Gardening in North Otago September 24th 2009

That's more like it Spring rain and lots of it and very considerate as well with the clouds opening on us after lambing and the tailing.
Mulching roots to keep in moisture is worth doing when the rain stops. Cut up squares of old wool carpet and fit snugly around the trunk to hold in place with a rock at the join to stop it lifting with the wind. This will keep the dampness in for ages. It works on my worm farm, once I have soaked the mound the old woolen carpet is then wet and goes on top, it's always still damp underneath weeks later. If you can get hold of pea or barley straw this is a great mulch as well but I am pretty sure there is very little of either around this year.Layers of grass clippings are fine also along as the layers are not very thick it's all adding good humus to the soil and suppressing the weed seeds at the same time.Don't use saw dust as a mulch except on a very wet area, sawdust will rob the nitrogen from the ground while breaking down.I use sawdust on my woodland paths and top it up every year.

Some prunus trees have finished flowering now and will have put out branch growth already, If they are drooping too much and shading the garden beneath lift the branches by trimming them up to let more light in. Leave larger branch pruning until the summer when the sap is well up
I have been dead heading my early flowering Rhododendrons a little at a time as I walk past them, this way it is not such a chore. Once the flowers have dropped break off the what's left before it makes seed. there is a point where it breaks easily, once you have broken a few you will know where it is. All the new growth should go not the bush not into making seeds.
Also remove all brown camellia flowers if you have time, to keep the bushes looking fresh right to the last
As soon as your evergreen azaleas have stopped flowering feed them with acid plant food and they will reward you well again next year.
Keep planting up pots and baskets, they need to be planted when it is still cool so they don't bolt and go to flower too quickly, the cooler nights hold the flowering and they bush up a lot more than when planted in the cooler weather. If you want to hold flowering back until needed for a special occasion, plant them out now but keep them in a cool shady spot until you are ready to put them in the sun to bud up. I see tomatoes plants on sale, still early enough yet unless you are prepared to cover them at night even in a glass house. The nights are still not letting the ground warm up enough so don't let them go into the night with cold wet roots, this is only asking for fungus trouble and they will sit and do nothing until it warms up a little more at nights. Plant some small marigolds now and basil later when it's warmer around where the tomatoes plants will grow so they will be flowering at the same time to help keep away the white fly. Still the right time to get a veg garden going, and still no white butterflies around to spoil nice new plants. Seeds sown now are popping up quickly so get them in and how about encouraging children to help, you may be surprised at how interested they are in watching what they have planted develop into food.
Grape vines are fast making growth and they need water from now on, so this rain has been perfect timing for them.
Cheers Linda

Late September is a great time to create a herb garden

HERB GARDENING Herb gardening is becoming more and more popular every day, and for a good reason. Herbs have practical value, serve a purpose, and with herb gardening you can actually use your plants. When most people think of herb gardening they automatically think of cooking, but herbs are also grown for their pleasant aroma and their beauty.

One important part of herb gardening is drying the herbs for use during the winter months, especially if you plan on cooking with them. First the tops of leafy herbs have to be cut, washed, and hung up for the water to evaporate. Then, tie stems together and hang up in a paper bag to dry. After two to three weeks they must be removed; crumble the leaves, dry them out in the oven, and store in a glass jar.

One of the most common herbs gown in herb gardening is basil. "Dark Opal" and regular green basil are beautiful additions to any garden and often used as decoration. Dark Opal has light pink flowers and dark red leaves. Basil isn't just used for its looks; it is used for extra flavor in tomato juices and pastes.

Chives are very petite looking and resemble a blade of grass. They are much stronger than they look, however, and will grow well through a drought and a drought. Their toughness and sturdiness makes Chives a perfect plant for herb gardening, especially if the gardener doesn't want plants that require a lot of hassle. Chives are good used in salads, egg dishes, and many different sauces.

Mint is also very simple to grow and is good to use in mint jelly, mint juleps, lemonade, and any other kind of fruity drink. Mint is also good in herb gardening for its unique minty smell. Two herbs that appear in nearly everyone's herb garden are thyme and sage. Both of these herb gardening favorites are used for flavoring soups, chicken, turkey, pork, and other sausages. Sage is also grown sometimes for its beautiful blue spiked flowers.

Lavender is probably the best smelling herb in all of herb gardening and is often used in candles, as a perfume scent, and to improve the smell in linen chests. The light purple flowers smell absolutely lovely Other types of herbs often grown in herb gardening include borage (used in salads), chervil (used in egg dishes), sweet marjoram (flavors lamb, fish, salad, and soup), sesame (flavors crackers, cookies, and bread), and dill (flavors meats and used in pickles). Herb gardening allows gardeners to use herbs from their own garden for cooking, looks, and smell. Herb gardening will produce much fresher herbs with more flavor than store-bought herbs, and are a lot cheaper.

Gardening in North Otago September 19th 2009

Watering is what is needed now to keep the spring growth happening after that really strong wind we had on Monday night.

This would have to be the best lambing season I can remember, but it can rain any time NOW.

This week I have been looking around and enjoying the cheery blossom, it's a good time to choose prunus trees if putting in a new garden. The blossom is only on the tree for a short time so it should not be the only reason for choice.

Full grown size, height and spread should come first. Some prunus grow very large and spread wide and low.

Fortunately to day we have choice thanks to the grafting done by the growers. We can purchase trees on a short or a taller graft to suit a situation.

A 1.8 mtr. trunk before branching will allow clearance along a drive or walk way right from planting.

Large spreading trees have large spreading roots! keep this in mind when planting near concrete and the house.

Also the leaf and blossom drop should be taken into consideration, thick blossom on paved walking areas is a real problem, it sticks to feet and is tracked inside, plus it can become very slippery to walk on. The leaf drop near pathways and roof guttering is a pain as well, but a spreading tree over grass walk ways is lovely and everything dropped can be taken up with the lawn mower.

There are so many things to consider when planting trees close to the house, but if you are like me and like the house and garden to be one then you will need to ask the right people about the right trees because there is a tree for every spot, to create the over grown look without the problems.

It really is the time for planting now to beat the weeds, I have been busy with the hoe moving the small weeds around before they get a really good hold, you will only have to blink from now on and they will be up around the ankles!

Either sow seeds directly into the ground or into trays of seed mix, they will be up in no time if keept well watered. Pricking out is done at the second lot of leaf stage, then plant on into containers like punnets to form strong roots before planting out, and as I said last week be sure to harden off newly bought bedding plans to the out side conditions before planting them out.

Lavenders are starting to make new growth right now, they like a dressing of lime and some liquid or slow release fertiliser to help them along. If they look a bit scruffy you can trim them now and they will soon grow back and bud up.

If a lavender is looking really woody and the new growth is on the yellow side and just at the very top of the bush, dig it out and put in another one, they do not go on for ever.

I have trimmed back the bougainvillea this week in readiness for it's new growth, I will flood and feed it at the beginning next month to simulate the rainy season of it's origins, then leave it alone after that. If you feed and water them through summer they will produce more leaf than flowers, they need to be stressed to flower their best.

Don't be tempted to transplant hellebore seedlings just yet, I know there are heaps growing around existing plants but they will only flop if you dig them out now, wait until the new leaves harden up.

It's a good time to put in stakes for delphiniums and peony roses now before they shoot up anymore, put the support in before they need it.

Vegetable garden:

If you have not pruned back black current bushes there is still time to do it as they are just coming into leaf. My bushes are newish so I will take a few branches back hard and leave a few longer, then mulch with compost and rotted hay.

Keep planting your veg before the end of September they should be ready for Christmas dinner. There are lot's of different potatoes to choose from now and most have written on the bag what they are best used for, chipping, mashing or roasting. I grow Rockets for early and the good old Jersey Benny and Rua to follow.

The most important thing at this time of the year is to enjoy Spring and all it is offering.

September 11th Gardening in North Otago

What a great week it has been here in North Otago weather wise.

I have been watering different areas of the garden each day each day to keep things going until the next Spring rain arrives.

Roses are top priority right now : Things to watch out for

Watch for die back after the Winter not all canes make the grade, cut them right back to new growth if they have been affected.

Watch for growth below the graft, it comes up from the rootstock, it is usually a different colour to the other grafted canes. Cut it right out because it is stronger and will leave the grafted canes behind. All roses are grafted onto strong disease free root stock that is not an attractive flowering rose.

Spraying begins now to keep your bushes healthy, use what has worked well for you every 10 to 14 days if you are new to roses good old shield or guild will do the job, they combated both insects and disease.

I prefer maintaining mine organically with fish emulsion and pyrethrum spray plus a natures way fungicide.

Fish emulsion feeds the buses and fools the insects into thinking that the foliage is protein.

I have spotted green fly all ready on my roses.

Keep the crowns clear of soil and remove most lower leaves that come in contact with the ground, they allow fungal infections to travel up into the bush especially after rain.

Do not water roses at the end of the day, don't let them go into the night wet, mildew thrives on wet rose leaves at night.

Eliminate stress right from the start of the season by supplying lots of food for new growth and not letting the roots dry out. Always water powder fertiliser in, a rose will always let you know if it is stressed by dropping leaves or being susceptible to black spot and rust, it is hard to bring it back to good health after stress

I have been sowing grass seed in the areas of lawn that have been effected by grass grub, I am sure the birds were delighted when they saw me doing this and were down on the seed as soon as I turned my back! I covered as much as I could with frost cloth and shade cloth, this still allows light and moisture through and I leave it on until the seed has germinated. once the young grass is up keep the moisture up to it but do this early in the day so the ground is not attracting fungus's by being wet and cold through the night.

I would have treated the moss in the our lawns with sulphate of iron but we have the first wedding of the season in the garden today so I didn't want to have black patches everywhere. Sulphate of iron is great for getting rid of moss in lawns, buy a small bag from a garden centre which will tell you how much to put into a watering can and water on effected areas.

It is now time to plant cyclamen outside in a cool shady spot, to finish their growing year. keep an eye on them over the summer and make sure they have plenty of moisture in Autumn, pot them up just before Winter and bring them back inside to flower. They will continue to do this for many years. I find mine respond to a little dried blood.

Hosta's are starting to make a move now but there is still time to put the spade through clumps that are big enough to divide. Just slice cleanly through and transplant small clumps where you need them. Be ready with the slug bait because the slugs will be ready for the fresh new leaves. I use fish emulsion on these and cinerarias, it confuses the slugs and butterflies for a while but if I forget to keep applying they are in like Flynn.

Keep the water up to every thing now as the ground is really drying out, rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas, hydrangea & roses have shallow roots and suffer when it is so dry,

The nights are still too cold for new young seedlings and plants without covering them with frost cloth, this goes for vegetable plants too in colder area's, I have a lot of seedlings planted early to get the roots going but the cover still goes on at night.

Get seed potatoes and peas in now and they should make good growth and be ready for Christmas and all herbs can go in now there are heaps on offer for summer cooking. Always harden new flower and veg plants off before planting out, leave them outside in a sheltered lightly shaded spot for 2 or 3 days to get them used to your outside temperature Never plant them out in the heat of the day, they will only wilt and then take a while to recover.

Cheers, Linda.