What to Do
Episode: #4 14/04/07
Presenter: Melissa King
Melissa loves visiting Instant Gardens because it is one of those nurseries where you can find all your old favourites alongside anything that is rare, unusual or just plain different.
If you want proof, you just need to look at their fruit and veggie section. It is a mecca for food plants, with all the current season veggies, herbs and citrus right through to some real exotic beauties. You can find varieties that you wouldn’t expect to find in a Melbourne Garden Centre like avocados, macadamias, pepinos which have a melon-like texture and even coffee! They will also provide you with all the tools to grow these plants successfully in Melbourne.
You will find food plants for every size garden, even espaliers that you can to grow along a fence or wall. Training citrus is relatively easy compared to more vigorous growing trees.
All you need is a structure to support them such as lattice or mesh, then it is just a matter of tying back growth into whatever shape you’re aiming for and annually pruning off any outward protruding branches.
Every garden should provide for a Mediterranean feast or at the very least have an olive tree.
Instant gardens carries a great range of varieties suited to Melbourne’s climate, like the large fruited manzanillo (Olea europaea ‘Manzanillo’), kalamata (Olea europaea ‘kalamata’), with its meaty flavour and fruity texture and other new varieties.
For something a little different try the wonderfully exotic guava, with Vitamin C rich fruit. Guava trees are ornamental in fruit and flower. You will love the ‘Indian White’ which has a sprightly pear-like flavour and the sweet, small-fruited Cherry Guava. Guavas are tough, easy to grow fruits which can be enjoyed very ripe straight from the bush, juiced or in desserts.
Right next door is a hydroponic specialist who can show you how to successfully grow plants you would not think possible in Melbourne.
You can see examples of papaya growing lushly, the Shark Fin Melon (Yee Chee Kuah), tuberous sweet potato and even some hard to find Asian delicacies like tee cha which used in soups and stir fry’s. Yacon (Polymnia sanchifolia) is a diabetic food supplement and even a substitute Ginseng!
Instant Gardens at Garden World
810 Springvale Road
Braeside
http://www.gardenworld.com.au/nursery/index.html
Presenter: Melissa King
Melissa loves visiting Instant Gardens because it is one of those nurseries where you can find all your old favourites alongside anything that is rare, unusual or just plain different.
If you want proof, you just need to look at their fruit and veggie section. It is a mecca for food plants, with all the current season veggies, herbs and citrus right through to some real exotic beauties. You can find varieties that you wouldn’t expect to find in a Melbourne Garden Centre like avocados, macadamias, pepinos which have a melon-like texture and even coffee! They will also provide you with all the tools to grow these plants successfully in Melbourne.
You will find food plants for every size garden, even espaliers that you can to grow along a fence or wall. Training citrus is relatively easy compared to more vigorous growing trees.
All you need is a structure to support them such as lattice or mesh, then it is just a matter of tying back growth into whatever shape you’re aiming for and annually pruning off any outward protruding branches.
Every garden should provide for a Mediterranean feast or at the very least have an olive tree.
Instant gardens carries a great range of varieties suited to Melbourne’s climate, like the large fruited manzanillo (Olea europaea ‘Manzanillo’), kalamata (Olea europaea ‘kalamata’), with its meaty flavour and fruity texture and other new varieties.
For something a little different try the wonderfully exotic guava, with Vitamin C rich fruit. Guava trees are ornamental in fruit and flower. You will love the ‘Indian White’ which has a sprightly pear-like flavour and the sweet, small-fruited Cherry Guava. Guavas are tough, easy to grow fruits which can be enjoyed very ripe straight from the bush, juiced or in desserts.
Right next door is a hydroponic specialist who can show you how to successfully grow plants you would not think possible in Melbourne.
You can see examples of papaya growing lushly, the Shark Fin Melon (Yee Chee Kuah), tuberous sweet potato and even some hard to find Asian delicacies like tee cha which used in soups and stir fry’s. Yacon (Polymnia sanchifolia) is a diabetic food supplement and even a substitute Ginseng!
Instant Gardens at Garden World
810 Springvale Road
Braeside
http://www.gardenworld.com.au/nursery/index.html
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