Gardening Girls Canberra

Goldilocks takes on Thrips
With another mild winter, thrips will explode next spring. Can our gardens cope?
Goldilocks has matters in hand. Here are five steps for managing thrips.

1. Rake out the leaves and debris from under hedges and bushes. Pull out the trimmings caught inside. All this provides shelter for thrips over winter.
2. If your bush or hedge is congested, a thinning prune helps. Cut out lanky branches and diseased cuts with clean, sharp tools. Adequate light and air does wonders for plant health.

3. Feed affected plants with Seamungus and Healthy Earth rock minerals, ruffling into the soil over the entire root zone. Water in to activate. Even after this rain, the soil may be dry under that thick leaf layer.
4. Identify Lacewing eggs and Ladybird larvae. Save baby lady-beetles. 🐞 See picture ID in fact sheet on website.
https://gardeninggirls.com.au Goldilocks Vs Thrips

5. Restore balance. In our quest for order, have we made space for habitat where beneficial insects can live and work?
Mono-scape gardens lack diversity and therefore resilience. In using ‘Eco-friendly’ treatments, we spray the bushes birds’ nest in, killing the ‘bad’ insects that feed their young plus the ‘good’ ones that serve us. I wonder if Silver eyes and Jenny wrens think that’s friendly.

Nature doesn't operate in terms of good and bad, rather balance and imbalance. Thinking like nature creates possibilities. Amoungst the mass plantings, let's make space for wild things too 🦉

The Goldilocks garden, not too wild, not too rigid, just right 🥣 A safe environment for birds, critters, and humans.

Happy gardening and check the website for lady beetle larvae munching on aphids.

Victoria
Gardening Girls Canberra

Iris update
As promised, just 4 weeks later the irises blizted by whipper snipper are regrowing beautifully. Fresh, clean and tidy. By next month they'll be almost full size. Happy gardening, Victoria 😃

Iris blitz
Trimming iris the easy way.
Irises are scraggy creatures, their rhizomes make it hard to w**d and tidy late summer. UNLESS you take to the patch with a whipper snipper, yes indeed. A pair of shears will do the trick also. See what we've done here.
1. Freshly whipper snipped iris patch.
2. Rake over, so easy to w**d and tidy now.
3. Hand neaten with secatures
4. Hose iris splats off the fence.
5. One tidied iris patch. Remember Iris like the top of their rhizomes exposed to the sun. This triggers good flowering. Discard ratty old rhizomes to make room for healthy young ones to flower and reproduce.
6. PS, you can do the same to Agapanthus after winter frosts are finished.
We'll post another picture when the iris recover.
Happy gardening Victoria

How fantastic, we found a gardener to join the team. 😃 We need another one! If you're a keen home gardener drop me a line 📨 Know someone who is?Share the love, 🥰 let them know. Happy gardening Victoria

Gardening Girls Canberra - Gardening Girls Canberra Professional gardening service by experienced women gardeners.

Thank you everyone for the encouraging comments, appreciated. 😃
It's pruning season for camellias, today Rebecca and Harriette did some shaping prunes. Camellias love an anual prune for light and air. This keeps keeps growth strong and healthy, able to support large blooms which stand out. The row of camellias was form-pruned 14 months ago, very damaged by years of hedgers. They are recovering well. The Girls used secateurs for cleaner cuts and softer look.
Congested Cammies are prone to black sooty mould and small drooping blooms 😞 Pruning up to one quarter of young buds ensures higher quality blooms.
Feed cammies now with humus rich compost, a handful of rock minerals, and some handfuls of Seamungus or similar, ruffle in well then mulch, as roots are shallow. Remember to apply over the entire root zone, not around the plant collar. Water in to activate and enjoy healthy cammellias with beautiful blooms.
Happy gardening - The Gardening Girls

See what two of our amazing women did this week. In two and a half hours they w**ded, pruned and tidied up. Well done Garden Girls.

WANTED - Woman Gardener
15 hrs / week - Permanent Casual + Super

Gardening Girls Canberra is looking for a mature, passionate home gardener to join our all-women team Wednesday to Friday.
Working days are 5 hours, the team has a broad age range.
The successful gardener will have a reasonable knowledge of plants and their care. We work in teams in private gardens for long-term clients who appreciate our work. We don't do lawns, large hedges or commercial work.
Except for personal hand tools, equipment is provided. You’ll need your own vehicle, though we do pool cars where practical. On the job training is provided. Your experience, knowledge and reliability is matched by above award hourly rate plus super. Uniform is provided.
We cannot keep up with requests. If you see yourself working long-term doing what you love, contact Victoria. 0401 352 774
Women only Thank you.

Gardening Girls Canberra - Gardening Girls Canberra Professional gardening service by experienced women gardeners.

Thank you for your interest in our services. Gardening Girls Canberra is fully booked and the waiting list closed for now. When we have capacity once more we will update this notice. Thanks for your support. I hope to add more gardening tips soon. Happy gardening. Victoria