees and climate change – how not to lose our cool

22/09/2023 Gabrielle Stunnus 291 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Gabrielle Stannus

With a PhD in the impacts of climate on vegetation and trees and a Diploma of Arboriculture, University of Adelaide Adjunct Lecturer, Dr Stefan Caddy-Retalic is well placed to speak on the impact of climate change on our urban trees.… Continue reading

Station Creel Tree Farm display

Industry Event

Industry comes together at Queensland’s Green Expo

22/09/2023 Karen Smith 265 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Karen Smith

The Nursery & Garden Industry Queensland (NGIQ) Green Expo was recently held at the Gold Coast Turf Club, showcasing greenlife displays which included everything from potted colour to advanced trees and everything in between.

All under the one roof, visitors have the opportunity to speak direct with suppliers, growers and allied traders.… Continue reading

General guidelines for successful tree planting: (a) 75mm watering basin around the trunk, (b) 75mm of mulch, clear of the trunk and beyond the edge of the hole overlapping the undisturbed soil, (c) backfill with site soil (based on Craul 1992, drawn by K. Smith, Metropolitan Trees Handbook, 2003

Advanced TRees

Giving trees their best start: It’s worth it

22/09/2023 admin 269 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By John Fitzsimmons

The benefits of trees in our landscapes and streetscapes are many, widely published, and should be widely recognised and accepted. Monetary valuations of mature urban trees (2022 estimated values) can range up to $220,000 each, and annual maintenance costs, depending on management programs, can be $150/year or more for decades of benefit.… Continue reading

Plastic pot collection bin

Recycling

Advancing horticulture through closed-loop recycling and product innovation

22/09/2023 admin 239 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

The Plastic Smart Program, a joint venture between Garden City Plastics (GCP), Norwood Industries, and Polymer Processors, is driving innovation, sustainability, and growth in the Australian horticulture sector. This collaborative effort aims to establish an innovative infrastructure that enables the industry and its communities to consume and reuse plastic in a sustainable way.… Continue reading

Bio-retention swale testing, Area 2, after three years

Research

Decade-long research identifies suitable plants for wet conditions

22/09/2023 Todd Layt 248 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Todd Layt

Evaluation of survivability of different landscape plants in various wet feet conditions.

Waterlogging has become a significant horticultural topic, particularly as our industry observed Australia enduring three years of exceptional wet conditions, including record floods. In a recent decade-long Australian study, researchers examined the impact of urbanisation and altered land use on ecosystems, particularly related to weather extremes, plant waterlogging, and increased flooding.… Continue reading

Careers

Ten pathways in amenity horticulture – Part 1

21/09/2023 Daniel Fuller 255 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Daniel Fuller

Amenity horticulture is more than just mowing, pruning plants, and spraying weeds. You can move from one sector of this industry to another to keep things fresh. Let’s look into ten pathways you can take in amenity horticulture, from production to maintenance and beyond.… Continue reading

Greener Spaces Better Places Update

What’s Growing on?

21/09/2023 Hort Innovation 280 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

WE HAVE BIG PLANS FOR THE NEW FINANCIAL YEAR

Welcome to this month’s Greener Spaces Better Places program update. Read on to find out the latest news and highlights to keep you up to date on what’s happening and how you can benefit.… Continue reading