a
program that will help you 
grow food, shelter your home from the
sun
and wind, 
create homes
for local wildlife, use water wisely
and recycle wastes.
COVID-19 - we're here for you
My Smart Garden partner Councils (Hobsons Bay City Council, Maribyrnong City Council, Moonee Valley City Council, Brimbank City Council, Wyndham City Council, Stonnington City Council, Moreland City Council and Yarra City Council) are taking a precautionary approach to the coronavirus (COVID 19) spread and we have cancelled all non-essential face-to-face external programs. The health and safety of our community members is our number one priority.
While our face-to-face events have ceased during the pandemic, we are stepping up our online support and offering free online workshops and our newsletters will continue so you can still access reliable, free sustainable gardening advice tailored to Melbourne, and to connect with other local gardeners.
Missed a recent online event?
No worries, you can check out our past online events HERE.
resources
Food
Ideas tips and tricks on what to grow and when.
Shelter
Use trees and vines to make your home more comfortable all year round.
Water
Be water wise! Learn about ways to be a water warrior.
Habitat
Birds and the bees. How do you make sure they have a happy home?
Waste
Your waste is another worm's treasure.
Connect with us for seasonal advice, tips and tricks. Get your questions answered and share garden pics with our community.
Indigenous plants can reduce maintenance, create habitat for wildlife and sometimes grow some food for you as well. Here’s a lovely mix of dianella, poa, pigface, myoporum and warrigal greens. These low-growing plants are perfect for nature strip plantings - check with your local council to see what’s allowed in your municipality 👍🌱
Choko vines used to be common in Australian gardens. Their epic production was a real budget stretcher and helped many families through the Great Depression. The mild flavour (think zucchini) blends into curries, soups and stir-fries etc, and they make pretty good poultry fodder if you can’t get through them. We like them best picked young (about cricket ball size). If you have a garden shed, trellis or a deciduous fruit tree for them to scramble over, get hold of one from a friendly gardener (or buy one from a green grocer), wait a few months for it to shoot and half-bury it so the point where it’s shooting is only just above the ground. Then stand back! Warning: thinking of foraging chokes around the neighbourhood? Watch out for a lookalike plant called the Moth Vine (Araujia sericifera) that is a common weed in Melbourne 🌱
Show us your smart garden to win...
We're celebrating the amazing growth of the My Smart Garden community with a photography competition! We want to see all the resilient, smart, adaptable and fruitful gardens you've lovingly laboured over in the past year. 🌱🌱🌱
Share an image of your garden with us and enter our competition to win a $125 gift voucher from your local nursery! 🌳🌻✨
Simply post a 📷 of your garden on Instagram and tag us @mysmartgarden and include #yoursmartgarden in you caption. No Instagram? No worries, simply email your pic to contactus@mysmartgarden.org.au to be in the running. 🌱🌱🌱
Entries close Sunday May 12 with winner announced in our May newsletter. Entries may be featured in our newsletter and on our Instagram. Check our website for Terms and Conditions.
How are your winter brassicas doing? Hopefully the dreaded cabbage white butterfly will stop laying so many eggs soon! In the meantime fine netting is one of the easiest ways to stop those eggs which become caterpillars..
Dining table looking very autumnal indeed with a mix of seeds and preserves, plus fruits (homegrown and gifted). And some @farmerincubator garlic patiently waiting for me to plant it! 🧄 What’s produce is adorning your table at the moment?
Week 4 of feijoa season and we’re still collecting a basket every day from our two little trees! Feijoas (aka pineapple guavas) are a most generous fruit tree, as can also serve other functions such as a screening hedge 🍈💕🌳
What are you saving seeds from this year? These gorgeous speckled cranberry climbing beans have finished drying and are ready for the seed box. Beans are some of the easiest for beginners because they are self-pollinating and can simply dry on the plant before collection. Store your seeds in a tightly sealed container somewhere cool, dark, dry. Seed saving webinar recording and notes on our website - link in profile 👍🌼🐝🌱🌸
An upcycled concrete stepping stone surrounded by native kidney weed (dichondra repens). Pretty, low impact, and also letting all this rain soak into the soil so it can grow plants that keep us cooler in the February heat 👍💦🌱
If you've got a thirsty garden, join us for a free Greywater for Food Gardeners online event this Wednesday evening and we'll share some simple and safe ways to reuse shower and laundry water on productive plants. 💧🍎💦🍊💧See our website for details (link in profile☝️)
It’s a scorcher in Melbourne today! Do you have paving that’s too hot to walk on barefoot or a window exposed to sun that’s turning your home into a greenhouse? Grapes on a pergola create the most gorgeous, edible canopy and keep the house cool as a bonus. They’re easy to propagate by taking a cutting in winter - see Propagation notes on our website for more info. Stay cool out there folks 😎💦🌞
The simple ‘poke your finger in’ soil moisture test 💦💧🌧
Most common food plants need about an inch (25mm) water a week, and more during heatwaves, but this varies depending on your garden’s soil, plants and microclimate. Check by pushing a finger into the soil around the root zone (about 10-15cm deep for vegies, and a bit deeper for fruit trees and shrubs). It should feel a bit cooler and damp like a wrung-out dish sponge. When you pull your finger out a bit of soil usually sticks. If not, time to water! Dig down a bit while you’re watering and check for dry patches.
Check out the quail chicks just hatched by Altona local @adelinebarham! These are a fantastic alternative to chooks for smaller gardens with similar care requirements. Eggs can be substituted in any recipe - obviously you need a few more 😁
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Repost from @adelinebarham:
Excited to be in the bigger brooder they do the pop corn dance😁so damn cute #quailchicks
This mandarin tree grows both Imperial and Emporer varieties. Soon it might also grow branches of tangelos and oranges! 🍊🍊🍊 It’s surprisingly easy to graft different types of citrus onto your backyard tree for more variety and to spread out the harvest time. In this case it’s a basic wedge graft. Swipe for pics of a shooting scion, plus the improvised mini greenhouse (aka plastic bag and paperclip!) to improve humidity. There is a bit of trial and error and it’s worth making a few grafts as they probably won’t all make it. Will you give it a go? 🍋
Violas are just about the prettiest salad ingredient ever in my opinion. Pictured here with some red mixing mustard and a cheeky red sorrel leaf - also fine salad companions. What’s in your salad bowl at the moment? 🥗 💕
