Services & Pricing (DL trifold)
What RF Horticulture does: garden care for every kind of garden (quote first), regular care, Establishment Care, trees, and an overview of my native garden advice. Prints as a DL trifold. 2 pages.
Free guide
Downloadable handouts
Free printable guides for North Shore gardeners, in plain English. Print them, stick them on the fridge, or slip one to a neighbour.
Client handouts (13)
Native Garden Starter Guide
Five steps to a local native garden: sandstone vs shale soils, checks before you dig, two 8-plant starter palettes, planting day and the first 12 months. 4 pages.
Natives Often Mistaken for Weeds
Eight native and weed look-alike pairs, small natives worth keeping, the honest grey areas, and how to check a plant before you pull it. 8 pages.
Weeds to Worry About on the North Shore
23 garden weeds that escape into bushland: how to spot them, why they matter, removal, disposal and what to plant instead, plus your Biosecurity Act duties in plain English. 12 pages.
Safe Weed Removal
Hand-pulling, crowning and cut-and-leave techniques, staying safe, disposal and green bins, and when to call in help. 2 pages.
Watering & Mulching Natives
Watering myths, how water moves through sandy and clay soils, pots vs garden beds, how to test and fix soil that won't wet, when mulch helps (and when it doesn't), and a log to track your own garden. 4 pages.
Seasonal Care Calendar
Month-by-month jobs, planting windows, flowering highlights and the all-year rules on a two-page fridge sheet.
Attracting Birds, Bees & Small Lizards
The ingredients of a habitat garden, 12 plant picks, seasonal habitat jobs and injured-wildlife contacts. 2 pages.
Before You Remove a Tree
Council tree rules in plain English (Ku-ring-gai and Lane Cove summarised, Hornsby and Willoughby linked), five steps to follow, wildlife, the 10/50 rule, neighbours, and replanting. 2 pages.
Links for every council: council garden rules.
Choosing Mulch for Your Soil
Which mulch suits your soil, why more isn't always better, mulch types at a glance, fire and termite tips near the house, and what the research still doesn't know. 4 pages.
Meadows for Sydney Gardens
Native, classic or mixed meadows: autumn vs spring sowing, site prep for sandstone and shale soils, sowing, first-year care, native and weed-safe flowers, and real seed mixes with prices (checked 11 Oct 2026). 4 pages.
Heritage & Classic Gardens on the North Shore
Camellias in depth (sasanqua vs japonica, pruning timing, petal blight, tea scale), azaleas, hydrangeas, roses, gardenias, clipped hedges, cottage borders and a seasonal calendar. 3 pages.
Native, Classic or a Mix? Choosing a Garden Style
Five questions to pick a style, and how to plant a mixed native and perennial border, with weed-safe swaps for agapanthus, gazania and canna. 2 pages.
More downloads
North Shore native plants photo guide
A printable photo guide to the local native plants in the plant finder, grouped by plant community, with photo credits.
Native care calendar (spreadsheet)
The month-by-month care calendar as a CSV file you can open in Excel or Google Sheets.
Photos in the handouts are credited to their photographers. Some are licensed CC BY-SA, so if you share or adapt a handout, keep the credits and licence notes with it. Handouts are general guidance, not advice for a specific site.
DIY it
What you'll need:
- A printed handout for the job
- The tools listed in each handout
Get in touch for a quote
Handouts cover the basics. For the work itself, from weeding to planting to habitat, get in touch for a quote.
Quotes for garden care, weeding, planting and installation. No travel fee on the North Shore.