A tray of paper pots with small seedlings growing in them.
Build your garden

Why won’t my seedlings grow?

Our horticultural experts answer a common question for gardeners who are trying to start their plants from seed: why won't my seedlings grow?

Mulch surrounding a green-leafed plant.
Soil

How healthy soil helps save water

When it comes to getting your garden through a hot summer, a good place to start is improving your soil so it holds more water.

Plant support frames help with the organisation of your garden.
Build your garden

Grow more with climbing frames

Training plants up a climbing frame will help you grow more in a limited space and get higher returns at harvest time.

A fruit tree that has been trained or espaliered to save space.
Build your garden

How to maximise your garden space

Maximise the space available in your garden so you can enjoy an ongoing supply of fresh produce.

Allium seed heads cut down for drying and seed-saving.
Propagating

Essential guide to seed saving

Saving seed from your garden is an important part of organic growing: it saves money, helps reduce food miles and means what you grow is better suited to your microclimate.

Herbs, such as thyme and rosemary, thrive in terracotta pots.
Growing in pots

How to master the art of growing plants in containers

Pots are used in smaller yards to conserve space, but growing in containers can be very handy, no matter the size of your garden.

A henhouse with a number of chooks scratching in a sandbox. One chook, a barnevelder, is sitting on the edge of the sandbox.
Build your garden

How to maximise your hens’ egg production with a balanced diet

If you are dreaming of an achievable and rewarding way to supply some of your own food, you can’t go past keeping laying hens, such as the barnevelder.

Long-term wet weather poses a threat to fowls’ health.
Bees, poultry & livestock

Wet-weather proof your poultry

While ducks may enjoy downpours, backyard poultry are not so happy. Our chook expert, Jessamy Miller, has some tips to take care of your feathered friends.

Soil pests and diseases can accumulate in a bed if the same crop is grown repeatedly.
Build your garden

How to put in place a crop rotation plan

A crop rotation plan will help avoid pest and disease build up in your garden.

Any herbivore manure makes a great soil conditioner.
Soil

Which manure is best?

Asking yourself whether chook poo or that bag of horse manure a friend has offered you for free is what you need? Consider these points first.

Picking your own fruit fresh from a tree is one of the top gardening joys.
Basics

Plan for the future: grow fruit trees

Honey and Leonie Atkinson transformed a patch of kikuyu grass into a thriving orchard, here's their planting advice to help you have your own bumper fruit harvest.

A juvenile eastern spinebill uses its curved beak to access nectar in kangaroo paws.
Build your garden

How to bring more birds into your garden

Insects play a vital role in supporting native birds. Here's how you can plant to attract more bugs, and so more birds, to your backyard.