maintaining plant displays - wk 4

My partners in crime for Support Gardening work today are Paz and the Jane. We are up in the nursery with Michelle to strip all the growth off the Begonias to force them into a sort of hibernation. They are to be moved outside after we tidy them up to get the right amount of chill on the rhizomes for a good lot of showy new growth when needed next.

Stripping the Begonias feels slightly mean with so many good flowers still intact!

We then do a transfer of half the pink and white potted Begonias from one slanted wet bed to another to clear the table for a good clean later on. A really good relay system has us sorting this job very quickly. I think Michelle was pleased to have the extra pair of hands!

This Begonia gets the flick.

Pav doing a fab tidy up job on the last Begonia of the day.

After this it is down to the nursery where it is action stations! We are put in charge of hanging up some Davillia Hare's Foot Ferns and either rejuvenating (by removing spent flowers and dead growth) or replacing the remaining hanging Begonias. It is slightly precarious working at heights and Pav does a great job on the ladder. I make sure to follow good lifting procedure when hoisting up each hanging basket and we do a meticulous clean up to restore the conservatory back to it's original glory.

Pav loves having his pic taken!

determine basic soil properties - wk 4

Today it was all about soil  - the different compositions (sand, silt or clay) and rock types that form the substructure that breaks down to give the overall mineral soil type.

Inside the Education Pod - our cosy classroom.

After a light introduction in the classroom we headed out with Marcus for some evaluations of different soil types and the different characteristics of the three main rock types found in the greater Hobart area Basalt, Dolerite and Granite.

Heading up to the Domain

In the upper bus car park we could look at a slice of the bank which showed all the layers of the soil. This really helped me to visualise what is happening under the ground. Starting at the top there is the 'A' Horizon level which consists of your "topsoil" and whatever is growing in it. Just below this is the Sub 'A' Horizon level/s consisting of the smaller ground up particles of the bed rock mixed with the top soil and humus. Below this is the bed rock. NOTE: it's very important to ascertain with any site what soil type and bedrock you are working with to choose your best plants/trees for that site and avoid problems with drainage etc...

I find this all really interesting but get a bit confused sometimes identifying different rock types. Quartz and Sandstone are easy, but Basalt and Dolerite (in the ground not the blue metal gravel) can be a bit tricky. Will hopefully pick this up as we continue on..........



Marcus with a 'male' Allocasurina - Sheeoak 

Along the way we also did a spot of Plant Naming. I learnt to identify the male versus female Allocasurina. We also discussed the Compound leaves of the Silver Wattle Acacia dealbata which is made up of a group of Pinnate leaf types which in turn makes up the Paripinnate Compound Leaf (even number of leaflets attached to the Rachis ). If there were an odd number of leaflets it would be known as an Imparipinnate Compound Leaf. Right...... I think that has definitely sunk in now!

the big trees

Walking out to the carpark this afternoon I had to stop and marvel at the immense size, beauty and age of the conifer collection leading up to the main gates.

In particular the amazing 'Sequoiadendron giganteum' Wellingtonia or 'California Redwood'

Very architectural looking up through the branches.

Walking beneath them the needles are so thick that it is completely silent to move around and it reminds me of the huge amount of time and fun i had playing in the pine forest when it was raining near our house in NZ when I was a small kid. Also had many a beautiful ride through pine forests on my ponies over the years.

The bark on this tree is so beautiful & thick! - and today after all the rain it was surprisingly soft and spongey to touch!

I love the immense size and ancient beauty of these trees as well as just feeling like a small speck in contrast to them. I'm completely drawn to and passionate about trees and I would like to document some more of my favourites over the months to come.

raining on first rotation day

First day of our prac rotations for 9 weeks and it's pouring! Great weather for ducks but not so good for gardening. Really excited to find out however that I've been placed with adam who is on the east team and takes care of pete's vege patch as well quite a few of the other sections of the gardens nearby.

Adam took me on a tour of the different sections and we met some of the other team members before walking though the vege patch where i had heaps of questions about his rotation system - something that  baffles me with all the different opinions and theories out there. I was pleased to find adam takes a very relaxed, instinctual view of the whole thing and said the only really important thing is to avoid the same plantings in successive years. There are other rules you can follow but sometimes it can be fun to try and bend the rules a bit and just experiment. Also very keen to build a hot compost and maybe finally learn how to compost successfully! Can't wait to get my hands dirty and build my knowledge in the weeks to come.....

To finish off the day we did the perfect wet day task of filing and sharpening some of the east team spades and shovels with a light sandpaper and linseed oil to the handles to finish off the TLC treatment. PPE for this task included gloves when filing and earmuffs when Adam was grinding. Was good fun to don the tools and grind some metal.

Adam in the patch.

safety in the workplace week 2

Today we had a short session with David Reid who took us through working safely in the workplace. This covered all the current RTBG practices including correct OHS, communication and procedures in place at the gardens ie: hazard forms, work request forms etc... as well reiterating the importance of being constantly vigilant about the correct PPE for each task we undertake. I think all of us in the group are quite safety conscious and take this very seriously which is great and I'm sure it will become second nature to consider PPE for each task we are about to undertake as the course continues on.....

Jarrod demonstrating some classy PPE to avoid the Davallia  'Hare's Foot Fern' spore during our nursery session with Megan.

operating basic machinery week 2

The very knowledgeable and fun John Easton ran our 'operating basic machinery' tutorial. James Wood who is in charge of the estate team at the gardens took us up to the rtbg workshop where we were able to go through the correct startup procedures for a mower, slasher and whipper snipper. We were also shown the difference between the correct and incorrect tools for the job with different length handled shovels and tools. Biggest thing I think took away from this lecture (apart from the correct start up procedures) is to follow these procedures every single time, turn it off and tag it if something is not quite right (don't ignore it and keep going just because you want to get a job finished) and there is always a 'right tool for the job' and not to push any tool or machinery past it's main purpose. Plus never ever never forget to disengage the spark plug before touching the blades or it's goodbye fingers!!

 We also touched on correct lifting and bending techniques and I was able to visually demonstrate with the group the correct bending techniques for a safe back. John kindly let me share this as I'm very passionate about safe bending and lifting as i think your back's health is so important and this is ceratainly an industry that it will suffer greatly in if the techniques are not practiced every time.

John Easton running the group through correct start up procedure for the lawnmower.

Jarrod getting a feel for the slasher harness.

nursery week 2

Today it was down to the conservatory for our prac session with Margot. We were in charge of ridding the conservatory side room floors of 'Babies tears' and any other lingering unsuspecting weed just trying to quietly get on with growing in the perfect warm moist conditions! PPE for this job included kneepads & gloves and a trowel for prising up the crying "tears". It felt great to be on my hands and knees in the dirt whisking away the weeds and ripping through the job. My mum would have been proud to see how fast we all got the  job done (yes and maybe a little shocked seeing as I'm not known for my love of weeding).  Margot was right  - it looked heaps better and makes you feel very good to be on top on the cleanliness/hygiene factor.



Margot gave our group a tour of the orchids in the nursery.


After this it was up to the top shade houses to fertilise the cymbidium orchids. Some of them were quite pot bound so finding a tiny bit of soil to put the fertliser in was tricky at times. The PPE for here included gloves and masks if we were sensitive to breathing in the fertiliser fumes. We made sure to replace all the left over fertiliser. Lastly we were rewarding with a tour of the beautiful orchids in the main nursery. Some of the colours and variations were amazing. I know little about orchids but am getting more fascinated the more I learn.

propagation week 2

First prac! We get our hands in the dirt at last. This morning it was propagation and correct seed sewing techniques with Marcus. We were shown some different types of media eg: perlite, round river sand, course sharp sand (arena sand), coir (coconut husk) and compost. We touched on the purpose and characteristics of each media (for example I learnt that perlite is very pourous, drains well but also absorbs water into it's hollow centre and then slowly releases it direct to the roots where it needs it) We also discussed which seed raising blends are best (or commonly used) for different plants and why.

The group keenly getting our hands dirty for the first time.

Next it was on to the punnet sewing techniques. Using a tamper (flat timber plate sort of tool) to press the soil flat and pinch sew the seeds evenly across the surface before a final scattering of soil on top and a final tamping down. Then watering techniques - using a fine spray attachment start with the water flow out to the side and sweeping across from side to side being careful not to flood the punnet anywhere which would result in the seeds pooling a the lowest point in the soil and clumping together.Which would in turn make pinching out reasonably difficult! (this has happened to me in the past but not anymore now i know better! - must get a better hose attachment.) I felt I picked up the technique quite easily and really liked the nice even neat "professional' appearance of our mornings efforts.

Finally it was correct labeling techniques and in the trays to head up to the nursery for some warm growing conditions and TLC. Hopefully we will have our first germination of the early lettuces by next week.

All our tiny baby seeds ready to burst into life!

welcome

first entry! my first time ever blogging too. this will be fun.
i've been lucky enough to be accepted into the first ever 'inagural' rtbg (royal tasmanian botanic gardens) horticulture course. very excited and honored and a little bit scared too. so..... as part of my studies throughout this year i need to record and 'diary' my learnings, observations and gardening musings. here goes.......

The beautiful Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens' (Golden Elm) at rtbg.......my favourite tree.