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
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