Gardening in North Otago 28th January 2010

Sunshine at last and such heat, things have dried out in a matter of days.

The plants that seem to have suffered the most are the rhododendrons, I have had to buy a large bale of peat to spread around the roots and water in, I mixed it with some vormacast to make it go further. A good long soak is best for a dry Rhododendron and then a shift to another location in the garden if the area in which it is growing is too dry for it.
If you have another spot to transplant it to then dig a hole twice as large as needed and half fill with peat, soak the peat and push around the rhodo roots, cover with soil and mulch with wet straw. The recovered rodo will probably show signs of stress next season by developing brown tips on its leaves. This is ok if you know the Rodo is doing better, just cut the brown tips off.
It is not unusual for some deciduous plants to loose all their summer leaves in these dry conditions and then grow another lot when it is cooler. If there are still signs of green when you break a twig you will know that your bush or tree is still alive and will probably recover. If the twig is brittle and snaps off then you have lost it. Mulching is so important now to take the garden into what could be a long dry Autumn. All bulbs that have died down will need a good watering and mulched to hold the moisture in, from now on is when bulbs dry out and whole clumps can disappear if thy get too dry for too long.
I have been dead heading roses and feeding for the next lot of blooms, cutting lavenders and bunching for dried lavender. If you have very woody lavenders it's a good time right now to cut them right back almost to the ground. They will regrow fresh and bushy and make hard wood again before winter, Keep cutting back all early summer perennials and shrubs before they made seed. Cutting will promote a new lot of blooms, but remember to feed what you cut back because they will need it to make the new growth required of them.

Lawn weeds can be sprayed out during theses warm days, use the right product that kills the weeds and not the grass. There are a few on offer even one that weeds and feeds at the same time. Then pray for a good rain and apply lawn fertiliser while it's raining.

The weeds have gone mad in the vegetable garden after the few warm days, get them out before they seed and keep planting as you use, rotating leaf veg and root veg to eliminate disease being passed on to the new planting from the same old plantings.
i.e where carrots have been growing plant lettuce.
I have sown carrots and parsnips to be ready at the end of the growing season.