Strolling through the garden...

How lovely it is to see our customers take pride in their gardens. Our customer Helen Rodda  has built her magnificent garden up with large Shade trees, lovely flowering perennials and box hedging.

Helen's garden is called " Camelot Garden Stroll"and is situated at Kadina on South Australia's York Peninsula. Helen's Garden was open to the public in October and attracted over 300 people and helped raise funds for the local cancer council. Well done Helen, what a beautiful garden.

Take a look at the wonderful photos Helen sent into us...

Teak Garden Sculpture Balls from Serenity Nursery where strategically placed in a section of the garden.

Helen said "Everyone fell in love with them".  Comments like “Who made them”,  “Where did you get them from”,  “ I’ve got to have some of them”, to ‘I’ve never seen anything like them before” kept coming all the time.

Serenity Nursery's statue of Rose is enveloped by blooming roses and a metal garden arch.

Small wooden hearts from Serenity Nursery hang from the weeping mulberry tree.

Helen put together this nostalgic little nook. An old washer, washboard and basket

 complete the quirky display.

Heat Lovers

 

I drove past this amazing bougainvillea climber this week in Kingston. If you want a splash of vivid colour in your garden this is the plant. Bougainvilleas are excellent in pots. Grow up a trellis support to hide an ugly fence. They are @ Serenity Nursery now, and it's the perfect time to plant them. It's best to get them planted before it gets too cold. Look out for dwarf varieties too.

Below: Potted bougainvilleas in assorted colours that I spotted on a holiday in Darwin, just goes to show that they love the heat.

 



What's new at Serenity...

 

"White Caviar" Magnolia (Magnolia yunnanensis x figo) is a new evergreen Magnolia

 with large fragrant creamy flowers and glossy green leaves. It's a medium sized bushy shrub that grows 3-4m tall and 1.5-2m wide. With it's upright narrow habit this magnolia is ideal for screening or planted in small gardens. It also looks great in a large pot features. Flowers in Spring and Summer.

 

Image via Garden Assets

Fur Real.

Two dogs sound asleep in their hand-made pooch parlour.

Miniature rocking chair on the right of the balcony.

 

Pampered Pooch keeps watch on his grand palace. The metal balustrade is made from lace metal work and the hanging lanterns are from our gift shop. Astro turf completes the look.

 

One of the great things about running a garden centre is all of the lovely people we meet, most of whom are regular customers. It's fun hearing about every ones projects and what d.i.y jobs they are working on. One of our enthusiastic gardeners, David came in hunting around for a small dolls rocking chair, which we found...( not at all surprising as we stock so many random
 hard to find objects).

David explained to me he was buying the rocking chair for his dogs. Seriously? I asked.

So it turns out a few recent purchases from serenity were in fact going towards the construction and beatification of a lovely hand-crafted dog house made by our talented customer David.

Check it out, this is for real. The house sleeps three dogs, each with their own bed and a
 balcony to share.

This made my day! Krystal

Pruning Standard Lilly Pilly...

So the hot weather has past and left us with some scorched plants...It's time to clean up and prune any burnt new growth off your lilly pillys ( or any plants in the garden that copped it).

 

It is important to start with a good pair of garden shears. I have a quality pair of Wiltshires from Serenity Nursery. Keep them sharp with a sharpening file and clean them after each use with bleach or disinfectant, this will help prevent spread of disease.

 



This is my lilly pilly standard. It barely resembles a topiary as woody growth towers towards the sky and it has lost it's shape due to a little neglet. Lilly pillys are extremely vigorous growers and if planted in the ground can reach  up to 10m tall, so it is important to prune them regularly...guilty!

 

 

I always like to start by pruning some of the woodier branches with the hand secateurs. It is easier to get a cleaner more controlled cut with them. These branches can be cut in towards to middle of the topiary allot harder than the finer new growth, to prolong the time in between pruning and prevent the shrub getting too tall and woody in general.

 

 

It is always easiest to prune the finer new growth with the shears. I round the top first and then continue around the bottom. Here I have prune under the right side quite significantly to show how visually important it is to the form of the entire topiary. Prune right up to the main trunk to help create the sphear form.

 

 

Work around the topiary taking little bits off at a time. Stand back from time to time to assess the form from a distance and from all angles. One thing I learnt from my sculpture classes in art school was to leave the project and come back to it with fresh eyes, this may help you see the form better and see what areas need more pruning.

 

 

The finished product. I could probably spend another hour or so perfecting the shape..but this is a big enough improvement. Once I'm done pruning I give the shrub a treat...a good drink of liquid sea kelp to de-stress it after all of the hot weather we have had.

 

Enjoy your garden...

Krystal

Screen Queens

 

I was asked recently what a suitable screening plant was for a sunny position?
Here are my top 3 ...


1. Best "Grey Foliage screen" Westringia 'Wynyabbie Gem'
"Wynyabbie Gem" is a 1.5m tall x 1.5 m wide bushy shrub native to Australia. It is also know as native rosemary. This hardy shrub features grey/ green fine foliage. Pretty little mauve flowers appear in spring and throughout the year. I think it's a little under-used in today's gardens. There are so many great reasons to grow this screen. Team it with grey, silver and black foliage for a muted modern palette or use it as a back drop in formal gardens.

2. Best "Tough as Boots Screen"- Viburnum tinus.
I rave about this plant allot. It's an old fashioned shrub that can grow over 3m if left unpruned, but easy to maintain at a medium height. Plant viburnum in a row about 1m apart for a brilliant evergreen hedge or screen. The screen can be kept as low or tall as you like. The lush foliage is covered in clusters of white flowers with a flush of pink in spring. People will knock on my door asking "what is that screen?". It always looks lush, even in the hottest of weather.

3.Best "Red Hedge"- Lilly Pillys.
Pop into Serenity Nursery and you will see several varieties of Australian native lilly pilly. The lilly pilly come under three botanical names- Syzygium, Acmena and waterhousea.  If you are wanting a taller growing screen plant Lilly Pilly Backyard Bliss. It will grow 2-3m tall with magnificent red new growth. This particular lilly pilly is popular as it is psyllid free- so there will be no dimpled foliage in sight.  "Backyard bliss" responds well to pruning and can be pruned to any height.

Hope this will help solves your screening needs...Krystal

Out of the Square

 What a quirky idea for a garden gate. It is sometimes these hand-made off beat elements that can make a garden and give it a sense of personality. An"out of the square" detail can break up common garden elements such as lawn, retainer walls and hedging and give your garden life!

Image via Dying of Cute.

Yellow Cucumbers..to be or not to be...

Someone recently asked us...

Q. "How do I prevent my cucumbers turning yellow".

A. First we would suggest checking the variety of cucumber planted Check the seed packet or seedling label as there a many varieties of cucumber that are intended to be yellow, such as the armanian cucumber. Once you are certain the cucumber is a green variety check your harvest time. Cucumbers are generally ripe between 50-70 days. Cucumbers love a sunny spot and with the right care should thrive during the warmer months. They are fast growers with a shallow root system so frequent harvesting is important. Yellow cucumbers are often the result of over ripeness. Cucumbers should be picked when they are firm and bright green to dark green. If they are left to yellow on the bush they can become bitter and inedible.

Yellow By Design:
A cucumber that is yellow to cream in colour.

Armenia Cucumber (picture above). A yellow cucumber with a wonderful refreshing taste. We grow it in the organic nursery grow house. Sow the seeds in spring or summer. It can be trained up a trellis or left to sprawl.
Our Tip for Growing cucumbers: Use Plants Plus Organic Groganic soil improver to help prepare the soil structure. Fertilise with Neutrog Rocket Fuel, it's a fantastic organic pellitised fertiliser to use from 2 weeks right through the growing season. Keep cucumbers moist and choose a sunny spot in the garden.
Also try Crystal cucumbers a pale apple-sized cucumber that is juicy and lovely to eat on it's own.

Plant or chocolate? Have both!

Let's face it chocolate and Christmas go so well together and what an inovative way to get your chocolate fix with a Chocolate Cosmos plant. The chocolate flowers are heavenly perfumed of sweet chocolate and this plant will grow in a pot or out in the garden.

Chocolate Cosmos are in the garden centre now so be quick.

To Oz....

We love all things quirky here at Serenity Nursery and these galv boot planters are one of our favourite quirky items in at the moment.

 

Perfect for planting flowering bulbs or little dandy geraniums.

They also remind me of the Tin Mans Boots...Oil Me!!

 



Today's Wimsy...

 

Hope your all enjoing the festive season.

What's in store?

 

New in for Christmas:

 

Don't worry be happy metal signs.

 

Our teak deer head wall mounts are back ( as featured in Real Living Magazine)

 

Lots of wall art including a variety of tree designs from $30.

 

Teak furniture for outdoors.

 

Hyathins patio settings.

 

Too much to mention, pop in for a visit and see for yourself.

 

Krystal

xx

 



 

Today's Dirt:

Image here

Gardens for Horses...

First of all we designed the garden in the nursery by teaming different plants around the ball sculptures. Some of the plants we used included dark purple cannas, silver foliage succulents, yellow banana split yuccas, dark foliage blazed dianellas and flap jack succulents. We then watered them well, spayed the foliage with a heat protectant and loaded them onto the truck for the journey to Adelaide.

 

Man Power. Lucky my Hubby and Dad were here to do all of the heavy lifting. Here you can see the horse jumps in the background.

We discussed with the officials where the display could be positioned. With water pipes below, a camera crew and leaping horses, we couldn't be complacent about the positioning.

 

I position the plants...the fun part. I just love designing gardens and love the contrast between different foliage's. The soft grey foliage of the frosty top lomandra combines

 well with the structured succulents.

 A couple of cranes in the centre makes the display near complete.

 

 



 

I really liked this part of the display. We used English box at varying heights around the obelisk and placed a topiary cone box in the centre.

 



Finally all of the plants were covered in mulch. Over the 3 days the canna lillies flowered and it was great to see the beautiful horses galloping around our display.

What an incredible opportunity we were given to supply plants for the International 3 day horse event held on the edge of Adelaide city at Rymill park. We were also offered an area of the track to design and install a garden. We used our unique teak garden balls and teak obelisk and installed plants around them for an eye catching display. Our display was set right amongst the horse jumps and was was greatly appreciated by visitors to the park.

Boot Scootin

Look what I did with Dad's old boots...

How to: Drill a few holes in the bottom of the boots for drainage.
Filled them up with Succulent Potting mix.
Plant a selection of upright and cascading succulents for effect.

Scarecrows and raised garden beds...

Darcy with his newly planted Raised Garden Bed from Serenity Nursery.


1st Prize: Congratulations to Darcy Walding of Murray Bridge High School who won Serenity Nursery's Annual Scarecrow making competition. Darcy hand stitched his scarecrow and stuffed it with hay, they old fashioned way, making a very authentic looking scarecrow. Dacy took out the most community votes and won himself this Raised colour bond garden bed including Amgro Soil and a lovely mix of vegetables and herbs worth $700.

2nd Prize: went to Holly Dimasi, also of Murray Bridge High school. Holly's arty skills found her using a dolls face and hand painted Rossy boots. Holly Took home a compost tumbler valued at $210.

3rd Prize: Coonalpyn Primary School took the recycled approach making a large chicken wire body filled with a variety of recycled materials such as a used key board, plastic bottles and scratched cds. Coonalpyn School took home a Tumbleweed worm cafe and accessories valued at $120.

Serenity Nursery would like to thank everyone who entered the scarecrow competition and everyone from the community who took the time to vote for their favourite scarecrow. A big Thank you to our sponsor Amgro, a local supplier of ours who provide us with top quality potting Mixes for best results in the garden.

Heart to Heart

I was flipping through this months Home Beautiful and I found this pretty bedroom with a heart hanging above the bed. It is very similar to the hearts we stock at Serenity Nursery. Head to the
 Wall art page on the Serenity Nursery website to see our natural handmade wall hearts in an antique grey finish. Three sizes available starting from $19.99.

Image: Home Beautiful

Spring Green your home...

 

 

 

Morrocan Pouffe available at Serenity Nursery

Some interior style ideas using light green, cream and white to help bring "Spring" into your home. Using green this way lightens and brightens the home for Spring/Summer. Use Indoor plants or bring your outdoor plants inside for a short period. Try cut flowers like green hydrangeas or opt for all green foliage in a vase for an element of freshness.

A day with family in a topiary courtyard...

This is my aunty and uncle's courtyard topiary garden in the eastern suburbs. I wanted to show what you can do with a small space and achieve a practical low maintenance garden. I must say we had a great bbq lunch here and sat by the Mexican chiminea (note: this same authentic chiminea is available @ serenity nursery).
The courtyard is basically a potted garden, the only thing planted in the ground is a massive old fig tree that shades and envelopes the courtyard. Buxus box and lilly pillys form conical shapes in the assortment of terracotta pots for a Tuscan touch.

A terracotta bowl filled with cascading lobelia casually sits on a teak folding chair. A couple of  hand spun tall round pots by South Australian company Bennett's Pottery are a long lasting terracotta product that won't fret and are perfectly teamed with  lilly pilly cone topiary. Parsley is potted for use in the kitchen near by.

My Aunty snapped up this old iron table and chair set from a chuck-out near by. It was white and rusted but once given a sand back and a lick of black paint it came up as good as new. It really adds character to the garden.

 

A perfect place to relax: Teak furniture and a sandstone outdoor dining table make this a great spot to chill out with family. Check out the cream provincial urns on the dining table- A gift from us at Serenity!

 



 

The English box topiaries have flourished with new spring growth bringing splashes of

 green to the courtyard. 



Today's quirky saying...

Artwork by Blue Fruit

Arty Stuff..

 



 

A few images to inspire your creative side this spring...Krystal.