Gardening in North Otago June 25th 2010

Gosh the weeks are going fast with the days so short it's Friday before I know it!! This week the cleaning up continues, the leaves seem never ending and everyday I decide there is something needing to be taken out or shifted to another place, if it needs done this is the time of the year to do it. I make a big gap then walk around the garden looking for something well grown to fill it. I have started my rose pruning and cleaning up around them at the same time, it will take me a few weeks to finish them all, then I will spray them with copper and winter oil mixed to seal up the cuts. For those new to rose pruning get yourself a nice sharp pair of secateurs and start by removing all branches growing into the middle of the bush. The idea is to keep the inside of the bush open. Cut on a slant at an outward facing bud at the bottom of the branch. Next look look for cross over branches and cut back to an outward facing bud to encourage the branch to grow in another direction. Really old wood should be cut right out, again at a bottom out ward facing bud, don't bother with any spindly branches they will never produce flowers so just remove them. Make sure the crown of the rose is not covered with soil or compost this area needs to be clear and needs a good spray along with the rest of the bush. If you have bought new roses they will need pruned because they will have only had the tops cut to make them easier to handle. If you are going to plant a new rose in the same place where another had been growing you will need to take out the soil and replace it with soil that has not been growing roses. There is a product called Tricapal which is coated on sterile wheat, this is a good fungus which will overtake the bad fungus in the soil left by the rose before. It's time to remove moss and lichen from paths and walk-ways to prevent the areas becoming slippery in the winter months. There are moss kill products on sale but diluted household bleach poured on with a watering can will do the trick. Moss in the lawns after all the rain is happening everywhere, sulphate of ammonia dissolved in water and applied with watering can to moss will deal to it pretty fast. When the moss has turned black it can be racked out. Now is a great time to deal to fish ponds, shift fish to a bucket filled with the original pond water, empty the pond and remove all the leaves that may have fallen in. If you have water lilies in containers they can be re-potted at this time of the year. They are good feeders and need a lot of food like manure and slow release fertiliser to get them to flower well. The problem is that this food should noletch into the water because it will encourage slime growth in the water in warm weather. Cut old leaves from the Lilly and remove the plant and contence of the container. Line the bottom of the container with thick newspaper, then add a layer of clean gravel, next manure and slow release fertiliser, some soil then replace the Lilly, some more soil and lastly a thick layer of clean gravel. It’s the gravel that keeps the fertiliser from leaching. Lillies always make a huge amount of roots these can be cut back a lot to fit it back into the container. Refill the pond but do not put fish back in for a couple of weeks. This is the perfect time to plant seeds of the flowers you will be wanting to plant out spring and summer, I have planted delphiniums, snapdragon, all sorts of poppy, lupins and stock seeds. Without a controlled glass house they will take a while to germinate but put in a nice warm sunny place and covered at night they will pop up and as soon as the soil warms up again will grow strongly. I feel that seedlings planted now and carried through the winter do better as plants than spring and summer plantings. Veg: With the winter being mild so far here on the coast the vegetable gardens are still producing well so keep planting in rotation, root veg where leafy veg has grown and vis versa. I plan to plant peas and some butter crunch lettuce this weekend because my new raised veg gardens are in a nice all day sun location, Butter crunch lettuce likes it cooler and it is such a nice sweet lettuce. Cheers, Linda