bring your garden to life western australian family …garden products, richgro has been bringing...

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT Published September 2, 2016

Celebrating 100 Years Of Great Australian GardensFrom humble beginnings as greengrocers to a world class manufacturer of premium garden products, Richgro has been bringing Australian gardens to life for 100 years,

offering innovative product solutions for today’s gardeners and landscapers.

Western Australian Family Owned and Operated Since 1916Bring your garden to life

www.richgro.com.au2

Credits: Editor: Louise Allan | Writer: Chloe Vellinga | Subeditor: Laura Galic | Design: Kara Smith | Advertising: Eithne Healy, 9482 3559

Humble beginnings to opportunities There are not many Western Australian-established companies that have stood the test of time and remained successful for a hundred years, but garden products company Richgro can, as it celebrates its centenary this year.

The secret to success for this Australia-wide company is family, with four generations of Richards men having contributed to its legacy.

The late Arthur Richards arrived in WA in 1916 and set up a greengrocer company in Cannington, opposite Cannington Primary School in the school’s old tuckshop, known then as A. Richards and Co.

Mr Richards sold everyday essentials, such as groceries and bags of chaff, oats and hay, which he would collect from the markets at about 4am every morning.

On his way back to Cannington from the markets in the city, people would stop him in the street and ask him if they could buy a bag.

From these humble beginnings, Mr Richards business prospered and he began to supply poultry supplies to farmers, before dipping his toe into the sale of fertiliser in the 1920s.

His grandson Geoff recalls stories of his late grandfather, as he was once known as an avid gardener, winning a prize for the best rose garden in WA in 1933.

Unfortunately, Mr Richards died suddenly in 1945, but as fate would see it, his son Jack had just completed his duties in

the Second World War and was searching for his next career direction.

Jack took over the reins and this began the dynasty of the Richards sons joining the company, which continues today.

Ten years later, Jack shifted the company’s direction, choosing to focus on the supply and manufacture of stock and poultry food.

According to his son Geoff, Jack had a keen interest in stockfeed through a previous career placing at David Gray and Co. – a stockfeed company in West Perth, now in O’Connor.

“Dad was an auditor there and he learnt a bit about it and that’s what he always harboured the dream of doing,” he said.

Geoff chose to follow in his father’s footsteps, taking on odd jobs here and there to cover his father’s ill health.

“I wanted to do Agricultural Science at university, but Dad was constantly getting sick so I came home and worked and loved what I was doing and stayed with it,” he said.

“I was 18 when I started with the company and went and did five years of accountancy at night school while I was working for Dad.”

Just like his father, Geoff burst into the company with fresh ideas of where he thought A. Richards and Co. was heading into the future.

“I always had a tendency to go into odd things, so we did

horse protein mixes, pig supplements and all sorts of things,” he said.

“In 1966 we closed our grocery division and my Dad said to me, ‘what are you going to do?’ and I said, ‘there are two things associated with what we do now; pet food and garden products’.

“I think I got to know the drivers in both the pet food industry and the garden products sector and I just saw an opportunity.”

Jack backed his belief in Geoff to drive the company further, changing the name from A. Richards and Co. to what it is known as today, Richgro.

This 1919 Model T Ford was an original used by Arthur Richards to transport his produce.

Located in Cannington, opposite Cannington Primary School, this is where Arthur Richards started his family business, known then as A. Richards and Co.

The secret to success for this

Australia-wide company is family, with four

generations of Richards men having contributed

to its legacy.

Arthur Richards.

3Celebrating 100 years of great Australian gardensWestern Australian family owned and operated since 1916

New direction changes Richgro foreverWith a new direction and a firm focus on fertiliser as being the way of the future for Richgro, Geoff Richards set about organising new equipment and tenders to support his dream.

“I won a tender with the nursery industry in 1969 to supply all the garden centres with a range of packaged fertilisers and it just grew rapidly,” Mr Richards said.

“By 1972, I was doing bagged potting mix – we were the first company to do so – and then soil conditioners.”

A drought in the late 1970s edged Mr Richards closer towards the idea of producing more organic products.

“That drought saw the growth in native plant sales and that led to a natural evolvement,” he said.

“That’s when I went looking for opportunities to expand in Adelaide because I realised as a company we were very dependent on the weather.

“We were supplying urban farmers in gardening, and I thought it would be better to hedge our bets and see if I could spread it out between a couple of states, and then gradually we evolved around Australia.

“That just grew and grew and we were well set-up to supply Bunnings when it moved to the eastern seaboard.”

From local nurserymen to major hardware and garden companies, the dream Mr Richards had for Richgro began to prosper and in order to accommodate this business growth,

a decision was made in 1988 to move from its original site in Cannington to a 45-hectare site in Jandakot – where it still remains today.

“This decision was driven by my desire to go into organics more, as I felt that was the way to go,” Mr Richards said.

“I couldn’t compost in Cannington where I was and we wanted to compost.

“We were bringing in materials and blending them into organic products, but I needed scope and I looked around and this place through circumstance became available.”

Throughout the 1990s, work continued in increasing production capacity, securing overseas product ideas, growing the brand nationally and upgrading participation in the generation of standards for potting mixes, mulches and composts.

New, innovative products and the idea to look into automated product packaging developed, as Richgro struggled to keep up with the demand from consumers.

Mr Richards and his General Manager Peter Morrison travelled to the US to find an automated packaging machine to help keep up with the demand.

The installation of the fully automated packaging plant for organics and potting media was completed by 2001, in what Mr Richards describes as a “game changer” for Richgro.

“Increased demand caused us to refocus on automating and upgrading our equipment – it was exactly what we needed,” he said.

Richgro’s product range and packaging from 2000 has evolved to what it is today.Richgro invests in new equipment – this original machine purchased in 2000 is still operating today.

Richgro moved to its new location in Jandakot, where it still operates today.

New, innovative products and the idea

to look into automated product packaging

developed, as Richgro struggled to keep

up with the demand from consumers.

www.richgro.com.au4

Commitment to quality is key In the 2000s, business was booming and the desire for a purpose-built Trade Centre became a reality.

Located at the Jandakot site, the Richgro Trade Centre was officially opened in 2003 to supply specialist growing mixes to wholesale nurseries, landscapers and landscape architects.

Managed by staff that are highly qualified in horticulture, the commercial division remains an integral part of the Richgro business today.

In addition to the Western Australian-based Trade Centre and manufacturing facility, Richgro products are manufactured and distributed nationwide with branches in all mainland states.

In August 2004, Geoff Richards had his eyes firmly focused on acquiring Amazon Soils, one of WA’s largest manufacturers of bulk mulch, compost, potting mix and blended soils.

The strategic plan was similar to a decision the company had made in 1988 when it bought Soils Aint Soils, before selling it in 1994.

“Amazon was part of diversifying our base a little bit more,” Mr Richards said.

“Amazon had a reputation for quality in the landscape sector and it suited us, so we thought we could marry it with what we were doing here and it gave us a production site north of Perth, as well as the one in Jandakot.”

By combining the passion, expertise and technology of the two leading edge companies, Richgro continued to drive innovations that would improve the companies’ offerings to its consumers.

With a commitment to quality, Mr Richards and his team became an ISO9001 Quality Endorsed company in 2005, with the Richgro’s new laboratory opening just months later.

According to Mr Richards, this certification was important to reiterate Richgro’s processes and ensure the business ran effectively at all levels with clear procedures and guidelines.

As demand continued for Richgro’s ever-expanding product line, it became even more important for Mr Richards to keep up with efficient workplace practices.

In December 2007, the installation of a fully automated form fill and seal machine for packing fertiliser was completed.

“This was the last step in the automation of packaged

Richgro partnered up with one of Western Australia’s largest soil manufacturers, Amazon Soils, in 2004.

products and brought much-needed operational efficiencies and quality improvements to our business,” Mr Richards said.

The year 2007 also saw the company dive into natural products, launching its first natural weed killer, Beat-A-Weed.

This product was, and still is, an integral part of the future of the business in producing safer, more natural garden products.

The 2000s were a successful period for the company, as it acquired the award-winning Beat-A-Bug garden products and took over distribution of the award-winning environmental fertiliser Charlie Carp, which is used on the iconic stretch of roses at Flemington Racecourse, the home of the Melbourne Cup.

Finally in December 2014, Richgro launched one of the most successful and innovative practices in the company’s history – the anaerobic digester plant.

Through years of research and a firm idea, Mr Richards successfully obtained the parts and machinery, found the funding and succeeded to get the project to fruition.

Today, Richgro employs hundreds of people all around Australia, who adopt their philosophy of quality, passion and safe environmental practices in everything they do.

Mr Richards credits the company’s success to family and long-standing, committed staff who believe in a product and service that has been developed for the past 100 years.

Richgro’s commercial division grew with the opening of its Trade Centre in 2003.

By combining the passion, expertise

and technology of the two leading companies, Richgro

continued to drive innovation that would improve the

companies’ offerings to its consumers.

Charlie Carp is an ‘all natural’ liquid fertiliser made from European Carp – good for everything your garden grows.


Next generation will continue successToday, Geoff Richards is joined by an ever-growing, driven, successful team at Richgro, which includes the fourth generation of Richards, his sons Tim and Matt.

Tim is the Operations Manager and has been with the company for 20 years, while Matt followed suit joining the company in 2007 to head up Richgro’s complex and demanding plant and equipment division.

Mr Richards credits the company’s strong legacy to hiring the right people: staff who can think outside of the square and want to share a common direction.

“One thing I have learnt in developing a successful business is you have got to offer pathways for your staff to develop in and grow, otherwise your worker will say they are bored and leave,” he said.

“We have got great people we don’t see that often because they are in Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide, but they feel part of this – they are part of the family if you like.”

Mr Richards also credits Richgro’s success to remaining innovative and always looking for new ideas, for example, the company’s recent completion of the anaerobic digester plant.

“I think we constantly show our staff we are looking at the latest technology or the latest trends overseas, so they feel confident the company they are working for is always going to be up there and keep current,” he said.

“We do this to remain strong, rather than do what some companies do, they stop growing and they shrivel and die.”

Today, Richgro’s range of fertilisers, soil conditioners, potting mixes, water savers and plant protection products are sold in leading garden centres and hardware stores throughout Australia, including Bunnings Warehouse, Home Timber and Hardware, Mitre 10, Big W and leading garden centres.

The team continues to research new and effective ways to improve Australian soil and tackle many of the common problems faced by gardeners today.

According to Mr Richards, the company is in great hands with his sons Tim and Matt, leading the way into the future.

At a time where diversification is key to surviving in a busy and competitive environment, Mr Richards believes the next generation will take the company in the right direction.

“Whether it is growing blueberries, making different types of organic fertilisers and composting methods, or whether it is the bio-energy side of things that will probably lead us into plastics, something will ring a bell with them that they say, ‘hey I can see that as being the focus of our company’, and they will head in that direction,” he said.

“I can’t sit here today and pick it, but I would have loved my Dad to have the opportunity to present me with all the options that are open to my boys.

“We are all different, we are all individuals and it is just that ability to say, ‘I really enjoy that’, and go with it.”

Did you know?Richgro’s Beat-A-Weed is a glyphosate-free weed killer, which dehydrates the weeds from the root up, eliminating any chance of regrowth when applied as directed.

However, because it is a natural product, it is not poisonous or detrimental to the environment.

Results can be seen within hours, with leaves wilting and turning brown.

Geoff Richards (middle) proudly works alongside his sons, Tim and Matt, the future of Richgro.

Richgro’s compost turners turn the soil every couple of weeks to enable optimum temperature and condition of the product.

Operations Manager Tim Richards oversees quality control in the Richgro yard.

www.richgro.com.au6

Strict guidelines ensure quality controlRichgro produces a wide and varied range of mulches, composts, potting mixes and organic manures at its site in Jandakot.

These products are produced from various renewable resource raw materials, such as pine bark, hardwood and softwood sawdust, kerb side green waste and organic manures.

These raw materials are ideal for use in home gardens but must be treated before they are packed off and supplied to the home gardener.

To ensure consistency of product, Richgro selects only raw materials that meet its strict quality control under its ISO 9001 certification.

These materials are then screened to ensure consistent particle size and where needed, they are then composted using strict guidelines.

As organic materials break down they draw nutrients out of the soil, this is called Nitrogen Draw Down (NDI).

Products with low NDI will grow bad plants as all the nutrient

that is available in the mix will be consumed as the product continues to compost, leaving no or very little nutrient for healthy plant growth.

NDI organic materials can also contain harmful bacteria and pathogens and these bad ‘bugs’ are killed by high temperature composting.

Richgro ensures the products it markets are composted correctly and as such have a high NDI and contain no harmful bacteria or pathogens.

To do this, Richgro follows a process of composting, which involves maintaining consistent moisture and high temperature and oxygen levels for up to eight weeks.

The product is turned a minimum of twice a week, which maintains the correct moisture, temperature and oxygen levels.

Once the products have completed composting, samples are sent to the Richgro laboratory for final testing, and if to standard, they are released to be either delivered in bulk or packed through automated packaging machines for delivery to retailers.

Why turn to automated packaging?Richgro decided to move into automated packaging after a realisation it wasn’t able to keep up with growing demand in the late 1990s.

General Manager Peter Morrison said the automated packaging plants operating at Richgro today had improved the company’s efficiency and quality of the products it supplied to consumers.

“Perth is a growing market, the population growth over the last 10 years has been ridiculous, so you have got all these people putting in gardens and we need to meet that demand,” he said.

“We are packing in excess of 4.5 million bags per year now, in the days before automation we would be lucky to produce 1 million bags, so it’s a substantial lift in volume.”

Richgro installed the fertiliser packaging plant seven years ago to keep up with demand.

Richgro’s great range of composts are available throughout Australia.


This is the first step in the automation process. The materials are loaded and bags are prepared.

A forklift driver then transports the pallet of stock to the yard ready for delivery.

Automation unlocks huge potential Working 20 hours a day with two shifts of people, bagging materials by hand and sealing bags with an old sealer one by one, Richgro decided something needed to change.

Sixteen years ago, Richgro made the conscious decision to install its first automated packaging plant and according to General Manager Peter Morrison, the company has never looked back.

“Firstly, we just couldn’t maintain supply and keep up with business, and the other reason we did it was purely for quality,” he said.

“We had a lot of quality issues as you can imagine with people doing things manually.

“You would get bags that weren’t sealed properly, or sometimes they weren’t filled enough, or they were filled too much, so something needed to change.”

Walking into the Richgro plant today, everything happens systematically before your eyes.

One of the packaging plants is for Richgro’s landscaping products, including potting mixes, mulch and compost.

A separate fertiliser automated packaging plant was installed seven years ago to cater purely for chemical-based products and a third line was added last year for other landscaping products.

Mr Morrison said once the product had been tested in the laboratory, it was fed through the machine, as demand was required.

“We might do a day where all we do is pack mulch, or we could pack mulch on one line and pack potting mix on the other,” he said.

“Everything is driven by demand and what our orders are for.

“We can run up to 40 bags a minute on the new line and the old line runs at about 25 bags a minute, so in theory we are pumping out over 60 bags a minute in the packaging plant.”

The product is loaded into piles outside the plant and fed through the machine, into bags that are pre-prepared.

The bags are then sealed and stacked onto a pallet, which is then driven along a conveyor belt to the sealing station, where a plastic seal is applied to make sure the pallet is packaged nice and tight for delivery.

An employee then comes along, picks up the pallet on the forklift and takes it to the yard ready for delivery to nurseries and hardware stores.

“We are producing millions of bags a year for supply in Western Australia and we also supply the rest of the country with our products as well,” Mr Morrison said.

“Basically any bagged product that is produced by Richgro today goes through our automated packaging plant.”

After the bags are packed, sealed and stacked, the pallets are then wrapped, ready to be taken to the yard.

Firstly, we just couldn’t maintain

supply and keep up with business, and the other

reason we did it was purely for quality.

www.richgro.com.au8

Anaerobic digester plant solves waste challenge Inspired by years of research and site visits to similar anaerobic digester plants in the US, Europe and UK, Geoff Richards set about planning for his very own in 2013.

Basically a large cow’s stomach, an anaerobic digester plant turns tonnes of waste, that would otherwise be destined to go to landfill, into clean energy and power that can be exported back to the grid.

According to Mr Richards, there were two main drivers for the project – to reduce carbon dioxide loads in the atmosphere and to reduce his ever-growing electricity bills.

“Organic waste is expensive to dispose of and continues to fill up our landfill sites,” he said.

“We saw this as an opportunity to not only divert this waste from landfill, but to also convert a waste material into a fuel to generate electricity, whilst reducing carbon build-up in the atmosphere.

“In certain parts of the world, like the US, they take it and compost with it, but to me that is only half of it.”

Wanting to do more than just compost with the food and drink waste sourced from supermarkets and food suppliers, Mr Richards researched effective plants around the world to see what else it could do.

“I did three years of research through the US, Europe and UK, and the most advanced proper processing of food waste I could find was in the UK,” he said. “We got the quote for the first generator in February 2013 and we ordered it towards August and September.

“In the end I didn’t buy a German company’s anaerobic plant or a British one for that matter. I looked around and said, ‘these are the best tanks, these are the best pumps, these are the best generators’, and then we put it all together and that’s really what has lead us to a model that is extremely sustainable and is fully automatic.”

Today, the anaerobic digester plant at Richgro is the first of the latest version to operate in the Southern Hemisphere.

It can take an average of 137 tonnes of commercial and organic waste a day or 50,000 tonnes a year.

“We recycle solid and liquid waste from nearby breweries, chicken farms, supermarkets and other food suppliers, right down to the aluminium cans from out-of-date or damaged beverages,” Mr Richards said. “Everything gets recycled, which is a win-win situation for everyone.”

But simply getting this project off the ground was no easy feat, especially financially. Richgro was given $500,000 from the State Government, $1.1 million from the Federal Government and a $2 million loan from Clean Energy Finance Corporation, as part of a national focus on renewable energy, low-emission technology and energy efficiency.

Richgro’s anaerobic digester plant was operating officially and productively at the start of this year.Liquid waste is delivered to the site from supermarkets and pumped into the anaerobic digester plant for processing.

We saw this as an opportunity to not

only divert this waste from landfill, but to also convert a waste material into a fuel

to generate electricity, whilst reducing carbon

build-up in the atmosphere.


Clean energy for Western Australians In addition to reducing the amount of food waste from ending up in landfill, Richgro’s anaerobic digester plant produces clean energy and power that can be used by Western Australian households.

According to Geoff Richards, the anaerobic digester plant generates 28,000 kilowatts a day, bringing the overall total since operation began to over 70 megawatts.

“With an average house using 16 kilowatts per day, the plant can provide enough clean energy for 1800 Western Australian households,” he said.

“It also gave us the opportunity to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel-generated electricity by zero.

“We use the energy created to fully power the plant and we use the digestive by-product, which is packed with living micro-organisms and nutrients, in our range of Richgro garden products.”

Since operation began officially at the start of this year, Richgro has produced an average of 60,000 litres of bio-fertiliser a day and successfully diverted 9000 tonnes of waste from ending up in landfill.

“It has taken a couple of years to put together and get us to where we are today,” Mr Richards said.

According to Mr Richards, the process is simple and is an intelligent way of creating the best waste-to-energy efficiencies.

“Really what we are replicating in the plant is a very large cow’s gut, in the sense that the vessel is there, you put all the food waste into it,” he said.

“Then you have to monitor the temperature and make sure you have got a good mix of food waste and then you establish the micro-organisms in the tanks and Mother Nature does the rest.

“That’s the best part about it; it’s very sustainable.”

Today, Mr Richards welcomes anyone from around Australia to come and have a look at their effective model to see how it works.

“I think it has become a showcase for the whole of Australia, where they hear about these things, but they can actually fly here and have a look at it and see how comparatively simple it is and then say, ‘yes, we should really have one’,” he said.

The organic waste is simply and naturally broken down into bio gases – carbon dioxide and methane – and organic fertiliser – digestate.

Feedstock Pre-Processor and Depackager which separates the organic food waste from the packaging (which is then also recycled).The waste is delivered onsite at the plant and is sorted accordingly.

www.richgro.com.au10

Practice makes perfect in laboratory When mixing secret formulas and scientific recipes for different garden solutions, quality and assurance is essential.

In 2005, Richgro saw an opportunity to further enhance its quality products by incorporating an onsite laboratory.

Instead of sending samples away to other laboratories, which was a costly exercise that often obtained differing results depending on the laboratory, Richgro General Manager Peter Morrison, along with the rest of the team, made the executive decision to do it themselves.

“We held Australian standards for a lot of our products but our entire company needed to be brought up into a more modern, consistent environment,” Mr Morrison said.

“We have got a really big commitment to doing things properly and to a standard that is appropriate for the consumer.”

The Richgro team decided to employ Maria Sevo as the Quality Assurance Manager to oversee the company’s ISO certification project, as well as set up the onsite laboratory as a world-class facility.

“Maria did all the work and put it all together to get us to a point where we achieved our ISO9001 ranking,” Mr Morrison said.

“Maria is our queen of quality.”

According to Mr Morrison, the laboratory team assess every single product or material that comes in to Richgro.

“There is a fair bit of science that goes into what we do, and we need to know the raw material we buy complies to the standards we need to give us the product at the end,” he said.

“The best way to do that is to identify the raw materials and make sure they meet the specifications, and the only way to do that is to test them through the laboratory.

“When these materials are blended up with all the other materials we buy, they are tested again to make sure before we deliver them we know we are sending out the best product possible.”

Mr Morrison is confident this is one of the career decisions and actions that make Richgro different from others in the industry.

“If you put the work in at the start and create the product in the right way, the consumer is going to get a great result,” he said.

This facility not only provides in-house product testing, but is a source of revenue as it carries out testing for other organisations and businesses within the horticultural and agricultural industries.

Did you know?You should never use fresh manure in pots as it can burn your plants.

Instead, you can use organic matter, potting mix, well-rotted manure or compost as a safe alternative.

These products are specifically designed to best meet the requirements of plants that grow in pots or restricted environments.

As an added bonus, most potting mixes already have a fertiliser in them, which means they don’t require additional plant food to be added.

Quality Assurance Manager Maria Sevo works with her team to analyse and test materials that are sent to the onsite laboratory.


Treat your soil for a beautiful garden We all know the quality of soil is key to a great garden, and the team at Richgro has been working hard for 100 years to find that perfect recipe.

While some garden soils do not contain nutrients and are generally fine in texture, Richgro’s range of potting mixes are produced to give your plants the best possible start.

Richgro Seasol Potting Mix is the only potting mix on the market today with added Seasol – a well-known natural plant tonic.

Designed with the garden enthusiast in mind, Richgro Seasol Potting Mix is enhanced with Ezi Wet Soil Wetter, a controlled release fertiliser, along with a balanced level of trace elements to get your pot plants looking great in no time.

Richgro’s Mushroom Compost is another

environmentally-friendly, water-saving soil conditioner for

any garden.

Look out for Richgro’s range of manures as another ideal

organic solution.

Developed onsite, Richgro manufactures cow and sheep

manure, which can be used all around the garden,

including in vegetable gardens.

Sheep and Cow Manure are slow-release products, which

will help your plants develop strong roots and protect

them against diseases and pests. It is low in odour,

making it ideal as a top dress for flower and garden beds

in all residential areas.

Did you know?Healthy soil grows healthy plants, so as long as you understand what you are working with, any problems can be fixed by using the right product.

Acidic soil often leads to the yellowing of plant leaves, excessive weeds or very slow growing plants.

To improve this, add Richgro’s Natural Dolomite Line or Natural Garden Lime products.

These will add calcium and magnesium to your soil and correct the Ph levels for healthy plant growth.

If you are dealing with light sandy soil, although it is easy to work with, it is low in nutrients and often dries out quickly.

To combat this, Richgro recommends using its Bentonite Natural Sand to Soil product, which turns the sandy substance into a rich garden soil with only one application.


Protect your garden the natural way In July 2009, Richgro added the environmental award-winning Beat-A-Bug range to its ever-growing list of garden products. Beat-A-Bug Naturally Based Insect Spray is a natural pesticide spray that uses natural pyrethrum to kill, and garlic and chilli to repel and irritate a wide range of insect pests, including ants, aphids, caterpillars, cockroaches, earwigs, leafhoppers, whitefly and thrips. It also gives your plants a boost of natural nutrients at the site of pest attack for improved resistance.

Being a natural spray it is excellent to use with all your edible crops. It is recommended to spray every 10-14 days during growing season to prevent bugs attacking your delicious home-grown veggies, or spray when you see signs of attack. You can spray up to 24 hours before harvest.

Pesky weeds affect almost every garden and Richgro provides a natural weed killer for your home garden. Natural Beat-a-Weed dehydrates the plant from the roots using natural ingredients, meaning it is glyphosate free. Results start to take effect immediately and another good dose a week or two after will knock the weed dead.

Use Natural Beat- A-Weed on your garden, paths, driveways and around sheds. Spray to complete coverage of weed surface. This product can be used on your garden, driveways, paths and spot spraying on lawns and will show amazing

results. It is also very effective on moss.

The Beat-a-Bug range includes a Natural Possum Deterrent Poss-Off spray and a Happy Roses 100% Organic Plant spray, with natural ingredients such as ginseng, garlic oil, vegetable oils and citronella.

Together, these products have successfully met the ever increasing demand for safer, natural garden products that work effectively for the home gardener.

Introducing the new Naturally Based Fruit Fly Spray

This spray was developed in consultation with fruit growers who mentioned the effectiveness of Beat-A-Bug in controlling fruit fly in their orchids.

Extensively trialled, this new formula is specifically made to not only kill but also repel fruit fly. Being a natural spray, you can spray directly onto your fruit and leaves to kill any fruit fly but also prevent other attacks. A 24-hour withholding period means you can spray a day before harvest and your fruit is ready to eat the next day.

Tips for using natural products:

1. Do not spray during rain or if rain is imminent.

2. Prevention is better than cure. Spray your veggies and plants before attack to prevent nasty pests attacking them.

3. Using natural products, it is best to use them regularly to ensure their natural properties remain on the plant during hot and wet weather.

Did you know?Insects can attack plant roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits.

They also attack at any stage of growth from seedling to mature plant.

By using Beat-A-Bug Naturally Based Insect Spray, you can keep a natural balance in your organic garden, as well as get rid of that nasty insect problem.

Together, these products have successfully

met the ever-increasing demand for safer, natural

garden products that work effectively for the

home gardener.


Improve your soil

Good soil rich in organic matter has better water holding capacity. This, in turn, will not only reduce the amount of watering required but give you a healthy garden.

Water wisely

When watering, choosing the right time of the day can make all the difference. It is best to water in the cooler morning and avoid watering at night as this can encourage fungus diseases, especially in lawns. Watering on windy days is not recommended as the wind drift will cause significant waste. Watering with a good deep soaking, but less often, will not only

encourage deeper root systems but increase plants’

drought tolerance.

Install a reticulation system

This is a very efficient way to use water and will ensure

that water us applied directly to your plants and lawns.

Choose waterwise products

Mulch, mulch and more mulch – don’t leave a square

centimetre exposed. Mulch will retain moisture in

the soil and hence decrease the amount of watering

required. Likewise, a soil wetter will help water into

the soil, decreasing water wastage and making more

efficient use of your garden water.

Tips for a healthy water-saving garden

Retaining our greatest resource – water We all know water is a valuable resource and it is definitely something we need to preserve as much as possible.

The team at Richgro recognises this and has worked hard to produce a range of products to combat the problem.

Richgro Ezi-Wet Soil Wetter was developed in WA and was one of the first soil wetting agents developed, which has now seen many imitations follow.

Ezi-Wet Soil Wetter lets the water in, allowing the water to penetrate through the dry hydrophobic soil (water repellent soil), into the roots of the plants where it is needed the most.

It is an aquatic and earthworm friendly product, which can be applied to gardens, lawns and plants all year round.

Richgro’s Ezi-Wet Water Storage Crystals can also absorb and store water at the plants’ roots in pots and gardens, acting as a plant boost and watering tool while you are away.

Richgro has a range of organic mulches available to ensure water is retained in the soil, where it is needed most, while also reducing weed growth.

These include Natural Pinebark Mulch, Natural Hard Wood Mulch, Moisture Plus Mulch and Moisture Plus Hard Wood Mulch.

These mulches are best applied in March, September and December, but can be used all year round as required.

Ezi-Wet Soil Wetter lets the water in,

allowing the water to penetrate though the dry hydrophobic soil, into the roots of the plants where

it needed most.


Food for your fruits, veg and bloomsRichgro is the expert in fertilisers, with 100 years’ experience in creating, adapting and excelling at formulating its recipe and blends to make the most amazing plant foods for your garden.

But what are the differences between the types of fertilisers and how do you choose the right one for you?

Inorganic fertilisers

These chemically-based fertilisers are high in NPK and can come in fast, controlled and slow-release formulations.

One of the best is Richgro’s Black Marvel Premium Rose Food. It is a premium, high-analysis rose booster that will deliver amazing results. It is very high in potash, which ensures lots of colourful, healthy blooms.

Richgro Black Marvel is very high in iron, which will promote deep green leaves, strong roots and healthy growth. It will get your rose garden blooming in no time.

Richgro’s Plus range contains fertilisers for your fruits, citrus, vegetables, herbs, roses, gardenias and camellias, plus it’s an all-purpose complete fertiliser.

Organic fertilisers

Organic fertilisers will not give you the very fast growth seen with inorganic fertilisers, but instead will provide you with steady growth to improve the overall health of your soil.

Richgro’s range of Mega Boosters organic fertilisers are Australian-certified organic, meaning they are tested and certified to be purely organic.

There is something for all plant types in this range including

fruits and citrus; native and protea; rose and gardenia; azalea, camellia and; vegetable and herb; and palm and fern.

Organic-based fertilisers

Possibly one of Richgro’s most known fertilisers is its Premium Blood and Bone Based product.

With organic blood and bone for overall plant health and yield, natural potash booster for extra colour and flavour and organic phosphorus to simulate root growth, Premium Blood and Bone Based fertiliser is perfect for use on all fruits, vegetables and flowers, except Australian native plants.

It contains fast-acting nitrogen from blood meal to stimulate growth rate and to ‘green-up’ the foliage.

Specialist fertilisers

Sometimes your garden may be deficient in a certain area or nutrient, or may just need a boost for extra colour and flavour – and specialist fertilisers can do this. Fertilisers such as Gypsum help break up hard clay soils, or Lime can change your soil Ph, which is a great way to ensure your garden is in a perfect healthy balance.

Specialist fertilisers are a terrific way of boosting your plants, exactly when they need it.

For example, an application of sulphate and potash in spring and autumn will stimulate increased flowering, fruiting and disease-resistance in fruit trees and roses. It’s also great to use on strawberries.

Did you know? When selecting the right fertiliser, you should look at the NPK Rating, which is shown on the front and back of the packaging.

Different elements are added for different varieties of plants, for example:

N – Nitrogen helps plant foliage to grow strong and is needed in all plant parts that are actively growing, such as young leaves and flowers, fruits and root tips and lawns and leafy vegetables. High nitrogen will give your plants a quick boost and have them looking green.

P – Phosphorous helps roots and flowers grow and develop. Most fertilisers in Western Australia have a low phosphorus rating to protect our waterways. Phosphorous is usually deficient in soils.

K – Potassium (potash) is important for overall plant health. By adding potash to your flowering and fruiting plants, it will give them a great colourful bloom and provide great tasting fruit. By applying a high potassium fertiliser, it will improve disease resistance.

S – Sulphur is required for all proteins within plants and can also be used to improve and increase the acidity of alkaline soils.


Ants are an annoying problem with everyone.

Richgro’s Ant Killa breaks down in soil and provides

a superb barrier protection to control ants before they

get inside your home.

Now to deal with those pestsName a garden in Australia that doesn’t have pests.

We guarantee you can’t do it. Pests include anything from ants, slugs and caterpillars to lawn beetles, aphids and slaters.

In 2014, Richgro launched its innovative Bug Killa product, which is the first products of its kind to come in a granule format. This means there is no messy mixing, and because there is no over-spray, it’s safer for our bees.

Just sprinkle it on and water and it can protect your roses, azaleas, camellias, gardenias and ornamental plants (including Lilly Pilly) from a wide range of sap sucking insects for two months. These insects can include aphids, azalea lace bug, scale and mealy bug.

Richgro Bug Killa is a systemic insecticide that is taken up by the plant’s roots to control pests. It also contains iron and zeolite, which are beneficial to plant health.

Ants are an annoying problem for everyone and if you have a problem with ants, then Richgro’s Ant Killa has you sorted. Ant Killa breaks down in soil and provides a superb barrier protection to control ants before they get inside your home.

Ants can also be a sign of dry soil, so if you see them in your garden, an application of Ezi-Wet will allow the water to penetrate your soil and help with ant infestations.

Lawn beetle and grubs can destroy a lawn in days. These pests will feed on your lawns root system and will be a serious problem.

If you begin to see brown or straw-like patches through your lawn, or the leaves on your runners begin to disappear, you could have an infestation of lawn grubs. The time to act is immediately and an application of Lawn Beetle and Grub Killa will stop the beetle and subsequent grubs from destroying your lawn.

Made with bifenthrin, an active ingredient that interferes with the nervous system of insects, these products can be applied safely and effectively. A small amount of water will help with the application of these products.

If you have a problem with snails and slugs chewing up all your letters in your mailbox, then the Snail and Slug Killer is the perfect solution.

The pellets are smaller, harder and longer lasting and contain a bitter taste deterrent to deter consumption by pets.

The Richgro Pest Control range includes Bug Killa Granular Garden Insecticide, Slater Killa Granular Insecticide, Ant Killa, Snail and Slug Killer and Lawn Beetle and Grub Killa Granular and Hose On Insecticide.

Richgro has gone digitalIn 2015, Richgro decided to take that leap into the digital space.

Now you can find out about all the latest news, products and handy tips on Richgro’s website at www.richgro.com.au.

Check out its Facebook page, Instagram or watch the latest videos on its YouTube channel. Richgro has an App, available on Google Play or at the App Store.

RICH

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Australian Family Owned Since 1916

100YEARS

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