Tools & Hardware

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Secateurs and Pruning Tools
Fiskars Easy Reach Pruning Wand is a durable, lightweight (under 1kg) tool that allows gardeners to cleanly and accurately prune tree branches up to 3.6 metres high, while still keeping both feet firmly on the ground. This innovative tool immediately becomes a favourite with anyone that uses it. The chain operated cutting head allows you to cut through branches up to 30mm in diameter. The cutting head rotates to allow for pruning at ground level. Great if you have a bad back or simply have difficulty bending. Available at Leading Nurseries and Bunnings Warehouse.

Pocket Chainsaw
Chainsaws are scary and dangerous pieces of equipment for inexperienced gardeners to use. Unfortunately, you sometimes need to trim tree branches that are just too big for the average pruning saw.  No more balancing on ladders or scaling tree limbs. With a pocket chainsaw you can remove large branches from ground level. The 70cm long flexible blade has 124 bi-directional cutting teeth that will enable you to cut through a 20cm branch in around 15 seconds. With a handle in each hand, you simply pull the chain back and forth with slow, steady strokes. Used by professional arborists and army personnel, the pocket chainsaw is available to Queensland gardeners exclusively from Orac Services at Ascot, Brisbane for $54.95. Phone 07 32625148, fax 07 38622247 or email [caro@gil.com.au]

Products

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Macadamia Nutcracker
We have a macadamia nut tree that produces good crops each year. Unfortunately, over the last decade most of the nuts have just rotted on the ground as cracking the nuts was such a tedious job. Now we have the solution. We recently purchased this macadamia nut cracker from Green Harvest and think it is terrific. Not one macadamia nut will ever go to waste in our household again! They are not cheap, but if you have a tree full of nuts going to waste, you will agree that it is worth the investment. Available from www.greenharvest.com.au. Recommended retail price is $89.00

Sticky Solution
Horticultural barrier glues are widely used within the organic industry to prevent insects climbing up the trunk and into the branches of fruiting trees and vines. I have successfully used these products on productive and ornamental species for more than a decade, yet few gardeners seem to know of their existence. 

Insects make their way to the tops of plants to feed, reproduce, create nests and lay eggs. Ants  carry scale, aphids and mealy bugs, establishing colonies in gardenias, lillypillies, roses and citrus in order to feed on the honeydew these insects secrete. 

Trimming the branches in contact with the soil and applying a ring of the sticky barrier glue to the base of the trunk, significantly reduces the incidence of these pest problems. Ravenous procession caterpillars that defoliate trees overnight, cannot cross the barrier. You can also use horticultural barrier glues to prevent ants and cockroaches entering worm farms and compost bins.

Trappit Barrier Glue and Tanglefoot Pest Barrier are two brands of horticultural glue. Made from natural materials they are long lasting and come in small squeeze tubes or larger calking gun applicators. Products are applied once or twice each year and significantly reduce the need to spray with other products. Ask at your local nursery or go to www.greenharvest.com.au for more information and mail order supplies.

Pestguard Bags
Keen to protect your summer tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums and other susceptible fruit crops from attack by fruit fly. Pestguard bags are lightweight 30cm x 30cm bags made from Pestguard fabric. They are white in colour creating just 20% shade and have the added bonus of allowing air and moisture to penetrate through the fabric.

Simply slip a Pestguard bag over the developing fruit (including entire trusses of tomatoes) as soon as the fruit forms to exclude fruit fly, green vegetable bugs and all other pests that attack your precious crop. With careful use, Pestguard bags can be recycled for reuse for up to three years. Available from  www.greenharvest.com.au

Eco-cweed
Eco-cweed is a registered organic, powdered seaweed concentrate.  It is harvested sustainably from the pristine oceans of Nova Scotia and is one the world's leading seaweed products.  University trials have proven that eco-cweed increases plant growth, flowering and fruiting.  It also enhances root development, improves disease resistance and reduces plant stress.  Best of all eco-cweed is 100% soluble so 100% of the benefits can be used immediately by your plants.

The pack is tiny and weighs just 100gm because you don't pay for water or other bulking agents. Remarkably, this small container makes up to 200 litres of liquid seaweed solution. Eco-cweed is produced by Organic Crop Protectants www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/

Eco-Naturalure -Now in a smaller economical pack
This product is Australia's first organically registered spray for fruit fly Control spray. It contains Spinosad at .24gm per litre (produced by soil borne bacteria), humectants (to allow it to remain soft and effective for up to 7 days) plus sugars and yeast as insect attractants. Spray the entire tree at a low dosage or spray the lower foliage only or nearby structure (eg fence) with a more concentrated solution.

Eco-Naturalure attracts and kills both male and female Queensland and Mediterranean fruit flies and is produced by Organic Crop Protectants [www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/].

Eco-hydrate
This new liquid soil wetting agent designed to improve moisture penetration and retention in hard to wet soil. It contains organic humectants, organic surfactants and is enriched with seaweed extract, fulvic and amino acids. It sounds impossible, it this product actually draws moisture from the air down into your soil. Produced by Organic Crop Protectants [www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/] it can be applied to new or existing gardens.

A 500ml pack (around $20) contains sufficient concentrate to treat 100sq metres. 

Eco-Oil
This is a plant based oil (primarily canola oil), rather than a petroleum oil (white oil), so is less likely to burn plants and is more friendly to beneficial insects. It is used as an additive to make other products such as Eco-Rose stick to the foliage. It can be used on its own to repel citrus leaf miner and suffocate mites, aphids, mealy bugs whitefly and scale and anything else you can spray directly with the product (eg small grasshoppers and caterpillars).

Eco-Oil is organically certified and the pack comes with an in-built measuring device. Eco-Oil is produced by Organic Crop Protectants [www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/].

Control Fungal Diseases Organically
Exciting news for gardeners on the disease control front with the official registration of Australia’s first organic fungicide. Produced by Organic Crop Protectants, EcoCarb has been trialled extensively by the University of Adelaide, commercial fruit growers and wholesale production nurseries with great results. EcoRose has recently been released as the home garden version of EcoCarb. It is exactly the same product, but comes in a smaller size for home garden use.

A broad spectrum fungicide that controls powdery mildew and black spot, the new registration applies for use of the product on grapes and roses, although it receives regulatory approval in the USA for a wide range of foliar diseases.

According to the manufacturers, EcoCarb and Eco-Rose will control and prevent leaf diseases through a combination of increased osmotic pressure, modification of leaf pH and the effects of specific bicarbonate ions and potassium imbalance on the leaf surface. Application rates of 4gm per litre of water means a little will go a long way. Like conventional fungicides, this should be mixed with a wetting agent for better coverage and sprayed on susceptible plants every 7-10 days. more info www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/

Natrasoap
Yates Natrasoap is a low toxic, organically based insecticidal soap. Ideal for controlling insects and mites, it contains potassium salts combined with fatty acids in a vegetable base that smothers and dehydrates garden pests. Because it has no residual effect, Natrasoap poses minimal risk to other beneficial insects and animals.

Yates Natrasoap is widely available from outlets that stock gardening products and comes in a 200ml concentrate equipped with a handy measure on the side. Rrp under $10.00.

Organically Certified Fish and Kelp
Looking to achieve healthier growth, increased flowering and improved pest and disease resistance of garden and potted plants? Searles Fish and Kelp Plus could be the answer. Certified organic by Biological Farmers Australia (BFA), Searles Fish and Kelp Plus is cold pressed to retain all the nutritional value found in fish and kelp including amino acids, vitamins, oils and alginates. Water regularly over the foliage of plants to achieve rapid absorption. Available in 500ml, 1Lt, 5Lt, 25Lt & 200Lt containers.

Organic Barley Straw
With ponds and water features becoming increasingly popular landscaping features, a simple method of controlling algae outbreaks is essential. Using Stephen Brothers Organic Barley Straw makes controlling algae a simple exercise. As barley straw decays in oxygenated water, it releases natural chemicals that inhibit the growth of new algae. The straw remains an effective algae preventative for up to six months whilst the material completely decays. Stephen Brothers Organic Barley Straw is contained in a net bag that floats just below the surface of the water.  Available all major nursery and hardware outlets. Prices start at less than $10 for a 100g pack.

Weed Gunnel
Keen to install organically certified weed mat beneath gravel pathways. Conventional weed mat limits water penetration into the soil and increase water runoff. It also deteriorates over time, shredding into annoying threads of non-biodegradable material that must eventually be removed. By contrast, organic weed mat allows water to soak into surrounding garden beds and lawns. Over a five to seven year period it breaks down to an inert dust. Weed seeds will germinate in the dust and dirt that seems to inevitably accumulate between any weed mat and the decorative stones or bark used to cover it, but at least they are easier to remove. For more info visit [www.weedgunnel.com]

Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler
Spare a thought for gardeners in Canada and the United States. Not content with problems of errant cats and dogs in the garden, they have to cope with stray racoons, deer and armadillos! The way they deal with these unwanted animals is to install a Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler. The Scarecrow connects to a garden hose. It silently senses any animal movement, blasts the offender with water for three seconds and generally scares the daylights out of them. The secret behind the Scarecrow is its unpredictability.  It automatically resets itself and is ready to deal with the next intruder in seven seconds. The device runs for months on one 9-volt battery. It detects animals day or night, using just 2-3 cups of water per deterrence.

The Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler is available from Innotek Australia Pty Ltd PO Box 765 Mudgeeraba, Qld 4213. Phone 1800 786 608. For more info visit [www.innotek.com.au]

Plants and Seeds

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Sunflowers
Sunflowers are remarkably easy to grow from seed and the popularity of sunflowers never seems to wane. Unfortunately, some varieties grow too large for compact modern gardens. To solve this problem, Yates has introduced the low-growing Sunflower Dwarf Sensation.

Plants form bright yellow flowers on the top of a neat foliage clump, Sunflower Dwarf Sensation makes an ideal plant for pots or sunny garden beds. Available from nurseries and other Yates seed stockists. Rrp $3.25.