The Tropical Gardener

we are moving to our new home – it has a completely empty back yard – as it is in Northern Australia I was considering a Balinese style / tropical garden – how do I get started as it is currently just a big empty lot with grass…????

well there are many plants you can use…of course look around at other houses just to get an idea of what type of plants may survive. there are sago palms or king palms, grasses, iris, bird of paradise,banana trees, canna Tropicana and or outdoor decor get fountains that symbolize water falls, use colors for both flowers and decor, such as yellows, reds, oranges, purples, even brownish yellowish colors.

I’ve just bought a house on a large block of land in northern Australia, where the weather is quite hot in Summer and the Winters are fairly warm an I want to start up a vegetable garden but I need to know how deep the soil should be for the garden and want it all to be fairly low maintenance.
My family loves potatoes, sweet potato, onions, garlic, broccoli and cauliflower, so what would be good (or not good) for a tropical garden and how can I grow these vegetables using little to no pesticides or other chemicals?

Yes, indeed you can! I have similar conditions here in south central Texas, USA. (Visited your lovely country some years ago, but only in the Sydney and Melbourne areas.) Strictly organic. Let me suggest a way to confer with other Aussies on this topic. Join davesgarden.com as a member and you can access the Australian forum and many other topics as well. No charge for members; subscribers have fees and a few more forums. Good advice and friendly help. Yuska

I live in a cool, temperate, alpine region. The soil is too poor and rocky for a vegetable garden (I grow herbs in that bed instead).

I have a large verandah that gets full sun for most of the day and is very sheltered, so I was hoping to grow some vegetables in big tubs and planters along it.

Any suggestions from experienced gardeners? Most vegetables will grow here, unless they are tropical or subtropical.

You can grow virtually any veggie in a big enough pot or container. I grow a tangerine tree in a very large pot so I can move it to shelter when it gets cold. It grows very good quality, tasty tangerines. Obviously that’s a fruit, not a veggie, but I use it as an example of how you can use a pot to grow a large plant that would usually be planted in the ground.

Since you live in a cool climate, you should be able to grow all sorts of salad greens – lettuce, arugula, spinach, chard, cabbage, etc. You can also grow broccoli and cauliflower. If you have a deep pot or container, you can grow root vegetables and tubers such as carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, and garlic. Peas also like cool weather – you might want to look for ones that are labelled “dwarf” or “self-supporting” – or you could put a trellis in a large container and let the standard type of pea vine grow up it. I especially like snow peas, since you can eat the pod as well as the peas.

Be sure that the pot has enough room for the root ball to develop, and keep it well-watered (but not soggy.) Use a good quality potting soil. You will have to give the plants some kind of fertilizer, too, since the roots can’t seek out soil nutrients as they would if they were planted in the ground. Just experiment – if it grows well in the ground in your area, you should be able to grow it in a pot.

It’s probably an unexplained assumption but i’ve heard that fruits that grow in tropical latitudes(e.g-pineapple,passion fruit) are healthier than those which grow in temperate latitudes (e.g- apples,grapes)…….truth or myth?

If it’s true then why is it so?

I could see this being true. I havn’t done any research on it but I guess that tropical fruits have more exposure to the sun and would contain more vitamines that northern fruits would be low on.

I saw something about it on tv the other day and have read a little about it before.

Does anyone have any experience, does it make a difference or is it coincidence?

From my own experience, I find most things are reluctant to grow after June, when the days start getting shorter. I’ve never tried gardening by moon phases, I tend to go by the phases of the sun rather than the moon, but thought of trying it out this year just for fun.

I tried it a few years back – but you really do have to be quite methodical about it!
My main problem with it was that it wanted me to sow/grow/harvest etc. at times I wasn’t ready to!
The idea is that you should expect bigger & better, pest free crops if whatever you grow.
My mum also did it a few years back, she is retired and was able to fit her schedule around the suggested times etc. more easily than I could and she reckoned she did see a difference – not sure if that was just wishful thinking though!