"Sue McDougall is an acclaimed Garden TV presenter and qualified horticulturist. Sue has been involved in the horticultural industry all her life. She has owned her own garden centre until recently and has been a gardening copresenter on 6PR radio since 1995. She was part of the ‘Garden Gurus’ team for many years, the popular TV gardening show on Channel 9."

July

Winter is transplant time. It's the time you can transplant established trees and shrubs with the least amount of disturbance. Fruit tree planting time, the best selection is in the garden centres this month. Time to plant onions and Leeks Spray broad leaf weeds with Richgro Bindii and Clover weedkiller while they are small and before they set seed.

Protect those plants that get damaged easily by the cold weather. This includes tropical fruit trees, small bougainvilleas and hibiscus that haven't established themselves. A shade cloth canopy over the top doesn't look the best, but will get the plants through the worst of winter. Cyclamens love the cold weather, infact the colder it is the better they grow. They are massed with flowers right throughout the cold months and look stunning mass planted in a bowl.

Tip:

To check if your soil is reactive to clay, place a small amount of soil into a jar with water and shake. If the water goes cloudy the addition of Gypsum will be a benefit, but if it stays in one clump applying Gypsum won't do any good at all.