Gardening in North Otago 30th November 2011

This week was all on for me, the start of the race to get so much completed before the Christmas deadline. With so much happening in our garden things need to be rearranged, trimmed, dug out, dug in, pricked out, planted and so on while ensuring tranquility is the essence of the garden for each and every new happening that taking place......which means those gnomes waiting in the wings are ready to pounce tools in hand at any given moment!!! well something like that.

So much trimming with all the new growth and plants like cat nip, aubretuia, ground cover phlox, erica's and all the herbs in a panic to make seed. stop them in their tracks by trimming them back which will encourage them to clump up with fresh new foliage to take them through summer. There are so many other plants waiting for enter stage now like lavender, lilies, hydrangeas, roses and all summer annuals the gaps will fill in no time.

With the help of my reliable hedge trimmer Pete we are half way through trimming the box hedges here, they look almost too neat but will not take long to soften with a little more new growth, the soft clippings are wonderful in the compost or even just scattered around the roots of shrubs. No feeding for them now or the clipping will need to be done all over again. Just keep the water up and let them harden off, once this has happened and the new growth can be snapped to break, cuttings can be taken and set to root in river sand.
All hedges can be trimmed now while the new growth is still soft.

I have been hearing about roses effected with mildew after all the rain we have had, this often occurs when roses are planted in sheltered areas. A combination spry of fungicide / pesticide sprayed every 10 days will help correct this problem. Remove leaves and buds that are too badly effected.
I prefer maintaining my rose's organically with fish emulsion and pyrethrum spray plus a natures way fungicide.
Fish emulsion feeds the buses and fools the insects into thinking that the foliage is protein.

Plant up hanging baskets now with small rooted annuals like lobelia, petite or cascading petunias, nasturtium and cascading begonias. Avoid upright plants and plants that make a big root ball they need more depth than a basket can offer and will soon rob all the nutrients and fill the basket with dry roots. The secrete to hanging baskets is a good heavy potting mix, water crystals, a lot of slow release fertiliser consistent watering. I am using old carpet underlay as liners again this year but if I had none the coconut liners look good and do the job.

Lawns.
The lawn mower is doing a lot of over time right now in our garden, and the mountain of grass unsprayed are being used as mulch where needed. They break down quickly with moisture and warmth. If the weeds are taking over in your lawns now is the time to spray using a lawn weed spray. Don't spot spray with weed killer as it spreads onto the surrounding grass and you will end up having to resow patches.
I fed all my lawns during the last rain which will keep them green, and thick enough I hope to stop weed seeds drifting in.

Vegetables & Fruit
With this great growing weather both the above are romping away, I have had to thin out a few clusters of apples, especially the larger type, sacrifice half to let the remainder grow to a good size and keep the water up and mulch to preserve moisture as they grow and fill with juice. If you do not have the time to thin out fruit leave it to the strong winds they will knock a few off.

Cover berries with strawberry netting before they ripen, the birds will be watching and waiting.

Keep mounding up potatoes to encourage bigger numbers by keeping them deep.

You will have good strikes with all seeds sown now, sow at two week intervals to have a secession of fresh vegetables.
Use seed trays for: lettuce, silver- beet, celery, cabbage, courgettes, pumpkin, basil and tomato. Plant out in 4 to 6 weeks.
Plant straight in the garden: carrot, beetroot, corn, peas, beans, cucumber, coriander, rocket and chives.

Planting by the moon
NEW MOON
Friday, 25 November 2011
Garden:
Transplant last of spring plantings - late crop tomatoes, beans and corn, basil, courgettes, cucumbers and leeks.
Take care of liquid fertiliser barrels; keep stirred and refill with comfrey, manure, seaweed etc. Tomatoes, corn, pumpkins may need a boost now
Plant seed into trays for late summer harvesting of dwarf and climbing beans, , carrots, beetroot, lettuce, basil, short season corn (if you are in an area with a long summer) celery.

Cheers, Linda