Debunking gardening myths

The Beyond Gardens team is committed to helping metropolitan and regional communities throughout WA to understand all things gardening.

The team loves debunking gardening myths, exposing covert sales hype and replacing inappropriate practices with practical alternatives suited to WA's unique conditions.

Beyond Gardens' Garry Heady said one of the most common problems faced by gardeners in WA was how to survive a long, hot summer.

"Inappropriate gardening practices borrowed from Europe and, more recently, the Eastern States has resulted in frustration, overuse of water and much more," he said.

Garry said workshops at Karragullen Expo would help people to become waterwise, nutrient-wise, money-wise and effort-wise gardeners.

"For example, the Beyond Gardens team promotes a form of minimum till that enables us to highlight the use of waterwise mulch - a WA-specific practice that slashes water consumption in the garden," he said.

"Our 14-hour summer days are tough on all plants, even the native plants.

"So when growing vegetables in summer, a few WA-specific tricks can result in nutritious vegetables for a fraction of the water."

Garry said at Karragullen Expo, the team - John Colwill, John McWilliams and Alison Dorn - would demonstrate how the average vegetable gardener could go from watering two times a day in summer to three times a week.

For more information, the Beyond Gardens team will be giving 20-minute presentations hourly from 10am in the Bendigo Bank Beyond Gardens Marquee.