Better Backyards with Gherkin Jarvis - Blogs

Backyard bling: from mower to marvellous

WHEN you're behind the handle of your push mower, the last thing you're probably thinking about is jewellery.

Making time to quell the roses

TIME: it keeps clockmakers in business and gave the inspiration for the name of a great magazine - and we can’t escape it.

From the backyard to the backpocket

THERE is money to be made from your backyard. Many might assume I'm speaking about illegal crops, but that's not it.

The art of plant whispering

MANY of you may have heard of the “horse whisperer” - but less well known is Hamblin Gosharn, the internationally renowned plant whisperer.

Upgrading garden centrepieces

AS IT gets harder and harder to get hold of old farming implements to put into a garden, modern gardeners should embrace modern living.

A chemical conundrum

BACK in the day, a lot of farmers had a beaten up old cupboard in the back of the shed where containers, canisters, bottles and vials were stashed, with and without labels.

Life on the edge

SOMETIMES it becomes difficult to know where a garden stops and starts - if they’ve sat a garden gnome there, does that make that pile of tyres a garden?

Dig out the Christmas spirit

GET out the good sandals and the carpet sweeper - Christmas is on its way.

You should have mail

SOME might think letterboxes have become redundant, what with electronic mail programs like Twitface and GoogleTube about, but that’s not necessarily the case.

Why DIY when TV can do it for you?

THE wave of backyard renovation shows we’ve seen in recent years has really had an impact - but rather than inspiring people to DIY, it’s made people more eager to write in with a request for a backyard makeover.

Living for Saturday mornings

THERE are two ways of approaching Saturday mornings: you’re either “up and at’em”, powering headlong into a project, or you sleep-in, like a lazy unemployed, slothful dropout.

Time to give it some herbs

WHOEVER doesn’t put fresh mint into their home made potato salad is a psychopath. It should be illegal not to include fresh mint.

When push comes to shove

THE argument between push-mower knowers and ride-on reckoners is one that has raged for centuries.

Let the flow go

DRAINAGE, drainage, drainage- it’s just so important in backyards.

Inspired by inspiration

INSPIRATION comes in many forms for artists. It’s a little known fact that Brett Whitely used to listen to a wide range of music when painting, probably all loaded onto his paint-stained iPod.

When the indoor moves out

MORE and more people are living in backyards. Usually it’s their own backyards but depending on rent and which shady character is chasing them, a neighbour’s or stranger's sometimes will suffice.

The world of cubby houses

CUBBY houses certainly have changed a lot over the years. Back in the day, old wooden packing crates provided our building material of choice.

The best attack is the fence

FarmOnline's resident garden guru Gherkin Jarvis is back with more backyard tips - this time on how to utilise the humble, yet versatile fence - and talks to cutting edge landscape designer Ghoran Shelsburg-Waverly to bring you another report as the ultimate garden correspondent.

Your barbie-Ps and your barbecues

FarmOnline's resident garden guru Gherkin Jarvis is back with more backyard tips - this time on how to build the perfect barbecue - and travels to New Zealand to bring you his first report as a foreign garden correspondent.