Category: Articles

Hydrangea Pruning
Hydrangea Pruning is best done every year in autumn or winter. If you fail to perform Hydrangea Pruning they will continue to produce flowers year after year. However,over time the displays of flowers will gradually diminish in size. Hydrangeas that have not been pruned will have a shorter flowering period. If hydrangea Pruning is too harsh, ( cut to base ) next summer’s flowering may either be delayed or fail to occur. If hydrangea pruning is performed too fiercely year after year, flowering will be reduced to 10% or less, so just cut back the green, current season’s growth to two plump eyes or leaf buds. Leave stems that have not flowered as these will flower the following season. If you want to pick the flowers for indoor arrangements by all means do so, that is really good for the plants.

Hydrangea is a genus of 70–75 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Japan, and Korea.

Where To Cut!
You can always tell where to prune by looking closely at the stems of your plant. Buds that will produce flowers are fat. Further down each stem the buds change, becoming small and almost black. If you make the mistake of cutting to these immature leaf buds, you’ll get lots of foliage but few flower heads.

Start by cutting back one or two of the oldest branches. Then prune young branches that flowered the previous summer. These have soft growth
that is pale green and slightly spotty. Old, neglected hydrangeas need some drastic treatment. Prune the branches back very hard and remove all the oldest ones, then water heavily. Doing this type of heavy pruning will sacrifice most of the next summer’s display but is necessary, because it completely rejuvenates tired plants.

Paniculatas (PG/Limelight types) can be pruned in the Autumn, winter, or spring. However, it is not necessary to prune them every year. It is suggested that you trim out crossing branches and those that do not contribute to an attractive form whenever necessary.

Hydrangeas Tree Form
Paniculata hydrangeas are the only hydrangeas that can be pruned into a tree-form. If one is attempting to grow a paniculata as a tree, the developing trunk and main top branches should not be removed. If a panicultata that is trained into a tree-form is cut or broken off close to the ground, it will grow back as a shrub unless the training and pruning is started again from the new shoots.

General Pruning Hints
(1) All dead stems should be removed from hydrangeas every year.
(2) After the plants are at least 5 years old, about 1/3 of the older (living) stems can be removed down to the ground each summer. This will revitalize the plant.
(3) If it becomes necessary to prune a plant to reduce its size, it may be cut back during Winter however best to plant the Hydrangea in a place that suits its predicted size.( refer to label )

Planting Position
For ease of growth hydrangeas are best in a semi shaded position, but some hardy varieties will tolerate full sun. The most important thing to remember is not to let them dry out, or they will wilt. They need regular watering, particularly in late spring and through summer. Give hydrangeas growing in the ground a deep soaking once or twice a week. Plants in pots need daily watering and it’s a good idea to have a saucer containing water under the pot.

Dead-head the bush
Once the hydrangea flowers begin to fade, dead-head them by cutting off the faded blossoms just underneath the flower heads. For lacecap hydrangeas, remove the heads as far down as the second pair of leaves. Stop dead-heading the plant during Autumn so that the flower heads can act as protection against the cold during winter.
Hydrangeas thrive in rich, moist, well-drained soil. Light preferences depend on the variety, but, in general, hydrangeas prefer full sun with some afternoon shade. The best time to plant hydrangeas is after the last frost in the spring or in the Autumn. In the first couple of years, water hydrangeas frequently to help the plant develop strong roots.
Hydrangea Colour
For some varieties, the pH level of the soil affects the colour of the flowers: more acidic soil yields blue flowers and more alkaline soil results in pink flowers. Add lime to make the soil more alkaline, or add acid-based fertilizers or acid-rich organic material, such as coffee grounds or egg shells, to make the flowers blue. Hydrangeas are deciduous shrubs or vines that are resistant to both pests and diseases. Call Jim’s Mowing on the number below if you need help with any pruning, especially Hydrangeas!

HERBICIDE USE
Herbicide use to kill weeds in a garden is really a quick fix. Seeds ( or seed bank ) in the soil will remain viable for up to twelve years. Once Herbicides like roundup are absorbed back into the soil, say after three or four weeks the seeds will start germinating again. Usually within one to two months the weeds will reappear. When they do they usually come back in strength as the competition has gone and they will grow quickly. Manufacturers of Glyphosate the main ingredient of products like Roundup and Zero do not talk about frequent Herbicide use and how some plants can become immune over time. So there are a few traps to frequent herbicide use, plant immunity and quick regrowth. Glyphosate is known as a non-residual product in the Herbicide Use Industry due to its toxicity lasting for only weeks. Users will need to read the label and the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) and follow instructions before use.

Residual Herbicides
To achieve a long lasting effect and to prevent anything growing at all you need to move to a product like “Once a Year Path Weeder” or Simizine which is the main ingredient. These types of products whilst stopping seeds emerging are much more toxic and long lasting. Users will need to read the labels and MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet ) carefully to ensure the product is safe for the intended environment.

Safety
Both Glyphosate and Simizine as mentioned above are possible Carcinogenic products for long term users. Therefore it is critical that correct PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is used and safety instructions advised on the label are followed.

Alternative Methods
In a garden environment there are several alternatives other than herbicide use.
– Hand weeding, although slower, more time consuming and therefore expensive.
– Mulching, which is basically removing light from the weeds, is effective and also has a beautifying effect depending on the mulch.
– Cultivation – with either a rotary hoe or via a hand hoe or garden fork
– Install new turf and convert into a lawn
– Install veggie beds which have a great long term benefit.
– Pave, concrete or lay bitumen or even concrete if you have to.
– Hire sheep or goats and they will also fertilize as they do. They do tend to eat everything.
– Once weeds removed plant out with thick ground covers-Native plants best.

Long Term Planning
You may have established that planning what you wish to do with the property in question at the start will assist you in choosing the most economic avenue to remove the weeds. This plan might well be a three or four step process over months. The results can be breathtaking and end with you having a very usable pleasant landscaped garden, a veggie garden to feed your family for years or maybe a strong turf lawn that your children will enjoy and your neighbours admire.

From Weeds to Feeds
Call Jim’s Mowing for advice on your weed management problem- free quotes and we can help!

Honey Bee Care
Honey Bee Care is part of our training when teaching new franchisees at Jims Mowing, the largest gardening business in the world. Why Honey Bee Care, because native plants that attract bees also attract birds and these plants are also easy to look after and cope well in our climate. Honey Bee Care will also improve fruit, vegetable and flower production as the Bee is our main pollinator. From our experience in the other three continents where we exist , the UK, Canada and New Zealand the same rules apply. Take some Honey Bee Care and your garden will thrive. In most capital cities we have a recommended plants list, designed to attract bees, attract birds and thrive with minimal care. Just ask your local Jims Mowing gardener about Honey Bee Care
.
In The Life of the Bee, Nobel prize winner Maurice Maeterlinck wrote:
“If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.”

The Honey Bee

How Can We Use Pesticides In A Bee Friendly Manner.
The simple and best answer for Honey Bee Care is not to use pesticides at all, the second best answer is to use organic non-toxic pesticide solutions like white oil ( White Oil Recipe on This Site )
IF you do really have to use pesticides avoiding application directly to blooming flowers. This can help limit the exposure of honeybees to toxic materials as honeybees are attracted to all types of blooming flowers. If blooming flowers must be sprayed with pesticides for any reason, they should be sprayed in the evening or night hours. Bees are not in the field at that time. Usual foraging hours of honeybees are when the temperature is above 15°C during the daytime, and by the evening, the bees return to the hives. Spray at night, honey bee care delight!

The French Ban & US Action
A French 2012 study of Apis mellifera (western honey bee or European honey bee) that focused on the neonicotinoid pesticide thiamethoxam, which is metabolized by bees into clothianidin. This pesticide cited in legal action, tested the hypothesis that a sub-lethal exposure to a neonicotinoid indirectly increases hive death rate through homing failure in foraging honey bees. The survival rate is even lower when exposed bees are placed in foraging areas with which they are less familiar.

Honey Bee Up Close

USA ACTION
In March, 2012, commercial beekeepers and environmental organizations filed an emergency legal petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend use of clothianidin, urging the agency to adopt safeguards. The legal petition is supported by over one million citizen petition signatures, targets the pesticide for its harmful impacts on honey bees and requests removing all such mislabeled pesticides from use.

The disappearance of honeybees was documented in the 2009 film Vanishing of the Bees by George Langworthy and Maryam Henein.[11]

FRENCH BAN
The French outright ban on neonicotinoid pesticides was adopted by a narrow majority late on Thursday ( July ) by France’s National Assembly as part of a draft bill on biodiversity that also contains an additional tax on palm oil.
The measure, however, would not come into effect until Sept. 1, 2018, later than the January 2017 deadline previously proposed by some lawmakers.
The ban also needs to be approved by the French Senate, which rejected it in a previous reading, before a final vote in the National Assembly which is expected in the middle of the year.

The Honey Bee Pollinator

THE GOOD NEWS – The Flow Hive – An Australian Innovation.

The Flow Hive raised more than $US12 million in pre-sales when it was listed on crowd funding website Indiegogo last year.
THE FLOW HIVE
It was designed by father and son team Stuart and Cedar Anderson, from Byron Bay in northern New South Wales.
Stuart Anderson said it was a tremendous feeling to win the Good Design Award of the Year because it recognized how much work had been put into the design. “It means a lot because it’s affirmed our inventive ability,” he said. “We did put so much, years and years and years of attention and effort into the design of the Flow Hive. “To have very experienced people look at what we’ve done and say, ‘Wow, that is a very significant piece of technology’.

Become a Honey Bee Back yard Apiarist
Needless to say we all should pay a little more attention to Honey Bee Care as they are in great need and without them our world could be in serious trouble. I have not touched on the value of honey to the human population nor have I touched on Colony Collapse Disorder, one of the main reasons why the Bee population is declining and to date no one knows why!
The question you could also ask yourself is why not take up back yard bee keeping, see your local Bee Keeping Club and start doing your little bit to Look After Our Bees and the environment. If you need some advice on what plants bees love, how to plant a veggie garden or maybe a fruit tree or two give us a ring at Jim’s Mowing. We can help with Honey Bee Care in your garden. Some of us are also Bee Keepers and we would love to help you out, whether it be a swarm in your garden or a Hive you wish to start. With The Flow Hive it’s never been easier.

Topiary In Your Garden
Topiary in your garden has to be classed as “Fun”and is only limited by your imagination and I guess your willingness to do some hard work. Make no mistake, making Topiary In your Garden using hedge trimmers, hedge sheers and for the fine work sharp secateurs, is not for the faint hearted. Once you put the work into creating Topiary in Your Garden you need to keep at it regularly. At Jim’s Mowing we love topiary and have the expertise and the equipment to do the job professionally. Call us if you need a hand!

How to Do It.
The secret is to select the correct plant and start while the plant is young and week by week clip it to the desired shape. All the while keeping the plant well fed, well watered and staked and mulched as necessary. Don’t expect results immediately as the plant needs to grow into your shape and this can take months so patients is needed. Topiary can take the shape of animals, numbers or just plane simple shapes like balls, squares, diamonds, hearts and even cars or pyramids. The ones in the pictures attached especially the car have been shaped with wire to start and then clipped using the wire as a guide. Jim’s Mowing can help you select the right plant for your desired topiary or hedge.

How Often To Clip.
Depending on the plant at least monthly is best but you may get away with bi monthly or quarterly with slow growing plants. This keeps the plant invigorated and growing nice and thick maintaining the shape.

Considerations
Plant in a suitable position for the plant, garden, access,sunlight and buildings.
Stake & Mulch as required especially in windy weedy areas
Fertilize every eight to twelve weeks
Keep an eye on plant pests and diseases and use organic sprays as first choice
Irrigate as necessary especially during hot months
Maintain bio-diversity and sustainability on your property by recycling clippings into a compost bin & create your own compost for later topdressing use around the plant.

Fun & Admiration
Once you have created an animal shape in your garden be prepared for admiring glances from your neighbors and people walking by as this type of gardening is rare and will make people stop, look and often laugh and talk about your creation. All good for the spirit of your neighborhood and community.

White Oil Recipe.
This white Oil Recipe is a fantastic way to treat sooty mold on citrus trees in your garden. Make this white oil recipe using simple home ingredients and it will rid your citrus trees of sooty mold within weeks and its cheap to make.

This white oil recipe can also be used on soft brown scale on the back of Lemon Tree leaves in your garden and can also be used to treat scale on Azalea leaves plus its a remedy for many other sucking insect pests.

Use White Oil Recipe on Sooty Mold On Citrus Tree Leaves

White Oil Recipe – Sooty Mold
1./ Take one part of any vegetable oil, (say a cupful) and add a half part of water (say a half cupful ) and pour into a blender.
2./ Add about a teaspoon of washing up detergent. This is not essential but it does keep the mix emulsified and acts as a wetting agent and this allows you to store it for use later.
3./ Blend it for a few seconds to create a kind of mayonnaise mixture. ( not fit to eat or drink once you add the detergent )
4./ Pour the thick white mixture into a jar. Add a little ( quarter of a cup ) more water to blender to flush it out and add this to your jar of “white oil” emulsion. If it has detergent in It, it can be stored for long periods without separating if not you will need to blend again prior to every use.

White Oil Recipe – Soft Brown Scale
1./mix one part homemade of above “white oil emulsion” with 40 parts of water.
It mixes easily to form a milky liquid and just pour this into a garden spray bottle and spray on all scale.

Use This White Oil Recipe on Soft Brown Scale On Citrus Tree Leaves

FOOTNOTE
Spray all parts of scale infested branches and foliage and try to get as much as possible beneath the leaves where the insects and mould are showing. The thin covering of oil clings to the leaf surfaces and suffocates the pests by sealing the outside edges of the scale excluding the air. Within weeks you should see the sooty mould and scale disappear as well as the ants feeding off these pests.

Note – This recipe for white oil is not for human consumption and should be only used to treat pests in your garden, alternatively ring Jim’s Mowing for assistance.

Jims Mowing recently held its Franchise owners Winter workshop at its world headquarters in Mooroolbark, an outer suburb of Melbourne in Australia.The perfect Autumn morning held fast throughout resulting in another fantastic winter workshop. Franchicees were treated to many demonstrations including Turf laying courtesy of Coolabah Turf & Lawn Solutions, a demonstration of the new range of AEG battery powered garden tools, Gravely Ride On Mowers and much more.

Preferred suppliers kicked of the morning workshop in the Jims Lecture theatre with presentations from all present. Lisa from Dynamite Online Printing, the AEG team, Tru Blu Oils, Glen from EZYRental, Mike from Fertool, the Allpower Team, Coolabah Turf & Lawn Solutions and many more. A free sausage sizzle quenched morning appetites the sun was shining and business cards went into the box for the lucky draw.

Morning tea time at the Winter Workshop revealed many franchise owners trying out the new AEG products, testing weight, function, balance, quality of results and operational feel. Coolabah Turf showed a neat video of Jason Hodges using their new “Colour Guard” lawn fertilizing and staining product which was a real hit with many of the Franchise owners that work in the Real Estate field preparing properties for sale. Business was brisk during this time as franchise owners took advantage of discounts and free products. Many bargains were had.

The main Winter Workshop event featured Jason Hodges from Chanel 7’s Better Home & Gardens Show and his lessons and experiences on being a self employed small business Landscape Gardener before and after his television appearances. Jason is a “natural” capturing the often hard to please franchise owners with many of his anecdotes, experiences and lessons learnt.

The Winter Workshop wound up with the Lucky draw being won by Flavian from Eastern Region and more free sausages and drinks being engulfed at a great rate. Presentations were made thanking Jason and Suzie for their hard work and the Winter Workshop was done and dusted for another year.

Lemon Citrus trees grow very well in Melbourne, especially Outer North Eastern Melbourne. Jims Mowing Franchise owners have been dealing with Lemon Citrus Trees for over 25 years and have gathered some great experience and knowledge. They’re used in a wide variety of cuisines and they remain one of the more popular flavours for beverages and desserts. Furthermore, Lemon Citrus Trees fruit are commonly used in a wide range of non-food items, from dishwashing liquids to perfumes and cosmetics.

Lemon Citrus Trees are said to have been introduced from Malaysia but there is also a school of thought that they originated from Portugal and Spain. Fortunately we have most of the good varieties available in Melbourne and at a very reasonable price.

Many backyards in Melbourne have a Lemon citrus tree and most grow with little care and go on providing fruit year after year. So we know they do very well in our climate and we also know they will do better with a little care and here is where we come in.

Plant Choice
From our experience the Eureka Lemon gets the “Tick”. It fruits with abundance and requires minimal care. The fruit has a great flavor, you can pick the fruit as you need it and the fruit will hang on the tree for quite some time and keep well. They grow to about 4 metres so a great size for a backyard. They retail for between $30- and $40- so not too expensive. The “Meyer” is another strong contender and has a mild flavor and is particularly good for drinking, making cordial etc. The “Lisbon” is another great lemon with a more acidic tart flavor but this tree requires great drainage and maybe a little harder to get started. If you live in the cooler parts of Melbourne, say towards the Dandenongs, the Meyer would be a better choice.

Planting
Dig a hole at least three times larger than your pot, obtain a good quality planting mix and water in well. Don’t let the tree fruit for a year or two and this will encourage plant structure and strong growth. Stake and tie well using at least two stakes with a bark shield on each tie. A reputable garden supplier will have the required stakes and ties.

Pruning
The Lemon Citrus tree is an evergreen tree and can be pruned to shape at any time. Try to encourage a vase shape with your pruning and keep the centre of the tree free from congestion removing horizontal branches and branches that are rubbing. Ideally keep your tree at a height so that you can reach the fruit without a ladder.

Fertilizing
Lemon Citrus trees love to be fed with a blend of citrus fertilizer, dried animal manure and twice a year a good covering of well-rotted compost around the bae out to the drip line. In Melbourne, we get best results from feeding around August in preparation for Spring and in February when the new fruit is just forming and we get that Autumn spurt of growth.

Growing In Pots
Lemon Citrus Trees grow well in large pots especially the Dwarf varieties, they will need more regular watering however the same principals as described above should work just as well. When planting use a good quality tub mix and water in well. The glossy leaves and scented flowers give that real wow factor outside your back door or on a patio and they are evergreen so you get that very reliable screen as well.

Aspect
Take note that, in general, citrus trees require excellent soil quality plus ample sunlight. They will not do so well in shade and will become straggly, wind is not so much of a problem but they do appreciate a sheltered sunny aspect if possible.

Double Grafted Citrus
The varieties we recommend are Washington Navel orange and Meyer Lemon, Washington Navel orange and Tahiti lime, and Meyer lemon and Tahiti lime. Keep an eye on the growth of each species and try to keep them pruned equally as occasionally one species may grow quicker than the other and take over.

European Wasps are in Melbourne in plague proportions. How can you tell it’s a European wasp? The European Wasp image is below but they have bright yellow and black stripes on their back and they are about the size of a small Bee.
Unfortunately, European Wasps are not the friendly garden pollinators you want in your backyard. European wasps (Vespula germanica) are not native. They slipped into Australia in the 1970s, quickly spreading across the nation. European wasps are a social insect, building nests with one queen, a handful of reproductive males and an army of female foragers. The nests can get quite large, some as large as a basketball or bigger and are usually built in cavities in the ground, on the side of a creek bed or around dead tree stumps or retaining walls.
European wasps regretfully sting. According to a Victorian government health website, the sting is painful and remains that way for several hours but unless you are allergic to the venom, the pain and swelling will eventually subside. However, unlike a bee, a wasp can sting more than once and victims of multiple stings should seek medical advice.
European Wasps are attracted to sweet drinks, fruit and meat and so can spoil a BBQ quickly if not sorted beforehand.
So how can Australians enjoy the outdoors without being harassed by squadrons of European Wasps?

European Wasp Nest Image

European Wasp Nest Hole

European Wasp Nest Uncovered

FIND THE NEST – Try to follow a wasp on its way back to the nest. Alternatively, go for a walk around the garden or the area where you live and keep an eye out for a bunch of wasps on the ground entering or coming out of a hole in the ground or flying frequently from a hole on the side of a clay bank or out of a dead tree stump, maybe even a retaining wall. Ok not so easy but you need to try.
KILLING THE NEST –If you find the nest and you are apprehensive call Jim’s 131546 or a pest exterminator, your local council may assist but that’s a long shot.
DO IT YOURSELF – I have lost count of the number of nests I have knocked over and am an advocate for doing it yourself. Quickly squirting Wasp Dust down the hole in the dead of night using an infrared torch will usually despatch the nest, sometimes a second application may be needed the next night. Wasp Dust is readily available at most good garden suppliers. Wear gloves, a hat, and breathing mask. Cover up and give it a shot, remember night time is best when they are not flying around and be quick, you don’t need much dust one or two squirts will do the job. Don’t bother if it’s raining.
WASP TRAPS – Can also be purchased from good garden suppliers should wasps become a nuisance around your house, two or three may be needed if you are having a BBQ.
STINGS – Single stings can be treated with “Stingos” or similar, multiple stings may require antihistamines or a doctor’s visit if allergic reactions are evident. If you sit on a nest like we did while weeding, run for it and lock yourself in the car or house.
Footnote – European wasps and our common European Honey bees are natural enemies, many times I have watched European Wasps trying to steal honey from my hives. Usually, the bees kill them quickly and in doing so the Bee dies too. The wasps keep coming though and the Bees keep sacrificing themselves. Nature’s way I suppose but it gives me some satisfaction when I can wipe out a European Wasp nest or two!
PostScript – Take care – if you get stung that’s the risk you take. Yep, they do hurt a bit!
If you need a hand call Jims group.

HYBRID T ROSES
Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses.[1] They were created by cross-breeding two types of roses, initially by hybridizing hybrid perpetual with tea roses. It is the oldest group classified as a modern garden rose.
Hybrid teas exhibit traits midway between both parents, being hardier than the often quite tender teas (although not as hardy as the hybrid perpetual), and more inclined to repeat-flowering than the somewhat misleadingly-named hybrid perpetual (if not quite as ever-blooming as the teas).

Hybrid tea flowers are well-formed with large, high-centred buds, supported by long, straight and upright stems. Each flower can grow to 8-12.5 cm wide. Hybrid teas are the world’s most popular type of rose[2] by choice due to their color and flower form. Their flowers are usually borne singly at the end of long stems which makes them popular as cut flowers.

Most hybrid tea bushes tend to be somewhat upright in habit and reach between 0.75 and 2.0 meters in height, depending on the cultivar, growing conditions and pruning regime. It is the provincial flower of Islamabad capital territory.
HISTORY Hybrid T Rose
The birth of the world’s first hybrid tea is generally accepted[3] to have been ‘La France’ in 1867. It was raised by Jean-Baptiste André Guillot, a French nurseryman.[4] He did it by hybridizing a tea rose, supposedly ‘Madame Bravy,’ with a hybrid perpetual, supposedly ‘Madame Victor Verdier’, hence ‘hybrid tea.’
HISORY Hybrid T Rose
Other early cultivars were ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’ (Bennett 1883), ‘Souvenir of Wootton’ (John Cook 1888) and ‘Mme. Caroline Testout’, introduced by Pernet-Ducher in 1890.
Hybrid tea roses did not become popular until the beginning of the 20th century, when Pernet-Ducher in Lyons, France, bred the cultivar ‘Soleil d’Or’ (1900).[5]
But the cultivar that made hybrid teas the most popular class of garden rose of the 20th century was the rose Peace (‘Madame A. Meilland’), introduced by Francis Meilland at the end of World War II, and one of the most popular rose cultivars of the 20th century.
Michele Meilland Richardier cultivated a hybrid tea which had double flowers, with a coral inside and a yellow and pink outside. It was said to last very well when cut.[6] The rose was classified as being part of the meilimona variety. The patent was filed on October 14, 1975, and was issued February 1, 1977.[7]
Most hybrid tea cultivars are not fully hardy in continental areas with very cold winters (below -25 °C). This, combined with their tendency to be stiffly upright, sparsely foliaged and often not resistant to diseases, has led to a decline in hybrid tea popularity among gardeners and landscapers in favor of lower-maintenance “landscape” roses. The hybrid tea remains the standard rose of the floral industry, however, and is still favored in small gardens in formal situations.

FLORABUNDA
The Roses Story is steeped in world History and Floribunda is but another chapter. First produced by crossing polyantha roses with hybrid tea’s to create a bush with modern flowers borne in large trusses blooming continually throughout the season, the Floribunda literally meaning “Many flowered “ in Latin, soon became a gardeners favorite. Floribundas typically feature stiff bushes, small and bushier than the hybrid tea, often with smaller blooms that are carried in large sprays often giving a more impressive floral display in the garden. The Rose Story includes new varieties introduced in recent years which are carrying many hybrid tea characteristics like more varied colour and elegant hybrid shaped blooms, blurring the dividing line and making classification more difficult. Height ranged are from 1.5 feet to 5 feet with the majority of Floribundas growing to between 2.5 to 3 feet in height, ideal for mass displays and borders.

FOR ROSE ADVICE, PRUNING FERTILIZING AND GENERAL ROSE CARE RING JIMS MOWING open 7 days

CITRUS GALL WASP
Citrus gall wasps (Bruchophagus fellis) are small (3mm) shiny black wasps native to northern Australia. There they have natural predators (two parasites) which keep the number of citrus gall wasps under control. As the wasps have gradually moved south (thought to be via the movement of infected citrus trees), they have appeared in many areas without their natural predators, and consequently have exploded in numbers and caused considerable damage.

The citrus gall wasps have a preference for the native limes, as well as lemons, oranges and grapefruits. Mandarins are less affected, and cumquats are unaffected as they are not from the citrus genus. Adult wasps emerge in spring, often timing emergence with the onset of a flush of new growth. After mating, the female immediately lays her eggs into the soft new season flush. Eggs hatch after 2 – 4 weeks and the young larvae burrow into the soft bark. Distinctive woody galls form around the larvae during summer. The new generation emerges the following spring, completing the year-long life cycle. Adult wasps live for only one week after emergence.

Control
Citus Gall Wasp control is difficult in Melbourne as at this stage predator release is not possible (as happens in Queensland). Best practice at the moment includes placing sticky traps into the trees around spring to catch emerging wasps and prevent them mating and laying eggs into the new growth. Adult wasps don’t fly far. They can be moved good distances by wind but will tend to re-infect the tree they emerged from. Hence traps are useful to prevent re-infection. Remove galls before spring, wrap and place in your rubbish bin (NOT your green waste bin). You can also reduce the amount of soft spring flush growth by fertilizing over late autumn or winter. Use a balanced fertilizer rather than a highly nitrogenous one. Left untreated these wasps will kill the tree, it may take a few years but gradually it will die and possibly infect other trees in the process!! So treat now!