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166 Wilson Road, Middle Swan
Perth, Western Australia
08 9250 4575
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OPEN 6 DAYS
Monday - Saturday 8.30am - 4.00pm
Closed Sundays
Hello and welcome to July - wow, what a start... We’ve passed the Winter Solstice so days are getting longer. We've had another lock down, freezing cold temperatures and... RAIN!! So. much. rain. I know we need it, but it tends to scare the customers away!!! And we've had a number of frosts up our way already - with a few ornamental plants suffering as a result, but they're hanging in with new growth coming through.
Paul & I have been busy these last few weeks presenting talks; we visited the Kalamunda Community Garden, we had the Hills Gardening Group visit us (pictured right), then we went and visited the Piney Lakes Community Garden down at Murdoch. It’s always great to chat to gardeners and give them a little more insight into what we do (and why we do it!)..png)
See you soon @ The Green Life Soil Co 
Prune your roses & deciduous fruit trees. It's always a bit difficult to say exactly WHEN it's pruning time in Perth - but have a look at your plants and see if you think they're telling you it's time! There's plenty of workshops, YouTube tutorials and articles on pruning - have a look at a few if you lack confidence - but the most important thing is to keep in mind the size and structure of how you're wanting the plant to grow. For fruiting trees, it makes sense to keep the branches at a suitable height for picking fruit, or netting fruit; and to keep the structure as open as possible for sunlight & airflow. It pays to be aware of whether your trees will fruit on new wood or 2nd season wood to maximise crops. However - if a tree has been neglected and NEEDS trimming back you may have to wear one season's lack of fruit for future benefit of better yields.
Plant rhubarb & asparagus. We're still to receive our stock - but it will be here soon!! Get the ground ready by digging in lots of aged compost/manure (or some of our vegie concentrate) and let it settle. Stay up to date with our 
Get growing indoors. Don't let winter stop you from bringing out your green thumb! Grow some indoor plants, experiment with 
Something we've seen a bit in the last few years is people asking why the growing tips of their Board Bean plants are curling upwards and looking stunted & a little deformed. (Pictured right) It’s Bean Leafroll Virus - spread mainly by aphids, it causes twisted, curled growing tips and can effect bean production by about 50% or more. The good news is, it isn't spread from seed or soil - so if your bean plants are displaying symptoms, you have the choice of ripping them out or seeing how well they do (my recommendation). Destroy the plants after they've cropped, and if you save your seed, it will be interesting to see how next year's crop fares... Keep an eye out for any sign of pests/aphids and jump on it ASAP.
Some things you can plant in your garden NOW are:-
We're expecting 
Discounted Delivery - until the end of July 2021
We were recently approached by a commercial worm farmer who had excess castings; we've bought a small bulk load and we have it available by the scoop, and we've bagged some of it into 20L bags (pictured right) - so if you're looking for a great way to add minerals, microbes & water holding ability to your soil; this may be a great option for you. Try steeping a cup of castings in a bucket of water. Allow to steep for a day then drain off the liquid to use as a liquid tonic for your garden..jpg)
We advertised these last month and we've just got 5 left! These beds measure 1.2m x 0.6m and are 0.325m high - perfect for a vegie garden. They are locally made from aluminum panels; powder coated in a wood look finish. They're rust free, and if damaged, the panels can be removed and flipped over - so they're long lasting and robust. We've put them into a kit with geotextile (to form a root barrier at the bottom) and 9 bags of our Certified Organic Vegetable Mix to fill the bed, and your choice of 4 vegie punnets. It's a great way to get an instant garden! Kits are $275 at a clearance price - first come, first served!
(We can deliver Perth metro for an additional $25 - although the beds do fit in the back seat of medium to larger sized vehicles; or borrow one of our trailers [bring your own tie down straps])
Our fill soil is made up of lots of bits n bobs - tail ends of mixes when we need to clean the bay for another recipe, etc. It's not one thing or the other - but it's made up of all of the good stuff! We have a huge pile of it we'd like to move; so if you're making high/raised garden beds this spring and need something basic as the first layer - this could be a very economical way to go about it. It would also be fabulous for topdressing paddocks or for mixing into heavy soils. It's as cheap as chips - $45 per cubic metre. Want a truck load? Talk to us!
One of our popular free fact sheets on our website is our '
You'll hear it said that it's useful to plant Marigolds Tagetes sp. with your vegie garden. Marigolds exude a compound that either repels or kills nematodes; but you have to (a) plant LOTS of them - not just one or two dotted around - they need to be no more than 20cms apart; and (b) they need to be in the ground 3-4 months. Preferably half of that time before you plant your susceptible crop! Some articles suggest that instead of the root secretions being distasteful to nematodes, it actually attracts them, trapping them - so they leave your vegies alone. Marigolds are reputed to repel aphids and some beetles - and attract pollinators, and also small parasitoid insects; (insects that prey or lay eggs in pest insects - the good bugs that help you!) Marigolds are not supposed to get on with beans; trials have shown it results in stunted growth. They're certainly bright and cheery in your winter garden! Marigolds are different to Calendula (sometimes called pot marigold) - another good plant to grow for pollinators.
From the Americas - the practice of planting corn first, then runner beans some weeks later (to enable the beans to grow up the corn; thus providing support) then squash (or really any member of the pumpkin family) to ramble over the ground to provide shade and protect the soil. This is known as 'Three Sisters' planting. This type of companion planting makes good sense; each plant has it's own growth habit that compliments and doesn't compete with the others. However, as you're growing fruiting crops in a small place, you'll want to make sure you really feed up the soil - corn in particular is a hungry plant. If you don't provide enough nutrition in the soil, any advantage from the planting will be lost and your yield will be reduced. While some gardeners claim that the nitrogen fixing beans improve the soil for the corn, other reports claim that this effect is negligible until the bean plants die back, releasing the nitrogen from its tissue as it decomposes.
Plants in the Allium family (garlic, onions, spring onions, chives) are said to repel aphids; so traditionally they're grown among roses to help repel them. (Saying that, there's a particular type of aphid that DOES attack members of this family - so go figure). It seems Garlic does reduce the number of some pests; so it appears to be beneficial for the roses. However, garlic doesn't like root competition - so planting heavily around roses MAY affect the size of your garlic bulbs. Garlic is said to be a bad companion to beans and strawberries. (And garlic & strawberries would be a pretty awful taste combination too! If you want to increase the yield of strawberries, borage is the recommended companion!)
The cabbage butterfly and cabbage moth (yes - there's two distinct bugs that devour your brassicas) is attracted to Landcress (check the latin name to make sure you're getting the right variety: Barbarea vulgaris) - but compounds in the cress kill the caterpillars! Neat, huh? Nasturtium unfortunately don't harm the caterpillars - but it's useful as a sacrificial plant; the caterpillars seem to prefer it. Dill & sage are reputed to repel cabbage butterfly and Yarrow attracts parasitic insects that can help control the caterpillars. Another good tip is white petunias interplanted; the billowing petals are supposed to act like wings of other butterflies; seeing as they're territorial, they will move on to find a less populated place to lay their eggs.
Hi Green Life team,
Beaufort Garden World - Inglewood 9271 0585