Garden tool review. The Cyclone 'Sculpt' range of hedge trimmers and loppers

 

A couple of weeks ago I lucky enough to receive a swathe of new hand tools from the iconic Australian company Cyclone tools. Cyclone have a long history in Australia and have been around for more than 100 years and are makers of quality tools, several of which I personally own and use.

Info provided by Cyclone tools

Cyclone's new 'Sculpt' range of shears and loppers offers gardeners more power for less effor, comfortable grip and stylish design. The range comprises two new hedge shears and three loppers, and includes Telescopic models for those hard-to-reach brances and stems. 'Sculpt' shears and loppers features transitional aluminium handles, soft-touch and wide-palm grips. Its 100% non-stick blades offer friction free cutting, rust resistance, durability and lasting sharpness. 'Sculpt is available at Bunnings Warehouse, comes with a lifetime guarantee and is priced from $49.98 to $87.

Tool Review

To review these tools I puts them all through their paces over several jobs and as it is now spring here in Australia the timing for testing these tools is ideal. I used the hedge trimmers on a Viburnum hedge, a Photinia hedges, a Cypress hedge and several shrubs, they performed wonderfully. The telescopic handles on the wavy hedge trimmers did the trick for trimming high areas. I used the loppers to prune several different trees and they cut through branches of up to 35mm quite easily. I particularly liked the grips and I also liked the handle length on all the loppers.

Whilst all the tools in the sculpt range were of good quality and performed functionally well there were two in particular that in my opinion really stood out as the best of the bunch.

CYCLONE Sculpt Hedge Shears

 

 

The first of these was the standard hedge shears. I've used lots of different types of hedge shears over the years and I can tell you that hedge shears vary from company to company and some shears are more suitable for certain plants than others. The standard shears in the sculpt range are the type of shears that excel in relatively light hedge trimming (for hedges with thicker branching consider the telescopic shears that provide more power through their longer handles). The sculpt hedge trimmers had a nice light and whippy action. For some reason I really prefer the straight blade shears over the wavy blades for light  and precise work. These shears would be fantastic for anyone who is a topiary enthusiast or somebody who likes sharpening the edges of a standard hedge.

 

CYCLONE Sculpt Ratchet Anvil Lopper

I have worked with several gardeners (one who has more experience than me) who to my surprise have never used an anvil lopper. Anybody who hasn't used a pair of anvil loppers should really give some a try to appreciate their power and usefulness in the garden. As opposed to bypass loppers (which are essentially massive secateurs), anvil loppers consist of a blade that comes down into the center of a metal surface called the anvil which makes them more powerful than bypass loppers. The people at Cyclone must be psychic because my last pair of anvil loppers which were of another brand had become so lose that I stopped using them. The Sculpt anvil loppers were nice and tight with a nice handle length. They have a ratchet mechanism which multiplies their cutting strength making them a real beast of a tool. I cut through several 35mm woody branches with them and they worked like a charm. These anvil loppers enabled me to cut through hard and woody branches that I without them would require me to use my hand pruning saw.

If you are in the marked for some new pruning tools consider the Sculpt range from Cyclone. Cyclone are still an Australian company so get out there and support them and in return you will get some quality tools.

The telescopic wavy edge hedge shears were good for tougher hedges with thicker branching.

The compound bypass loppers

The telescopic ratchet bypass loppers were great for high branches.

The straight edge hedge shears giving an English box shrub some shape

The straight edge hedge shears working a cypress hedge

Amorphophallus titanum aka Titan Arum 2015. The worlds largest inflorescence of flowers

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Titan Arum 2015

In late 2012 I heard news from the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne regarding the worlds largest inflorescence of flowers the mighty Amorphophallus titanum. I got to see it before it unfurled its beautiful spathe but missed out on seeing it fully opened by one day as I had to leave to go on vacation the day before (poor me). This time however I was in Melbourne for the grand opening. It only stays open and in great shape in terms of both structure and scent (carrion attracting) for a few days so you need to be quick if you want to see and smell it at its best.

The Titan Arum as I saw it in 2012 with the spathe still closed. Click the link below for the blog entry on the 2012 Titan Arum and for general information about the plant itself

http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/visit-to-see-corpse-flower-aka-titan.html

One thing I found surprising upon my arrival at the tropical greenhouse was the amount of people there to see it. There was literally a roped off line up and 15 minute wait to to get in. I'd been getting a bit disheartened regarding gardening and plants in Melbourne. The trend away from spacious gardens and towards larger houses which seem to fill up almost every square metre of land had me thinking people are not interested in plants to level they used to be. It was reassuring to see the enthusiastic curiosity the general population seemed to have for this plant. Maybe there is hope still for urban gardens in Melbourne's future.

Below is the inflorescence in all its glory. It maxed out at 263 in height which breaks the Australian record and is also higher than the ones grown at the famous Kew gardens. For the record, yes the plant did smell quite foul.

The remnants of the line up. At this point they were turning people away as they were about to shut the hot house for the day. When I arrived the line was almost snaking all the way to the end of the roped off area.

Turn your pot marigolds into tea. How to make calendula tea.

Calendula tea recipe

I came across this recipe similar to this on a visit to the Geelong botanic gardens. At the time they had a tea garden which featured amongst other plants, calendula. I thought I would write up my quick variation of this recipe to compliment my other post on dandelion coffee. According to info from the gardens drinking calendula tea has been used to treat gastric ulcers and infections of the mouth and throat. It improves digestion, relieves menstrual cramps and helps to relieve liver disease. I have no idea if any of that is actually true but you can believe it if you want :). This tea tastes very mild not bitter and is quite refreshing.

Lots if text I've read states it is important to only use Calendula officianalis (common name pot marigold) and not the other varieties of marigolds (Tagetes) because they may not be edible. Some text I've read states otherwise. Based on my current level of knowledge on the matter I wouldn't risk it at the present time.

Equipment;

A coffee plunger, colander and a grater.

Ingredients;

• 1/4 cup of fresh calendula petals
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• Sprinkling of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest
• 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice
• Boiling water

 

 

Method;

Steep calendula petals in 1 cup of  boiling water for  5 minutes with the grated orange zest. Add the honey and orange juice. Stir and strain into a cup then sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Plants along the 'Two Bays Bushwalk' from Dromana to Cape Schanck

Two Bays Walking Track 2014

In late December 2014 I was visiting the Monington Peninsula and decided to attempt what is known as the Two Bays walking track. The track is a respectable 26km long and starts in Dromana in the area known as Arthurs seat and ends at the lighthouse in Cape Schanck.

Indigenous plant hunt along the Two Bays Bushwalk

A few days before I trekked the Two Bays walk I had just finished a book about Charles Darwin and the other prominent British naturalists of the 19th century. The tales of botany in that book inspired me to try and locate and identify some indigenous plants. All in all I managed to identify and photograph many more than I expected. I must say that if you are a bit of a plant nerd like me that trying to identify indigenous plants along a walk makes it much more interested and rewarding. It's amazing how being able to identify native plants really opens your eyes as to the diversity of plants in the bushland.

A Xanthorrhoea heaven on earth

The most impressive plants on show along the track were the monstrous Xanthorrhea australis grass trees. These trees grow at an extremely slow rate. The annual vertical growth rate is reputed to rarely be greater than 2cm. Some of the plants along the walk were over 2m tall with flower spikes reaching well over 3m tall. These grass trees are very expensive to buy in nurseries as they are listed as vulnerable plants and as such it is illegal to take them from the wild. Although they are listed as vulnerable you wouldn't know it from the huge number on show along the Two Bays track. I was pleasantly surprised as I never expected that there would be so many densely packed into this area. They were growing so densely that on certain sections of the track they were hedged to as their foliage was blocking the path.

The walk itself

In retrospect my biggest mistake was not bringing any band aids with me. For the first 19km I was fine but the last 7km wasn't so comfortable as a couple of blisters had formed on my feet. I'm not the fittest person on earth but I wouldn't describe myself as unfit either so If you think of yourself in the same way the walk should be within your capabilities. The walk took me 7 hours to complete and apart from my aching feet I felt fine. If you want to attempt this walk yourself maybe try some smaller walks to begin with if you are unsure, take plenty of water and check the bushfire rating if it is summer.

Below are a series of pictures I took along the way of some indigenous plants and other niceties.

This is the view from the Arthurs Seat section of the walk overlooking Dromana. This section was quite steep but after the the walk was fairly flat and mostly downhill.

Messmate trees form the canopy for large parts of the track near Arthurs Seat.

The first indigenous plant I found was this Goodenia ovata common name hop goodenia

This plant is called Dipodium roseum (common name pink hyacinth orchid). It was easy to spot as its bright pink flowers stood out amongst all the green of the bushland.

These next 2 photographs turned out great. They are flowers of the coastal banskia tree Banksia integrifolia.

The spent flowerheads of the coastal banksia.

The plant below is definately not indigenous. It is called boneseed and is a noxious weed. Signage in this area said the weed was such a problem that they have start trialing biological controls to try and eradicate it.

Not all the track is in the bushland. This vineyard is typical of many in the area which is known for producing superb white wine.

This next group of pictures shows Xanthorrheoa australis plants along the section the track south of gardens road.

The track is clearly marked with the fairy wren logo and direction arrows.

Speaking of fairy wrens I managed to snap this one. There are lots of them in the area.

This photo was taken deep in the Greens Bush section of the walk. In 1975 the state government purchased 500 hectares of bushland from the Greens family with the view of protecting it from development or farming. The Greens Bush section is the most untouched section of the walk. Lots of grass trees were growing here and you are surrounded by only the sights and sounds of the bush.

Xanthorrhoeas in the Greens Bush section.

After leaving Greens Bush the trees start to be dominated by coastal banksias as shown below.

Below is some sort of Leptospermum (common name tea tree). I had trouble trying to identify the exact species of the tee tree as there are many that look similar but I couldn't find one that looked exactly like the ones I found.

This little plant was everywhere on the section of track close to Cape Schanck. It is called Chenopodium candolleanum (common name seaberry saltbush). Apparently the leaves can be cooked and eaten.

This pristine section of beach is called Bushranger's Bay. It looked to have some small / medium waves and nice clear water. Definitely on my hit list for the next visit.

A tunnel of tea trees along the last 4km of the walk.

The Cape Schanck lighthouse was sight for sore eyes (or more accurately sore feet). If you've made it this far you have completed the whole 26km.

The boardwalk and rocky coastal section at Cape Schanck.

The indigenous plant below is Leucophyta brownii or the cushion bush.

I made it to the ocean. Below is a view from the sand on the beach below the Cape Shanck boardwalk.

The foliage of Disphyma crassifolium or noon flower was found on the banks along the Cape Schank boardwalk area.

Alas this was the only noon flower I found on the plant. If only I had been there a month or so earlier.

Last of all a picture of the Melaleuca sp.

Calendula officinalis aka pot marigold a greet self seeder in my home garden

Calendula officinalis the plant that keeps on giving

Calendula or pot marigold is a very popular and common annual flower in many ornamental gardens throughout the world. In fact it is so commonplace that I found inconclusive results as to which region this plant originates. Some sources say Europe and others India. It can grow to about 80cm tall in extreme cases and can be used in mass plantings as a complete ground cover. Calendula has many medicinal, companion planting, culinary and even cosmetic uses which I will write about in another blog entry.

Self seeding 

I planted Calendula in one of my flower beds at home a couple of years ago and it is still going strong to this day. Being an annual plant Calendula's tactic for reproductions is to produce as many seeds as it can which fall to the ground after the flowers are done. The flowers are at their best in spring and summer however in Melbourne they can pretty much have some sort of flower on display all year round. The seeds have an interesting shape and remind me of little dried and curled up millipedes. The first year they sprouted in my garden from self sown seeds I originally thought they could be forget me not seedlings (forget me nots are a bit of a weed in my area depending on whether you like them  or not). Luckily I suspected they could be Calendula seedlings and let them develop into full plants.

Escape artist

Calendula is such a successful self seeder that it can escape if you let it. It is not fussy about soil conditions and I have seen it growing in my Macedon garden in between pavers where the soil would be quite poor. If you want it to self seed as I do then leaving a few plants to die off naturally will ensure they are perpetual garden residents. If you don't want them around any more it is important to dead head or pull out the plants once they develop seed heads (see below the picture below).

Calendula flowers in my Macedon garden during early summer.

A close up of a Calendula seed head loaded with seed. If you don't want any more pot marigolds then you need to make sure these little seed bombs don't hit the ground.

Visit to the Geelong Botanic Gardens in spring 2014

The Geelong Botanic Gardens

Brief history of the gardens

The gardens were first established in 1856 and are the fourth oldest botanic gardens in Australia. The first curator of the gardens was the English born botanist and gardener Daniel Bunce who developed and expanded the gardens in terms of both its physical size and in the amount of established plants which it contained. In 1859 published a catalogue of 2,235 plants which he established in the gardens which is impressive considering he was only appointed curator in 1857. He was also responsible for many of the now mature trees, some of which are national trust trees.

The second curator was John Raddenberry who was responsible for reducing the amount of Bunce's blue gums and replacing them with more traditional English trees. He was also build a huge fernery (18 metres high) which was neglected then demolished. Around this time the gardens shrunk in size but in 1959 they were expanded again and in the present day they are large in size but also packed with interesting plants.

Entrance plantings

Upon arriving at the gardens I was impressed by the entrance which was announced with the flower spikes of several Xanthorrhoea plants and the swollen trunks of Queensland bottle (boab) trees. Xanthorrhoea plants are really expensive (you are charged per cm of height) and these ones were huge. Once I had walked into the gardens themselves I encountered what is known as the 21st Century garden which had a large pond (or billabong), a landscaped sand area, natives and exotics, a cactus bed and to my delight a tree named Dracaena draco (dragon tree). I had seen a another similar tree online called Dracaena cinnabari on the internet and didn't realize we had this similar tree in Victoria.

Xanthorrhoea plants complete with flower spikes 

The swollen bellys of these trees were a dead give-away that they were boab trees aka Queensland bottle trees.

The amazing branch structure of the dragon tree (botanical name Dracaena draco).

 Ponytail palm trees in the 21st century garden.

The cactus bed with the classic barrel cactus in abundance. 

Rose and tea gardens

The next part of the gardens was the rose garden which had all the different types of old roses on display. Unfortunately none were in flower that day because seeing them all in flower would have been a great way to see their differences and would have helped me in future identification of old roses. Following the rose area was a section called the tea garden which contained plants to make teas and herbal infusions such as fennel and calendula.

I'm guessing this may have been the original entrance but it is now surrounded by the 21st century garden. There are two 'bollard people' one of which you can see in the picture below. The other bollard represents Daniel Bunce.

One half of the rose garden which unfortunately was not in flower at the time.

Part of a bed of calendula in one of the tea garden beds.

Rock pillar of the forgotten garden

After the rose and tea beds there was a large fountain close to several large banana trees complete with fruit. This area also had a section called the forgotten garden which I'm pretty sure is where the old fernery used to be. A large rock pillar which was covered in sprawling creeping fig remains in place. This pillar used to be at the centre of the massive fernery.

Banana trees complete with fruit.

The large rock pillar which used to be the central piece of the now demolished fern house.

National trust trees and the temperate garden

Beyond the forgotten garden I found several of the national trust trees such as huge Ginkgo biloba (maidenhair tree) and one of my personal favourites a Californian redwood tree. Near the Ginkgo was an extensive collection of pelargonium plants and a section called the temperate garden.

The national trust Ginkgo biloba tree. Ginkgo's are an ancient tree species that evolved before flowering plants.

Part of the temperate garden

A view from underneath the national trust Sequoia sempervirens (Californian redwood) tree. One of my personal favourites.

The next two pictures are of the Pelargonium collection.

Parallel beds with interesting plants

I ended the visit with a walk through several of the parallel garden beds. I'm not entirely sure but I think these may have been part of Bunce's original design. From there I walked back through the new fern area and as to end the visit I saw a bizarre looking tree that seemed to be directing all its growth to one side. I didn't have time to properly identify it but I think it may have been a monkey puzzle tree. If you are interested in plants and gardens please visit the Geelong botanic gardens if you are in the area. You will not regret it.

One of the parallel beds bordered by good old English box.

At first I thought the plant in the next two pictures was a Correa but it was called Justicia pauciflora.

 Aucuba japonica or variegated Japanese laurel.

Justicia brandegeana common name shrimp bush. I guess I can see why it got that name.

 A flower on a South African bottle brush bush.

A view of the fernery with soft tree ferns a plenty.

Maybe this tree was once shaded out on one side causing its growth to be directed to one side.