Been thinking about growing your own?

July 2, 2012

Whether it’s the desire to get your fruit and veg straight from the source or the need to cut back on expenses, there’s no better place to learn everything you need to know about growing your own than this year’s Queensland Garden Expo from July 6-8 at the Nambour Showgrounds.

Marion Beazley, Queensland Garden Expo Event Manager says there is a shift towards families wanting to eat more healthily and an increased awareness of the benefits of fresh home grown produce.

“The increasing popularity of organics has also encouraged people to start their own veggie patch as well as the great experience it offers for kids to grow and nurture something in their own backyard,” said Marion.

“Nurseries have noticed an increasing trend in people investing in fruit trees and growing vegetables but there are a lot of questions out there about finding the right location in your garden, growing the right crops especially when space is limited, and tips for fertilising and increasing yield.”

“At the Expo you’ll get all the answers as well as finding out how to grow your own dinner at the daily demonstrations which show you how to turn the fruits of your labour into great gourmet meals.”

The Expo’s Giant Kitchen Garden continues to be one of the most popular features at the event including tours through a fully planted sustainable garden constructed on site, two stages hosting 11 lectures, demonstrations and workshops a day by organic gardening and permaculture experts and a totally organic food court.

Presentations scheduled across the three days include herbs and their many uses, things you can’t find in books, composting, how to get started with organic gardening, how to grow your own ‘green wall’ and how to get good soil. Popular presenter Costa Georgiadis of ABC Gardening Australia’s fame will also make several appearances in the Kitchen Garden to share his wealth of knowledge.

This year 55 nurseries are exhibiting at the Expo including local fruit tree experts, Birdwood Nursery. Their team will be on site to share their wealth of knowledge given they sell approximately 300,000 fruit trees annually including avocados, mangoes, passionfruit, mandarins, guava, kiwi fruit, pawpaws, apples, oranges, grapes and many other exotic fruits.

The Plant Clinic is the place to go for free personal help with all gardening problems and plant identification with a dedicated team of experts including Colin Campbell, Annette McFarlane and Clair Levander available to answer your specific questions.

The Queensland Garden Expo is a three-day celebration of all things gardening, featuring the largest range of plants in one place with over 40,000 plants on sale every day as well as a huge range of gardening products. Kids aged 15 and under get free entry and have access to a number of activities including a free playground.

For more information on what’s on at this year’s Queensland Garden Expo, please visit www.qldgardenexpo.com.au.

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Ten Common Ailments expected at the Plant Clinic

Gardening guru, Annette McFarlane is just one of the experts who will offer personal help with all gardening problems and plant identification at the Expo’s free Plant Clinic.

Apparently the same problems come up every year so if any of these sound familiar, be sure to come along for free expert advice.

1. Pawpaws with dreaded black spots cause gardeners plenty of grief. Good nutrition is the key to prevention.

2. Lumps and bumps on your hibiscus plant? The plant clinic at the Expo is the place to find all the answers to erinose mite infestations.

3. Do you have plants that simply won’t bloom? Find out why and what you can do about it.

4. Myrtle rust is a new fungal disease that affects native plants. What should you do if you see it?

5. Are your passionfruit dropping off before they are ripe? Stop the drop with good nutrition, watering and control of fruit sucking pests – we will tell you how!

6. Disappointing results in the vegetable garden? Horticulturists at the plant clinic can provide you with advice that will help make your garden more productive.

7. Are the fruit on your citrus trees dry and tasteless? Do the stems have lumps? Are the leaves turning yellow? Our horticultural experts can solve these and all your other citrus problems.

8. Spots, rots, rusts, mildew, bugs, beetles, mites, maggots – plastic bags containing all manner of plant problems and pests are welcome at the plant clinic at the Expo.

9. Brown leaves on camellias can indicate infestations of tea mites. Learn how to control and prevent these pests from the gardening experts.

10. Keen to discover the pH of your garden soil. Bring along a small sample and our horticultural experts on the plant clinic at the Expo will test it for free.
 

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More details

Where: Nambour Showgrounds, Coronation Avenue, Nambour on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
When: Friday, 6 July – Sunday, 8 July, 2012

Opening Times:
Gates Open: 8:00am Daily
Gates Close: 5:00pm Friday and Saturday, 4:00pm Sunday

Disability Access:
The showground offers excellent facilities for wheelchair visitors with on-site disabled parking, easy access and ground level exhibits along with disabled toilet facilities. Guide dogs are welcome.

Tickets
Adults – $16
Aged concession card holders – $14
Groups (10 or more) – $14
Children (15 and under with accompanying adult) – Free
2-day Pass (Saturday & Sunday) – $28
3-day Gold Entry Pass – $35

Other high resolution images available on request.

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