Episode: WA Garden Gurus Special - Summer Gardens
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane

One factor not often considered when maintaining a garden is the soil type. Perth?s soils range dramatically. You get deep gutless sands in Ellenbrook requiring considerable work to make them fertile enough to support exotic plant species growth.

You also get hard gravelly soils on the top of hills with deep loams in the valleys capable of growing a huge range of different plant species including some cooler climate species like magnolia?s, camellia, azalea and spring flowering bulbs more commonly associated with a European climate

Then there is gutless beach sand in Rockingham and surrounding areas that are almost hydrophobic and incredibly alkaline.

It doesn?t matter if your growing natives, exotic plants such as roses or trying to establish a lawn there is always something you can do to reduce water consumption and get great results.

The way you treat these soils can be the difference between success and failure so the Gurus take you to locations across Perth where the soils are very different and show you how to treat them to get the best results from your garden.

See the following fact sheets for more information on specific soil types.

Northern Suburbs Soil

Hills Soil