DFB's Greenthumb Project

[DFB FGXR6]

It's the calm before the storm at the nursery now. As the days are getting colder and people are allowed to move around the country again, customer flow has dropped off a bit. And with a massive delivery of new trees arriving for the winter bare-root season within the next couple of weeks, we are making the most of the lighter customer flow to get on with some maintenance jobs around the place.

This pocket down the back was primarily designed to showcase a line of water features we once sold. Set amongst the water features is a fernery full of palms, ferns and other shade loving plants. The area is split in half with a running creek bed and three small foot bridges to allow customer access.

The trouble with "gardens" within a garden center is that maintaining stock for sale, attending to customers and keeping the whole place presentable takes priority. When I first started there 19 years ago, there were four gardens dotted around the place. The way we overhead water means that these gardens got far too much water and really struggled to flourish. Weeds on the other hand love those conditions. One by one, I have been responsible for the removal of those gardens, they never looked good and took valuable staff away from maintaining products that actually helped pay for our wages. It took a lot of gentle, calculated suggestions to gain approval to remove those gardens, but I got there in the end!

The fernery is the only remaining garden now. Even so, it still needs far more attention than we allow for. This bottom end of the creek bed has been bugging me for years. The plants that were planted either side of the water completely took over. It was a mess, and guess who drew the sort straw to remove all of the horrible, stinky Acorus Gramineus strand by strand. That was many years ago now but I still shudder at the though of that task. After the gutting, I put down weed mat and shoveled white stones to cover up the multitude of sins. We then attempted to deflect the attention away from it by displaying plants and trees in front of it.

With spare time on my hands this week, I started placing re-claimed rocks along the length of the creek bed before topping the rest with stones to help it all blend in. No before pics, I didn't think to at the time, this was a little job that turned into a bit of a project. Each rock and stone was placed "just so", that would surprise anyone here though.





The stone toppings should help to keep weeds down too, they are probably layered two inches thick!

Best bit apart from it looking VASTLY better than what we were trying to hide, was getting praise from a boss who never gives positive feedback unprompted.

[Tonz]

Love ferns, in a previous life our whole backyard was a temperate rain forest reincarnation. Had over 200 different ferns in there mostly protected by 2 massive mulberry trees and massive water bills. I was spending more on water for my plants than the neighbour was, but his attracted police interest and destruction.

Must be satisfying, working doing what you love best (apart from the cars) and getting paid for it.

[DFB FGXR6]

My Yuletide is in full display at the moment, one of my favorite plants.



And my Magnolia Little Gem is flowering at the moment. These small trees generally flower during the warmer months of the year, but they do spot flower from time to time as well.

[Citroënbender]

I thought it looked like a Camellia! Had no idea of that name though. Do the lorikeets hook into it?

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

I thought it looked like a Camellia! Had no idea of that name though. Do the lorikeets hook into it?

Not really. Although that might have something to do with a dog that has been trained to "get the birds"................

[DFB FGXR6]

Got rained out today. Annoying as I had a number of jobs on the docket that will be pushed into next week now. Frustrating but it is what it is.

I decided to catch up on machine maintenance instead.

Oil change time for the Victa and Bushranger, the Mulchmaster was last done in October 2021, the Honda in January.

First, the Victa, and yes I protected my floor with old newspaper. Continuing to use Penrite Semi-Syn 10W-30.







Found myself another job while I had the thing on it's side though, those blades need replacing.





I keep blades in stock so that I can swap them out when needed, I buy them when I have the time and fit them when I have the time. For years I screwed around trying to replace blades with the carrier still fitted to the crank, having a rattle gun saves a lot of blood hands!

I write the date on the filter or filler tube so I can remember when the last oil change was.



The Bushranger only needed the oil changed.



Interesting to see what the drive system looks like on these, the box is driven via a drive shaft rather than a belt.





I also remembered to replace the oil on the Honda powered Atom edger. These hold such a small amount of oil, even so they are really hard to drain and fill properly owing to odd shape of the edger body.





I also went shopping for new chains for my chainsaw and a customers saw as well.

[Citroënbender]

Only a few weeks ‘til the bares start buying the roses drinks. Be interesting to hear how post-lockdown demand goes.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Only a few weeks ‘til the bares start buying the roses drinks. Be interesting to hear how post-lockdown demand goes.

Ha! Here already!!!!

Well, nearly.

Today we built four sand beds for the retail stock.





These beds are pretty simple and certainly not pretty. We use treated pine sleepers sitting on bricks to give some extra height. We then secure them with stakes and lots of tech screws before lining them with weed mat. Ready for trees, most of which arrive tomorrow.

We also had a surprise delivery of bare root roses arrive today. Normally, we would receive our first delivery late June/early July. Our roses are always later than the likes of Bunning's and Big W, this stock is naturally defoliated rather than being sprayed with a defoliant to get them into dormancy early, the result is a healthier plant.



Stock this year is and will continue to be tight. Normally we make a large pre-order around January for the bulk of our trees and roses, we then do top up orders through the bare root season to ensure we meet demand and have enough to pot at the end of winter. Due to a massive increase in demand, most of everything is already sold out and there is NO back up stock this year. Will be interesting to see how this lack of back-up plays out. Increasing production rate on a live plant is not an easy thing to do.

[Citroënbender]

That looks like fun work from today (if you enjoy being on the tools)! And why are stringline bobbins never tough enough?

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

That looks like fun work from today (if you enjoy being on the tools)! And why are stringline bobbins never tough enough?

Over the years, I have built many of those beds. Today I had some help which made the process so much more enjoyable. I always say though, as a builder, I'm a great gardener.

Those string lines are well loved! You would be surprised at much they get used around the place. I use them to make sure rows of plants and trees are lined up nicely...........mainly because it looks better but also because it makes it easier.



The work is hard on my body though, it's already faired up my chronic pain and the season has only just begun. The chilly blast we are having at the moment is not helping either.

[Tonz]

Over the years, I have built many of those beds. Today I had some help which made the process so much more enjoyable. I always say though, as a builder, I'm a great gardener.
I was thinking they were not up to the quality and high standards we expect from you.

[DFB FGXR6]

Day two progress -

We get trees from two main suppliers, Flemings delivered today and the secondary supplier's stock will arrive next week. This is mildly frustrating because it's easier to process them in one large lot.



Trees taken off the truck and sorted into their varieties. I would get in trouble if I told what the dollar amount is sitting there on the concrete..........suffice to say it's a VERY significant cost to the business. Not pictured here is the hessian we cover the trees with to keep the roots moist while we process them.



Trees are bundled and labeled with a simple tag at Flemings, we then attach a pictorial label to each and every tree for retail sale.



This is me pretending to be a real man using machines to load sand into a trailer and lugging it into the nursery ready to shovel into the sand beds. We are lucky to have two of these machines, although both are wounded. The engines burn oil and the one with the bucket leaks it too. In fairness, both have done a power of work over a number of years.



I'm actually pretty proud of being able to use those machines, although I have only a fraction of the skill using them that my three boss's do.

Initial work began on burying the larger standard and weeping trees.......think weeping Cherries, weeping Maples and Catalpa's. It's actually good to get these ones out of the way first, bigger trees mean bigger roots to cover and more heavy sand to shovel.



We then moved onto the smaller growing and flowering trees.......think Japanese Maples, Crepe Myrtles and Crab Apples. Here you can see how we work row by row to ensure each tree is properly covered with sand.



The dinky little trailer empties pretty quick but is able to fit down the rows easily. The machine is actually really easy to maneuverer a trailer with. (I'm not a real man so I can't back a trailer.)



Calling it a day, the trees that made it into stock today are watered and the ones that didn't covered and saturated to get them through until morning.





Shattered after a long day, and injuring my knee in the process wasn't helpful.

[Citroënbender]

Have you tried a slightly smaller mouth shovel? It may actually be faster overall. I only use the long handled squaremouth for blue metal or site cleaning.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Have you tried a slightly smaller mouth shovel? It may actually be faster overall. I only use the long handled squaremouth for blue metal or site cleaning.

Precisely what I use, my collogue prefers the bigger shovel. And you are correct, despite being smaller, it's quicker and easier for me to use the smaller one. What is they say? It's not the size that matter, it's what you do with it that counts.

You can see it in this pic -

[DFB FGXR6]

Just adding some more insight into the bare-root season.

Trees are grown closely in fields. Once they have dropped their leaves in mid-late autumn, the wholesale grower will dig up each variety, sort them for size and bundle them in lots of five. Once bundled, they are stored in holding bays.

















It's a huge and messy job, the staff dress in full wet gear to keep warm and dry.



They are then loaded into trucks and shipped all over the country.





It's then up to us to label each tree.



This is my 17th of doing the bare-root season.

[Citroënbender]

It looks positively freezing! I hope the staff are well-rewarded for such travail.

[DFB FGXR6]

Day Three Progress -

Another chilly start and frozen fingers, starting where we left off yesterday.

We were notified this morning out secondary supplier won't be delivering for another two weeks, so the decision was made to put everything out that needed to be in stock rather than hold off certain lines till next week. This is somewhat frustrating as it means a clunkier roll out of stock and means some pre-orders can't be filled and, most importantly, paid for.

Finishing up with the nursery stock, watering them in generously to remove any air pockets and settling the sand so that we can go through and top up where needed to ensure the roots are all covered.



Work then focused on putting the surplus stock into a holding bay. Luckily, we use up left over potting mix for this part, much lighter to shovel.







This surplus is used to replenish the nursery stock if needed, but most importantly, ensures we have enough trees left to pot up in August which allows us to sell advanced trees all year-round.

During all of this, pre-orders are pulled and buried close to the shop.



A clean loading dock, no more trees and all of the mud hosed away.



The sun setting on a very busy three days. The area surrounding the beds is raked and cleaned up after all of the work and price signs added.









I'd like to say I have earnt my weekend but both myself and a colleague who did a lot of the work are having to man the fort for the weekend trade, no rest for these two ducks. Thankfully, my knee held in there but I'm exhausted.

[DFB FGXR6]

I needed a forklift to get out of bed this morning, I could have slept another 3 hours quite comfortably.

Having had my head down all week attending to trees, trees, trees, it left little time to notice a few other plants putting on show.

Callicarpa 'Beauty Berry' are not a huge seller, but they have a certain appeal with their purple berries attracting plenty of eyes. These are largish deciduous shrubs that can grow up to 2 meters in height. They feature fluffy mauve flowers in spring, the purple berries appear in late autumn. Callicarpa are extremely frost hardy and do best in a semi-shade position.





Another oddity, Arbutus unedo or Irish Strawberry Tree. These smallish evergreen trees can get to 5-7 meters tall and are extremely hardy once established. The delicate little flowers appear in late autumn/early winter and are followed by attractive berries. Again, not a big selling line, mainly because no one knows about them.

[DFB FGXR6]

My little brainwave this morning, well actually it was while I was trying to fall asleep last night.............it can be hard to switch off sometimes.



This little display will hopefully show customers how to properly stake a brand new tree.

[DFB FGXR6]

Freezing cold and raining, but were jobs to be done. At least it didn't rain too hard.

Cleaning up fallen Liquid Amber leaves at a commercial property. The wet leaves seem easier to pick up than when dry.



I seem to go through more 2-stroke fuel in late Autumn and early Winter, running the blower on full throttle for extended periods really chews through it.

Also on the docket today was cleaning up a carpark full of Plane Tree leaves, those things are dirty, dirty specimens, I really don't know why councils plant them.

More leaves were cleaned up another property, this time from a Standard Catalpa. I really like these small trees which feature an umbrella shaped canopy.

https://www.flemings.com.au/nurserie...ides-nana.html



Last job of the day was to strip down, clean and refit a new chain for my Number 1 customer, then trimmed back their ornamental grape vine.





This put on a short but sweet show this year. I cut it back to a main framework every winter to keep it contained. No 'after' shots today, I was too cold and wet to be bothered!

[DFB FGXR6]

More machine maintenance with a few items I ordered last week.

https://www.greenacresmowers.com.au/

Air filter for both the Honda and Briggs 850 -



And new spark plugs for both.

Briggs 850 was well due -



The GXV wasn't too bad -

[Citroënbender]

I’ve an Arbutus! It’s got a massive bole, and has suckered decently. Some black spot and dieback but overall still a good specimen coming in at ~6-7m crown height. My father said the Portuguese make a kind of firewater from it. Aguadente.

[DFB FGXR6]

More work on the fernery today, adding stone to dress up around the water features.

[Work Horse]

Lordy you have been a busy boy DFB FGXR6!

I've been purchasing heaps of stuff from the big trade nursery I use. As the weather cools I always encouraging customers to plant now, not wait for spring/summer.

Plant prices seem to have gone up a lot, (like everything).

[Rallye Sport]

Thanks for the run down on the process of sorting the bare root stock DFB
The Fernery and pond have come along way too, good stuff.

Thought I'd share a little green project I've been working on.
Uninspired by one of my planted tanks I thought I'd change it up. Normally I like to do natural landscapes in them but this time I thought I'd try an underwater Bonsai.
After spending a day picking up suitable twigs around the golf course I set about joining a few together to make little trees and stumps before weighting them down with rocks.



Then came the painstaking task of attaching the moss with cotton. No mean feat with wet, XL sized hands.
Got there in the end. Sorry about the pics the tanks still a little murky from the build.



And all done.



The jurys still out on it but its early days, the 'trees' and background plants still need to grow and I think it needs a few small foreground plants aswell. I'll post some pics as it all develops.

[Citroënbender]

It’s nice to see a water feature without the ubiquitous Buddha.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Rallye Sport

Thanks for the run down on the process of sorting the bare root stock DFB
The Fernery and pond have come along way too, good stuff.

Thought I'd share a little green project I've been working on.
Uninspired by one of my planted tanks I thought I'd change it up. Normally I like to do natural landscapes in them but this time I thought I'd try an underwater Bonsai.
After spending a day picking up suitable twigs around the golf course I set about joining a few together to make little trees and stumps before weighting them down with rocks.

image

Then came the painstaking task of attaching the moss with cotton. No mean feat with wet, XL sized hands.
Got there in the end. Sorry about the pics the tanks still a little murky from the build.

image

And all done.

image

The jurys still out on it but its early days, the 'trees' and background plants still need to grow and I think it needs a few small foreground plants aswell. I'll post some pics as it all develops.

Nicely done, would love to see how it progresses.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Work Horse

Lordy you have been a busy boy DFB FGXR6!

I've been purchasing heaps of stuff from the big trade nursery I use. As the weather cools I always encouraging customers to plant now, not wait for spring/summer.

Plant prices seem to have gone up a lot, (like everything).

I always get asked if it's the "right time to plant". As a salesman, ANY time is time to plant!

Seriously though, each season has it's plus's and minus's in regards to planting. Autumn is my favorite time to plant, the summer heat has faded and the soil is still warm to encourage root development meaning that the plant will take off better in spring. Winter is the best time to plant roses and trees as they are dormant and wont notice the transplanting. Spring is when stock begins to become more available, allowing for more choice in the nursery. My rule of thumb is as long as you are not planting into 35+ degree heat, then go for your life.

As for pricing, you are correct, plants are getting more and more expensive, even really basic lines.

I wrote this a few weeks ago on another forum, I think it belongs in this thread as well -

As a nurseryman and plant retailer, I have watched prices creep up and up over the last 20 years. When I started, a basic shrub in a 6 inch pot cost $8 or $9.00. That same shrub in the same size pot costs at least $14 to $18 these days.

What many don't realize is how much work goes into that one plant to make it a sellable product.

In the most part, you are paying for the nurseryman's time to strike, pot, water and grow a plant to that sellable condition. He also needs to have space to grow thousands more of the same and many other plant varieties. And unlike say a packet of bolts or a bottle of car polish, a plant takes time to grow, they don't just pop out of a machine or factory. Plants can take between 4 months and up to 18 months to become a product able to be purchased at your local nursery or garden center.

In terms of costing, a wholesale grower needs to pay for -
-Labor/Staff
-Plant material to strike from
-Potting machinery
-Pot
-Potting mix/soil
-Fertilizer
-Pre-emergent weed killer
-Pest management
-Space to rent/lease/own to house the product while it grows
-Preparation and then shipping.

For a basic plant variety in a 6 inch pot, the wholesaler will sell these to a retailer at about $5 each. When you consider how much time, effort and other inputs go into to making that plant sellable, $5 is not making the nurseryman rich!

And then on the retailer side, again unlike a packet of bolts, a plant is not something thrown on the shelf and forgotten about until it passes through the till, it needs to be maintained, watered and fed...........and it costs money to pay someone like me to do that. So a plant on a bench at $14 is not making a retailer a rich man.

Just something to think about.

[DFB FGXR6]

When you go to buy garden soil, ALWAYS pH test it before you pay for it. If the business refuses, take your money elsewhere.

This sample below is from a newly created garden with soil sold by a local landscape supply yard. The plants have started going backwards and look very unwell.



That reading is far, far too high for any plant to grow in and no amount of Seasol or fertilizer will fix it.

For the most part, plants require a slightly acid, neutral or slightly alkaline soil pH. Gardenia's, Magnolia's and Camellia's require slight acidity. Lavender's, Lilac's and Buddleia's will tolerate some alkalinity.



When the soil is so far out of range like above, plants can no longer make use of the nutrients available to them. As the roots attempt to move beyond the potting mix they were grown in, they become stunted and impacting how they absorb water.

Both extremes can be remedied, lime increases soil pH and Alum or Sulphur decreases it. Alum is very aggressive so should be used with care, but it will give the fastest drop. From there, fine tune with Sulphur.

The reasons for frustration regarding this topic are this -

-A customer will come to us wondering why their plants, which may or may not have been purchased from us, are not growing and/or looking very sick. Our first response is to bring us a sample of the soil to pH test. Nine times out of ten, the pH level will be highly alkaline.

This then leads to the question if the fresh topsoil was added at the time of planting, again the response mostly yes. It's then up to use to explain why it's not poor quality plants they have bought, rather the soil they planted it into.

-The customer then has to spend more money to make the soil actually suitable for growing plants. Topsoil is not a cheap purchase anyway, and often customers will be angry for buying something so unusable and then having to spend more on top of that.

-There about four landscape supply yards in my area. Three of those sell soil highly alkaline and one completely ignorant of what they are selling.

I have managed to find out what the induvial components are in what they call "Premium Garden Soil". The basic ingredient is from a company that uses household green waste and turns it into compost. The second element is cow manure, the third is sand. Well rotted cow manure is generally pH neutral, so either the sand or compost, if not both, is likely to be alkaline.

Despite this soil looking and smelling good, the stuff is completely not fit for purpose. And yet, these suppliers continue to sell this stuff and turn a blind eye to what it is doing.

As mentioned, prior to planting it's best to do some pH testing of your existing soil and any soil brought in. Effective pH test kits are not too expensive, if you don't have access to one then take samples to your local nursery (not Bunning's) (Also avoid those cheap pH meters that are available, they are not very accurate). Doing this prior to spending money on plants will make it easier to remedy a pH imbalance.

[Rallye Sport]

Good advice there mate.

This chart, for me, puts it into perspective.



As the pH grows you can see a drop off in the ability to pick up Nitrogen aswell as Iron and Manganese which also aid Nitrogen absorption. Molybdenum also spikes which is quite toxic to plants.

We battle lime alkaline soils in WA and to make things worse ground and scheme water are also quite alkaline.
Its funny dealing with some otherwise knowledgeable turf guys over here that want plantings of azaleas "just like at Augusta" then are dumbfounded when you tell them its not possible
To me theres no point fighting the conditions I have so I'll only use local plants, which not only work, but provide a sense of place and set us apart from all the other 'Augusta' copycats.