Good Gardening Ways Newsletter

Weekly practical gardening advice, book and tool reviews inspiration to help you grow the garden you’ve always dreamed of, no matter your space or season. We also dispel gardening myths and look at subscribers’ gardens.

Featured

Aug 29, 2025

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19 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter - Edition 3

In this issue, we will delve into the fascinating world of gardening and learn about a striking plant from South Africa. We will also explore how using the wrong mulch can rob your soil of a vital nutrient, dispel a common myth about ripening tomatoes, and discuss a great garden-cutting tool. Additionally, we will review a book all about growing great winter vegetables, examine a famous garden quote, and as a special treat, take a look at Janette and my 1-acre home garden.

Jason Good

Sep 26, 2025

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19 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 7

In today's edition, we look at the amazing flowers of Winter Roses or Hellebores, dig deeper below ground to uncover more about what life is down there and how it interacts with our garden plants, discuss a myth about acid soils, review trimming tools, look at a book about Plant Collectors that’s close to home, show our home gardens Woodlands Walk garden room (which is my favourite) in the subscriber section, and introduce a new section that looks at plant diseases and pests and what to do about them.

Jason Good

Oct 24, 2025

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16 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 11

In today's edition, we look at another shade-loving plant that not only has interesting leaves but also beautiful flowers, explore the world of fungi underground and look deeper into how it helps your garden plants, dissect a quote by a famous Roman statesman, explore a myth about composting weeds, review a beautiful book that takes us on a journey creating one of the world's most magical gardens, look at a suburban garden created by an avid gardener and learn how to control slugs and snails.

Jason Good

Articles

Aug 21, 2026

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11 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 54

Spring is almost here, and this week there are plenty of signs of it around Apple Blossom Farm. We take a closer look at our flowering apricot and quinces, then head beneath the surface as Cultivating Greenery moves from understanding the Soil Food Web to actually managing it. There's also a tiny weed causing us a surprisingly big problem, some wonderful inspiration from Britain's spectacular hanging baskets, and a visit to Nancy's garden in Bristol that carries an important lesson for Australian gardeners as summer approaches. Plus, Episode 2 of the Good Gardening Ways Podcast is now live, as our audio tour of Apple Blossom Farm continues through the Metal Arbour and into the Antique Perennial Garden

Jason Good

Aug 14, 2026

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8 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 53

We begin our second year with a new weed series inspired by a Scotch thistle outbreak in the Parklands, go searching for the possibility of a truly unique Apple Blossom Farm flower, and share a colourful postcard from England. There’s also news of an unexpected September wedding at the farm, a quick look at what’s flowering in the garden, and another step forward inside our 1975 heritage bus.

Jason Good

Aug 7, 2026

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7 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 52

There is plenty to celebrate in this week’s edition! We begin with a spectacular surprise: stunning photographs from Singapore’s extraordinary Flower Dome, captured during Janette and Jasmine’s travels. Good Gardening Ways has also reached 52 consecutive weekly editions - a full year without missing a single week! I share why I began writing the newsletter, what keeps me going and the goal behind it all. We also explore a powerful garden-design principle, discover what is flowering at Apple Blossom Farm and reveal a special treat from the newsletter’s earliest days. And just when you think that is everything, there is one more surprise waiting in the wings.

Jason Good

Jul 31, 2026

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7 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 51

In this edition, I share the unlikely story of how a simple encounter changed the direction of Apple Blossom Farm. We celebrate the winter beauty of snowdrops, wallflowers and jonquils, explore how a multigrafted fruit tree can provide several harvests from even a small space, and uncover clever design lessons from a miniature garden at the Melbourne Flower Show. I also share how I am protecting our young Australian plants from hungry possums, along with the latest updates on the Orangery and our heritage bus. Next week marks 52 consecutive editions—and I have a surprise to share.

Jason Good

Jul 24, 2026

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7 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 50

In our 50th edition, I share the story behind the name Apple Blossom Farm and why it celebrates promise rather than harvest. We discover how one small, twisting garden can keep a dozen very different herbs happy without a single botanical argument. We also admire three winter treasures flowering in our garden, reveal the latest additions to the heritage bus, and consider whether we are building our soil or simply borrowing from it.

Jason Good

Jul 17, 2026

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6 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 49

I found the Bunnings Garden Diaries episodes shot in our garden and you can watch them in this newsletter! Filmed seven years ago, they offer a fascinating look back at Apple Blossom Farm and reveal just how much the garden has changed since then.I also share a practical approach to planting and delivering water across a steep bush block, inspired by a subscriber’s question. We explore the power of repetition through a striking display Janette photographed in Hobart, and there is the slightly less inspiring story of the possum that discovered our nursery and treated it as an all-you-can-eat buffet.You’ll also find the results of last week’s poll, an opportunity to have your own garden featured in Good Gardening Ways, and the possibility of some special garden inspiration from Britain when Janette and Jasmine begin their adventure.

Jason Good

Jul 10, 2026

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8 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 48

In this week’s edition, we remember the time Bunnings filmed a winter gardening advertisement at Apple Blossom Farm, and how the garden became the backdrop for a bigger gardening story. We also look at a golden conifer with a fresh lemon scent and a surprisingly interesting history. We share Janette’s clever weeding idea we think she may have invented, along with more detail about why we are getting an Orangery in the old orchard. And finally, we look at a common planting mistake: using potting mix in planting holes, and garden soil in pots.

Jason Good

Jul 3, 2026

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9 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 47

This week, I have a very personal tribute to Janette as she finishes six wonderful years at Stoneman's Garden Centre and begins an exciting new chapter. We reveal the results of our meadow seed mix poll, with the winning blend now chosen for the Headwaters dam wall project. I also introduce the remarkable Lewisia, a little plant that has flowered almost all year in our Tasmanian garden, explore the garden's hidden "second clock" that tells plants when to grow and flower, share a beautiful Tasmanian native, Crowea 'Stella Rose', and finish with another exciting update on our 1975 boutique bus accommodation as it continues its transformation into a luxury garden retreat.

Jason Good

Jun 26, 2026

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6 min read

Home Gardening Newsletter Edition 46

In this week’s edition, we look at the quiet shift after the winter solstice, when the days slowly begin to stretch again. We also explore the forgotten value of a cutting garden, share an update on our Headwaters Meadow experiment, and introduce Janette’s latest plant choice for our upcoming Australian garden — Native Thyme, *Prostanthera incisa*.There is also a chance for you to help shape Apple Blossom Farm by voting on which meadow flower mix we should try on the dam wall.

Jason Good

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