Diospyros australis

What’s not to love about a beautiful native tree that work wonderfully as a feature tree or slow growing hedge that also produces edible fruit?

Diospyros australis, commonly known as Black Plum or Native Persimmon, is a small native rainforest tree found from south-east NSW up to tropical Queensland.

During the cooler months Diospyros australis, produces plum-like berries. Berries are about 10mm in size, starting out yellow and turning black as they ripen. They are most edible when black and soft with a sweetness that makes them perfect for jellies, chutneys and jams.

Small cream/yellow flowers appear enmasse from October, and will self-pollinate. However it is sometimes advised to plant two or more trees to improve your chances of fruiting.

The fruit isn’t the only reason to grow one. I love the beautiful green glossy foliage. The leaves tend to have a yellow/green underside with a prominent yellow mid-vein. I would be using Diospyros australis instead of Syzigum australe for my hedge plantings.

Being a native rainforest tree, Diospyros australis prefers moist well composted soils. It performs best with protection from both wind and afternoon sun.

These trees can grow anywhere between 4 to 10 metres in the garden, but as they are slowish growing can easily be kept as a small bushy shrub or even in a large pot, trimmed to be a feature plant! I also found out they are known for their fire retardant properties, making them a worthwhile inclusion in your garden especially if you live in a bush fire zone.

The fruit and leaves of the Diospyros australis is said to have many medical properties. One property is helping to convert starch into energy and keep blood sugar levels in check, perfect for Diabetics. The fruit is said to also said to help relieve stomach pain, anti-scorbutic (high amounts of vitamin C) and diuretic. If you make your own vinegar from the fruit you can drink it to help reduce enlargement of spleen, diarrhoea, and those have urine retention problems.

This beautiful native tree, commonly called Burrpurr (Yolngu) by the First Nations, will become a must have in your garden.

Going Potty

I always get asked what’s the best pot and potting mix to use.

For Pots, personally I love terracotta. It’s classic and classy.

Yes, terracotta is pourous but it also breathes and that is fantastic. No, I don’t seal the inside of my pots I love the aged look of terracotta.

I find when you have a 45°C everything drys out no matter what pot you use.

I personally don’t like decorative plastic pots. I have found in the past that plants root balls sweat in these pots and I get very ill looking plants in summer.

I always use Searles Garden Products Platinum Mix in my pots and I always mulch my pots. I fertilise them with Organic Link by Plant of Health Eco Friendly Fertilisers every three months. I try to liquid fertilise fortnight with Triple Boost but to be honest I do forget!

I love grouping pots together. The trick to this is always using the same colour.

So if you use terracotta, find terracotta pots in all different shapes and sizes. Same goes for glazed pots, try to find a similar colour but group all different sizes and styles together. I love the eclectic look but I’d rather the plants do the talking not the pots.

If you have all your plants still in the coloured plastic pots that you get your plants in, try changing them all to Black. Black plastic pots are available in every size imaginable, even huge! It’s a simple and cost effective way of making a statement.

Pots can be used in the garden or around the house. I love using pots in the garden, perfect for those spaces when I can’t dig due to roots or I need height but don’t want to put in a large plant.

I love that with pots you can constantly change your look just by having a little rearrange.

The Great Potting Mix Debate

So often customers come in and tell me their woeful potting mix stories. They tell me how they make their own with really bad quality products or worse how they use garden soil in pots .

I know I am lucky. I need potting mix, I just walk to the shelf, grab the best one and use it.

It hasn’t always been like that.

Years ago I lived away from Trevallan and there were many times I did some gardening and ran out of potting mix. I’d shoot up the street and buy whatever cheap stuff they had. It was just to finish off a job. I didn’t care.

Well I should have because that potting mix ruined my plants. For next six months or so I’d be watering and fertilising and wondering where the hell I went wrong and then I remembered the cheap potting mix. I spent more money trying to keep my plants alive than I would have spent with the expensive potting mix. I eventually repotted into the good stuff and everything grew beautifully.

There is a VAST difference in potting mixes and brands on market. The $2 bag is never ever going to be as good as the $16 unless you add $20 worth of product to it.

So always, always buy the superior product.

Companies spend millions of dollars researching potting mix and how to make it better for you. Trust they know what they are doing and use their superior brands.

If you want to make your own, excellent, make sure you research it well and always use superior products to make your own potting mix.

Garden soil is not for pots, EVER! It’s too heavy. It will either stay too wet and end up being a rotting gluggy mess or will go rock hard.

If your pots dry out too quickly try using a better quality mix and mulch and soil wetter regularly.

All my pots are mulched (I use sugar cane), it makes a huge difference to dry out rates. I also soil wet my pots every six months or so.

I personally use and recommend Searles Garden Products top potting mix - Platinum potting mix. Some of my customers find it keeps their plants too wet so they use the next potting mix down Professional potting mix.

Don’t cut any corners with soil. Soil is the starting point from where your plants grow and thrive

Planting edibles and flowers in POTS hot tips

• Use the best quality potting mix. If you have a favourite brand research and find that company’s best quality potting mix.

• Go big. Don’t muck around with 20 small pots. I know you’ve seen you can plant your chives into an old kettle but don’t do it. When doing edibles always start at 30cm or bigger. You can put your chives and basil and parsley in a one big pot but don’t go small. Firstly lots of Small pots looks ugly. Secondly too small pots dry out quicker.

• Fertilise with Organic Link, as soon as you pot. Yes, I know that bag of potting mix said 12 months feeding but it could have been sitting out in the hot weather for 12 months. So just fertilise with the best organic fertiliser you can get your hands on and then you know when it was fertilised last and you can then refeed in about three months time.

• Mulch, yes I mulch my pots. Yes it makes a huge difference. No it doesn’t matter what you use. Apart from stones. Stones are not mulch. Stones are decoration. Use sugarcane mulch or something else that will break down into the soil over time.

• Put in sun. Most edibles need at least 4 hours of sun

• Water as needed. Probably at least every second or third day. Maybe more as it gets warmer.

I hear you screaming in background but you have possums and wildlife and children that will wreck this potted garden on you. Solution and best ever invention. Buy a Vegepod

These pods come with their own wicking bed, irrigation system and wildlife cover. They are flamin’ fantastic.