Growing Gardens

with Julia Hancock

Select a Cycad

Cycads are the original dinosaur food but they also feed the appetites of 21st century garden designers, hungry for exciting foliage plants.

Cycads are found growing in the wild in South Africa, Mexico, Central America, South America, Madagascar, southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean islands and Australia.

Only three cycad genera - Bowenia, Lepidozamia and Macrozamia are found exclusively in Australia. Bowenia grows in the coastal rainforest in the far north of Queensland where it colonises the crevices in rocks and along the forest creek beds, so it requires constant warmth and a humid atmosphere if grown in domestic situations.

Lepidozamia occurs naturally in a wide belt extending along the coast from the north of Queensland down to southeastern New South Wales. It is a real pleasure to encounter mature specimens of Lepidozamia peroffskyana on bushwalks in pockets of hilly rainforest around here. It colonises well in the semi-shade cast by eucalypts and looks eerily primeval in the tranquillity of an enclosed forest. The same effect can be achieved on a smaller scale in the home garden where it will benefit from copious amounts of nicely rotted compost to keep it growing well.

The genus Macrozamia is tolerant of a far wider range of climatic zones including frost and drought and can be found all over New South Wales, south east Queensland, central Australia and south west Australia. Macrozamia communis or Burrawang palm is the species most readily available in garden centres and it makes an excellent feature plant in subtropical gardens.

Any readers who drive through Uki may notice the cycads planted around the RSL cenotaph in the Main Street. These cycads are descendants of the original Cycas revoluta plant that was brought to Uki from Japan in 1927. The parent plant produced abundant 'pups' that are now growing happily in gardens all through the Tweed Valley, including my own.

Lismore Garden Club News

If you would like any information on the Lismore Garden Club phone Mary on 6621 5293.

Winter is the best time to tackle those big projects in the garden such as digging up a new garden bed, putting in a garden arch or putting in a fish pond. The possibilities are endless and these lovely mild winter days are ideal for doing those big jobs that would be prohibitive in the warmer months. So don't procrastinate, there's no time like the present to get stuck into it.

If you want to put in that new garden bed, but cannot cope with the hard physical work, why not consider a "no dig" flower or vegie garden. Here is a simple method:

Cut up cardboard cartons and lay them out on the grass on the new garden location. They should be around the size of the garden needed. Then make up a rectangular or square hardwood frame about 20cm high (recycled timber is ideal). Then place the frame on the cardboard. Take a few bales of hay (spoiled Lucerne is best). Peel it off in 20cm pieces and place inside the wooden frame, in rows with a 10cm gap between them. Fill these gap trenches with compost and plant seed or seedlings directly into them. Water the whole garden.

Happy gardening
Ron Burns