Best Garden Maintenance Products
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I bought this for my monstera that wasn't doing to well and hadn't had any real growth in about 6 months, the next day it was darker green and had… Read more
vigorous new growth
at first i was a bit hesitant to try an all in one in a pump bottle, but this is actually the perfect product for neglected house plants
Vegepod Raised Garden Bed Kits
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I have bought 2nd hand vege pods and I needed a spare part. Customer service was exceptional and communication via email was speedy and consistent. I… Read more
have only just planted seedlings so will see how I go. Overall very happy so far and looking forward to organic home grown produce.
The Organic Garden Co Raised Garden Bed
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Seeing the reviews of poor customer service, delayed delivery and being kept in the dark I called to ask when a specific garden bed would be back in… Read more
stock - explaining I did not want to wait too long and was concerned by the reviews. I was told 'the marketing team will notify when back in stock' several times. I asked if they were waiting on imports and told no all made in Australia. I repeated I just want an idea how long and whether it is worth waiting or not and was again told marketing team will notify etc etc. I asked to speak to marketing team. Told no the marketing team will notify...
If these are locally made, then it should not be hard to say when an item is being manufactured. Disappointed however, I won't be buying from this company, especially given previous reviews.
Seasol Seaweed Concentrate
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Seasol - Makes your lawns and plants beautiful! – Amazing stuff. Use this in conjunction with Powerfeed and you'll be onto a winner! Please note this is not a fertiliser. It helps make your grass… Read more
green but I'd reccommend using this with powerfeed dueing winter and granular fertiliser for spring and summer.
Smells pretty average but thats normal for kelp. My lawn looks amazing applying this and powerfeed. Highly worth buying it in the 4l concentrate and using a fertiliser sprayer to mix it.
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This is really good stuff .Spayed Thursday night pulled weeds out Saturday morning ( Best stuff ever)
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Lawn steroid! – This stuff WORKS! It’s Incredible! All the other stuff out there is a waste of time. Try it! Show details
Genuinely impressed. I've tried the 7.5l and 3.5l ryobi competitors and the ozito performs better. Better spray pattern, pressure, low noise and… Read more
feels like the pump is better. No weird chugging sounds like the ryobi. Build quality of the units are comparable however the ozito tank seems a little thinner although both will have durability issues long term. I think a solution would be if there was housing for the tank and strong feet to protect the tank. The wand of the ozito is definitely superior. Id recommend the ozito particularly given the longer warranty. Ryobi is 4yrs but 2 more if you register.
Excellent results – I use it for my many Photinia's. Has produced excellent results.
Yates Weed 'n' Feed Liquid Hose-on
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My hose fitting actually worked with weed and feed bottle. I hosed my weeds carrying bottle, I noticed the water was clear so I followed directions on bottle…. clear water! My weeds got a good watering!! Show details
Hi A.G, we are sorry for your experience and understand… Read more
Works well. Used it when it wasn't going to rain so it could do its job. Very happy
Wow, worked a great! – Not sure what other people are doing when they say this doesnt work. I did 1 application and within a week my winter grass was dead, with my lawn unaffected. Definitely recommend this product. Show details
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I have been using Yates Weed and Feed granules for quite a few years and it has always been an outstanding product. Always blacken then the lawn… Read more
would come back very quickly into a green lush lawn while killing the weeds. BUT this year no idea what has happened! Didnt blacken anywhere near as much as previously and 2 weeks on my lawn is looking very ordinary with many,many brown spots! I followed the exact procedure that i have always done. But obviously as mentioned many times in the reviews the formula has been adjusted and unfortunately for the worse.I will be finding an alternative and Yates have certainly lost my future business and also the fact that i would always recommend this product to everyone. Tony
Hi Tony, We are sorry for your experience and understand… Read more
Beware. Does not work at all. This product should not be on the market. 0 stars
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Never buy this!! It will burn the heck out of your lawn and kill it. And yes, I followed directions. I usually have the best lawn in the street but thanks to Scott's, it will take me 2 years to recover. Show details
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This acts more like a fertilizer than a One Hour Weed Killer….. I tipped the whole bottle over the weeds I was trying to kill after Spraying did not work - Leaves still a glossy Green days later!
Good value product – Happy with product on my latest grow , has No NPK rating wich would have liked , but used seasol through grow , quite happy good value Show details
Dissolves easily – Great stuff, apply every Anzac Day, your lawn will be weed free all winter. Its a wettable powder, so make a paste first in a small container, then… Read more
tip into the main sprayer. Apply to wet lawn and then water in twice as per the instructions for best effect.
Wettasand!! – Couldn't believe how simple the product was, and literally after 1 week of using Wettasoil, my grass is growing better. We have very sandy soil. Show details
Useless – Doesn't kill anything, simply burns the broader leaves which quickly recover. Show details
I'll be the first to admit that I've bought some junk in my time, but this.. This officially takes the crown as the most useless, unfit for purpose… Read more
junk ever sold. VidaXL should be ashamed to sell garden beds of this low standard. First up, if you're thinking of buying any garden bed from VidaXL, don't. Walk away. You'll spend 10 minutes or more per panel trying to remove the plastic to start with. At 40 plus panels in garden bed, that alone is enough to drive you crazy. Then, there's the quality, or complete lack of it. The panels are literally the thinnest sheets of corrugated known to man, scratched and dented before coming out of the box. The holes for the nuts and bolts are larger than the nuts and bolts, so you'll need a pile of washers and bigger nuts ready, and don't dare tighten them, as they'll tear straight through the metal. If you actually get to finishing one of these things, you'll need to re-spray it with paint so it doesn't rust before you get a chance to put soil in it - but you can't actually put soil in them as these things are so flimsy they won't actually hold soil without malforming. Don't do it.
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Very Dissatisfied and Disappointed – Just recently moved to a large property so bought the travelling sprinkler tractor. First time I used it, worked fantastic. BUT that was the first… Read more
and only time it worked. Second time I set it up and left it to find hrs later it moved less than 100mm and the head was turning so slowly. Had plenty of pressure and was no blockages. I disconnected the hose to find that the head was hard to turn as if something was binding it up. I have not been able to use the sprinkler since so $136 for one watering. All my hoses, connectors, nozzles and small sprinklers are Holman so this has been quite disappointing. Worst part is I cannot find my receipt so stuck with a lemon.
Hello Dimini, Thank you for your review, there are some… Read more
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I wish I'd read these reviews before buying 2 big bags! I bout two bags, each supposed to grow 90Sq MT in a week to ten days. The picture with some… Read more
grass is where grass was already grown. The rest had been top dressed with the best top-dressing soil and bags of Dynamic Lifter Lawn food. These photos are almost 3 weeks after sowing. It's been religiously watered thoroughly morning & night and mid days when it was hot weather. How are these turkey's allowed to continue selling this rubbish!?! As it happens, these two products were the only choice at my Mitre10.
C'mon Yates, maybe a bit more thoughtful with the measuring device – I just used this product and I like it. However when I bought it, I was glad to see it had its own attached method of measuring out the product,… Read more
until I got it home and checked more closely. The instructions say to use the product at a rate of 6mls per litre of water so I expected to see the measuring scale to be 3mls, 6ml, 9mls, 12mls etc, for what would be required for ½litre and 1litre measurements since all the sprayers I've come across seem to be in 1Litre increments. So why have measurements of 7.5mls, 10mls, 15mls (Yay this one is good for 2½litres of water), 20mls and 25mls. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe close enough is good enough. We'll see.
Followed instructions meticulously, but only rye grass germinated. Still have nearly half pack left if anyone thinks it is possible to get kikuyu to germinate Purchased at Bunnings
Hi Johno, We’re sorry to hear about your experience with… Read more
Does NOT work more than it does work – Waiting for response from controller - this is what you get most days. Followed by no response received by rainbird server. Works for a few days,… Read more
sometimes 3-5 weeks straight, then WIFI disconnects and fails to respond. So you have to remove WIFI dongle now flashing the wrong colours, delete the system, and start again. Really annoying. If I knew in 2019 that for the next 5 years this would not work more than 70% of the time I would not have bought it. I cannot receommend this to anyone who wants WIFI connectivity, they have not got this one right. When it does work it is fantastic gaining 1 star, but the failure rate is not worth the aggravation this thing causes.
Spent a whole morning spraying very young weeds. Kill rate 5 days later has been .01%. Watch the Garden Gurus demonstration. The presenter practically empties half the container on a small group of weeds. This is how much you need to use !!! Show details
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Terrible Full of sticks, a few rocks and even black plastic Show details
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I've used this product for years and my Sir Walter buffalo lawn always turns dark green - I water it in by hand, beautiful! Problem is spreading it,… Read more
like many others have said. Lumps the size of cricket balls or bigger, golf balls and stones. It takes ages to smash them up to make them spreadable by hand and even then they're like small stones. Munns/Yates you have to do something about this or I'll get another product and i'm sure it will be at a cheaper price. Dave B, Dianella WA
Hi Dave Thanks for sharing your feedback and for your… Read more
Works every time! – IF! You know how to use it! unlike some reviewers, using the clonex (correctly) has helped me propagate just about any type of cutting! Highly recommend. Show details
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I recently bought two Earthcore Heavy Duty sprayers that are NOT battery operated and I can recommend them. Neither of mine leak at the arm which… Read more
has a small green washer inside - but with battery power ones there may be different pressure issues? I would like to see Earthcore respond to this issue. It’s important to be able to get the arm off to clean blockages if they occur, with some sprays needing mixing from powder, and garden it’s can inadvertently get into the container. It is also important not to screw the arm on too tight, the washer can be damaged and may then leak and need replacing - or any part with a washer for that matter. If they still leak, replace the washers. It is also crucial to clean out the spray arm, hose and head spray parts regularly for optimal use. Sprayers are not cheap so save up for Heavy Duty ones for best value in the long run. I’m sorry the battery powered one is not up to scratch but Earthcore standard mannual sprayers seem just as good as the best brand of Heavy Duty sprayers I have tried in my orchard - and I have tried all the readily available hardware-shop stock.
What does garden maintenance include?
Garden maintenance refers to anything you’d do or use to tend to your garden, and for different people, it means different things.
Some common garden maintenance products that Australian green thumbs (or budding green thumbs) use include:
- Fertilisers, to promote plant growth.
- Weed killers and garden pest control products, to stop insects from destroying plants.
- Soils and mulches, including potting mixes, to use when potting or repotting plants.
- Garden beds, to house any herbs, veggies, or flowers you want to grow.
- Lawn care products, such as synthetic grass.
You can also read reviews for other garden products, such as hoses, gardening tools, and compost bins.
Fertilisers
What is a fertiliser?
Plants - like us - need food to grow. Plant food, or fertilisers, can do a variety of things, such as improve seed germination, reduce transplant shock, and promote root growth, flowering and fruiting.
A variety of elements are necessary for them to be happy and healthy, and of these, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are needed in the largest amounts.
Fertilisers should display the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium they contain - this is called the N:P:K ratio. Looking for a higher ratio means that you’re more likely to provide your plants with the nutrients they need.
What are specialty fertilisers?
You can also find specialty fertilisers for specific plant groups, such as natives, lawns, citrus, and fruit trees, which makes choosing the right fertiliser easier for less avid gardeners.
Native Australian plants, for example, are sensitive to phosphorus, and so usually require a specialty fertiliser with a lower amount of this mineral.
What are the different types of fertiliser?
You can find fertilisers in either liquid or solid form.
Liquid or water-soluble fertilisers immediately give nutrients to plants, allowing for quick uptake. They don’t last particularly long in the soil, however, as they’re quickly leached away with watering. They’re usually well-suited for use during spring or summer, while the plant is growing, flowering, or fruiting.
Solid or granular fertilisers gradually release nutrients for the plants to eat up. These are the cream of the crop for lazy gardeners, as they can slowly release nutrients for up to 12 months.
Inorganic vs. organic fertiliser
Inorganic fertilisers are synthetic forms of usually naturally occurring minerals that are beneficial to plants. They have concentrated nutrients and are often intended for a particular group of plants, making it easier for you to tend to a specific variety.
Organic fertilisers contain ingredients derived from living things, such as manure. They’re slow releasing and are less likely to harm the plant (and environment) if too much is used.
Weed killers
Types of weed killers
Not all weed killers have the same purpose - some prevent the germination of seeds, while others kill established plants. Here are the different types to look out for.
- Pre-emergent weed killer: Pre-emergent weed killers kill weeds before they start growing. They’re generally recommended to use in early spring so they don’t harm plants that have an established root system.
- Post-emergent weed killer: These kill established weeds that you can see on your lawn. Just ensure you don’t apply them to your lawn or established plants, as it could destroy them.
Weed killers can also be distinguished by how they work, however some may be both a contact and a systemic weed killer.
- Contact weed killer: These weed control products kill plants they come into physical contact with very quickly - you’ll usually see results in just an hour. They’re generally more effective at getting rid of lighter weed growth and foliage, but may take a few applications to eradicate a plant.
- Systemic weed killer: These are absorbed by the leaves of the plant and enter the root system, impairing the weed’s ability to get nutrients from the soil. They work more slowly, and usually yield results in 1 to 3 weeks. Perennial weeds are usually treated with this type of weed killer.
Weed killers can be expensive, and it’s difficult to find the right balance between effectiveness and value.
How about "weed and feed" products?
Weed and feed products, such as the Yates Weed ‘n’ Feed Liquid Hose-On, combine fertilise with pre-emergent herbicide so that you can conveniently kill weeds while providing nutrients to your lawn. Just ensure that you use a product intended for your specific turf species so that your weed spray doesn’t destroy your lawn.
Ingredients
If you have children and pets playing in the yard, or you’re concerned about what your weed killer is doing to the environment, then you can find organic or natural weed killers, such as the Slasher Organic Weedkiller.
Some people even find success with homemade weed killer, using everything from boiling water, salt, vinegar, and cornmeal to get rid of unwanted greenery.
Raised garden beds
If you want to start a vegetable garden and don’t want to start digging into your lawn, then you may want to buy a raised garden bed (if you don’t feel up to the task of making one yourself).
What's the point of a raised garden bed?
Raised garden beds offer plenty of benefits, but that doesn’t mean they’re suitable for all gardens. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of having a raised bed.
Find the right size
Consider the length, width, and depth of your garden bed. One advantage of having a raised garden bed is that it can make gardening easier on the back if it’s high enough, so if you can see a garden bed in store, see how much you have to bend over to reach different areas.
Raised beds should generally be kept to a maximum of 1.2 to 1.5m wide depending on your reach, so that it’s still easy to reach the middle of the plot. Keep in mind that beds backed against a wall or fence should be half this width as you’ll only be able to access it from one side.
If you’re looking to plant deep-rooting crops, then look for at least 30cm of soil depth.
Choose a material that suits you
Garden beds are subject to the elements, as well as constant moisture and potentially insects, which is why you should consider the right material for your plot. Here are the main options.
- Wood. Timber raised garden beds are durable and attractive, however they can be susceptible to rot. Some wood fares better than others - cedar, for example, is durable and quite resistant to moisture and rot, however often costs more and may be sourced unsustainably.
- Galvanised steel. While it may not be the prettiest material, galvanised steel is durable, resistant to rust, and economical.
- Stone. Stone is more common in homemade garden beds rather than ones you can buy in store. It can be expensive, but will last longer than most other materials.
Potting mix
Potting mix can make or break a plant, so if you want to do right by the new green friend you picked up at your local nursery, then invest in a decent mix.
Look for potting mixes that meet Australian standards
There’s an Australian Standard for bagged retail potting mix, and mixes that meet them have passed a series of tests to prove their quality.
Look for black and red ticks on a potting mix bag. Black ticks indicate a regular grade mix that you need to add fertiliser to when you do your potting. Red ticks are premium grade mixes that last longer and have fertiliser in them.
Try and get the freshest mix you can, as the longer the mix is in the bag, the more nutrients the microorganisms in the potting mix will consume.
Match the mix with the plant
Some plants prefer rich, fertile garden soil, while others benefit more from sandier soils. Different plants also have different pH preferences, which is why selecting the right potting mix can be tricky work if you don’t go for a general purpose soil.
Plants in indirect light or shade don’t lose water as rapidly as those in direct sunlight, which is why a lighter mix may be better for these plants. Your green friends in full sun will generally prefer a medium-weight mix that holds water well.
You can also find specialty potting mixes that are formulated to give specific plant varieties the nutrients they need.
Hi Jenny, Thanks for taking the time to… Read more