Gardening in North Otago 13th February 1010

What glorious weather we are getting at last, but with it comes the dry ground!! it is so important to keep moisture around the roots of all plants and trees right now because if you are going to loose anything because of the dry conditions it will be during this month and March. At the end of March we will get dews again to help parched plants along but for the next two months it is up to the gardener.
There is so much to do right now, dead heading roses, cutting just about anything that has flowered back, getting rid of weeds before they run to seed and yes watering and more watering. The one thing we can hold off from at this hot time of the year is planting, unless you are able to water new plantings daily.
Lavenders can be topped now to encourage new flowers, its just a matter of cutting off the old flowers unless the bush has gone ugly and woody then take it right back to the ground and it will soon send up some nice new soft growth.
I have been cutting my well established buddlias right back to the ground also, They get really tall and woody if you let them, their new soft growth is much more attractive than new growth on old wood. Buddlias are such great gap fillers for big gardens with such beautiful flowers that attract butterfly's but it is not worth planting them if you are not prepared to cut them off at ground level every now and then.

Bulbs are arriving in Garden centers now as late summer is the traditional time to plant winter and spring flowering bulbs.
Providing a well drained soil or potting mix (if putting in pots) will ensure success with most bulbs. Drainage in heavy soils can be improved by working in a generous layer of gravel prior to planting. The general rule when planting bulbs is that the depth of the soil above the bulb should be about twice the length of the bulb. Now days planting instructions and where to plant are offered on bulb packets. If it says full sun, shade or semi shade then that is where they must be planted to preform at their best.

Roses are delivering us their second batch of blooms right now, after all the overcast weather and now these dry conditions my roses are not the healthy specimens they were at the start of their growing season. I have been removing rust and black spot diseased leaves as I decided not to spray this year. My trial this year was to foliar feed as much as possible to keep the roses healthy but with all the overcast weather last month the leaves needed to be kept dry to not encourage mildew and fungus.Deep root watering only and keeping the leaves dry has worked so for me, there is no sign of the usual mildew and I don't mind having to remove the black spot and rust leaves by not spraying in the hope the roses will build up a stronger resistance.

I have been removing masses of oxygen and duck weed from my ponds and using it to mulch around plants, it is wonderful as a mulch and should add a lot of goodness to the ground as it breaks down. Ponds can get a bit murky at this time of the year, if you think your pond is stagnant and producing lots of green slime add some non sprayed straw and weigh it down with rocks. This will soon neutralise the water and get the pond working the way it should.

Keep water up to the vegetables, don't leave veg past it's best along side healthy vegetables and always rotate plantings of leafy veg with root veg to eliminate disease being passed on.
Mound soil up around the roots of corn not ready yet, and keep an eye on the pumpkin patch, their leaves soon let you know when they need water to help them grow into prize winning pumpkins.

Cheers, Linda.