Perth Garden Festival — inspiration for green thumbs

There are many reasons why people go to garden festivals but the two main ones are to be inspired and learn from those with more knowledge.

This year’s Perth Garden Festival runs from April 11-14 at McCallum Park in Victoria Park.

There is a great line-up of speakers with topics including indoor plants, growing your own bush tucker, aquaponics, designing better gardens in bushfire zones, the ethics of gardening with respect to climate change and increasing biodiversity in urban landscapes.

Among the best-known guests this year are Charlie Albone from Selling Houses Australia, who will speak about garden design, and Perth’s Josh Byrne, who will showcase his Josh’s House series. Myself, Sue McDougall and Deryn Thorpe will also present talks.

For those with lawn questions, two turf specialists will also be there to solve all those pesky grass problems.

The great bonus for plant lovers is that there will be more than 24 WA nurseries displaying new varieties and handing out information on growing all sorts of plants from succulents and natives to roses, bulbs, indoor plants, tropical wonders, fruit trees and carnivorous species.

There will also be a demonstration kitchen with chefs cooking with WA produce. It’s always interesting to see how chefs use ingredients in ways home cooks never think to do.

Climate change will have a huge effect on how we garden and gardeners will need to experiment with a larger plant palette to discover which plants survive unpredictable weather patterns.

• For more details see perthgardenfestival.com.au.