Gardening in North Otago March 27th 2010

Still dry! and autumn wants to start early because of it, I have the last wedding of the season tomorrow and the garden is JUST holding on. Next week I can get really stuck in after a nice lot of rain I hope.

In the garden Autumn marks the end of the main growing season and brings in a time of gathering and tidying.
Save news papers from now on because they make a wonderful weed suppressant under what ever you are going to mulch with, be it straw or fine bark or a good well cooked compost. Before any mulching takes place the ground needs to be moist and the news paper wet as it is laid down over the wet dirt. The thickness of an Oamaru mail will do the trick. I find I need to wait until I have raked all the leaves up in some areas before I can mulch otherwise the mulch comes off with the leaves.

Get ever green shrubs and trees in now while the ground is still warm, stake to protect from the strong winds and water in well. Leave a large plastic container of water with a drip hole beside each new planting.

Any hedges not trimmed yet should be cut without delay to allow new growth to harden off a little before winter.

On the coast cut back marguerite daisies, geraniums, and pelargoniums to encourage strong new growth, the prunings can then become soft cuttings planted out in trays of river sand until they develop roots. Then pot them up in potting mix but keep them protected until after the frosts before planting out.
In colder areas soft cuttings can be take from a lot of your summer flowering perennials and annuals but they will need to be raised indoors with good light and a plastic cover held up away from touching the plants and placed in a warm draught free place. These plants can be stock plants and once they bush up in spring cuttings can be taken from them to produce summer flowering plants. Impatiens, begonias, geraniums and hydrangea are some you can try.

If you are dealing with soil or mix that will not re-wet and the water just runs off it because it has dried out during this long spell of rain-free weather, it can get to the point where it won't absorb water.
Break it up, keep adding water until it begins to look wetter, then dig or fork through compost for the water to soak into to increase the water retention capacity. If it's an ongoing problem in your garden bed or planter box, add a wetting agent from the garden centre to the mix.

The Lawn

With autumn around the corner and temperatures starting to cool down it is time to turn attention to your lawns. After a long hot summer existing lawns need some TLC and the sooner you do this the better they will look for the autumn and into the winter months. If your lawn is looking tired, yellow, full of weeds or just a little thin then it's time for a late summer rejuvenation.

• Fertilise and water in well to encourage strong growth. Animal manure put through a mulch er with some lime would be organic and it would not burn the lawns, I have started to spread and water mix this in.

• Spray weeds with a broad range weed killer.

• About 3 weeks later de-thatch or rake out the dry dead grass build up in the lawn to create a good seed bed.

• Over sow bare or weak areas with the appropriate seed mixed into fine compost and keep the water up until you get a strike.
Veg:

• Powdery Mildew on leaves is the result of high temperatures and intermittent rain, often prevalent when vegetables such as courgettes are watered in the evenings. Mix I cup of milk into 1 litre of water and spray over plants.

• Bacterial leaf spots appearing on veggies such as broccoli and tomatoes could well be the result of overhead watering in this heat. Don't put the sprinkler on - use a soak hose and get the water to the roots where the plants really need it.

• Cut back tired herbs such as thyme, rosemary and mint and they'll put on fresh growth. Don't over water basil - it likes the dry heat and will keep growing until May.
Spry leafy greens often with fish based liquid food to deter the butterfly's.

• Courgettes (zucchini) haven't been pollinating in areas of high humidity - the female flowers have small unformed courgettes at the end of them, so find a male flower and push some of the pollen into the female flowers.

• An autumn crop of lettuces, parsley and coriander will do well now, liquid feed at planting and water regularly so they do not 'bolt'.

• Harvest garlic and onions -

Cheers, Linda.