Cranbourne Botanic Gardens

bjbj TRANSCRIPT CRANBOURNE BOTANIC GARDENS TONY: Now, I know you're wondering what I'm doing in the middle of the desert, somewhere in Central Australia, but I'm going to let you in on a secret: I am actually in Melbourne. I'm at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne. With 11 hectares to explore, more than 100,000 plants, and 10 kilometres of walking tracks, I'm joining one of the daily tours. JASON: Oh, we've got something special to show you today. TONY: Beautiful - - JASON: We're going to show you just what the Australian landscape's all about, and we'll get you a few tips that you can actually take home and actually do at home. TONY: That's one I'm here for. Let's go and do it, hey. JASON: All right. TONY: After footy, gardening is one of my biggest loves. I even studied horticulture many moons ago. This bloke was actually in my class. Obviously, he did a lot better out of it than me - he made a career of it, the show off. JASON: Tony, we're here at the diversity garden in the Australian garden here. What we're doing is introducing our visitors to the wonderful diversity of Australian flora. This particular garden has been arranged so that we have a range of plants that are representative of those that you might naturally find across the 85 bioregions of Australia. TONY: The Australian garden is filled with information about plants, and their suitability for the average Aussie backyard. Now, people come here. How can it help them when they go home and do their own gardens at home? JASON: In a couple of ways. One, they can learn that there are some wonderful Australian plants they've probably never seen before which they can buy at their local nursery and actually use - - understand the spot where they can be used at home. They can have a look at some of the ways we manage the plants. TONY: Okay, I know some of you are probably jumping up and down shouting, Tony, we're in a drought. Well, here, the water-wise message is a top priority. For advice or questions on gardening, a volunteer master gardener is also on hand. How do we save water within our gardens? MARGARAT: Choose the right plant, first of all. Choose the right time of the year to plant it, which would be, say, the autumn when you're going into winter. Make sure when you're planting that you give it a good watering in, and then make sure you mulch around that plant, so that evaporation doesn't take place. TONY: So important is this message, a whole garden is dedicated to the topic. JASON: These watering cans are actually a form of art in here, but giving people an understanding, the more watering cans, the higher water use that they're actually requiring. TONY: So, yellow is - -? JASON: Yellow is our intermediate area. TONY: Yes - - JASON: So it's a water saving terrace, as we refer to it here. TONY: And then, we get to the next level, which could be level II, level III, and I think you're using the colour code of blue and red? JASON: That's right. So, our red ones, very little water required at all, and our blue ones, slightly more than where we're at, at the moment. TONY: That is too smart, that's too - - easy, but very smart. Gardening is a great workout, as it uses all your motor skills such as walking, reaching, and bending, and, it's suitable for all ages and ability. Now, when it comes to pleasurable, the peppermint garden is deceiving. You see, some of the smells are sweet and others, well, I wouldn't recommend a second whiff. Oh, gee, that brings back memories. Collingwood footy club, used socks and jocks. Oh, they were the days. Well, that's it, is it? Gee, it's not a bad workout, is it, fitness-wise? JASON: Oh, you bet. It's a great walk here at the gardens, but Tony, I've got something else for you to come and do with me after this. TONY: Oh, fair dinkum. Thanks a lot. JASON: Great to have you guys. TONY: No worries. Great to meet you. See you later. Gee, I thought we were finished, mate. JASON: No, we've got some work to do, pal. JASON: Tony, what are you doing, mate? TONY: Oh, sorry, mate. Fourteen years on the Collingwood Council - - that's what I used to do, but you know. JASON: Come on mate, you're at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne now. We want to see people working around here and doing a good job, so, come on, just get this out, spread out here, will you, please. TONY: I came here to look at the gardens, not to work. JASON: Oh well, come on, get into it. - - - Transcript by Luminaire Pictures luminairepictures.com | info@luminairepictures.com Page PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT hiO' hiO' hiO' gdiO' gdiO' gdiO' gdiO' gdiO' gdiO' xl]QB:6:6: hp>F hiO' hiO' hiO' hiO' hiO' hiO' hiO' hiO' [Content_Types].xml #!MB ;c=1 _rels/.rels theme/theme/themeManager.xml sQ}# theme/theme/theme1.xml G$$DA : BR {i5@R V*[_X ,l\Y Ssd+r] 5\|E Vky- V4Ej 6NGU s?^V *