Gardening in North Otago December 18th

Great growing weather with the warmth and the little rain from time to time through the week, I was out in the rain with the fertiliser for the gardens and lawns on Tuesday morning because the dreaded rooster woke us at 5am!!! He is getting a holiday for Christmas: When it gets dry again soak hoses are great for deep soaking, they drip away continuously there is no water waste, the water goes where it is needed. This week has been another cutting back time for me, late spring and early summer perennials and annuals that are past their best. Once they have been cut back I am left with gaps which I have been topping up with, yes you guessed it, sifted soil! . The plants which I have cut back are already starting to bush up again with fresh new growth and will soon fill out, enjoy the new soil and cover the unsightly gaps. My delphiniums have grown so tall and strong this year they pushed over the supports I put around them, its hard to stand them up again with out breaking them and ending up with them looking a bit wonkey. I have been just cutting them back to the point where they have broken and I guess they will put out the smaller flower heads they send up once the main bloom has been taken. A dressing of blood & bone or slow release fertiliser and a good soaking will help them last longer looking good. Well it is count down time now for Christmas and the end of another busy year for most.The garden I am sure will be taking a back seat for everyone. If you are going away pop all your indoor plants in the bath with a little water to keep them going and baskets and manageable pots around to the shady side of the house until your return. Dead head as many roses as you can so they can get going on their second flowering, deep water and mulch if you have the time. Then let the garden look after it's self while you have a well deserved break. Vegetable garden: So much is ready for picking in the veg garden right now, cover the black current and raspberry bushes from the birds if you are heading off for a few days maybe someone you know could use what you cannot from your garden. How wonderful it would be to be able to fill a basket of fresh produce at Christmas / New year Gardening by the moon FULL MOON Friday, 28 December 2012 Flower Garden: Remove seeds pods from sweet peas to keep them flowering Layer carnations Plant bulbs in garden beds orchard or pots Dead head dahlias too keep them flowering Veg Garden: Water as required, especially just around the full moon as the plants are really wanting to grow Foliar feed three days before full moon Keep up tomato and pepper maintenance Spray neem oil for bugs. Spraying now will stop the next generation hatching Orchard: Watch for water stress Spray neem oil on any young trees that need protection Make a careful notes of when all your fruit ripens so that you know where the gaps are for future plantings That's it from me for this year, our tree is ready and waiting for the pitter- patter of tiny feet on Christmas morning and not one of them will need to hunt for Nana in the garden. I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and all the very best for 2011.

Gardening in North Otago 12.December 2012

We are very close to Christmas now and gardening will be on the back burner soon for most I am sure, including me,Ya! Not much watering had to be done this week after the rain, but the heat of the sun when out soon has those hoses out again. I have had the hedge trimmer on the go again and yes the plants and shrubs did shudder to their roots when I come their way! If it needs it, it gets it! Trimming with secateurs is not practical with such a large garden and at this time of the year you can not do too much damage, the grow back rate is pretty quick. I am still lucky enough to have the help of a busy Pete who loves trimming hedges, the box hedges have had a good go over this week with Pete doing the back breaking trimming and I the clean up. The overcast afternoons have been perfect for them to recover without the sun scorching them too soon. Scorching of newly cut box hedging in the hot summer sun is unavoidable but they soon grow through scorching and harden off. My buddleia's also got a good cut back, they are a great fill in bush. I cut them back by half, when they have finished flowering when young and right to the ground once at the stage of getting out of hand. Buddlea push up new growth very quickly and look attractive with their blue green foliage even without the flowers. Shades of blue /purple, pink & white make this an attractive plant for a back border. and can be grown from a cutting. Catmint can be trimmed back now, I know it is still showing heaps of colour but trim the long growth back by half and in no time at all it will re-grow into a neater clump and continue to flower. The same applies to aubrietia, it will stay in a neater clump after a trim back. Most gardeners pull out forget-me-not when it has finished flowering, I cut it right back to almost nothing and it returns in nice green clumps stronger than ever and becomes a perennial which will flower for years every spring. As a woodland plant you can't go past forget-me-not as a pretty sea of blue in the spring. Many more branches were lifted on large trees this week, I hire chain saw which is small on the end of a very long handle, just perfect for reaching up and removing long branches and thinning out to let light onto gardens below. . Anemones for winter flowering can be planted in the next two weeks, you will need to put a stick in where they are planted at this time of the year it's so easy to forget the spot and dig them up.Pop some in pots to replace all the Summer & autumn pots when finished flowering. Lilies are flowering now, large clumps can be divided up and shifted straight after flowering and planted into good compost but they must never dry out so keep an eye on them through the dryer months. I have had clumps of Christmas lilies completely disappear and have not noticed until I miss them flowering at this time of the year. It takes ages for lilies to grow from little pup bulbs and seed so they are worth looking after. Lawns: If you don't like using sprays and you have a few flat weeds in the lawn try spot spraying them with vinegar, Most people would have vinegar in the kitchen. I was told about this recently and it works! I used white vinegar. It is also great for pathways and drives and leaves no dangerous residue to leach into nearby plants.. I am pretty sure it dose not kill clover, browns it off a little, but I am still watching to see how much it knocks it. The vinegar needs to be applied in dry sunny weather. Keep mounding up potato rows to encourage bigger shores, corn likes to be mounded up also when it gets to about knee high. They have a shallow rooting system and the mounding helps to keep them upright in strong winds. I have been faced with a great crop of weeds in the vegetable garden, like most other gardeners I am sure. How fast they appear and grow, one thing is for sure you can put off doing what you should but you cannot put off what nature wants to do when it comes to weeds, and ripening of fruit and veg, Nature will have it's way and if you are too late to respond the weed seeds pop, the fruit over ripens and the veg bolts. Fruit: It is time to shorten back fruiting leaders on grape vines, the growth is needed for the grapes that have started to form. If a leader has produced too many bunches remove some with shortening back. I was told years ago that offal or a dead animal is what a domestic grape vine likes to have buried down around it's roots, too much nitrate fertiliser will produce leaves and leaders. like most fruiting plants a little pot ash to encourage fruiting is beneficial in spring. NEW MOON From Thursday, 13 December 2012 Veg Garden: Water carefully, using fingers to make sure that the ground is getting wet where you need the moisture. Harvest garlic and onions, if ready Weed and prepare beds, aerate surface of all un-mulched beds with hoe, Sow late crops of cucumbers, courgettes, beans and basil Sow peas, rocket and corriander in shade plan and sow seed for Autumn crops like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, silverbeet, spinach, celery, carrots, beetroot, brussels sprouts, kale swedes, turnips and radish. Continue regular foliar feeds of gross feeders with liquid comfrey or liquid manure, and foliar feeding with fish, seaweed or growth foliar transplant leeks into garden for Autumn, Winter use Flower garden Sow seed for late Autumn / Winter / early spring flowering - snap dragon, calendula, marigold, sweet William, hollyhock, granny's bonnet (aquelegia) Orchard: Pinch growing tips out on your fig trees to encourage growth to go into fruit Net and harvest ripening fruit Watch moisture levels carefully - especially young trees Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago 8th December 2012

Another week with so much to be cut back in our garden, plants like tree peony which doubles in size each growing season. Don't let them swamp your garden and smother other plants, the older woody canes can be cut down to the second bud from the bottom leaving the new green stalks to be next years flower branches. By doing this now seed pods will be cut off as well which if allowed to ripen will pop all over your garden and grow. Other larger plants I have had to cut back are bush lavatera's, English abutilon, ornamental broom, false Valerian,these I have mentioned will all grow back and look a lot nicer and some flower again. So keep on cutting back anything that has finished flowering, add compost and fertiliser then fill the gaps with summer flowering annuals like cosmos, statice, begonias, salvia, marigolds, lobelia and petunias etc Begonias are really pushing through now and I see that I have lost a few of the ones I left in the ground from last year, I am guessing the rain rotted them. I did dig out and store most of them and have planted them out. The food begonias most appreciate is any fish based fertilser, as a folia spray or watered in around their roots. Hydrangeas are producing flower heads now so it is important to keep the water and food up to them, blood and bone, dry or liquid or slow release fertiliser will keep them happy and flowering well. Remember it's lime for pink and Epsom salts or aluminum sulphate to keep them blue. Fuchsias are on sale right now, they are wonderful in pots for a shady spot and because they put on a lot of growth in one season they soon become bushy and fill a pot. They are making a lot of growth now as well, if you missed cutting any back do it now, they will flower later than the ones you have cut back but will soon catch up. Tip cuttings can be taken from fuchsias now, if you spot some you like in a friends garden ask for some cuttings. Tip cuttings from Hebe's will root with no trouble as well right now. Use wet crusher dust or river sand to strike them in, never beach sand. If you are looking for something non invasive to make a show of colour against a wall why not try Abutilon (Chinese lantern ) I have seen it on offer this week in three Strong colours, yellow, orange and burgundy. I have planted yellow and burgundy together in a large container with nice lime green grass's below them, they are a rather spindly plant so I have been intertwining them as they grow, they are just starting to flower now and look great together. If you do train them against a wall you could leave some longer branches and shorten back others to get a good spread. I have also seen lillies growing in containers and water lillies in water on offer to buy this week. Plant the lillies (pot and all) into the ground in a sunny place to carry on growing. Once finished flowering dig up, remove the pot and replant. Plant the water lillies into a pot lined with old thickish fabric a good amount of stones on top, then garden soil with general slow release fertiliser or a little old stable manure for the roots of the water lilly to tap into. Lastly a good amount of stones on top to stop fertiliser leeching out into the pond water. Roses are well in flower now so keep the water and food up to them to keep them healthy. Remove spent blooms and any leaves that show signs of rust or black spot and they will keep producing blooms from now until the beginning of winter. have had to continue lifting the branches on trees that were casting too much shade over other plants. It's the lower branches that can be removed without making the tree look as though it has been cut. The upper branches will hide the cuts, so any branch growing downwards with a canopy branch directly above it can be cut back or removed altogether. Lawns keep feeding lawns, dry lawn fertiliser must only be applied when we get rain to wash it in but a liquid fertiliser is fine any time. Lawns get really stressed from now on as the hot summer progresses. If your lawns are inclined to crack when dry they have probably been planted on clay soil. Apply gypsum , ( soluble lime) and water in, after a couple of years of doing this your lawns will have a spring in them. Gypsum works it's way through the clay and makes it become more like soil. Vegetables I have had to keep the water up to my veg garden this week, the pumpkin leaves soon let me know when it is needed, a few more night showers would be much more beneficial than hosing. But the vegetables and fruit are doing well so far this year, keep the hoe going because the weeds are doing well also. The days being warm and the nights a little cooler is just right for growing. I am amazed that the white butterfly is still not about in my garden! not that I want them laying their eggs on my veg plants, long may it last. . Tomatoes will be getting taller and beginning to fruit now, the removal of over half the leaves on a plant will benefit your plants by letting the fruit have more nutrients, eliminating shade from the ripening fruit and letting sun in to encourage flowering. With less leaves flowers to become more visible to insects for pollination. Try it and see if you get a better crop. Gardening by the moon Thursday, 13 December 2012 Garden: Water carefully, using fingers to make sure that the ground is getting wet where you need the moisture. Harvest garlic and onions, if ready Weed and prepare beds, aerate surface of all unmulched beds with a hoe. Sow late crops of cucumbers, courgettes, beans and basil Sow peas, rocket and corriander in shade plan and sow seed for Autumn crops like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, silverbeet, spinach, celery, carrots, beetroot, brussels sprouts, kale swedes, turnips and radish, Continue regular foliar feeds of gross feeders with liquid comfrey or liquid manure, and foliar feeding with fish / seaweed foliar food. transplant leeks into garden for Autumn, Winter use Sow flower seed for late Autumn / Winter / early spring flowering - snap dragon, calendula, marigold, sweet william, hollyhock, granny's bonnet (aquelegia) Orchard: Pinch growing tips out on your fig trees to encourage growth to go into fruit Net and harvest ripening fruit Watch moisture levels carefully - especially young trees Cheers Linda

Gardening in North Otago 27th November 2012

Down to the last month now! frenzy time for Adults I guess as we get closer to Christmas. Some nice sunny days this week so the night beetle have started to make their appearance along with those fat brown moths. The spittle bug is in force again, they don't seem to be deterred by the cold snap. Spittlebug nymphs can turn a liquid secretion into bubbles by moving or pumping their bodies. Once the bubbles have formed, spittlebugs use their hind legs to cover themselves with the froth. The ‘spittle’ serves multiple purposes. It shields the spittlebugs from predators It insulates them from temperature extremes It prevents the spittlebugs from dehydrating Spittlebug eggs are laid in late summer and are left to over winter on plant debris. The eggs will hatch in early spring and go through five stages, before becoming adults. When the nymphs originally hatch in early spring, they will attach themselves to a plant and begin feeding. Although spittlebug nymphs do feed on plant sap, the damage is minimal and populations are usually small, so no pesticide is necessary. A strong blast with a hose should be enough to dislodge a spittlebug nymph. They’ll be gone in a few weeks anyway. In extreme cases, they can cause stunting and weaken plants or reduce yields. If you should have a severe infestation, remove plant debris in the autumn and work the soil to reduce egg population. Adult spittlebugs (frog hoppers) are 6 to 8mm long, elongated, oval and usually dull coloured with prominent eyes Nymphs are smaller and bright geenish/yellow. I am keeping up the fish emulsion to foliar feed to the roses and deter the green fly, but have had to use a nasty on the underside of my hellebore leaves because am sure this is where the green fly winter over in my garden. If you have orchids it is the time to re-pot them now, use the orchid mix for the best results, it takes the guess work out of wondering what to feed them. The dew's are still wetting so the ground is still holding some moisture, scatter grass clippings around as mulch if your lawns have not been sprayed, they become good humus. But don't pile them on too thickly because they are inclined to form a shield that stops the rain reaching the soil beneath. I throw them on to empty the catcher, then rake them out. So much spent spring growth in our garden needs cut back now, I am making a lot of gaps by cutting back aquilegia's, forget-me-not, pansies, viola's and catmint, plus digging out all the pollyanthus then replanting them in a shady damp spot until next winter. I have cosmos, poppies and statice to fill gaps. It is probably a good time to attend to the vegetable garden as things are growing fast now and will be needing food, we need to keep the food up to tomatoes, currants an berries, lemons and fruit trees... it takes a lot out of a plant to fruit. There are specially prepared fertilisers for most plants with instructions for how much to apply and when. Blood and bone is a good all rounder but can attract fly's at this time of the year so water it in well. All fruiting trees and plants need lots of water now to create juicy plump fruit, the small amount of rain we have been lucky enough to get have been perfect for them but it's the winds to come that will do the damage so keep the water up when you know it will be needed. Remember to cover your strawberries to keep the birds from eating them as soon as they show any sign of red. Strawberry netting stretches out to cover a large area and does the job well, the birds are helping themselves to my gooseberries so I have thrown some frost cloth over them until I get a chance to pick them. As tomatoes grow be sure to remove laterals of the taller growing variety and stake them to keep them upright as the fruit gets heaver. They should be flowering now waiting for the bee's to pollinate them. If your bees are few and far between like mine this year you may have to take a hair drier into the glass house to gently blow the pollen around while leaves are dry. Early morning soaking on the vegetable garden keeps moisture up to them through the day and helps with the germination of seeds. Successive planting can be kept up right through the Summer. If you must use spray's on your vegetables make sure you read the directions to know how long the with holding period is before you can eat the vegetables. Why not try an organic option there are more on offer every year, or try companion planting. Some plants have been proven to help and enhance others so I will list what has worked. Carrots and onions together, the onions help keep the carrot fly at bay and carrots the onion fly. Celery and the brassica family, i.e.: cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. the celery will confuse the white butterfly when wanting to land and lay it's larvae eggs. Marigolds and beans/brassicas, the marigold emits a natural gas which protects surrounding plants from insects like aphids and white fly. Make your own natural sprays: The following plant leaves can be boiled in water and the resulting liquid used on plants. Basil will eliminate aphids Chives prevent mildew occurring on cucumbers, squash and pumpkins. Coriander also for aphids and spider mite. Eucalyptus is a good general purpose insecticide. Rhubarb has been found to help prevent blackspot. These may be only plants but in liquid form they can be harmful to children so keep marked bottles high up. I found out that it is not a good idea to breath in fumes when bringing to the boil, and to keep doors and window open. the fumes from some of them can certainly make you feel really odd. Get corn and pumpkins in as soon as possible because they need a long growing and ripening season. Gardening by the moon LAST QUARTER Friday, 7 December 2012 Garden: Prick out any seedlings as necessary Keep up watering carefully observe all plants - they'll tell you if they need some more water, nutrients, help with pest control, tying up or more space.... This is a very important time to take good care of tomatoes and peppers Orchard: You should be able to have a break for a few weeks now if you're up to date! until it is time to begin picking the fruit and enjoying the season! Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 20th November 2012

This was a better week,apart from the chill in the wind. I have been weeding, weeding,!! and cutting back heaps of stuff that has finished flowering, alyssum, ground cover phlox, aubrietia and aquilegias, if you cut them back now they will green up again and look good over summer. Same goes for Erica's, cut all the brown spent flower stems off and they will green up again in no time. I have also been changing the flower beds from Spring to summer, all the forget-me-not is gone along with the died down bulb tops. I spread well cooked compost on the cleared ground then start filling every gap with flower seedlings like cosmos, static, blue salvia, natushims, lavatera and lobelia not leaving any room for weeds to grow. All trees have leafed up now, don't be afraid to cut out over crowding branches to let light in to what is planted underneath. If there are two branches filling the same spot take the lower one out. Maple trees tend to grow thick canopies so I have been thinning mine out. I remove heaps but when I stand back and look it is not noticeable and now there is nice dappled light coming through. Dahlias can be pinched out like chrysanthemums to encourage bushiness' but they will still get tall so put stakes in now before they begin to bend and fall. Autumn flowering bulbs are in now, like belladonnas, crocuses, nerines, plant in full sun where they will not be disturbed. If your daffodils did not flower so well this spring, It's a good time to break up large clumps while you can still see where they have been, flowering can be restricted when the clumps get over crowded. Plant out in small groups in about 20cm of compost...plant to a depth of double their height then feed with blood and bone and mulch so they don't dry out over summer.Christmas lilies could also use a feed so they’re ready to stun in summer displays. Prune daisies bushes where needed to encourage summer flowering, and prune spring-flowering shrubs once they’re done producing blooms. Geraniums are now available; plant in a sunny, dry spot. Don’t forget fuchsias! They are also available but prefer semi-shaded areas in the garden. My buxus hedging is still too soft to be trimmed, would be trimming it this week in past years. Lawn mowers need to be lifted a notch now, try mowing without the catcher now and then, and rake the clippings out over the lawn to add humus to the lawn. Lawns need fed regularly through the growing and cutting seasons but never feed a dry lawn, if you do you are in danger of burning it. Have some fertiliser on hand for the next rain which never seems far away this month. I sprayed the lawn weeds two weeks ago, then fed them in the last rain, and filled the gaps with lawn seed. already the gaps where the weeds died have a green grass tinge. Vegetables & fruit Keep planting all vegetables but not too many of the same at one time. The ground is taking longer than usual to warm up this year which is holding rapid vegetable growth back, good in a way I think because leafy veg are not bolting to seed before they are used. I planted basil, corn and silver beet seeds this week ( have to keep the greens up to my chooks with the silver beet) Check your fruit trees now for over crowded bunches, thin the bunches out by snipping small fruits off with sharp scissors. Give each fruiting tree and bush a good root soak now and then in this dry weather. Gardening by the moon. First Quarter on 2012-11-20 The first quarter, which occurs in the waxing period, is considered the period of growth. This it the time to concentrate on the upward movement of plants or tasks that require water and light. Plant or sow seeds that are productive above ground. This includes everything from beans and flowers to fruit trees. It is also an excellent time to take cuttings. Grafting, too, requires a strong flow of water through the stems. Root crops, on the other hand, should not be planted in this period, as the rising water will enhance top growth at the expense of root development. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 12th November 2012

What a wonderful rain last Sunday spring in North Otago is always so much better for a rain like that but then such cold days to follow have held growth back a little. My rose and iris buds are not willing to open and plants like pollyanthus and pansies which should be struggling with heat at this time of the year are still happily flowering away and my late rhododendrons are so vibrant and holding well with the cooler days. After many years trying to grow plants regardless of the conditions preferred, thinking as long as I kept the water up and protected them through the winter I could beat nature. I finally learned that it's a waste of time and money nursing plants that need warmer conditions and more rain than we have here. Plants like hibiscus, banana, gardenia, palms, anything that requires a tropical seasonal rain is going to struggle. Bougainvillea is growing here on the coast, mine can be fine for a couple of years but other years the frost really knocks it back. Read the labels and make sure that our conditions are right for the plants on offer at this time of the year, for example there are some lovely pelagoniums on offer right now but I have yet to have one survive the winter in my garden, although I see them growing well on the south hill where the frosts are not so harsh so I guess it's a matter of looking at what is growing well in gardens close by to you and knowing that the same plants will do well in your garden. Roses:Time to start spraying roses for green fly and disease if you have not already started. Shield takes care of both if you follow the instructions and spray at the suggested intervals. Keep the food up as they flower, it's hungry roses that are more susceptible to disease. Slow release rose fertiliser will feed each time you water. Spring bulbs have finished flowering, tie a knot in the leaves of daffodils rather than cut them off yet as they need to take all the top green into storage. Tulips collapse quickly and can be dug up and stored in a dry place until planting out again in May next year but keep covered because rats will sniff them out and feast on them over winter. Blue bells need to be left to seed if you want them in mass, they increase in the bulb but also seed successfully. Keep the water up to Lillie's, they are making rapid growth now and resent drying out, stake them now before they become too heavy. I will once again sing the praises of raised gardens, Some advantages of raised bed gardens include: Soil warms up faster in the spring, and doesn't cool as fast in the autumn. You don't have to bend far to work in the garden and access the plants. The soil has better drainage, so there is less disease. You don't walk on the soil, so it doesn't get compacted, roots need air, and therefore compacted soil is very detrimental to plant growth. A raised garden can be a garden feature as it has a specified geometry and form. Studies have shown that a raised bed garden may be up to two times more productive per square foot compared to normal gardening techniques. While you may make the raised bed garden to any shape there are some guidelines to follow. The garden can be any length you want, but it shouldn't be more than 4ft wide so you can reach it comfortably from either side. It can be as high as you want it, but keep in mind that the higher you go, the more support you will need to build. Even a railway sleeper high will give benefits. If it's a raised vegetable garden then it must be built in a spot that gets all day sun. Raised beds for shade and moisture loving plants need to be closer to the damp ground, if they are raised too high the drainage is too great for these plants. Once you have constructed your raised bed fill with fresh soil, compost, and well aged manure If you choose to frame your raised garden with wood make sure not to use treated timber, this has been known to leach chemicals into the soil. While untreated wood will not last as long, it is a safer alternative. Rocks are an economical option but they tend to loose soil with rain and watering, we are fortunate here in Oamaru to have our own versatile Oamaru stone. I have seen ready made wooden raised garden surrounds on offer, these would do the trick if space was a problem. Vegetables: Keep mounding the potatoes to keep them producing, consistent watering is important for potatoes now during this dry spell, this goes for all root vegetables. Leafy veg don't need any extra feeding at this time of the year it will just encourage them to bolt once it warms up. Plant only as many plants you think you would use when ready to pick and hold back other small seedling plants from the same batch and keep in a semi shady place until required for planting. The small plants will hold if watered only when too dry (don't over water seedlings they do not have enough root growth to absorb and will rot,. Keep pumpkin and squash plants mulched, their roots are fragile until their large leaves grow to create the root shade needed. All new small plants can be over watered to the point where their roots cannot cope and they collapse, the soil should be dry on top between watering's and good drainage is essential . Gardening by the moon Wednesday 14 new moon. Plant flowers & leafy vegies: Sat 17, Sun 18, Wed 21, Thu 22 Plant root crops & perennials: Sun 4, Mon 5, Mon 26, Tue 27 Mow, weed or tackle pests: Tue 6, Wed 7, Thu 8, Fri 9, Sat 10 Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 23rd October 2012

Rain & wind, It seems to be the norm now for strong winds and unchangeable weather around Labour weekend when the pink Kanzan blossom will as usual turn into pink snow in many gardens. The heavy spring rain is so needed to soak well down in the dry North Otago ground, with warmth from now on summer growing is looking pretty good. If you are wanting to transplant Rhododendrons, Camellias and Azaleas, do it immediately after flowering before they put on their new season growth, and if your spring flowering shrubs are in need of a trim prune them back once they have finished flowering. Geraniums and pelargoniums are available now and should be planted in sunny positions. Fuchsias are also on offer, they benefit from afternoon shade. If you are concerned about a hot dry Summer having a disastrous effect on your garden? Plenty of Mulch breaking down in your soil will help retain water as well as improve the structure of your soil While suppressing weed growth. Mulch like straw, grass clippings and weed free compost is also excellent for breaking down clay or poor draining soil. Newly planted roses are making lots of new growth so this is the month to feed them with slow release Fertiliser which will add nutrients to roots when ever water is applied. Potted plants also need slow release fertiliser and re-pot any plants that have been in the same container for more than three or four years. As long as they are not too root-bound they can go back into the same pot, but should have most of the old potting mix removed and some fresh mix packed around the roots. cymbidium orchids, Divide and re-pot now if crowded. Water lilies are available this month and need to be planted in a basket lined with sphagnum moss or old carpet underlay, add garden soil, slow release fertiliser tabs or manure then the lily and lastly a thick layer of shingle placed on top to help weigh the basket down in the water and stop the fertiliser / manure from leaching out which will create green slime growth in the pond as the water warms up. Also as I mentioned not long ago fish start breeding now as water warms, they will blow eggs into oxygen weed. If big fish are shifted to another pond in early summer eggs will be able to escape being eaten and hatch into tiny grey fish. These tiny fish will eventually become gold fish. The big fish can be returned to the pond when new fish have grown past a meal size. I have put a 1/4 of a small bail of un-sprayed pea straw into one end of of my big pond to stop the water from stagnating. I noticed on the really warm days before the last cold snap the water was showing a tinge of green, the straw will help with that. Fruit and veg: Watch your fruit trees and Grapes for fungal diseases, spray with a fungicide if needed. Last chance to get your Coddling Moth traps in place. The cold snaps have been good for keeping the white butterfly's and Aphids away but aphids will no doubt soon start to become a problem so keep an eye out for infestation and if necessary wash off with a forceful hose or spray with an organic pesticide if they persist. Gardening by the Moon October 2012 27th Good Day for Planting Above ground Crops, Extra Good For Vine Crops, Where Climate Is Suitable. 28th-29th A Barren Period. 30th-31st Good Days For Planting Beets, Carrots, Onions, Turnips And Other Hardy Root Crops, Where Climate Is Suitable. Good Days For Transplanting. Our garden here at Weston is very pretty right now and open each day for viewing. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 16th October 2012

I have been busy getting my garden presentable for all the Spring tours that have started, but have still been planting out and weeding madly. The ground is just right for planting out and not having to keep the water up to established plants because of the rain we have had. Remember to keep dead heading and feeding flowering pansies and polyanthus as long as there is a chill in the air they will keep on flowering until it gets warmer. If you feel they have done all they are going to do dig out, cut old leaves back and plant in a cool shady place where they can be left until next year. Begonias are shooting now ,they love any fish fertilisers start feeding them when they show through the ground to get them strong. Coastal gardens will be quite away ahead of inland gardens, inland gardens will be still getting reasonable frosts with the chill we on the coast are still feeling. Late frosts on roses new growth can be a problem but don' t be too concerned because rose leaves recover very fast and will have new buds to open in six weeks time. Don't let rose foliage go into the night wet, water and spray them early in the day. When the nights start warming up any dampness on rose leaves will encourage mildew. Keep the food up to your roses now, they are making their buds and it's hungry roses that get diseased. Nitrophosca is good right now on any summer flowering plants and shrubs for a quick result, use every fortnight to keep the food supply up. It is about this time of the year that I think about keeping the weeds away from the beds I change from a spring annual show to a summer show. In these beds I cannot use bark covering because I am changing them every season, I use mushroom compost. The trick is to get rid of the surface weeds and past flowering annuals, water the bed well, then put a thick layer of the mushroom compost on top of the wet soil. it must be a thick layer! do not dig it in! leave it on top and plant your new seasons plants into it. The mushroom compost has been heated to such a heat that it will contain no weed seeds to germinate and grow up among your newly planted plants. I use this as weed suppression method around my roses as well. I have been spot spraying convolvulus, couch and clover, fresh new weed growth is coming through the ground now so its the right time to zap them on a non windy day. If roses get even a sniff of hormone spray it will deform the foliage and the rose bush will eventually die so don't risk spraying on a windy day. Camellias can be trimmed and shaped when finished flowering, take out branches from the middle if your bush is dense and bushy. This lets the light in to help form next years buds.There should be enough gaps for a bird to fly through. Some are still flowering so enjoy the flowers a while longer. I have noticed some of my front shrub plantings are too big now, hiding good planting areas behind each over grown shrub. It takes only a few years for gardens to close in with out us really noticing and what a difference can be made by opening up and creating distance for a new and interesting planting. One area opened in my garden is deep enough to allow me to mass plant with blue bells and include a new maple tree and it was only two scrappy over grown shrubs removed which has made this difference. I planted a lot of sun flower seeds into trays a few weeks ago which are now large enough to plant out, now I know summer is just around the corner when i think of the show I will have of those huge sunny flower heads following the sun around the garden. Also up and almost ready to plant out are cosmos, larkspur, nasturtium and marigolds. I have deep boarders to fill. If you are keen to attract monarch butterflies on the coast, plant swan plants now but protect from late frosts until established. Vegetables Keep an eye on potatoes that are through the ground, mine got a little blackened last week... frost cloth may be needed still depending on where you live. Seeds are popping up in no time now so get them in ready for salad time. Pumpkin, squash, corn and courgette seeds can go in now, if you prefer to buy plants be sure to harden them off outside in a protected place for a while before planting them out. Planting by the moon First Quarter Sow and plant foliage and fruiting crops Sow and plant flowering plants Do grafting Take cuttings Apply liquid fertilisers Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 9th October 2012

Soggy blossom, spring gave us another cold snap this week and a good rain here in North Otago which is always beneficial in the long run.....but why so cold?? The later flowering blossoms are taking center stage now like prunus Kanzan and prunus shimidsu sakura. Enjoy because they will not be on show again until this time next year. Now that it's planting out time and there is a lot on offer it's probably a good time to talk about plants for the right place. starting with dry areas of the garden, under hungry trees or areas that drain too readily. You will be wasting your time and money planting shallow rooted plants like rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas or hellebore's in these areas. It's best to group plant with plants that will work their roots down to look for moisture like: Euphorbias in all their varieties, colours and sizes. Agapanthus: Large and small varieties they are great on a slope Buddleias: To fill back ground gaps, lovely sliver blue foliage and blue to cerise/ purple flowers, must be cut back well after flowering to keep bushy and at the height you require them to be. Grass's: grouped together as they are in nature do well in the dry and add movement to the garden as they waft in the wind. Geraniums: They need water until their roots get down and also need cut back after flowering. Lupins: Are wonderful in big groups but need water until they become established, after the first flowering they will self seed to make their groups larger. All these plants once established will not need watering once established. Damp Shade loving plants to consider: Hydrangea, such a lovely bush in so many modern shades now. Hosta's, with their interesting leaves Heuchera: Not all shade loving plants have to be "boring"old green. Heuchera plants comes in a delightful variety of colors. Plant these as borders around the base of trees or even along the edge of walkways! Acanthus mollis: This is my favourite bold grouping plant, I have it planted in so many problem spots and area's I need to make a statement. Aluminum plant: (Ground cover) can be too invasive for a small area but in an area that drives you potty because what you have planted just sits long enough to be taken over by weeds this plant is fantastic with it's variegated leaves lighting up the darkest of area's and covering the ground in no time. Hellobores: (Winter rose) A must for every shade garden Bedding plants: All bedding plants need attention once planted, water and foliage feeding. I have found planting annuals in sifted soil gives them a good start. I had been sifting soil for resowing patches in the lawn and decided to use the sifted soil as a top layer to the soil before planting annuals and seeds to get the same good results I am getting with the grass seed germinating. Sifted soil is so fine and packs round new roots firmly so they don't dry out, and is soft and fine allowing roots to grow quickly. It is after all nature given for growing, here before we had so many choices! Hydrangea's are popular again, they are leafing up now and will need fed ready for their long flowering season, aged animal manure is a good food source for them, they are shallow rooted so need watered often. To keep pink use a little lime around the drip line and for blue you use alliumn sulphate or epsom salts, These must be watered in and not just left on top of the roots. .Ponds: I know talked about ponds not long ago but with the warmer weather weather quickening up pond growth it's time to watch for slime developing which is harmful to fish when getting caught in their gills. If you haven't cleaned out your pond do it now, I have removed the duck weed that sat on top of my ponds during the Winter, over the Winter months it turns a rusty red colour with the cold and stops growing but at this time of the year it takes off again and multiplies so fast it can cover a pond in a matter of day's. I used to curse it but now I wait for it to grow and scoop it out to put on the garden as a Summer mulch. If you have fish & water lilies you must remove duck weed now to let the sun in. Water lilies are starting to make leaf now and need sun to bud up. I will tackle the oxygen weed next, that is also very good as a mulch on the garden, I will removed half of it before the fish start to breed in the the warmer water and blow their eggs into it. When I first added fish to my ponds I just put in some oxygen weed from a pond full of fish and the baby fish eggs all hatched in the oxygen weed, and with no other older fish in the pond to eat the eggs or hatching's they had no predators so all survived. A good way of clearing a pond after Winter is to flood it, most of the rubbish will float off. Don't stir up the bottom as long as the water is clear on top then the pond is working. If a pond fills with green slime in the warmer weather it means that there is too much nitrogen in the water, maybe fertiliser drifted in when the lawn or garden was being feed. Or if you feed the water lilies with Manure some may have leached out into the water. . If you have a large pond put in a bale of old straw and just leave it to rot down. If your pond is small break some squares from a bale and weight them down to the bottom. This works wonders on murky pond water and will get the pond working and clear in no time. Vegetable garden: Keep molding up potatoes as they show leaf, this keeps them cooler allowing more time for them to grow a bigger crop. FIRST EARLY VARIETIES: Cliffs Kidney, Jersey Bennes, Maris Anchor, Rocket. SECOND EARLY Ilam Hardy, Karaka, Red king. MAIN CROP: Desiree, Mondial, Nadine, Pentland Dell, Red Rascal, Rua I have sown mixed lettuce seeds in a tray and plan to transplant them into the garden as I need them, lettuce seedlings will hold in a tray for a long time in a shady spot and only really start growing when they are planted, fed and watered. Gardening by the moon New moon 16th October New Moon Prepare new beds ready for the first quarter Cheers Linda.

October already and day light saving giving us more time at the end of each day to enjoy. This month is where chasing weeds becomes a full time job - Hoeing and hand pulling weeds is still the best option in planted areas. If you are clearing a garden to plant out for a summer show I suggest clear all annual weeds, pull out, or dig well under. Couch needs to be taken right out, get each long runner under the ground and any little pieces that may have been chopped with the spade, they grow and spread very fast if left.( I spot spray Couch with round up now in badly effected areas) Once all obvious weeds are gone cover the area with organic compost, thick enough to keep the light from allowing any seeds left behind from weeds to germinate, don't dig it in and risk bringing weed seeds up to the light. just plant straight into the compost. Organic compost, mushroom compost, any medium that has been heated to the point of destroying any seeds that it once contained. NOW plant,plant, plant! as many annuals and perennials as you can into the prepared area. They will grow really fast from now on and beat any weed seeds that first have to germinate. I have spent a good deal of time this week pricking out and potting up plants I have raised from seed which I am now starting to harden off a little in readiness for planting as soon as I know the frosts are no more. The garden centers are full of lovely annuals so here on the coast plant out pots and protected gardens for a head start to summer and remember to feed once a week with liquid fertiliser. Further inland it will be a while yet before you will be planting out tender annual plants but use this time to work up the soil letting the sun in to dry it and warm it up before the compost goes on ready for planting out. I have been noticing a few cherry blossom trees with root stock branches being left to grow. By this I mean any branches that develop below the graft (where the branches begin at the top of the trunk); these should be cut off while still small. If they are allowed to develop into branches they will take over the whole tree because they will grow faster than the grafted stock. all flowering cherry trees are grafted onto a strong root stock of a very ordinary white blossom tree so if you have a tree with lovely pink or white blossom and you notice some blossom looks different then most likely it will be a branch growing from below the graft, cut it right out. Leave bulbs that have finished flowering alone, they now need to take up food through their leaves to fill the bulb with enough nutrients to secure a good flowering next year. Uncover the crowns of peony roses now if you have had them protected with pea straw, they need maximum light to grow straight and strong. The lawns are doing well now, lots of growth and mowing, it is the perfect time to sow a new lawn now or fill bare patches in existing lawns, spring sowing's result in a lot of weed growth but they are usually annual weeds and the first mowing takes care of them. Sow your seed thickly to get a good strike. Once seed is sown on firmly prepared ground lightly rake over and keep the moisture up until you get a strike. At this time of the year a green haze should appear in no time, do not mow too early, the ground needs to be firm and the new growth thick before the first mow. keep the blade on the lawn mower high for the first couple of mows, each mow will help the new grass to thicken and the roots will get stronger as they cope with supplying food to new growth. Spraying out lawn weeds can be done now, to be kind to worms i spot spray rather than cover the whole lawn in poison. Never a non lawn weed spray to spot spray on lawns, it will Leach well past the weed and kill the surrounding grass leaving ugly dead patches all over the lawn. Vegetable & Fruit The vegetable garden is doing well now even though we are having a few cold snaps, the good thing about that is that there are still, no white butterflies around my garden yet!! I will be ready with the fish emulation when I do see them. This is a good spray to confuse them; To them I guess veg looks like veg but smells like protein. Think about companion planting in the veg garden and the glass house. I use the very small marigold called tagetes, in a glass house it has a strong marigold fragrance to keep the white fly away and planted with garlic outside in the veg garden is the old method of keeping the green fly away. It is very easy to grow from seeds saved each year, will not grow tall to throw shade and it is very pretty. Keep planting all the vegetable plants on offer, like beetroot, lettuce, potatoes, peas, spring cabbage, broccoli, and carrot seeds, I have a heap of lettuce come up in a seed tray that I keep in a cool place, I plant out a few of the small plants every second week so they will mature at different times, Strawberries are flowering ready to fruit now so feed them well with liquid manure to help them along. Raspberries and currants are moving into leaf as well now and gooseberries are already forming fruit so they would all enjoy a feeding right now. Gardening by the moon LAST QUARTER Monday, 8 October 2012 Garden: Sow root crops Harvest produce Manage weeds Sow grass (it will establish strong roots in this period) . Cheers, Linda

Watering is what is needed now to keep the spring growth happening after really strong winds and such a cold snap, so hard for little new born lambs.

This week I have stopped doing stuff at times to look around and enjoy the blossom and all the new growth and plants popping up, so satisfying to see and remember planting the groups of tulips, daffodils, bluebells and peony roses way back in the winter. I still get the same pleasure as I did when a child, thinking back then it was magic.

If putting in a new garden this is the time to choose prunus trees and the blossom type you love. If they are not available now make a note and order for next year. Blossom is only on the tree for a short time so it should not be the only reason for choice, height and spread should be thought about as some prunus grow very large and spread wide and low. Fortunately today we have choice thanks to the grafting done by growers we can purchase trees on a short, or a taller graft to suit a situation. A 1.8 mtr trunk before branching will allow clearance along a drive or walk way right from planting.
Large spreading trees have large spreading roots! keep this in mind when planting near concrete and the house.
Also the leaf and blossom drop should be taken into consideration, thick blossom on paved walking areas is a real problem, it sticks to feet and is tracked inside, plus it can become very slippery to walk on. The leaf drop near pathways and roof guttering is a pain as well, but a spreading tree over grass walk ways is lovely and everything dropped can be taken up with the lawn mower.
There are so many things to consider when planting trees close to the house, but if you are like me and like the house nestled into the garden t then you will need to ask the right people about the right trees because there is a tree for every spot, to create a of look of intrigue without the problems.

It really is the time for planting now to beat the weeds, I have been busy with the hoe moving the small weeds around before they get a really good hold, you will only have to blink from now on and weeds will be up around the ankles! pull or spray them now before they make seed.

sow seeds directly into the ground or into trays of seed mix, they will be up in no time if kept well watered. Pricking out is done at the second lot of leaf stage, then plant on into containers like punnets to form strong roots before planting out, and be sure to harden off newly bought bedding plants to out side conditions before planting them out, we had some good frosts this week here at Weston.

Lavenders are starting to make new growth right now, they like a dressing of lime and some liquid or slow release fertiliser to help them along. If they look a bit scruffy you can trim them now and they will soon grow back and bud up.
If a lavender is looking really woody and the new growth is on the yellow side and just at the very top of the bush, dig it out and plant another one, they do not go on for ever. I put some tip cuttings of my grey hedge lavender this week. The time to do this is when the new tip growth stems are firm enough to break, I then push them into river sand and firm around them. I have a heap of tip growth cuttings on the go now, like lavatera, budleia, coprosma, hebe, daisies and buxus (box hedge)

We are lucky enough to have a bougainvillea growing, It was hit really bad by frosts on it's outer growth this winter. I trimmed all that damage off a couple of weeks back because I noticed new growth but on went the frost cloth when the nights cooled down again . I will flood and feed it at the beginning of next month to simulate the rainy season of it's origins. Then leave it alone from then on. If you feed and water them through summer they will produce more leaf than flowers, a bourgainvillea needs to be stressed to put on a good display.

Don't be tempted to transplant hellebore seedlings just yet, I know there are heaps growing around existing plants but they will only flop if you dig them out now, wait until the new leaves harden up.

It's a good time to put in stakes for delphiniums, peony roses, asters and tall phlox now before they shoot up anymore, there will be no danger of breaking the new growth if support is put in before they need it.

I got the pond sorted last weekend, it needed a bit of maintenance, I filled it again, with tap water so will need to leave it for more than a week before the fish are put back in because of chlorination, however it has never worried my fish when I regularly top up the pond with tap water. I took out all the old oxygen weed which had become mixed with green slim and replaced it with fresh clean weed. Slime can get caught in fish gills causing them to become trapped. Water lilies are putting out new leaf growth and the water iris's are ready to bud now, both should be on offer in garden centers about now.


Vegetable garden:
If you have not pruned back black current bushes there is still time to do it as they are just coming into leaf.Some of my bushes are newish so I will take a few branches back hard and leave a few the length they are, then mulch with compost and a little pot ash.
Keep planting your veg before the end of September, they should then be ready for Christmas dinner.

There are lot's of different potatoes to choose from now and most have written on the bag what they are best used for, chipping, mashing or roasting. I grow Rockets & Red king for early then the good old Jersey Benny, Rua or Agria to follow.

Potato guide
Waxy: for boiling, salads, casseroles & soups.
: Draga
: Early new season
: Frisia
: Nandine

All purpose for most uses
: Desiree
: Rua
: Vivaldi

Flowery for mashing, wedging, roasting chips and baking.

: Agria
: Ilam hardy
: Red jackets
: Red rascal

The most important thing at this time of the year is to enjoy Spring and all it is offering.

Gardening by the moon
FIRST QUARTER
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Garden:
Keep planting salad greens every month

Foliar feed if plants are in their early growing stages, or setting fruit or seed.before full moon
Major time for bed preparation and taking care of seedlings and newly transpalnted seedlings
Continue transplanting out into beds all your seedlings
Quite a few of your perennials will be feeling the ground warming and will be sending up their first shoots and may need checking for slug and snail damage.
Orchard:
Watch for water stress and try to avoid it by careful watering, time watering will be time not spent dealing with pests and other associated problems


Cheers, Linda

Such beauty all around to enjoy but the ever changing weather of spring certainly came into focus recently with those strong winds drying not only the garden out but those of us who were out there battling it. Then that cold snap was sent to finish off.
For me it was on again off again frost cloth and the hose has been full on. It is very important to keep the water up to newly planted trees and shrubs right now while they are putting out new growth and staking is another must with newly planted or shifted tall tree's, it takes at least two years before roots take a firm hold in the ground.
I have held off planting out bedding plants until the winds pass but have been enjoying putting the finishing touches to new garden themes in my garden this week. I am sure every gardener enjoys trying new plant themes, colour combinations and rearranging to give areas a new fresh look. I had a large clump of lambs ear growing in my rockery which did not need to be so large so I dug half of it out and broke it up into single plants to use around the border of a garden and as silver drifts in amongst low annuals. Silver is a shade to use as a break between strong and soft shades, lambs ear will grow in sun or semi shade and has the added bonus of being an interesting texture as well. I also, (with help) dug out and graveled a small area which had been cluttered with woody lavender needing removed. Edged the area with old bricks, filled with fine gravel and place a hidden and forgotten sundial on a stone pedestal in the middle. All of a sudden it has become a focus point which I will build on with other new plantings.

Keep an eye on seeds that have germinated, up until now I have had mine under frost cloth and looked at them only occasionally to see if they had struck. This week I noticed they were well up and in need of thinning out and regular watering.
I thinned them out by transplanting some like Pansy and lobelia which have shallow roots into deeper seed trays and those with longer deeper roots like lupin and oriental poppy into their own individual small root pots. The shallow rooted plants transplant well into the garden or baskets from a tray but it is best to have a well developed root ball attached to the stronger deeper rooted seedlings when planting out.

Baskets and pots need to be thought about now, again use only shallow rooted plants for baskets like pansy, lobelia, small type petunias, Virginia stock and nasturtium with lots of slow release fertiliser and water Chrystal's to keep them going.
With pots, the roots of what you want to plant will determine the size and depth of the pot. Potted roses need a deep pot which will not heat up and cook the roots at the height of summer. Tin foil around the inside of a pot before filling,( shinny side facing out) will help keep roots cool for roses, camellias, azales', hydrangeas and small trees & shrubs. All potted plants need excellent drainage and a consistent supply of food and water. if a potted plant is left to really dry out before each watering it will never thrive and look lush and healthy.

Now is the time to take tubular begonias out of dry storage, I see mine are starting to sprout a little. I have been cutting large tubas with a sharp knife into smaller individual pieces each with a noticeable shoot ready to plant into baskets and containers.
The showy red flamboyant begonias become nice big tubas in time and by cutting sections off them each year you will achieve a nice boarder of them in no time. It's best to lift them at the end of their growing season each year because like dahlias they can rot in wet ground. All begonias love any fertiliser with a seaweed or fish content.

I have just planted wild flower seeds thickly into gaps created from removing old trees and shrubs. The wild flowers will make an interesting change until I decide on permanent plantings.

Roses are really leafing up now and the warmer it becomes the more aphids ( green fly) will be about, aphids settle on the top new growth of rose bushes and are easily visible on new small leaves for you to dispose of them by removing with finger and thumb along with the fish emulsion deterrent which will confuse bugs with it smelling of protein. I leave pesticide and fungicide spraying until leaves are well grown and and hardened up a little.

New lawns can be sown now on the coast and as soon as we have a few more nice sunny days in a row to warm the ground up the grass seed will strike, as I have mentioned before seed must be sown thickly in spring to beat the annual weeds. Keep the mower blades up when cutting spring grass to allow it to thicken up and feed a little each time it rains to keep them lush.

Vegetables
Here on the coast Plant lettuce plants at two week intervals and any spare ground could be planted out in new potatoes, they are so much better dug just before you cook them.
My board beans are well up, I was once told to plant each bean with a little pot ash to help with rust problems, they still get a little rust but I think that's probably due to them getting too dry between watering's, like corn their roots are well up near the surface, mounding soil up over their roots stops roots becoming exposed and drying out too quickly. The birds were making a feast of my young cabbage and broccoli plants so I have covered them with frost cloth weighed down at the edges with stones. It's a bit of a pain having to remove it when I water but without the birds devouring them they should continue to grow well.

Gardening by the moon
FIRST QUARTER
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Garden:
Keep planting salad greens every month

Foliar feed if plants are in their early growing stages, or if they will son be flowering or setting fruit or seed.before full moon.
Major time for bed preparation and taking care of seedlings and newly transplanted seedlings
Continue transplanting all seedlings out into beds
Quite a few of your perennials will be feeling the ground warming and will be sending up their first shoots (e.g. echinacea, bergamot) and may need checking for slug and snail damage.
Orchard:
Watch for water stress and try to avoid it by careful watering, time watering will be time not spent dealing with pests and other associated problems.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 27th August 2012

Well this has been a better week, nice sunny warm days to help spring along.
The Garden centers are filling up with wonderful well grown bedding plants, some even in flower which makes me think they will need protection in the garden when planted out while frosts are around. The best idea is to buy while there is a good selection on offer and hold them in a sheltered place to harden off for a week or two before planting out.
Roses on sale now are all leafing up in their bags, it is still ok to plant them for a while yet while the ground is moist and cold. They will be making feeder roots into the potting mix in their bags so planting will need to done carefully from now on so not to disturb those new feeder roots.
We have been doing some major tree topping here in our garden which involved a young man climbing and harnessing himself to branches as he cut them back bit by bit while trying not to damage the planting below. He did a fantastic job, took heaps of tall branches back that have been
Trees and shrubs
There are some lovely magnolias and michelia's on offer now as well, they are all in bud.,to get plants to look as good as that this early in the South Island they will have had some pretty special growing conditions so protect from frosts if you need to. One lovely small magnolia I noticed was called Fairy blush, it is an evergreen which grows bushier and smaller than the original grandiflora magnolias. This one can be grown as a hedge or in a large pot. magnolias resent having their fleshy roots disturbed so be very careful when planting.Also keep an eye out for flowering camellias and rhododendrons now in the garden centers, most are showing buds and flowers, this is the time to choose the right shades for your garden and keep planting seasonal bulbs and tuberous begonias as they become available, such a great investment for every garden.

Lawns
I had the lawn mower out for the first mow of the new season in the weekend and they came up really well. They are so lush and green after the good feeding I gave them during that last big rain. I feed them with nitrophoska blue which I have found is a great boost for grass coming back from winter conditions. it requires being watered in before it can become available to roots and rain is best for this. Lawn fertilisers will burn grass and roots if left sitting on dry lawn.

Herbs
With the popular modern cooking trend these days a kitchen herb garden is a pleasure to grow and have close to the house.
It is wonderful to be able to pluck needed herbs from your kitchen garden like parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, bay, basil, to name just a few. Herbs grow happily together and all like the same growing conditions, full sun and a well nourished good draining sweet soil. This means they can grow in a small area or even a large deep good draining container. A dressing of lime in winter will sweeten the soil in time for their growing season which is mid spring through to winter.
Rosemary being a woody herb will produce strong roots that will encroach on softer growing herbs so in small herb gardens plant this in a bucket with the bottom cut out, buried in the ground. The bucket will contain the roots. Mint can be contained this way as well.
Never plant lemon balm in a kitchen herb garden because in no time at all it will spread and choke every other plant. Best planted in a container.
Tall plants like pineapple sage, fennel and upright rosemary can be planted as a low hedge divider if you wanted to section off an area in the veg garden for herbs. A standard bay planted at each end of a herb divider hedge looks good.

Vegetables
Its all on now for sowing as many seeds as you have room for and planting leaf veg before the white butterfly's arrive here on the coast,
keep the hoe moving between rows to keep weeds down, this movement will keep soil warmer.

Protection will still be needed further inland.
Seed Potatoes are available now for sprouting – place on a tray in a dry area for a couple of weeks until the ‘eyes’ are at least 2cm long. Early varieties around now include Swift, Rocket and Cliffs Kidney
Onions – spring, red or the popular Pukekohe ‘Long Keeper’ can be planted now, provided the soil is draining well.

Last weekend I cut back the leaves on strawberries that fruited for the first time last summer, added manure enriched compost to existing plants then planted out new runner plants. I created a raised strawberry bed last year by using two logs high edging to raise the bed up higher than ground level, Strawberry plants benefit from manure buried in shallow trenches along the side of the rows then when they start growing a dressing of fertiliser high in potash for good fruit development and pine needles around the plants to keep the fruit clean and deter bugs. Putting out runners weakens a strawberry plant, best to remove the runners before new growth begins. I don't keep plants any longer that two fruiting seasons and always plant a bed of new runner plants which will take place of the second year fruiting plants once removed.

I have finished pruning my wine grapes, I noticed the buds were swelling so needed to get the pruning done as soon as possible, once in leaf the sap is high which will result in pruning wounds bleeding. To prune a fruiting leader prune all side growth on the vine back to the second bud. These fruiting buds should be around a hand space apart to ensure adequate sized fruit, this means removing some of the new bud growth along the top of the leader and all of the new bud growth growing underneath. Some of these new budding top growths will throw two lots of bud branch, remove the least stronger one leaving only one lot of double buds to produce fruit.
Gardening by the moon.
FULL MOON
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Garden:
Foliar feed seedlings to promote strength

Sow carrots, beetroot, parsnip, turnips, salsify, scorzonera etc... 3 days after full moon
Transplant the last of your onion sets
Continue bed preparation and compost heap making
General tidy up, weed, mulch

Orchard:


Foliar feed any trees you think might need the extra strengthening.
Finish mulching
Organise hoses and watering systems this month!

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North 21st August 2012

Mud, mud glorious mud this week, but I feel things are really moving now with the absence of the usual frosts at this time of the year allowing the ground to warm up. The rain was good for me, however last week would have been enough without more this week! Sun, sun and more sun is what gardens need after such a drowning.

I am continuing to cut back the lavenders because I see them starting to put out new growth. Really old woody bushes can be cut back hard to encourage new lower growth, time to replace them if they do not respond. Newer plants just need a hair cut. (Early enough yet though), Feed them manure enriched compost and a little lime.
Softer shrubs that are encroaching on drive and walkways can be trimmed back , they will soon recover with new spring growth. I have been reducing the height on some of my taller shrubs like phebaliums, pittosporums, psudopanax and the like. You can do this if height is a problem without spoiling the shape of shrubs.What I do is cut out the center branch down to where the other branches bush out. this removes the natural point at the top of the shrub and will sometimes reduce the height by 2 or more meters.The shrubs will soon send up a new leader but will also put more growth into the side branching which can be trimmed into shape if a problem. This sort of control works now is because it is just the start of the growing season and plants will heal fast because they are intent on just growing. Leave doing this for another month further inland.
A lot of climbers are in bud now ready to do their thing in Spring so when trimming watch you are not cutting off new buds. Hardenbergia ( happy wanderer) flowered in early winter so that is one that can be cut back. Jasmines have been knocked by frosts in my garden, I will leave them a bit longer until I am sure the frosts are over before trimming them.

If you have still not feed your roses do it as soon as possible! they are moving fast now and need food kept up to them if you want them to stay healthy.
If you have no time to do anything else in the garden now feeding plants is a must for health and vigour to take them right through to autumn, it is well worth the effort and will minimize the spaying needed for unhealthy plants.
Slow release fertilisers are a safe bet for continual feeding with over a long period. They are very clean and easy to apply, and now days formulated to feed specific plants.
Now would be a good time to mention plants that resent being fed. Many South African plants and Australian natives such as proteas, leucodendrons, banksias, and all grevillia's do not need feeding. I have lost some of these because they had absorbed fertiliser from neighbouring plants.

There is still time to divide hostas, these dramatic shade loving perennials can really highlight a shaded spot with their fresh greens and variegated light shades. Simply lift established clumps at least 4 to 5 years old, use a sharp spade to slice them into a few good sizes pieces, then replant. They also look great in pots but get slug bate around them as soon as they start showing leaf or try some of the slug repellent methods that have been passed down by gardeners listed below.
Coffee Grounds: Used coffee grounds spread around susceptible plants may work.
Epsom Salts: Epsom salts sprinkled on the soil will supposedly deter slugs and also helps prevent Magnesium deficiency in your plants. Magnesium helps to deepen color, thickens petals and increases root structure.
Oat Bran: Scatter oat bran on the soil to kill slugs and snails.
Builders Sand: Try barriers of builders sand which has a sharp texture.
Nut Shells: Ground shells of filberts, pecans and walnuts may work, if you can find a source or grind your own.
Rosemary: Sprigs of rosemary scattered around repel slugs and are refreshing with their piney scent.
Pine Needles: Try a mulch of pine needles which works well around strawberry plants
Keep an eye out for flowering camellias and rhododendrons now in the garden centers, most are showing buds and flowers, this is the time to choose the right shades for your garden, they thrive in semi shade or afternoon shaded areas of the garden.
It's the perfect time to sow seeds under cover as I mentioned last week, the seeds I planted two weeks ago and have had under plastic are up already.Any seeds that say spring sowing on the back of the packet will pop up now. I use a tray of compost / soil with a layer of seed raising mix on the top.This way your seed raising mix goes further. Once planted cover the trays with plastic or glass, but use spacers to let air circulate between the plastic / glass and tray.
Fruit & Vegatables
This is also the time to give fruiting shrubs & trees a dressing of pot ash, this helps with fruiting.
If you plan to grow vegetables this year get the garden ready now, dig in some weed free compost and let the soil settle again.
In area's you will not be planting out for a while why not sow a green crop to add humus to tired soils, mustard, lupine, barley or wheat.These will sprout in no time here on the coast but only when the ground is warm enough up further inland but If weeds are growing you should get a strike. If you do fill vacant areas with green crop dig in when lush, soft and green. Don't let it get to the flowering stalky stage, it takes too long to break down and is not worth the effort of digging in.
Deciduous fruit trees should be planted in August at the latest and everything in the way of small fruit.
Now is a good time to shift citrus trees.


Gardening by the moon
FIRST QUARTER
Friday, 24 August 2012
Garden:
Time to transplant early veggies under cloches, e.g. courgettes and beans.
Do loads of weeding and compost making with all over wintered compost crops like lupin. Foliar feed 3 days before full moon.
You should be seriously taking out all compost crops and preparing beds for major planting next month Sow seed into trays (under cloche protection) early pumpkins, courgettes, Squash, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Sow out side in warmer areas, dwarf beans, marigold Sweet Hyssop, nasturtium, sweet pea, lettuce, coriander, parsley, rocket, peas.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North 14th August 2012

Ohhh yes the forecasters were right, that was a deluge! and seemed to go on and on. But from the garden and land point of view a good rain is just what a known drought area like North Otago needs to set us up for spring. Even though It is still very wet and muddy under foot plants and new lambs are pushing on and making it feel more like spring everyday.

I did duck in and out between the heavy showers while pruning hydrangeas but was forced to do inside stuff. The pea straw waiting to be spread on gardens is nicely wet now which means it will settle down onto the now wet gardens and help retain that moisture.
The gardens I don't mulch with pea straw get a covering of the lovely black compost we get each year from the Pukuiri freezing works. This allows spring bulbs to take center stage for the next couple of months. I do have pea straw in other areas where bulbs are growing and now that I can see where where they are popping up I push the straw away from them to let in light.

It is at this time of the year I notice yellowing of some plants, the ground gets depleted of nitrogen during winter especially when plants are shallow rooted like camellias, azaleas and rhododendron, give them a feed with an acid fertiliser especially formulated for them.( If powder water in)
Potted plants that make a lot of roots and have out grow their containers will soon show poor growth but these plants can be revived by either re-potting them into a larger pot or reducing the root mass by half then re-potting back into the same pot. I remove excess roots by removing the root bound plant from the pot, lay it on the ground then I use a sharp spade to chop the root ball in half. Once potted up again I apply applications of complete plant food and compost to either soil or a heavy tree & shrub mix. With all the slow release fertilisers on offer now it's makes it easy to choose the right one for all plants.
Remove saucers from all outside pots while plants are saturated,they need to drain now.

Ornamental grass's can be trimmed back now if you have not already done so, cut back the old seeded ends and clean out the dead thatch around the base, its amazing how much you will need to cart away after this hair cut but they will look wonderful and will grow back to their soft wafting shape in no time. Use what you have cut off as mulch around the garden, a cover for the compost or in the chook house.


Lawns
After all the rain moss will thrive in lawns, pathways and garden structures. There are a lot of products out there to deal with moss but killing the moss in lawns is simply a short term measure, they do not address the basic problem of moss in lawns.
If you really want to eradicate moss from your lawn, then you have to find the problem causing it. The reasons are varied, but not too difficult to isolate. Moss is a sign that something is wrong with your lawn.
Things that would be causing moss in your lawn could be:
Water logging - in winter or summer.
Poor feeding regime - usually shown by light green grass.
Soil too acid - carry out a test, lime may be needed.
Shaded Lawns - overhanging trees or large shrubs.
Mowing lawns too close is a very common cause, for it weakens the grass allowing moss to take hold.
Drought - if severe enough to harm or kill the grass. Not to be confused with a bit of summer-browning
Sandy - free-draining soils. This can weaken the grass and allow moss to take over. Some mosses are quite happy in these conditions. Add humus (compost or sieved soil) to add more body and rake in, this will encourage worms as well.
Compaction - continued use by children and pets with no remedial attention by way of aeration in the Autumn.
Generally, lawns that are well maintained - which includes being well fed, cut properly, aerated and de-thatched - problems which result in moss will not occur in the first place. Moss rarely competes with strong growing grass in lawns. Get the grass growing properly starting with the first spring feeding when temperatures rise soon. Slow release grass fertliser is ideal when the ground is wet and rain is about to happen.
Treating small areas of lawn moss can be carried out with sulphate of iron watered on at the strength displayed on the pack per sq meter. After a couple of weeks you can rake out the dead moss and re-seed.


Vegetables

Pick winter crops while still at their best - Fold cauliflower leaves over and tie to protect from frost and keep florets tight.

Asparagus is a vegetable that repays planting over many years. To prepare beds cultivate deeply and add generous amounts of compost. Existing asparagus beds should be cultivated carefully to avoid damaging the crowns that lie just below the surface, add a new layer of mulch.

Here on the coast get spring sowings off to an early start now, use a row of cloches or a stretch of clear polythene to warm and dry out the soil.
Further inland the soil will take a bit of thawing out before any planting Can be done but as I mentioned last week prepare the garden by digging in compost / humus.

Fruit

My peach tree is just at bud burst right now so I am waiting for the rain to stop so I can spray with a copper spray for leaf curl before it bursts into blossom. Once in blossom it is too late to spray.
If you have not already pruned your peach or nectarine tree I will run through how to go about it although it is late enough with the sap up and trees coming into blossom.
1. For the glass shape pick four main scaffold branches and simplify, cut larger branches needing removed close to the trunk, leave a collar, it will encourage tree borer.
2. Remove small weak upright branches on trunk or main branches.
3. Leave 50 to 75% pencil thick shooting wood per tree.
Both peach and nectarine fruit on wood developed last summer. Inspect the buds on newer wood, single buds are leaf buds, double buds are immature fruit buds and triple buds are mature fruit buds. Cut to an outward facing double bud, leave triples.

Citrus bushes are susceptible to water logging so remove saucers from under potted lemon bushes while it is so wet and always ensure that your bushes in the ground have good drainage and are not sitting in a puddle of water.

Gardening by the moon

NEW MOON
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Garden:
Time to transplant early veggies under cloches, e.g. courgettes and beans
Do loads of weeding and compost making with all over wintered compost crops lupins vetch etc
Foliar feed 3 days before full moon
You should be seriously taking out all compost crops and preparing beds for major planting next month
For the cloche, sow seed into trays of early pumpkins and courgettes, Squash, early tomatoes, cucumbers, dwarf beans, marigold Sweet Hyssop, nasturtium, sweet pea, lettuce, coriander, parsley, rocket, peas.
Sow peppers in an even warmer place. These seeds really need 20 degrees day and even nights to germinate well. I recommend you build a small plastic cloche, over a seed tray with these seeds in it, inside the green house.
Orchard:
Slug and snail control essential around newly grafted trees
Mulch all fruit trees – you can use the scythed grass from the orchard to do this at this time of the year

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 7th August 2012

More of those dull damp days this week but still so much is beginning to awake in the garden, I feel spring in the air with the fragrance from winter sweet, witch hazel, Daphne and boronia wafting to the music of Chopin around our garden. The birds are beginning to nest and I see the first jonquils opening. I do love the beginning of a new growing season as you can surely to tell!
After months of winter work going on in this garden it is now time to create and dress the garden by planting out and feeding . I have been liquid feeding with worm juice from my worm farm, which I add at black tea strength to a full watering can then apply generously to all new leaf and budding plants like pollyantha's, forget-me-nots, dianthus, sweet peas, pansy, viola and winter roses. Helping them along with feeding now will get their roots going and keep them green and strong through any cold snaps yet to come.
Slow release fertiliser is a great idea now as well, sprinkle around established ornamental and newly planted trees and shrubs to be there ready when the plants need food as the awake.

This week I am still pruning the hydrangeas and noticed nice fat buds swelling on the stems, prune only those stems that have flowered, cut at the second bud from the bottom, leave all other stems because these are the flowers for this year. Spread old stable manure around the drip line and a dressing of lime for pink flowers and aluminum sulphate for blue, White never changes, but are best planted in light shade – the flowers will tinge pink in the full sun. It is much easier to control the colour of hydrangea's in a pot, if the PH of your soil is high blue hydrangeas will always revert to pink no matter how often you add aluminum to the soil. If your PH is too high and you plan to grow hydrangeas in large pots to achieve a certain shade,it would be best to use soil from a garden in a different area mixed with tree and shrub mix. Used coffee grinds, grass clippings or pine needles spread around the drip line can help lower the PH.

I have been taking cuttings from the hardened off geranium steams, fresh grown geraniums give amazing colour to a warm sunny garden for all of the growing season and even into the winter, they are so easy to grow from cuttings. Take short cuttings with semi hard wood, (not a new green steam) and let them dry out a little before planting, which means you don't have to deal with them straight away. plant them into a soil and river sand mix and firm down, Potting mix is too light to get a tight seal around the cutting. I am forever taking cuttings from geraniums I like when I come across them in friends gardens, and giving cuttings from mine.

Trim dentata lavender now, that's the tall growing one with the lavender bumblebee flower, they are budding up now ready to burst into flower. Lavenders like sweetening up with a dressing of lime. Leave trimming other lavenders a little longer

Cut back bush lavatera now also, they get very woody if left.

Dahlias and gladioli, can be planted from now until September.

I will mention again to apply a dressing of Rose Food to establish Rose's (Water in if powder), slow release will add food each time you water or when it rains.

Trees and Roses are still available in most Garden Centres. If you think your garden is too small for trees, I have seen dwarf Peach and Nectarine Trees on offer, what better if you need a little tree to add height in an era of your garden why not have one that blossoms beautifully and then gives you fruit.They are perfect for the smaller garden as they only grow to a width and height of 1.5 metres. They can also be grown in a tub and require very little pruning.
There are masses of bedding plants on offer now and the ground temperature warming up now to get them growing.

Vegetables
The vegetable garden has been enjoying the rain, I am still digging carrots and using silver beet, it is so good not to have to worry about the bugs during these colder months when planting out leaf veg.
Cold and frosty areas inland can make a start now by adding some compost and a little lime in readiness for when you plant out later this month.

Lets hope these dull overcast days are over by the time the fruit trees blossom so the bee's will come out and set to work pollinating .
It’s the right time to spray copper fungicide to prevent leaf curl in peach trees if they are just at bud burst. If they are already in flower it is too late, don't spray.

Gardening by the moon.
LAST QUARTER
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Garden:
Prepare seed raising mix 1/3 sieved compost, 1/3 sieved garden soil, 1/3 sand - possibly 10% vermicast if available. it is critical to use seedraising mix that does not contain fungicides to get maximum vigor and strength from your plants.
Pot up any cuttings that you took in May and are now shooting in a sand box
Weed garden beds, make compost, double-dig or prepare beds fo planting as they become dry enough
Orchard:
Very last tree planting for deciduous fruit tree
Good time to plant citrus
Very last pruning
Mulching trees for the summer (if you didn't feed the orchard earlier then feed now underneath the much)
Mulch all newly planted trees before the grass begins to grow
Cheers, Linda.
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Gardening in North Otago August 3rd 12012

The start of another new month!! and what a great rain North Otago received at the beginning of last week, and so good to have had warning it was to happen. I was able to lime the lawns and plants like lilac, clematis, carnations, dianthus,and all the herbs.
I was lucky enough to be offered access to a mountain of donkey manure last weekend and with the help of my Man and owner of the donkey's on the end of a shovel we filled a trailer, I got it onto the compost heaps just before the down pour, Ya!

Gardens that missed a good conditioning in autumn would still benefit from a layer of Compost spread on top. It can be dug in this month once the temperatures begin to rise. Before then the worms will work their way up towards this new layer of organic matter bringing the compost down into the soil for you!

Roses: I noticed while pruning that some roses were beginning to bud up so I took advantage of the rain and applied rose fertiliser, all powdered fertilisers need to be watered in. Not so important for slow release fertilisers they are designed to feed each time water is applied.
My roses will also get a dose of liquid donkey manure when I get around to it.

The wisteria is next to be pruned, All the long slim leaders growing out in all directions will be removed.
Once your wisteria has reached the length you require with a chosen leader, or maybe two going in opposite directions all other leaders can be removed. If allowed to grow, a wispy new leader will eventually become as thick as a tree branch, and too many of theses become a tangled mess and very heavy if being trained along a balcony.Don't prune any other part off a wisteria at this time of the year because you will remove the flower buds forming right now. Reduce the size of large established wisterias once flowering has finished.


Clumps of hellebore's are looking fantastic in our garden right now and with the sun we have had . Once pollinated the center of the flower changes to form seed pods, when this has taken place the stems become firmer and will last in water when picked. Hellebore's seed down very readily growing masses of baby plants beneath the mother plants. These seedlings can be transplanted or potted up in the second year when they have developed two strong leaves, but will not flower until around the forth year.


I notice Marguerite daisies and my bouganvillea have been badly damaged by frost, I will leave the damaged growth on top to protect the growth
below and cut back to hard wood when frosts have finished. I hung frost cloth in front of the bouganvilla to protect what is left which got saturated during the rain, I guess the next drying wind will sort that and I hope not to need it much longer.
Only this month to go and we will can roll head first into spring leaving these cold months behind us.

Plants that really appreciate the cold are erica's and calluna's they come into their own during winter displaying stunning shades of pink and white. Some ground cover erica can spread up to a meter and stay looking fresh for a good number of years. As a front planting in a boarder garden they form a carpet to stop that bird scratching problem, suppress weeds and are so pretty when other plants are resting. They like a dry, sunny situation, require no feeding just a hair cut when finished flowering. I noticed a good choice of flowering ericas on offer in Garden centers this week.



Vegetables & Fruit

On the warmer North Otago mid-winter days, especially after the rain seem perfect for planting at a time when we usually don't. There are edibles that can go into the ground when it is cold and damp. But remember none of these will survive in boggy soils so good drainage is essential with early plantings.
Garlic and Shallots are available to plant - dig compost through your soil or fill a container and plant separated cloves of garlic approximately twice the depth of the clove. Take care not to damage cloves when separating out the bulb. You could get up to 20 cloves per bulb!

Strawberries are easy to plant in all kinds of containers or straight into sunny / raised garden beds along with slow release fertiliser. I have enlarged my strawberry bed to twice the size, leaving last years plants to fruit again in one half and have planted the other half out in new runners.Strawberries also seem to do very well in a hanging strawberry bag with an abundance of slow release food, but it would pay to wrap it with bird netting once the fruit starts turning red.

I got really stuck into my gooseberry bushes this week, cleaned the middle out of cross over branches and took off the branches skirting the ground which lifted the bushes up enough for picking underneath, many of these lower branches had grown roots into the ground so I have potted these sections up, they will develop into good size bushes in a couple of growing seasons.


Gardening by the Moon in August

NEW MOON
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Garden:
Time to transplant early veggies under cloches, e.g. courgettes and beans
Do loads of weeding and compost making with all over wintered compost crops lupins vetch etc and prepare beds for major planting next month

Foliar feed 3 days before full moon

Sow seed into trays , dwarf beans, marigold Sweet Hyssop, nasturtium, sweet pea, lettuce, coriander, parsley, rocket, peas . Place in a warm green house ready to prick out when first leaves appear

Orchard:
Slug and snail control essential around newly grafted trees
Mulch all fruit trees – you can use the scythed grass from the orchard to do this at this time of the year
Cheers, Linda

Really heavy frosts this week, this time last year we had deep snow turning North Otago into a winter wonderland.The moisture of a snow melt would be a blessing this year I feel.

It has been another week of pruning and composting here around this large, never ending garden! all that's needed now is rain to take the compost down to the roots of the plants. It may look as if growth has stopped but here on the coast with the warmer ground there is plenty of feeding going on. The bulbs are starting to make an appearance and will benefit from a dressing of compost along with hellebore (winter roses) which are looking wonderful right now as are pansy's, pollyanthas, and violas which are starting to brighten up the gardens, all these plants respond really well to dried blood sprinkled around them.
Dried blood is also a good tonic for yellowing camellias and rhododendrons, mix it with camellia and rhododendron fertiliser and apply now and they will reward you well come spring.
The garden shops are full of colourful sesanqua camellias in flower, different varieties of flowering hellebore's and cyclamen to brighten up indoors and porches.
These plants will have been grown under protection to get them looking so good so don't be too quick to plant out in the garden, let them harden off gradually first.

Because we have had it quite mild here on the coast but harsh frosts now the foliage of tender plants like geranium and pelagonium plants would be best covered with frost cloth.

Roses:
Mulch, mulch and more mulch. Apply a thick layer of mulch around the base of your roses,( but not covering) the crown. This protects the root zone and enables the plant to concentrate on root movement and getting ready for the growing season.
Un-sprayed Pea or barley straw and well cooked compost are all ideal for mulching. I notice the mulch cooking and steaming away at the resource recovery park each time I am there with my recycling. This compost will be clean of weed seeds and is a very reasonably priced option to use for mulching the garden. Old stable manure can be applied around roses during the winter months before applying mulch, then in early spring apply rose fertiliser and water in well to ensure a consistent food supply for the roots when roses start growing from the top again.
Rose fertiliser has an excellent level of potassium, which is the nutrient responsible for promoting large, vibrant, healthy blooms. For established roses apply 200 g (1 cup) per square metre and water in well. An application just before the end of winter is a good idea, if buds are swelling roses are using food. Apply again in mid December for an autumn flush of blooms.

Vegetable garden:
To have Christmas new potatoes you need to start thinking about them from now on, all varieties are available in shops now. There are early and late varieties so ask about the variety you choose, a potato is not just a potato any more! Lay your seed potatoes out on a tray in a dark dry place and get them sprouting and ready to plant out when the frosts have past.

I have been tidying up my herb garden, cutting down all old woody stems which were left from last summers growth leaving the garden clear to apply compost and a dressing of lime. All herbs like sweetened with lime.

There will never be a better time to choose and plant ornamental and fruiting trees than right now! Each tree will have an informative label to tell you exactly what you will be buying with instructions on how and where to plant. All fruit trees need to grow in an open sunny position.

Keep sowing vegetable seeds in trays for planting out later, plant Cauliflowers and Cabbage seedlings and sow early Peas. In warmer areas you can also plant Lettuce, Silver beet and Broccoli seedlings and Onions
Asparagus crowns are now available and can be planted out in a well composted and fertilised bed. (but NO animal manure)

Gardening by the moon
NEW MOON
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Garden:
Clean out green house and propagation facilities
Sow seed for early tomatoes, in glass houses or for cloches. If cloche-grown then they’ll need to be dwarf varirties.
Plant peas into trays for transplanting when 3 -10cm high
Sow broad beans into seed trays and transplant as soon as the tops emerge above soil
Sow dwarf beans and courgettes into seed trays in warm green house
Make a late sowing of sweet peas
Sow early potatoes
Plant into seed trays petunia, larkspur, calendula, aquilegia, foxglove, hollyhock, honesty, love-in-a-mist, poppy, scabiosa, cornflower, stock, sweet william.
Prepare cloches to warm up the soil in preparation for planting out early beans and courgettes also possibly early cabbages, beetroot, lettuces, cucumbers, and for direct sowing rocket, mizuna, kale and mustard lettuce for spring salad greens; to be cut and harvested as mesclun crops.
As vege beds become dry enough to work begin digging in compost crops.
Feed strawberries and rhubarb at this time

Orchard:
Last chance to check all winter plantings to make sure all trees are staked well, that their bark is not rubbing on tree stakes, and that all ties from last year are not strangling the trees.
If you’re having problems with pollination of fruit trees, and lack of bees is not the problem, it may help to record all your flowering times on a chart for a season or two. Set this up now if needed
Cheers, Linda.