These plants are generally drought hardy, disease resistant and require minimal care. However, they also provide interesting and dramatic options when they are considered as landscaping options.

Dianellas and lomandras are two of the more common varieties available. They provide good contrast in the home garden, combining well with exotics. However, they are also an essential element of native landscaping. Dianellas and lomandras are regarded as among the most drought tolerant, adaptable Australian native plants. Both these groups of plants look very effective when mass planted.

Dianella Caerulea is an upright plant with branched stems up to 50cm long, which bear dry leaves. Leaves are flat for most of their length and usually have rough edges. Flowers are blue, with yellow anthers. Fruit is a blue-purple berry. The plants which flower from October to February, prefer sandy soils, and can be found from Queensland to Victoria along the coastal zone and northern table lands. Little Jess grows to about half the height of many forms of Dianella Caerulea. Trimming is required only once every eight years, making this a low-maintenance plant. Little Jess has very short, compact canes so they will not fall over like common Dianella Caerulea which generally has long canes. Dianella Little Rev, with its beautiful blue-grey colour, provides excellent contrast for green plants such as Liriope. Plants have an average mature height of around 300mm, which makes it ideal for many uses.

Dianella Tasmanica Tasred is another hardy plant, being drought and frost tolerant. It changes colour throughout the seasons and grows to a height of 400mm and about 400mm wide. With its deep red flower stems, and its beautiful blue and yellow flowers, Tasred makes a colourful display in spring. In summer its flowers make way for large, bold eye-catching purple berries. Dianella Revoluta, is a spreading flax lily, with green revolute foliage. The edge of the leaf is usually rough. Flowers are dark blue, with yellow-brown anthers.

Dianella longifolia is a tufted perennial herb, which forms large clumps. The long leaves grow up to 80 centimetres in length. In spring and summer the plant produces light blue flowers.

Lomandra longifolia is a common tufted plant, found in a variety of situations from exposed sand dunes to rainforest areas. It is a very variable species but characterised by its tough strap-like leaves and its large flower cluster. Flowers are almost cylindrical, creamy, often with purplish centres. Plants flower from August to December. This common lomandra is found in many different environments including sand dunes, ridges, open forest, creek banks and rainforests. Lomandra Tanika has proven to be one of the toughest and most reliable landscape plants. It is drought tolerant, evergreen in almost all situations including drought and frost, almost indestructible, out-competes weeds, and looks good naturally with practically no care. Additionally, it has the advantage of not growing too tall.

Many vegetables grow well with other plants and, by using companion plantings, gardeners can really have nature on their side in the biological control of pests. The most commonly documented companion plants repel pests when planted alongside vegetables. Other plants attract pest predators to the vegetable patch. Some plant roots secrete substances that repel pests or provide nutrients to the plants around them. These plant interactions can work in specific ways between two or three types of plants or species.

Some compatible combinations of vegetables include:

Chrysanthemum plants will now be sending up the stems, leading to their flowering season towards the end of summer. To make the plants bushier, producing more flowers, the ends of the growth stems can be pinched back by cutting or breaking off the top 1-2 cm. This will encourage the plants to send out side shoots from where the cut was made. .

Now is an ideal time to check your garden irrigation systems, such as misting and sprinkler systems. The system may need flushing out, by removing the stopper at the end of the line if a filter was not installed in the initial installation. Spiders and other insects may have made nests in the tubing or spray heads. Risers that support spray heads may have become dislodged during weeding or pruning, so these can be put back firmly into the main lines. Additional sprayers can also be added, rather than waiting until the garden or plants are dry.