Blog
Our blog features a variety of gardening and growing tips on topics such as soil biology, wicking bed construction, composting, grafting, pruning, water-saving and irrigation. Plus we regularly post recipes to help you make the most of the ‘seasonal glut’ and tips on how to live in a more sustainable way.
Sustainable Macleod receives 2 grants!
Sustainable Macleod is the proud recipient of 2 environmental sustainability grants from Banyule City Council. One will fund the clean energy expo in November at Macleod College. Paul Gale-Baker ran this last year for Banyule Clean Energy and this year will run it for...
Start now to prevent brown rot of stone fruit in Spring!
Start now to prevent brown rot of stone fruit in Spring! Top tips: Remove all fruit including mummified fruit Clean out crotches Remove all vegetative material beneath trees Spray up to 4 times before buds open and leaves appear Brown rot of stone fruit is the scourge...
Electrify Everything – starting at home
The fall in prices for solar panels is good news for those wanting to electrify their home and reduce their power bills. A report by Climate Energy Finance predicts a 10% drop in the cost of panels, helping make solar installation more affordable. According to the...
The Burning Question
We may love a cosy winter fire at home, and enjoy the cheer, warmth, and of course, the pizza, when we fire up the pizza oven at the community garden, but we do need to be aware of best practice when burning and whether our wood comes from a sustainable and legal...
Sandra Macneil receives OAM in King’s Birthday Honours!
Sustainable Macleod is excited to announce that Sandra Macneil was the recipient of an Order of Australia Medal in the King's Birthday Honours: 'For service to the community of Greensborough through a range of roles.' Sandra has been recognised for over 40 years...
Hardy & cheap local native plants for your garden
While it’s a relatively lean season in the vegetable garden, it’s the perfect time to be planting lots of indigenous plants, allowing them to develop roots and settle in before the spring and the growing season begins. Planting tube stock is the best option, as they...
July garlic hint
July is an easy month! All you need to do is keep your garlic weed free, netted to prevent cockatoo strike and watered if there is insufficient rain. If you did not enrich your soil prior to planting, give each row a side dressing of blood and bone but if you did,...
Dealing with suckers!
For the health of fruit trees, it is important to remove suckers at pruning time. Suckers are the shoots that grow from the rootstock beneath the graft on fruit trees. Most fruit trees are grafted, sometimes having several grafts on the one tree. The rootstock is a...
Love your gadgets? – let’s recycle the batteries that power them!
Love your gadgets? – let’s recycle the batteries that power them! As the world shifts towards renewable energy, our search for the best battery storage technology has galloped along. Our appetite for cordless gadgets and portable things has also grown in ways we could...
8 cool things about mosses
Until recently I’ve never paid mosses much attention. I’m ashamed to admit I remember peeling blankets of moss off rocks as a kid and building imaginary fairy villages with them. Lately though, I’ve been appreciating their beauty as they reappear in the bush and...
What is a sustainable community? Part 2
What is a sustainable communityPart 2: Inclusion, diversity and belonging Last month I used Sustainable Macleod as an example of an organisation seeking to assist the development of a sustainable community. In this article, I want to dig a little deeper, into what a...
Pruning and care of fruit trees
Pruning and care of fruit trees First published in July 2022 Top tips follow the timetable below for individual fruit trees prune on a warm, dry day, especially for apricots and cherries avoid using wound healing sprays remove suckers avoid Bordeaux mix and use lime...
What to plant in June in Melbourne
Late in June begin planting seeds in punnets for early spring planting in late August/September. Succession plant some winter seedlings so that they will be available when your first crop finishes and carry you through to the time when spring vegetables are ready. It...
Urgent jobs in the garden for June
Make compost. Collect autumn leaves to make leaf litter or to add to compost. Mow the leaves before using. Add sparingly to compost as too much in a layer causes matting. Mix leaves well with other ingredients to prevent this. Net brassicas and Asian greens with...
Join Sustainable Macleod
Become a member and get access to the community garden, the tool library and our seed library. We welcome all members of the community and have regular events and workshops to enjoy.