One of the native irises that does well for a border and is so very rewarding. Flowers individually are not the longest lasting, though the plant gives for an extended period in the right conditions.

Goodenia trinervis is traditionally more happy in WA but is thriving in Melbourne.

Anyone else having success on the east coast with this one?

Hi, about 5 years ago when I bought this house and had the land cleared (was full of weeds and junk) I planted a bunch of various Grevillea around the yard including this ‘Moonlight’ I have going, currently struggling, maybe the last 6 months, is this too late to save? As you can see there is an issue with either iron or magnesium uptake from the fertiliser (Neutrog Bush Tucker).

I live in outback South Australia, our soil here is quite arid, calcareous, pH of 7.5+, so meaning ideally ‘Moonlight’ wasn’t suited for this area to begin with when I planted it, although has been doing well until the last day 12 months, some stunning huge white flowers that the birds, bees and ants love.

Instead of ripping it out, I’ve now learned more about what I can and can’t plant here in these soils, the soil conditions, so here is what I’ve done to try and salvage it.

I’ve trimmed back about a month ago, Grevillea respond well to trims, some say heavy, I’d say I cut back a quarter, I’ve put a generous amount of elemental sulfur around the area of the Grevillea, sulfur drops the pH in the soil over time, I’ve today bought some bags of Debco Native Potting Mix, it’s all I could get in our area in regards to Native soils, I’ve put 2 bags around the area of the Grevillea, turned the soil over and given a watering in via water can of 9l of water mixed with Eco Seaweed, so now I’ll sit back and see if it recovers.

I’ve also ordered a bottle of Growth Technology Iron, a EDDHA iron chelate which works in high pH soils like mine.

What are the chances it’ll bounce back, too far gone you think?

Oleander-leaved Wattle - Acacia Neriifolia - Scenic Rim, SEQ

Something a bit special I spotted years ago, so long ago I had to save my lock screen because the actual photo has been lost which is why the top is blurry.

A big old Jarrah that survived fire damage intense enough to trigger coppicing but the old bugger didn’t give up so now it’s surrounded by a ring of its own shoots.

Naturally growing in a broad-leaved tuckeroo

Any ideas on what is ruining my beautiful gum ? All others around it are fine just this one gets worse every year

They grow on narrow leafed ironbark here. This fence strainer is from one, hosting orchid out of reach of the kangaroos.

Hi everyone :) Happy Saturday 🌻
Any idea what these are? Thankyou. If it makes a difference we are in VIC.

Common Lilly Pilly - Syzygium smithii - Scenic Rim, SEQ

On the right hand side - Upper Caboolture SEQ

This plant with starry blue flowers & eucalyptus-like foliage has been growing in my Central Tablelands NSW garden for around 20 years. It's about 60cm tall.

To the left is a dwarf Corymbia. When we first did our garden makeover I just planted random natives, admittedly had no idea what I was doing. Just picked what I liked and things either took or they didn’t. This was one of those Bunnings rescue/clearance banksias but I have no idea what it is and it’s not massively outpacing the corymbia (which I had put in purposely as a feature plant). I have space to move this to another part of the yard and I know natives don’t like being moved but I feel like whatever this monster is, it’s going to dwarf my dwarf very soon. Alternatively is it something I can keep pruned? Or will it never flower and just be leafy then?

Please help resolve a marital dispute.

We live near Canberra and recently pulled weeds (invasives) and cut down dying trees from these areas in our backyard and along our driveway. Backyard gets some shade but is mostly in the sun, driveway shaded about half the day.

We are soon moving interstate and will be renting out our house while we're gone, and obviously don't expect tenants to do yard work. But the bare dirt looks ugly and will undoubtedly be quickly recolonized with invasives without routine human interference.

My husband wants to put gravel down, which can look nice if you're there to maintain it properly, but otherwise it's just gravel with weeds growing through it. Ick.

Is there anything native we can plant in these spaces that will give us some greenery without requiring watering or other maintenance? A neighbor suggested mint but I know most kinds aren't native.

We'll be here for another couple weeks to water anything new to help it get established, but after that it will need to survive on its own.

Note: I tried planting cosmos and sunflowers in the backyard last year and none took, though they did well in a nearby garden bed with new soil and regular watering (and the crimson rosellas loved them). I suspect the soil in the yard isn't great quality, though the lambs ear is obviously doing fine. Areas on the sides of the driveway are probably even worse. Sigh.

Do I absolutely need to put new soil down before planting or sowing anything? We are prepping for a move and I'm a stay-at-home mum to a toddler, so am looking for a very low-budget and low-effort solution, something that will quickly "take over" in our absence.

Any possibilities? Or is this a "tell her she's dreamin" scenario? Should I give in and let my husband do the gravel?

TLDR: husband wants to put gravel down, I want to plant native ground cover. Is there anything fast-growing that requires no maintenance we could grow in these spaces?

Verge tree in Southwest WA. Was thinking sideroxylon, but the bark doesn’t look right.