Story Title: Buying Fruit Plants
Episode 2: WA's Great Gardens
Date: 10 October 2010
Presenter: Neville Passmore

Join the suburban food culture by starting up your own food garden at home. Neville features the latest must have fruits and veggies available at your local garden centre.

Neville's Tips and Facts

• First thing to do when visiting your local garden centre is check out the seed stand. There's a wide selection to plant and the best thing about seeds is that you can find your own set of sowing instructions for your locality on the back of the pack. Learn everything from planting times and plenty of other useful advice.
• When considering a food garden you can't go past the seedling section. You will be guaranteed a selection current for the season ready to plant as soon as you get home.
• Herb sections are organised into suites such as wok style collections for oriental cooking, tea herbs for great infusions and even barbecue selections of skewer herbs ideal for tasty meats such as lamb.
• To produce fruits you can't go past the permanent trees. Start out with citrus for ornamental small trees with colourful vitamin rich fruit, which can be grown in pots to keep them compact.
• The most waterwise fruiting plants come from Mediterranean climates, suitable to Perth conditions, including olives with their steely grey foliage and figs, which are leafy green fire resistant trees. These can be easily trained to spread out flat against a wall as I have done at home.
• Berry fruits are the new super-foods as these are loaded up with cancer fighting antioxidants. Fact is they taste delicious too and a couple of beauties for planting now include Logan berries, which are scrambling climbers and grapes, which need a supporting structure.
• For more growing tips check out ‘Delish' available at all good book stores and online.

Drovers Garden and Lifestyle Centre
1387 Wanneroo Rd
Wanneroo WA 6065
P: (08) 9206 4644