Gardening Australia: Nov 2

On Friday Gardening Australia will present five State finalists for its 2018 Gardener of the Year.

Costa calls in to visit 7.30 host Leigh Sales to see her new garden and offer some tips on how to solve problems facing a lot of inner-city gardeners.

Queensland finalists, Keven and Amanda Corbett find joy sharing the work in in their Toowoomba garden, which combines a formal frontage with an artistically exuberant retreat.

New South Wales finalist, John Le Messurier has led generations of scouts and volunteers as they transformed a former coal mine near Newcastle into a native plant retreat full of wildlife.

South Australian finalist, Brenton Roberts used lots of money-saving ideas to restore a heritage cottage and garden in the Adelaide Hills to a semi-formal wonderland for his family.

West Australian finalist, Troy Devereux loves the feel of Balinese gardens so much he has created his own tropical paradise in Perth, creating a haven full of colourful bromeliads, palms and other lush plants.

Victorian finalist, Athol and Denise Brand fell in love with a 2-hectare block near Morwell and mass-planted thousands of exotic trees and shrubs to create a garden for all seasons – then added a house.

Millie shows a smart way to make biodegradable seedling pots from newspaper, which can be planted directly into the garden.

Josh shows how to identify and deal with a plant pest newly discovered in Australia – Tomato Potato Psyllid.

Jerry Coleby-Williams has tips on transplanting palm trees, Tino Carnevale shows how to deal with basil that has gone to seed, and Sophie Thomson suggests the best plants for attracting bees.

7:30pm Friday on ABC.