Gardening in North Otago April 24th 2012

Still enjoying lovely balmy weather this week, such a joy to be working in the garden. The autumn colours are amazing, becoming more intense as this month moves on. Time to start bedding the garden down for winter, I have been cutting back summer flowering perennials and annuals which have become long and lanky to clear the ground in readiness for the compost each plant will receive before the pea straw is placed around. The piles of soft plant matter go onto the compost but the stringy hard wood piles are dumped or put through the shredder. The more we can put back on the garden the more the garden benefits. I am leaving the hydrangeas to finish the wonderful autumn show they are offering right now, but have been taking some hard wood cuttings as I cannot get enough of these wonderful plants and it takes a few seasons for cuttings to grow into a good sized bush. Still time for sowing seed out side here on the coast and getting to prick out size before the days become really cold and growing stops. Once they are pricked out into punnets or pots they will need to be nursed through until spring. Sowing seed now gives you a head start and the seedlings carried through are much stronger and will do better than the new punnets of seedlings on offer come spring. Seeds to sow straight into the garden now: Alyssum, aquilegia, calendula, cornflower, lupins, statice, stock, sweet peas.Seeds to sow under cover: Antirrhinum (snap dragon) dianthus, pansy, viola, poppy, scabious, sweet William, pollyanthas, primrose and primulas Lift gladioli and clean corms, after drying dust with flowers of sulpher before storing in old panty hose or paper bags, never plastic. Do not disturb peony roses, just cut back dead tops and lay on top of clumps, if they need divided leave until spring. Winter roses: will benefit from feeding now, take most shabby old leaves off because they harbour green fly over the cold months, but leave enough to protect the new growth. They can be removed when the flowers come up. Any one growing tall asters should have had them flowering for a while. If they are falling all over the place and need support you need to remember to trim back the new growth by half at the end of next September, this will make them grow bushier rather than tall, make a note on your calendar to do this, I must remember to remind you then. Asters exhaust the soil as the clumps get bigger so divide often when finished flowering. The lawns are slowing down now, I have given mine a dressing of lime to keep them sweet over winter, lime takes a season to work it's way down and do its job so if put on now the benefits will be had in spring. Sill getting a quick strike when resowing grass seed in places where grass has been damaged, this has been the perfect Autumn for sowing a new lawn. If you notice patches of lawn Browning off and the birds showing interest and scratching grass out, you will probably have grass grub eating the grass roots, Grass grub start hibernating in May so this month is the very last chance you will have to deal to them. Grass grub granules need to be rained or watered in. Vegetables:Watch pumpkins don't get frosted from now on, if they are big and sound hollow when you knock on them they can be picked and sat in a sunny place to ripen more. Anzac day is traditionally the time to plant broad beans, if you missed that day any time now is good. Gardening According To The Moon Because last week is almost the same as this week I have included a summary this week. Moon planting is a common activity among gardeners and many believe that it enhances the quality of your crops. Some organic wineries plant, feed and harvest the grapes according to the cycle of the moon and the technical term for this is bio-dynamic gardening and you should give it a try! Basics Waxing: this is the period between the new moon and the full moon when the moon grows larger. Waning: this is the time between the full moon and the new moon when the moon gets smaller. Moon Planting Tips It is best to get yourself a calendar that specifies the cycle of the moon so that you can plan your gardening. Around the time of the new moon, for the 2 days before, the day of and the 2 days after, you should refrain from sowing any new crops and concentrate on digging the soil well. Then for the following 8 days, you can sow your crops and plant your bulbs in the well dug soil. After those 8 days of planting is the time to begin your liquid feeding which you can do for 2 days and then its time to rest and put your feet up! Begin resting 2 days before the full moon and rest for the next 5 days until 2 days after the full moon. Then you can sow your lawn the following day and weed plants 2 days before the last quarter. Weeding can continue for 5 days until 2 days after the last quarter. For the 4 days before you start the cycle again, sow root crops like turnips and parsnips and spray your crops. Then it is time to start all over again! Reap the benefits of planting by the lunar cycle and enjoy having your garden tasks all mapped out for you! Adapted from NZ Gardener Magazine Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 18th April 2012

Leaves, leaves, leaves so many on the ground and yet to fall, "groan" but to compensate we do have a beautiful gold, red and orange wonder land out here right now.
Most of the leaves turn into good compost but I do not compost oak or walnut leaves, they take too long to break down in my heaps, I burn them and then add the ash.

The ground is a little dry right now and I noticed this week my hydrangeas were showing signs of this so the soak hose has been shifted from garden to garden and they are all sitting up again to show off their Autumn splendor.


Camellias are budding up now and some of mine need opening up to let in light needed for buds to develop well so I have been removing inward facing and cross over branches. I will feed camellias and rhododendrons with acid fertiliser, water in well and mulch, then forget about them until they reward me in spring.

Azaleas need food, as soon as they have finished flowering but if you did not feed them then feed them along with Rhodos and camellias.

Prune back perennial wall flowers now to encourage new growth for a good winter flowering.( On the coast only), do the same to Marguerite daisies. Further inland take hard wood cuttings, pot up and protect over winter as a lot of Marguerite daisy bushes are lost due to continuous frost.

Break up clumps of viola like Maggie Mott and the clumping primula vulgaris, plant sections with root attached into pots or trays, they will grow and clump up from now on ready to be planted out in spring. Both of these make lovely edging plants.

I planted out different shades of ranunculus this week, They are so worth while and a good investment because they multiply well and give vibrant or soft mid height colour to an early spring garden. Renucula corms look very dried up and brittle in the packet when bought, soak them over night and they will become nice and plump before planting. Plant at least five together in groups to get the best effect.

With lilies becoming available in shops this month established clumps may be lifted if necessary, but do not disturb them unless they are very crowded or unsuitably sited. Instead top dress them with a mixture of compost and blood and bone. (A cup full of blood and bone to each bucket of compost. be sure to keep lily bulbs moist while they are out of the ground, roots must never dry out. Almost all lilies need to be planted as deep as three times the height of the bulb.The only exception to this deep planting is the Madonna lily which is planted just below the surface and prefers to be shifted in mid summer straight after flowering. This is also one of the few lilies which also prefers limy soil.

Keep planting well grown evergreen shrubs, still time to get them settled in before winter.

Give evergreen hedges a last light trim during this month


Vegetable garden
I have mentioned growing a green crop in vacant areas of the vegetable garden, oats is probably the best one to plant in the autumn, it will grow in no time, dig in while still soft and green.
first timers might like to follow the green manure suggestion of using blue lupin as a nitrogen additive . other wise, use mustard as a good soil conditioner in spring and summer, changing back to oats in the autumn.
Green vegetable seedlings will be targeted by birds right now so best to cover them with strawberry net raised above the plants while small, birds will not be so interested when they plump out a bit.

Broad beans can be planted now, try a little potash in the soil just below the bean when planted, it is said to help prevent rust.

Walnuts are falling along with the leaves, most of the nuts on our tree fall in their green casing and if I don't pick them up they attract rats who nibble through the casing and the soft shell to get to the nut. Because of the fleshy casing they need to be spread out separated from each other in a dry place to allow the green casing to dry and shrivel away from the nut. If all lumped together in a box they will soon go mouldy.

This week included grape picking for me, not an abundant crop this year but wonderfully high sugars, our little Grand Daughter Poppy helps pick and tramp them with me, plastic bags on feet. Now it's wine making time!

A new peach raised in North Otago is on offer now, the Peach tree that Helen Brookes & Terry Fowler have bred.

PEACH SWEET PERFECTION
- a chance seedling from an orchard on the banks of the Waitaki River
- strong resistance to leaf curl
- bountiful and regular crops of excellent quality fruit

Sweet Perfection is a Glohaven type peach with large nearly round, attractive yellow fleshed semi-freestone fruit which has a glorious sweet peachy aroma! The mostly red to crimson skin is practically fuzzless with a deep yellow background colour. The firm flesh is resistant to browning. The fruit eats beautifully and also has superior bottling and freezing qualities and we know it grows well here in North Otago.
Ring local stockists and get your order in because first year stocks are limited.

Gardening by the moon
FIRST QUARTER
Sunday 29th April 2012
Garden:
Plant compost crops for winter

Plant strawberry runners

Plant winter salad greens under microclima or cloches or cold frames

Transplant flowers for early spring flowering, heartsease, snap dragons, calendula larskpur, love in a mist, hollyhock

Feed all brassicas, celery, beetroot, salad greens that need it while the soil is still warm and active

Orchard:
Feed citrus well now, manure seaweed, rock phosphate, dolomite and mulch

Spray neem oil on apples for codlin and woolly aphid (if you have woolly aphid you'll have to put neem onto the roots of the apple trees using a watering can as well as spraying the leaves because bugs over winter and live in the roots, re-infecting the tops), use on pear trees for pear slug and on citrus for aphid and mealy bug if necessary

Gardening in North Otago 10th April 2012

What fantastic Easter weather this year! it was a joy to be outside in the garden for many I am sure.
Because I spend a good deal of my time doing that during the year Easter break is a time when I catch up with family who come and stay, I spend time with them rather than the garden.

But then I was back on the job again once it dried out after the rain on Tuesday night, leaf rake and blower in hand!!
my compost bins are filling fast with leaves, manure and grass clippings which will make worthwhile humus to apply in Spring, however in ground that is expected to produce year after year, just as farm land requires fertiliser to ensure adequate growth so to do our gardens. While composts and manures must be accorded their place in soil management they are inadequate to ensure proper mineral nutrition of plants and must be supplemented by fertilisers.
Generally speaking stable and poultry manure contain practically all the elements required, particularly Nitrogen, phosphate, and potash in a natural organic form. However not all plants require the same proportions, animal manure that is too fresh can cause rank growth with leguminous like peas, beans, lupins etc because of excess nitrogen but left to break down in a compost heap, then used in conjunction with a general fertiliser when planting will ensure plants get all they require in the growing season.

Plants that will not tolerate phosphate fertiliser are Lleucodedrons, Proteas, Banksia & Erica's.

Dried Blood. High in Nitrogen, Dried Blood is an easy way to replenish the nitrogen content in the soil. Plants like Polyanthus, Primulas and Cyclamen love it and will flourish when you add dried blood to their diet. 100% Pure and Natural.

Break up primula and viola clumps, plant out to fill gaps in front boarders.

Feed rhododendron, azaleas, & camellias with fertiliser mixed especially for them which will boost them for spring flowering


Lily bulbs will become available this month and can be planted from now until June.



Vegetables / fruit
Time to dig up and divide Rhubarb crowns, mixing in heaps of compost before replanting.
A good time for sowing of Spinach and Snap Peas.
Spring Onions Sow these now. Fill the top of a shallow pot with Spring Onions and pull them as they’re needed. Start picking when plants are still quite small.
Harvest Pumpkins now and remember not to remove the stalk from the Pumpkin, this stops it from rotting.

I have been harvesting apples and quince this week before they all fall to he ground.

Gardening by the Moon
http://www.koanga.org.nz/moon-calendar
LAST QUARTER
Friday, 13 April 2012
Garden:
Double dig or prepare all remaining beds for winter crops or compost crops

Empty chook straw yards onto garden and give chooks fresh material for the winter

Manure brassica beds as they are gross feeders

Pick and store main crop apples, pears, potatoes, pumpkin and dried beans

Transplant last seedlings

Harvest whole Echinacea plants; clean, chop and put into jars and cover with vodka so Echinacea tincture will be ready in six weeks

Prepare strawberry beds

Orchard:
Spread dolomite lime, manure, rock phosphate, liquid seaweed and vermiliquid around orchards and garden

Manure, mulch and compost around fruit trees after first rain. take special care with young trees, berry fruit and perennial crops

Prune tamarillo trees hard after last fruit comes off. Staggered pruning will stagger next year's crop

Tie up boysenberries, loganberries, blackberries and rasberries

Trim blueberries and Chilean cranberies

After the rain, apply soil conditioners, vermicast, vermiliquid and seaweed preparations

Begin collecting fallen leaves to make compost leaf mould, hot beds, etc.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 3rd April 2012

April, the cooling down month, even with evenings and mornings cooling down thank goodness days stay warm a bit longer yet for growing to continue. With changing weather it’s important to be vigilant in the garden this month. Autumn, I feel is more predictable than spring or summer here in North Otago, autumn is a time to reap and sow lest all be lost to the frost! Thus gardening commentators always suggest to gardeners to apply potash to their plants as winter starts to approach and to avoid too much nitrogen. The potassium hardens up plant growth and helps prevent damage from winter chills.

With the ground drying out really fast I am busy keeping the water up to some shallow rooted shrubs like rhododendrons, azalea's, hydrangea and newly planted plants and shrubs. I notice even some of my large established evergreen trees are starting to show signs of being dry and need turn about with the dripping hose.
If we get rain feed rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas with acid fertiliser, make sure it gets well washed in.

The still days are great for allowing the brilliantly coloured leaves to remain on trees longer and for raking them into piles when fallen, such good humus for the garden when composted down like I mentioned last week with hen manure & grass clippings.

I have been viewing the light situation around my garden before all the leaves fall, trees and shrubs get taller and wider every year and block out light. I have made a note of what trees & shrubs to reduce in height and width and which trees and shrubs to remove altogether. Some times one tree or shrub will do the job of two or three that are in one spot. I am ready to sacrifice trees that give little interest for trees close by that offer more through the year and shrubs that have grown too big in the front of a garden hiding what is behind. I have at times changed the whole look of gardens by removing a few things, letting more sun in then planting out sun loving plants.

here on the coast keep cutting back large daisy and lavatera bushes to encourage new buds that will flower over the next two months. Also get all hedges cut back now before frosts start and it should be there last cut until the new growth in spring. Photinia bushes and hedges cut now will put out nice bright red leaves for dull winter days if trimmed now.
Easter is a great weekend to clean up garden areas that have been flowering all summer and to visit the garden centres to choose more plants for planting now that will bud up and bloom through the winter, as long as they are planted while the ground is still warm to get the roots going and in a place they will get winter sun they will bloom.
Plant: Viola, snapdragon, pansy, polyantha's, stock, calendula and good old primula malacoidies.
If you want to plant evergreen shrubs other than conifers now is the time or wait until the frosts are over in spring, once frosts start it is only deciduous trees & shrubs and conifers that will cope with the really cold nights that can be safely planted.

Still time to get spring bulbs in, I have a lot of daffodils to plant over the weekend, its an on going yearly ritual for me because I like to see daffodils in large groups. They like to be planted in a sunny spot and large over crowded clumps need to be divided for the best result.

Hybrid clematis are still on offer, they are the lovely huge bloom, deciduous type and are not as invasive as the ever green montana. They love being planted into warm autumn ground and are so pretty growing in with other climbers and climbing roses that flower at a different time to them. All clematis like manure and lime.

Lawns: If you notice dead patches in the lawn that birds are interested in then you have grass grub, sprinkle grass grub granules around the green grass areas at the first sign of rain.
This is a good time to apply sifted compost to lawns ( a bucket to the square metre) with some lime added, the compost will improve the humus content and the lime will condition and sweeten the soil.
If you have had a good strike with a newly sown lawn delay cutting until grass is 7-8 centimetres high, set the blades high and avoid cutting when the ground is wet and soft.

Veg: I have planted out carrot and onion seeds with the promise of rain, spring and winter cabbage can go in now but protect from the white butterfly.
My pumpkins seem to be growing before my eyes during the lovely warm autumn days, i will leave them growing undisturbed until the full on frosts arrive.

LAST QUARTER
Friday, 13 April 2012
Garden:
Double dig or prepare all remaining beds for winter crops or compost crops

Empty chook straw yards onto garden and give chooks fresh material for the winter

Manure brassica beds as they are gross feeders

Pick and store main crop apples, pears, potatoes, kumara, pumpkin and dried beans


Transplant last seedlings

Prepare strawberry beds

Orchard:
Spread dolomite lime, manure, rock phosphate, liquid seaweed and vermiliquid around orchards and garden

Manure, mulch and compost around fruit trees after first rain. take special care with young trees, beery fruit and perennial crops

Prune tamarillo trees hard after last fruit comes off. Staggered pruning will stagger next year's crop

Tie up boysenberries, loganberries, blackberries and rasberries

Trim blueberries and Chilean cranberies

After the rain, apply soil conditioners, vermicast, vermiliquid and seaweed preparations

Begin collecting fallen leaves to make compost leaf mould, hot beds, etc.

Cheers, Linda.