Many common challenges facing lawns – including weed growth, wear, drying out and even plants’ ability to cope with pests and diseases – can be traced back to problems with the physical condition of the soil. Good soil physical conditions are required to support healthy root systems, the key to success with lawns.

Grevilleas are amongst the showiest of Australian shrubs and groundcovers, and many are hardy reliable performers in tropical and subtropical gardens.

But there’s a group of grevilleas – most notably, those originating from Western Australia – that are very difficult to grow away from their home conditions.

The best way to ensure that they survive is to graft them onto a resistant rootstock…and people have been doing this successfully since the 1970s.

Our busy editor still finds time to provide some useful tips and tricks in and around the garden, whether it be for the home or commercial knowledge.

Paul Plant looks at:

How to...increase your ice plants;

…kill an unwanted large plant;

…pot up a mini vegetable garden; and

…prune an overgrown hedge.