The 140mm pot (which is larger than a tube) is the smallest size (and hence the cheapest plant) that will ensure survival and success at planting. Buying your plants in tubes is false economy if they don’t grow, or worse still if they die.

That is why the bulk of Yuruga’s plants are sold in 140mm pots, and why only a small range of our plants are available to you in tubes.

You will notice that our Yuruga stocklist contains only a very small range of tubes. We don’t sell the bulk of our plants (eg lilly-pillies, grevilleas, banksias etc) to the public in tubes. Why not?

It’s because we care about the survival and success of your planting. As a general rule, most plants in tubes are too young to survive and grow successfully. They need to be bigger to guarantee success. Hence the standard 140mm diameter pot (which is much bigger than a tube) is the preferred pot size for selling to the public, for good reason.

Young plants are like young people… they need to be big enough before they can be sent out into the world to fend for themselves. Just as a two-year old child is not big enough for school, young plants in tubes are not usually well-enough developed for planting out until they reach the 140mm pot size.

The 140mm pot (which is larger than a tube) is the smallest size (and hence the cheapest plant) that will ensure survival and success. Buying your plants in tubes will be false economy if they don’t grow, or worse if they all die. That is why the bulk of Yuruga’s plants are sold in 140mm pots.

We know this from 30 years of experience, and we care about the success of your planting.

The trouble is that this, on its own, will not solve the problem. Myna Birds have only moved into Cairns in pest proportions because the native birds have been driven out. Native birds need native plants, but over the years Cairns gardens have become more and more exotic and less and less native. Hence, a vacuum of native birds has created a void for exotic Myna birds to fill.

Trapping and removing the Myna birds is not a permanent solution. Native birds will not move back into gardens made of exotic plants, even if there are no Myna birds there. Native birds simply do not live in gardens of exotic draceanas, happy plants, heliconias, hibiscus, acalyphas and gold canes. So, removing the Myna birds will only work in the short time, and after a little while new Myna bird populations will re-establish because there are no native birds to keep them out.

The only long-term solution is to increase the habitat for native birds by planting native plants. This is where a concerted effort by land-holders and government agencies is needed, to change planting policy from exotic plants to native plants.

This approach will work. We know from experience.

Yuruga Nursery is surrounded by farming land inhabited by large populations of Myna birds. They sit on the fence and look in, but they have never, in our 30 years experience, ever done more than fly over our property. Why? Because our native gardens have an established population of native birds which keep the Myna birds out.

The following is an article from our August 2004 newsletter.

Solving the Myna Bird Problem (and sparrows as well)…

Myna Birds are a terrible pest in gardens in north Queensland. They are aggressive and destructive, and when they move into your garden they drive every other bird out. The number of articles that have appeared in the local media lately gives an indication of the seriousness of the problem. All sorts of remedies are being advocated, including a gassing machine to catch and destroy the birds. For nature lovers this is a drastic and quite alarming solution.

There’s actually a very simple solution, which native plant lovers have known for years… plant native plants!

Native plants provide habitat for native birds, and if you have a strong, stable and well-established population of native birds in your garden, Myna birds will not be able to establish there.

The trick is to have a sufficiently large and established population of native birds in the garden so that force of numbers and established territory makes the garden an unattractive place for the Myna birds to move into.

Native birds need native plants if they are to live permanently in your garden, so the secret of building up a strong and permanent population of native birds in your garden is to plant sufficient native plants in the right balance. You need to provide both food and shelter, and to cater for fruit and insect eating birds as well as honeyeaters.

Include lots of honey-flora plants, making sure the plants you choose are suitable for your area. Popular honey-flora plants include grevilleas, callistemons, banksias, melaleucas, tea-trees, graptophyllums and eucalypts.

Also include plants that will provide food for the fruit and seed eaters. Figs and native Laurels are great for larger gardens. In smaller gardens, the Little Evodia is a very sought-after seed-source, and the fruit of dianellas (flax lilies) are very popular food sources for native birds.

It’s all a matter of choosing suitable plants for your particular garden, so don’t be afraid to ask our expert retail staff for advice in selecting plants.

Native birds will not establish permanent populations in your garden unless you also provide adequate shelter and appropriate nesting sites, so you will need to include lots of lilly-pillies and other dense bushy plants. Make sure the plants you choose are suitable for your area so that they grow well and provide sufficient food and shelter.

Evidence gathered from gardeners over the years suggests that you need an area of about an acre, made up of at least 80% native plants. This may sound impossible, but the good news is that you don’t need to own an acre yourself. Birds don’t see man-made fences and so a group of like-minded neighbours with predominantly native gardens can easily achieve the same result.

The Yuruga Nursery property is surrounded by farming land which is regularly invaded by Myna birds. However, we have never had Myna birds at Yuruga, and this is due simply to the large and extensive native gardens and the permanent populations of an assortment of native birds at the nursery.

For more information on how to create a balanced native garden that will attract native birds to the exclusion of pest birds such as sparrows and Myna birds, see our Information Sheet No. 7 “Attracting Birds”.

Xanthorrhoea johnsonii

Your purchase of these stunning trees will enhance your outdoor space and give you years of pleasure. An impressive feature, your grass tree will add value to your home and lifestyle experience.

Grass trees are extremely hardy if well cared for in the initial stages of transplanting from the wild. Only a small number of reputable companies successfully transplant grass trees and our supplier is one of them.

Our trees are not sold for around 12 months after transplantation, which is when they display strong root and new top growth. Grass trees are extremely slow growing. In poor bush soil, where most grass trees grow naturally, the trunk will grow approximately 1cm per year. They take up to 10 years to start forming a trunk, and a tree with a 1 metre tall trunk could be 100 years old. In better soils, growth is slightly faster and trees are more likely to grow multiple heads.

Grass trees will always grow more vigorously in the garden than in pots, as they can access the right balance of nutrients themselves.

Planting and Drainage:

Choose an open, sunny position for your grass tree, with good drainage. Avoid any boggy or low-lying spots that hold water during the wet season. Plant on a slope or in a raised bed if that is not possible.

Keep as much soil around the roots as possible and minimise damage and disturbance to the roots when planting. This is best achieved by preparing a hole at least twice the size of the pot. Gently lie the pot on the ground and cut the bottom of the pot out with secateurs or similar. Next, gently position the pot in the hole and make 2 cuts opposite each other down the sides of the pot. The sides can then be removed and you can start backfilling into the hole. It is important to ensure that you leave no air pockets in the soil, so it is a good idea to water in as you go. Gently rocking the tree will help, and about 50 litres of water will be needed at each watering.

Once your grass tree has been planted, you can give it a drink of diluted seasol, to help reduce transplant shock. No other fertilisers should be needed.

Water your grass tree about twice a week during the drier months, and every 10 days or so during the wet season if it doesn’t rain. Use about 5 buckets worth for a good soak.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary, and in fact, may be detrimental to set fire to your grass tree. It is not advised to set fire to the crown at any stage of your tree’s life.

Fertilising:

As chemical fertilisers are not naturally present in Australian soils, it is not considered that your grass tree will require fertilising. The only exception is a bucket or two of diluted seasol at planting, and perhaps during the growing season between October and January. Your natural garden soil should provide all the nutrients your grass tree requires.

By following the above guidelines you will give your grass tree the best chance for a long and healthy life. We cannot provide a guarantee for the life of the plant once it leaves the nursery, but we are happy to give you any advice that you may require.

Saturday morning Garden Show on 4CA with Steve Ahmet and Yuruga’s Peter and Ann Radke A full half-hour of local gardening information from 8:00 to 8:30am every Saturday morning.

Saturday morning Garden Show on 4AM with Yuruga’s Peter Radke. Listen in for the local Gardening Segment between 9am and 10am every Saturday morning.

And also on 4AM:

Test you native plant knowledge… and win!

Listen to 4AM every Monday morning for the Yuruga quiz question.

The first correct answer wins a voucher for Coffee and Cake for Two at the Yuruga Garden Café.
Programme 4AM into your speed dial – 4092 4558.

Banksias are everyone’s favourites, and I’ve not met a person yet who doesn’t want a banksia, or three, in their garden. Their beautiful stiff bottlebrush-type flower spikes are so showy. Their gnarled woody banksia-cones are so decorative. Their foliage is so interesting. And their (often twisted) architectural form is a relaxed and welcome change from the almost-too-perfect symmetry of the typical garden plant.

So… what banksias to grow here in FNQ?

Well, be careful what books and magazines you read, or you might end up very disillusioned and disappointed.

Most glossy books and magazines are written for the southern Australian market, based around the capital cities of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne where the great bulk of Australians live. And they feature all those out-of-this-world banskias from WA which just make your mouth water looking at the photos. The trouble is that the climate of WA and southern Australia is pretty well the opposite of our climate here in FNQ. Where they have hot dry summers, we have hot wet summers. Where they have cold wet winters, we have warm dry winters. So plants adapted to the climate of southern and western Australian simply can’t cope up here, and usually melt away pretty rapidly when they encounter there first tropical wet season.

So, forget about growing the southern banksia species, and look closer to home. Luckily for us, there’s some beautiful tropical banksias perfectly suited to our climate.

Our favourite is the Hairpin Banksia (Banksia spinulosa), because it’s easy to grow and makes a fantastic display. If you have a dampish spot, then the Swamp Banksia (Banksia robur) is just perfect. And its huge (absolutely huge) dark green serrated leaves, olive green flowers (yes, olive green!) and twisted shape make a stunning statement in your garden. The Hinchinbrook Banksia (Banksia plagiocarpa) is popular amongst flower growers for its blue (yes, blue!) flower spikes. The Mountain Banksia (Banksia aquilonia) loves a cooler, shadier garden. And the Cape York Banksia (Banksia dentata) thrives in sandy soil.

The trouble with banksias is that they’re addictive. Just ask local botanical artist Ian Wallace who set out on a mission to paint every one of Australia’s 80-odd banksia species. Mission complete (wow!), he is now exhibiting his wonderful paintings in the gallery at the Cooktown Botanic Gardens throughout the month of May. If you’re a sucker for banksias, or native flora in general, or just love to feast your eyes on exceptional art-work, then what better excuse could you need to head off to Cooktown in the next week or two?

You’ll be delighted to know that Ian has compiled copies of his beautiful paintings into handy Field Guides, complete with descriptive text. If you’re the slightest bit interested in banksias, then “An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Banksias” by Ian Wallace is a must-have.

Google “Ian Wallace Banksias” and have a browse at www.ianwallacebanksias.com.au.

Do you have a banksia in your garden?

Happy gardening (and see you at Yuruga!),

Peter and Ann

To the uninitiated, the list of plant names might look about as exciting as reading the phone book, but to people in the know it transports them to another world… a world of fantastic foliage, phenomenal flowers, remote landscapes, and some of the rarest plants on the planet.

To a plant-nut, the Yuruga stocklist is literally… plants to die for!

So, what is there ‘to die for’ this month at Yuruga?

Let’s start with Lilly-pillies. No, not the common or garden varieties such as Lulu, Hot Flush and Supreme that you find in every Garden Centre anywhere in Australia, but the Tinkling Satinash (Syzygium alatoramulum), Silver Satinash (Syzygium argyropedicum), Paperbark Satinash (Syzygium papyraceum), Lockerbie Satinash (Syzygium branderhorstii), New Guinea Satinash (Syzygium beuttnerianum), Yellow Satinash (Syzygium canicortex), and Red Myrtle (Syzygium monimioides)… fantastically beautiful plants from the rainforests at our own back door-step.

Then there’s the Silky Oak family. Mouth-wateringly beautiful species such as the Fern-leafed Stenocarpus (Stenocarpus davallioides), Fishtail Oak (Neorites kevediana), Blush Silky Oak (Opisthiolepsis heterophylla) and Red Silky Oak (Carnarvonia montana).

And still from the rainforest, there’s the Palm Tulip Oak (Argyrodendron sp Whyanbeel), Fern-leafed Tamarind (Sarcotoechia serrata), Sankowskya stipularis, Daintree Penda (Lindsayomyrtus racemoides), the famous (and extremely rare) Idiot Fruit (Idiospermum australiense), Noahdendron (Noahdendron nicholasii) and Bernie’s Tamarind (Diploglottis berniana) from the Daintree.

Everyone’s familiar with the Golden Penda (Xanthostemon chrysanthus), but Yuruga also has the rare Hopevale Penda (Xanthostemon arenarius), Pieter Botte Penda (Xanthostemon graniticus), Bloomfield Penda (Xanthostemon verticilllatus), Shady Penda (Xanthostemon umbrosus), Mt Tozer Penda (Xanthostemon sp Mt Tozer), Lime Penda (Xanthostemon formosus) and Black Penda (Xanthostemon whitei). Wow! What a collection!

The Tulip Sterculia (Sterculia shillinglawii) from Cape York has the most stunningly beautiful velvet red seed pods with jet black seeds. Bernie’s Tamarind (Diploglottis berniana) and the Brown Walnut (Beilschmeidia tooram) have fantastic foliage. And the native Rhododendron (Rhododenron lochiae) and Mountain Basswood (Polyscias wilmottii) are as rare as hen’s teeth in nurseries.

Moving into the tropical savannahs, there’s the Pumpkin Gum (Eucalyptus pachycalyx), Woollybutt (Eucalyptus chartaboma), Red-Throated Bloodwood (Corymbia rhodops) and Northern Ghost Gum (Eucalyptus dallachiana). There’s the velvety Cape York Kurrajong (Brachychiton velutinosus), Cape York Melaleuca (Melaleuca foliolosa) and (one of our favourites) the Purple-stemmed Turkey Bush (Leptospermum purpurascens).

What’s so special about these plants? For a start, many of them are extremely rare, and to a ‘plant nut’ that’s good enough reason to spend a day at Yuruga putting together a trolley-load of ‘goodies’. But most of them are also extremely beautiful. The Paperbark Satinash has the most beautiful fluffy lavender flowers and fluorescent purple fruit. The Fern-leafed Tamarind is a gorgeous understorey shrub with soft, delicate, ferny foliage and soft pastel-pink new growth. The Fern-leafed Stenocarpus has delicate foliage so intricately lacy in structure that you would have trouble believing that it is a tree not a fern. Absolutely ‘to die for’!

Can anyone grow these phenomenal plants? Yes and no. It depends on the particular micro-climate at your place, but a true plant-nut will always find a way. Maybe it’s the excuse you need to build that courtyard around your pool and barbecue area. And if you can’t fit them in your garden, or they’ll grow too big for your small yard, you can always treat yourself to a large ornamental pot (or several).

Happy gardening this Easter!

Peter and Ann

So, we’ve been doing a bit of research here at Yuruga to find out where the idea came from and whether it has any merits or applications to us up here in north Queensland.

The concept had its origins in some revegetation projects down south, where the seedlings being planted were old and very tall and lanky, with a small root-ball, a long thin stem and a couple of leaves on top. If planted in the normal way, the stem would bend over double and the plant would die. So the planters came up with the idea of digging a deep hole and burying most of the stem to make the plant stand up. And it worked.

How did they get away with it? How come the stems didn’t rot and kill the plants?

Well, they were lucky. Being a revegetation project along creek and river banks, the plants being planted were riverine species that tolerate flooding and silt piling up around their trunks. Hence, they were able to tolerate ‘deep planting’.

Various other people ‘down south’ are also reporting some success with this idea, but when you delve down into what is actually happening you will find that the plants are being planted in soft, deep, organic loam. So the soil is nicely aerated and has properties similar to a potting medium that a nursery would use to strike cuttings. Hence, plants which are reasonably easy to strike from cuttings will survive deep planting in these conditions.

However, be warned. It is highly unlikely that this technique will work up here in the tropics with our pronounced wet season, or on soils other than soft loams. We would certainly predict that it would be a disaster in heavy or clay soils. The technique has only been tried on a small range of plants, and not every species that has been tested has succeeded. So if you want to try the idea, you do so at your own risk.

Given that the technique was developed for planting over-grown, long lanky plants, then the solution is obvious. Don’t buy over-grown, long lanky plants!

No professional commercial nursery these days sells plants of such poor quality. When you come to Yuruga, the plants you buy will be well-proportioned and sun-hardened, with strong sturdy trunks. So – no need to resort to risky ideas like ‘deep planting’. Simply plant your plants in the normal way, with the top of the root-ball a couple of centimetres below the soil surface.

You will find our tried and trusted advice on how to plant your plants (based on years of local experience and knowledge) in our Information Sheets available at the nursery and on our website.

Happy gardening, and see you at Yuruga!
Peter and Ann

Tip No. 1:

If you’ve recently moved up from ‘down south’, you will very likely be looking for familiar faces for your new garden, such as the old favourites you grew in your garden in Melbourne or Sydney.

Unfortunately plants from southern Australia are in general not suitable for tropical gardens. For a start, the climate in northern Australia is the reverse of that in southern Australia. Here in NQ we have hot wet summers and a long dry season during the cooler months. In Victoria, on the other hand, they experience hot dry summers and cold wet winters – the exact reverse of us.

Plants from southern Australia can’t cope with this huge difference and either die very quickly here in the tropics, or perform poorly and eventually fade away.

Unfortunately, truckloads and truckloads of native plants from nurseries ‘down south’ come into north Queensland retail and general nurseries every week, and a large proportion of these plants are totally unsuitable for our climate.

So, a word of advice from Yuruga…

Read the glossy gardening magazines and watch the national TV gardening programmes by all means, but when it comes to natives, if Yuruga doesn’t sell it then the chances are it’s not suitable for north Queensland.

The absolutely wonderful thing about living in the tropics is the sheer abundance and diversity of tropical native flora, both in the forests and in cultivation.

We at Yuruga carry about 500 different varieties of natives suitable for tropical gardens at any one time, so there’s something for everyone whether you live in the misty mountains of Millaa Millaa, the hot humid coastal belt of Cooktown-Mossman-Cairns-Tully, or the dry tropical areas of Mareeba, Chillagoe and Townsville.

Tip No. 2:

Keep it simple! Gardening with natives is not complicated. Please don’t fiddle around with your soil pH, or add heaps of this and that to your soil, because if you do, you run a very high chance of killing your plants.

Read Yuruga’s series of Information Sheets. These Information Sheets contain local information for local north Queensland gardeners, and are based on 30 years of personal experience. They really are the complete guide to common sense gardening in the tropics. If you stick to the advice in these Information Sheets, you will not go wrong.

Happy gardening!

After all, we have some pretty amazing little creatures sharing this environment with us. For example, the Hercules Moth has the largest wingspan of any moth in the world. Yet how many people grow their host trees, the Queensland Bleeding Heart, with the aim to attract these record-holding moths? Not many I bet.

I guess for most people, unless it’s colourful and popular it’s just not worth attracting. I’m not suggesting you fill containers with water to breed mosquitoes, leave the bin lid open to attract flies, or spread sugar through the house to bring in the ants. I’m talking about all the fascinating little creatures that bring life to the garden. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, just think back to your childhood. The time in your life when you were much smaller and everything else was much bigger. Back then every butterfly was special, and every beetle deserved a second look and maybe a prod. Stick insects looked alien and fireflies were magical. Close to Christmas, cicadas became collectables, and every shiny beetle was obviously a Christmas beetle. And of course there was that bright blue butterfly that mum and dad pointed out fifty million times.

If you are interested in creating a garden that will attract our six legged friends, there is a difficult way, and an easy way to do it. If you’re willing to make the effort you can bury your head in books and surf the web to find which plant will attract which specific insects: Cassia and Albizia trees to attract Carpenter Bees, Pandanus monticola as food for the Pepermint Stick insect and Adenia vines for the Red Lacewing Butterfly just to name a few combinations. Or you can do it the easy way by planting any local native plants. It may not be very specific, but you’ll see that every plant will attract something, and in most cases when a native plant flowers it will attract a colourful assortment of fascinating little somethings. The more plants you add to your garden the more wildlife you’ll attract and the more interesting your garden will become – especially for the kids. After all in the eyes of a child a gigantic stick insect is much cooler than a blue butterfly. While as an adult, you’ll be surprised how rewarding it is to see a new butterfly in the backyard when you know you’re the reason it’s there.

Marcus Achatz
Yuruga Nursery

(Published in Cairns City Life magazine, September 2009)

So what can you do in your garden during the dry season? It’s simple. Get your garden ready for the wet season.

It may not be the best time to plant new plants into the garden because of the dry, but it is a good time to pot up your smaller plants into larger pots to increase their size in preparation for the wet. You see, even though it’s dry, the days and nights are warming up, so with a little extra water and fertilizer, freshly re-potted plants can be encouraged to have an early growth spurt.

Subsequently you’ll have much larger and healthier plants to plant when the rains do finally come. In fact some gardeners including myself purchase, pot-up and store our new plants all through the dry season waiting for the wet season to start so we can plant everything at the most suitable time of the year.

The dry season is also the ideal time to do a bit of plant culling. Plants that have underperformed, outgrown their welcome, died, or you simply don’t like the looks of can be removed to make room for new ones. And because the wet isn’t here yet, you can do this at your own pace and without all the rain, sweat and complaining.

You’ll even have plenty of time to ponder about what you’ll plant in its place. It doesn’t have to stop with the removal either. It’s actually the best time to prepare the ground for the replacement plant, because it’s much more pleasant doing this in the dry than the wet. Dig out the roots of the old plant, loosen the soil and then cover it with a good layer of mulch to prevent the weeds from invading the newly prepared space. And this way you’ll have till January to make up your mind as to what should be planted there. Who knows? If you’re after something really specific, it may take you all that time to find it.

Then once the rains start, all you need to do is bring your collection of plants out of storage, move the mulch to one side, dig a hole in the previous prepared soil, pop in the pre-determined plant, move the mulch back into place, water it, and you’re done. Simple as that.

Marcus Achatz
Yuruga Nursery

(Published in Cairns City Life magazine, August 2009)