Colac Herald » Your Home and Garden

Gardener’s paradise at Elliminyt

Loretta Wilmink — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:54:58 +0000

DEDICATED GARDENERS: Richard and Catherine Riordan’s Elliminyt property Naroghid has a thriving English garden with native plants, roses and fruit trees.

PLAYGROUND: The Riordan children, Alexander, 12, Millicent, 7, Edward, 8, and Lucy, seven months, enjoy playing in their extensive garden.

Elliminyt garden Naroghid is a gardener’s paradise.
Richard and Catherine Riordan own the Harris Road property, which third-generation doctor Graham Brown built after the Second World War.
Mr Riordan said Dr Brown commissioned Australian landscape designer Edna Walling to design and build the garden.
“Dr Brown was one of the founders of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union,” he said.
“He went to England during the Second World War and after the war he came back and wanted to establish a new house with his English wife.
“It was about that time there was a change and transition into native gardening and this garden is one of the first gardens.”
Mr Riordan said Walling’s garden design was unique, blending traditional English concepts with native Australian plants in Dr Brown’s garden.
“Because his wife was English she got an English garden and then he got the native garden,” he said.
“I often think ‘aren’t we lucky’ because we get the benefit of the garden fully established.”
Mr and Mrs Riordan bought the property from Mr Riordan’s parents in 2000.
“We were lucky enough to come into possession of original plans,” Mrs Riordan said.
“We’re working to put the garden back as closely to the original plans as
possible,” she said.
The property, which is about three acres, or 1.2 hectares, has a thriving English garden with roses and a tulip tree, or Liriodendron tulipifera, which gives the garden an autumn burst of gold.
Avocado, tamarillo, banana, medlar, orange, lemon, grapefruit, mandarin and pear trees also feature in the garden.
“Just about all the trees in the garden flower,” Mr Riordan said.
Mr and Mrs Riordan open their garden for wedding ceremonies.
“We now have wedding ceremonies in the garden,” Mr Riordan said.
“We’ll have about three or four here a year between October and April,” he said.
The Australian Open Garden Scheme will also have an open garden at Naroghid on October 23 and 24.
“We’ve done the Australian Open Garden a couple of times but we haven’t done it for five years,” Mr Riordan said.
“We tend to get a lot of people from all over the country,” he said.
“We have had up to 1000 people in the past.”
The property’s latest addition is a tree house Mr Riordan built last year.
Mrs Riordan said the property was a wonderful place to raise the couple’s four children, Alexander, 12, Edward, 8, Millicent, 7, and Lucy, seven months.
“We look at the house and garden as an ongoing project that we’ll be working at all our lives,” she said.

Solar hot water systems popular under scheme

The Colac Herald — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:52:41 +0000

Colac and district residents can continue to take advantage of a solar hot water rebate scheme.
Daniel Middleton of Middleton’s Heating and Cooling in Colac said solar hot water systems were a popular choice among residents since the government started offering a rebate last year.
He said a Federal Government rebate allowed people to install a new solar hot water system for a sixth of the retail price.
“Solar is still really big,” Mr Middleton said.
“The government rebate is still going and it is still a really good deal,” he said.
“People pay $3726 without the rebates and with the rebates it comes back to around $560.
“Solar is really good, it has cheaper running costs and we handle all the rebates so there is no paperwork for people to fill out.”
Mr Middleton said his company offered an emergency hot water replacement service.
He said the service ensured residents had an immediate and temporary solution if their hot water system failed.
Mr Middleton said wood fires and ducted gas heaters were popular this year.
He encouraged residents to consider their heating needs before cool winter temperatures set in.
“People should get in early to beat the rush,” Mr Middleton said.
“The average hot water service lasts about 10 years and if yours is getting old it will stop at some point so my advice is to plan now,” he said.
“Before it gets too cold people should get their heaters serviced, which is cheaper now than in winter.
“Basically, get in early before it gets too miserable outside.”

Efficient wood for home fires

Loretta Wilmink — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:51:22 +0000

USEFUL: Sugar gum is cost-effective.	QUALITY: Red gum burns clean.
FUEL: Dry kindling is vital for a fire.	CLEAN: Regularly clean your firebox.

Colac wood suppliers are busy providing Colac and district with red gum and sugar gum for winter.
Burning Hot Sugar Gum’s Greg Vesey said his sugar gum stock was selling fast.
“We still have stock available at this stage,” Mr Vesey said.
He said red gum and sugar gum wood were the most cost-effective wood species on the market.
“Like everything in life you pay for what you get,” Mr Vesey said.
“It might be twice the price but you’re only doing half the work,” he said.
“It’s a biofuel, so it’s not like gas or coal or electricity, it’s environmentally friendly.”
CSI Landscaping owner Tony McLachlan said he would sell up to 2000 metres of wood this year.
“Over the other woods, red gum and sugar gum tend to project more heat than the standard stringybark wood,” Mr McLachlan said.
“I think that even though the price is more expensive, in terms of efficiency you burn less wood,” he said.
“The wood burns cleaner and burns hotter so it’s more efficient than the other wood.”
Mr McLachlan and Mr Vesey said people should maintain their wood-fire heaters.
“Wood heaters are like any form of machinery – they need regular maintenance,” Mr McLachlan said.
“People should clean out their ash boxes regularly,” he said.
“It always pays to get the chimney professionally cleaned out,” Mr Vesey said.

Consider weather if painting outside

The Colac Herald — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:48:17 +0000

Colac and district residents can paint outside during autumn – as long as they follow some simple guidelines.
Because the nights are cooler and often quite damp with fog and frosts, the paint people have applied must be dry for at least two hours, so aim to finish painting between 2pm to 3pm.
First thing in the morning you might find exterior surfaces are still damp from the cool night air, so you will have to wait until the surface is dry before you start painting.
Remember the air temperature must be more than 10 degrees Celsius for paint to dry at all.
The drying times specified on the instructions of the paint are an estimate based on an air temperature of 20 to 25 degrees, so the paint will take longer to dry on cooler days.
Pick warm days for painting and cooler days for paint preparation.
If you suspect that it might rain during the day, it might be best to not paint at all that day.
Leave verandas or semi-covered areas until last so you have an area to work on in poor weather.
The other aspect to take into consideration is that metal and concrete surfaces are usually quite cold at this time of year and can slow down paint’s drying time.
A good tip is to look at the four-day weather forecast and plan your exterior painting project around the warmer days.
Also check out the Otway Ranges autumn colours, which are 14 colours exclusive to Paintright Colac.

Interactive display helps plan colours

The Colac Herald — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:47:41 +0000

Are you looking for the perfect colour scheme for your home?
Paintright Colac has the answer.
People can visit the store and use an innovative Haymes Interactive Touch Screen to create a dream colour scheme.
Creating a professional colour scheme is at your fingertips and you don’t have to do it alone.
The Haymes Interactive Touch Screen will give you hints and help you create the perfect colour scheme for your home, both inside and out.
With more than 1000 colours to choose from, suiting your tastes and home decor is easy.
It is easy to create a colour scheme for every room in your home.
Paintright Colac’s staff provide practical advice on complementary colours for your home as you learn about colour, including handy tips to help you create the best scheme.
People can explore the latest colour trends with the Haymes’ colour expressions colour forecast, selected by Haymes Paint professional colour and concept manager Wendy Rennie.
With a large selection of room styles to choose from, the Haymes colour centre will give you a realistic idea of what your room will look like once painted.
People can use an interactive tool to select colours and schemes, then view and edit colours as they desire on the selected interior and exterior images.
The interactive program enables people to change the colours of walls, ceilings, trims, feature areas and even the style of flooring.
Once people have created an ideal colour scheme, they can save it as a member of the Haymes Paint website and access it at home on the internet.
Visit Dale Goodacre and the team at Paintright Colac to find out more about creating your dream scheme with Haymes.
They will provide fantastic professional advice and assist with which Haymes
products will be best suited for projects.
To help get you started, Paintright will provide you with a free sample pot and a 10-per cent discount off the recommended retail price of paint purchases, simply by trying out the Haymes Interactive Touch Screen.

COLOURS: Paintright Colac’s Tanya Barry demonstrates how to use the Haymes Interactive Colour Centre touch screen.

Gardening retreat from mayoral role

Loretta Wilmink — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:43:37 +0000

Colac Otway Shire mayor Lyn Russell says gardening is the ideal escape from a busy office schedule.
Mrs Russell and her husband Merv bought a three-acre, or 1.2-hectare, block of land in Slater Street, Elliminyt, about 20 years ago.
“We built the house and Max Marriner designed the garden,” she said.
“I got my love for gardening from my dad who was a fantastic gardener.
“I can get out in the garden without any phones and have time to myself and get my hands dirty, and I get the lovely job of picking and eating the fruit and vegetables as the reward.”
Mrs Russell has a vegetable patch, herb garden and fruit trees and says her garden is ever-evolving.
“We’ve added to it as we’ve gone and made it more sustainable,” she said.
“The front garden used to be a cottage garden and now it’s a rose and lavender garden.
“We used to have perennials along the side of the house and now we have cacti.”
Mrs Russell is establishing an orchard on the property, which will include the property’s already established nectarine, pear, apple, apricot and plum trees.
“The garden is fairly self-sufficient,” she said.
“A garden has to evolve – it can’t stay stagnant.” she said.
“I’d be happy if I had about 20 trees in the orchard.”
Mrs Russell said she had planted multi-graft fruit trees along her driveway.
“For example, my multi-graft plum tree has blood plums for sauce, green gauge plums for jam and Japanese plums for eating all on the one tree.”
Black passionfruit vines, a lime tree and a lemon tree feature in the back yard.
“I stew and freeze all the leftover fruit – at the moment I’m freezing the passionfruit into ice cubes,” Mrs Russell said.
“I keep the fruit trees trimmed because they are harder to look after for disease,” she said.
“I try and keep the garden as chemical-free as possible, so we spray the fruit trees with milk if they get fungus and moss.
“We also use the weed from on top of our fish pond and that makes the best fertiliser.”
Mrs Russell said she had a cold compost heap in the garden.
“We built brick containers and put all our veggie scraps in there,” she said.
“We quite often get seeds come up from pumpkins and tomatoes, and I’ll plant them in the garden.”
Mrs Russell said her next project was planting specimen trees such as maidenhair ferns in the driveway.

RELAX: Colac Otway Shire mayor Lyn Russell enjoys gardening outside her mayoral duties.

Have a colourful winter

The Colac Herald — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:17:59 +0000

HARDY PERENNIAL: Cyclamens are long-flowering plants.

STUNNING: Cyclamens will brighten up the garden throughout winter.

Arrays of stunning cyclamens have arrived at Colac nurseries.
A hardy and long-flowering perennial, cyclamens will help brighten your garden throughout the cooler months.
They are available in a variety of colours and sizes.
Flat and fringed petals come in red, white, mauve and pinks.
There are miniature varieties available in punnets which have a lovely fragrance.
Remove spent flower stalks and yellowing leaves at the base to encourage flowers, which can continue for months.
Cyclamens are great for patio pots and are best suited to shady areas with a little bit of sun.

It’s time to prepare for cooler weather

Georgina Howden-Chitty — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:15:52 +0000

Mid-autumn is a great time to get out in the garden before the cold weather sets in.
Now is the time for Colac and district gardeners to sow winter vegetables and flowers, as well as bulbs ready for spring.
Paul Fulton from Colac’s Shalimar Nursery says gardeners should plant their hyacinth and tulip bulbs as soon as they can.
Mr Fulton, a qualified horticulturalist, said autumn was also a good time to tidy up rose bushes.
“You can dead-head and tidy up roses now but wait until winter to give them a hard prune,” he said.
Mr Fulton said winter vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbages, broccoli and kale were ready to sow, as well as flowering annuals.
“Pansies, violas, polyanthus and primulas are great for winter colour,” he said.
Mr Fulton said gardeners should also think about their lawns.
“Feed lawns now and tidy up,” he said.
“The ground will be getting a bit softer now with the rain, depending on what sort of lawn you’ve got.”
It is also a good idea to lay mulch on garden beds.
“If you are mulching, make sure it’s not touching the trunks of trees,” Mr Fulton said.
“Also, keep a look out for white butterflies,” he said.
“With the humid weather, there are some getting around.
“There will be little green caterpillars in your vegies if you’ve got them. Use a good Derris dust to get rid of them.”

IT’S TIME TO SOW: Shalimar Nursery’s Paul Fulton says Colac and district gardeners need to sow winter vegetables and flowers now.

A range of options to heat your home

The Colac Herald — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:14:20 +0000

The heating specialists at Colac’s Ball and Croft will help keep your home toasty warm this winter.
Ball and Croft Betta Electrical has a full range of heating units, from central heating for keeping the entire house warm to flame effect fires for a cosy faux-fire glow.
Ball and Croft’s Paul Hanson said the team of trained staff at Ball and Croft could assist customers with every aspect of the selection process, and would organise government rebates and installation on their behalf.
“We have a good team of staff to help customers with a great range of products at every price point,” he said.
“We have every heating option available right down to the humble old electric blanket and heated throw rugs.”
Mr Hanson said Ball and Croft stocked gas log fires, gas space heating, flame effect fires, portable heating units, electric blankets, electric panel heating, wood fires and wood-free standing and inbuilt heaters, plus split system, ducted and portable air conditioning.
He said Ball and Croft also stocked options for environmentally aware customers.
“With hot water, for people looking to upgrade we can claim a rebate for them and upgrade them to an electric or gas-boosted solar hot water system,” he said.
Mr Hanson said the in-store range of units and working models at Ball and Croft Betta Electrical could help people compare products in order to find the perfect product.
See Mr Hanson, Jed Craig, Stuart Oborne, Ann Fence, or any of the friendly members of the team at Ball and Croft Betta Electrical for the right solution for your home.

COSY AND COMFORTABLE: Colac Ball and Croft Betta Electrical’s Paul Hanson says the company stocks heating products to suit a range of customer needs, including practical and design considerations.

Enjoy a warm and cosy winter

Loretta Wilmink — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:11:53 +0000

The ways to heat your home are almost endless, so here are a few ideas to keep you warm this winter.
• Reverse-cycle air conditioners – the most cost-effective form of heating. If installed and used to the manufacturer’s specifications, they can be up to three times more efficient than other electrical heaters.
• Inverter-type air conditioners – consume less energy by adjusting your climate levels automatically. The units are up to 30 per cent more energy efficient than a fixed-speed unit.
• Wood-fire heater – available in a variety of styles with the most efficient being a sealed slow-combustion wood fire that burns for a longer period, producing more heat and less fuel.
• Gas heating – one of the most greenhouse-friendly fuel sources available. Energy saver gas heaters are energy efficient and can reduce your heating costs.
• Under-the-floor heating – can be quite expensive to run, especially during peak tariff times. Make sure the heating is not on 24 hours a day.
• Ducted heating – heats the whole home via a central heating unit connected to a series of outlets. Can be inexpensive if you power the system with natural gas.
• Electric throw rug – like an electric blanket for your couch. The rug uses a microprocessor to constantly monitor room and body temperature, to adjust power input.