Gardening in North Otago May 4th 2011

What a wet few days looking back through my notes this seems to be a happening thing now in North Otago in autumn. Sodden leaves, sodden ground, wet chooks, (in my garden anyway) and black Dahlia and pumpkin leaves after the last frost, it's all down hill from here for the garden looking good. How ever there is the thought that once we compost and mulch gardens the moisture will stay there and be a huge benefit for spring growth.
But! it is the on set of Winter we need to deal to right now and that means getting as much in order with your garden now before the chilblain weather!!

Cut back damaged dahlia's and cover tubers with straw or compost if you do not intend to lift.
If you are not ready yet to mulch the garden just cut the tops of them and bend strong stems over to stop the rain running down them and sitting there, this will encourage rot.
Lift special tubers if you think they may sit under water, we never know how wet the winter will be, best to be safe than sorry. I am sure gardeners further inland lift them each year and store them somewhere dry over winter.

The autumn rose blooms have been delightful, clear true shades produced when the nights get a little colder. Most of the bushes they are adorning are winding down and looking tired now. The rain this week finished off most of my rose blooms, they became wet and bedraggled so I have been pulling them off but leaving the seed head to help harden the rose wood in readiness for the July prune. In a few weeks they will get a winter spray of lime sulphur an oldie but goody, which will defoliate the bushes but help control over-wintering fungal diseases such as leaf curl, rust, black spot and powdery mildew and it deals to scale insects. I will remind you about this spray at the beginning of June.
Don't feed roses now because new growth is not required, just a little lime to sweeten and condition the soil is ok if you have not added lime in your winter compost / mulch.

I have been tidying up and re potting pots that have been full of colour through the summer but are now looking very tired.
I noticed that a lot of my succulents have become stalky which means that it is time to forgo the Mother plant and plant out her babies. Each one will develop roots and become a mother plant. The baby succulents look great in pots over the winter months, you can fill a pot or plant around the edges of hyacinths or dwarf spring bulbs. The succulents give the pot interest before the bulbs come up. There are so many different succulents in shades of red, orange, silver & fresh green If like me you have exhausted clumps in the garden, break them up, toss out the dodgy ones and replant the fresher.

Tulips can go in this month, they are so worth growing tulips seem to take ages to show when planted but then they look amazing when most other spring bulbs are almost at the end of their flowering. I love to plant my red tulips in a sea of blue for-get-me-not and need to get the for get -me-not seeds on the go now. I always cut my for-get-me-nots back instead of pulling them out and from that they almost turn into a perennial, but those ones always flower before the tulips so I plant new seed just for the red tulip display each year.

I mentioned last week that I put lime on the lawns, its now a good time to put lime around all plants that enjoy a sweet soil like all the herbs, carnations, dianthus, lavender, roses, clematis, sweet-peas and pink hydrangea. Sprinkle around and let the rain wash it in, plants will gradually absorb it and reap the benefit in early spring.

Two plants to dig a trench for and fill with manure are sweet-peas and clematis, to get to the height required they need a lot of rich food. Sweet peas will germinate now but only grow a little top growth but the roots will keep growing strong and push the top growth up as soon as the soil warms a little at the end of winter.Putting them in now I have had them flowering in August.

Vegetable garden:
Some say the first two weeks in May is board bean planting time, any time this month is ok the seeds germinate in cld ground, sow in double rows then they can support each other. If you think your ground is a little sour add some lime before you sow and a little pot ash is said to combat rust.

Cheers, Linda