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