Plants Grow Here - Horticulture, Landscape Gardening & Ecology

Have you ever done everything right when planting a tree, only to have it struggle or fail in the end? It might not have been your fault! You could have been installing sub-standard trees that were never going to do well because of the way they were grown in the pot.

Jason Summers is an expert arboritst and horticulturist from Melbourne in Victoria. Formerly a city parks manager, he now runs Remarkable Trees, a nursery and arboriculture services business in Victoria, supplying trees to public, commercial and domestic projects alike.

He's one of the most passionate tree people that I know, and in this episode, we get very picky with what we will accept from a tree that we're looking to buy.

From ordering wholesale trees ahead of schedule to health signs above and below ground, this episode will give you the tools you need to choose good, sturdy trees that will stand the test of time.

EPISODE LINKS
Remarkable Trees website: https://remarkabletrees.com/
Connect with Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonsummers

Find horticulture industry jobs: HortPeople.com

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @PlantsGrowHere / Facebook: @PlantsGrowHerePodcast - Join our Facebook group!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE
www.PlantsGrowHere.com

LET'S WORK TOGETHER
Are you in the industry or an enthusiast with something of value to share? We're always on the hunt for interesting people, doing interesting things. If you'd like to work with us send a message via our online form or a direct email to [email protected].

Are native and endemic plants better than exotic plants for biodiversity in urban landscapes? The answer is, it depends.

By now, you expect a nuanced exploration into complex ideas like this when you tune into the Plants Grow Here podcast. As a qualified horticulturist with well over a decade in landscape maintenance and horticulture, it bothers me when I see overly simplistic statements like, "native plants are good and exotics are bad."

What does "native" even mean in a country as large as Australia? Are urban conditions the same as they were before colonialism? And why do pollinators flock to exotic plants like lavender and duranta if they're so bad for ecology?

These are the types of questions we explore in this episode.

Find your next job, or post a job ad: https://hortpeople.com

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @PlantsGrowHere / Facebook: @PlantsGrowHerePodcast - Join our Facebook group!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE
www.PlantsGrowHere.com
You’ll find heaps of educational blog articles, including How To Prune For Natural Shape, What Relationships Do Plants Have With Other Organisms?, and What Is Healthy Soil, And How Can We Build It?.

LET'S WORK TOGETHER
Are you in the industry or an enthusiast with something of value to share? We're always on the hunt for interesting people, doing interesting things. If you'd like to work with us send a message via our online form or a direct email to [email protected].

Yeah, yeah yeah - right plant, right place. But what does this old cliche mean in the real world? In this episode, I break down the old concept into site parameters (restrictions) and plant functions (desirable traits).

Site Parameter Examples
Available space
Temperature
Frost
Wind
Altitude
Humidity
Topography
Substrate
Mulch
Average rainfall
Drought
Irrigation
Sunlight
Salt
Micro climate
Aspect
Slope gradient
Reflected light
Reflected heat
Rockeries
Pathways
Wind corridors
Depressed areas
Raised areas
Flat areas
Common pests/diseases
Plant Function Examples
Biodiversity resources
Playgrounds
Rockeries
Grey water
Fire retardant
Growth habit
Erosion control
Rain gardens
Micro-catchments
Bioswales
Water cleaning
Sensory
Maintenance budget
Order and creativity
Layering
Repetition
Unity
Rhythm
Contrast
Balance
Colour
Form
Texture
Line
Proportion
Focal points
Seasonal interest
Mass planting
Specimen planting
Feature
Sightline preservation
Screening & privacy
Wind break
Hedging
Borders
Roadside planting
Parkland
Street tree
Modern garden
Traditional garden
Native garden
This episode is based on my experiences as a qualified horticulturist of over a decade, and a webinar presentation I developed with Todd Layt for Ozbreed of the same title.
Find your next job, or post a job ad: https://hortpeople.com

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @PlantsGrowHere / Facebook: @PlantsGrowHerePodcast - Join our Facebook group!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE
www.PlantsGrowHere.com
You’ll find heaps of educational blog articles, including How To Prune For Natural Shape, What Relationships Do Plants Have With Other Organisms?, and What Is Healthy Soil, And How Can We Build It?.

LET'S WORK TOGETHER
Are you in the industry or an enthusiast with something of value to share? We're always on the hunt for interesting people, doing interesting things. If you'd like to work with us send a message via our online form or a direct email to [email protected].

Welcome to part 3 of our horticulture trial series. In the last two episodes, Dr Ian Smith helped us understand how to plan a scientific horticulture trial, and how to collect our data. In this episode, we're going to learn how to make sense of that data and put it to use.

If you haven't listened to the previous two episodes yet, perhaps go and start at episode 205 before beginning this episode.

EPISODE LINKS
Follow Ian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EcologIan
Ian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/driansmith
My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-fuller-180908208/

Example spreadsheet for a trial: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VpM_QN-8LO1YxGpYV6dg8gIXnSVPAfLS6kgk-cDYZhs/edit?usp=drivesdk

How to get descriptive analytics in Excel: https://www.excel-easy.com/examples/descriptive-statistics.html

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @PlantsGrowHere / Facebook: @PlantsGrowHerePodcast - Join our Facebook group!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE
www.PlantsGrowHere.com

LET'S WORK TOGETHER
Are you in the industry or an enthusiast with something of value to share? We're always on the hunt for interesting people, doing interesting things. If you'd like to work with us send a message via our online form or a direct email to [email protected].

In last week's episode, friend of the show Dr Ian Smith taught us how to set up a horticulture trial. In this episode, he's going to teach us how to run a trial as well as how to collect and record data.

The scientific approach is a disciplined way of finding the truth of the matter. Instead of going by our beliefs, we strip ourselves of preconceptions and endeavour to find the fact of the matter - whether or not our results align with our pre-conceptions.

Ian's the perfect guest to teach us about this topic because he's an entomologist and ecologist who did his PhD on insects in shelterbelts. He's worked as an agriculture extension officer, in biosecurity, and a bunch of other science-based roles. Hopefully, his scientific mind and my tradie mind have managed to capture the essence of the scientific approach for an audience who may or may not have ever stepped foot in a university.

EPISODE LINKS
Follow Ian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EcologIan
Ian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/driansmith
My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-fuller-180908208/

Example spreadsheet for a trial: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VpM_QN-8LO1YxGpYV6dg8gIXnSVPAfLS6kgk-cDYZhs/edit?usp=drivesdk

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @PlantsGrowHere / Facebook: @PlantsGrowHerePodcast - Join our Facebook group!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE
www.PlantsGrowHere.com

LET'S WORK TOGETHER
Are you in the industry or an enthusiast with something of value to share? We're always on the hunt for interesting people, doing interesting things. If you'd like to work with us send a message via our online form or a direct email to [email protected].