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