Gardening in North Otago 27th March 2013

Another month has passed and still we are enjoying lovely mellow days. This week I have been doing a clean up spray around the gardens, drive and pathways, weeds really took off after that last lot of rain, I can’t believe how fast they want to grow to seed stage at this time of the year, zap them before they do or another spray will be needed before winter. I have started cutting back all the ornamental grasses we have growing here, they look great when they first get seed heads but the trick is to give them a chop before the seeds drop. I cut them back by two thirds and divide those clumps that have become too big by chopping into the middle with a sharp spade, then I stand on the half I don’t want to remove and pull the other half out to transplant somewhere else. Spring bulbs are going in here, I never say no to spring bulbs when offered and I cannot resist those big bags on offer at some outlets at this time of the year. Because they multiply annually I feel they are a good investment, however because they do multiply thought needs to be given to where they are planted. If put in a narrow border it will not take that many years for them to fill the border on their own and spring will be the only time of the year that border will look good. To get the lovely spring look in narrow borders bulbs can be planted in plastic pots and then pot and all buried into the ground. This way pots can be lifted and put out of site once flowers have finished. Daffodils look at their best planted in drifts, along a paddock or roadside fence line or under deciduous trees where they can be left for years to multiply. Bulbs in the garden or in containers must be planted before the end of autumn! , Keep sowing annual flower seeds with the warm days they will be up in no time, I nurse them along in mushroom trays over the winter months in a warm sunny spot, folia feed with liquid fertiliser and cover with frost cloth if needed until they are ready for mass spring planting. Dahlias are doing well this year, keep the water up to them and dead head to prolong flowering. I have a nice red pompom variety growing in different places around the garden which I plan to dig up when finished flowering and plant all together to give impact at the end of a vista. I do not grow the really large headed dahlia blooms because they get too heavy for their stalks and need to be staked. Roses: My roses will get only one more dead heading because roses need to make seed heads to encourage the new growth to harden enough to take them through the cold months until the big prune in July. Plan winter rose plantings now while blooms are still on show so you can ask the names and place your orders for June/July delivery. Lawns: Grass grub is really bad in some areas of our lawn, the only thing to be done once patches of grass die is to pull it out, It is just sitting dead on the soil with no roots left to hold it so can be lifted more or less in patches. Then fill bare patches with sifted soil and plant grass seed, firm then water and hopefully it will strike and thicken up before the ground gets cold. Vegetables: This is an important month for planting winter veg gardens, prepared prior to planting with compost, general garden fertilise and lime if necessary. Plant seedlings of beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, and silverbeet. Watch for white butterfly caterpillar, cover with open weave frost cloth to keep them out. On the coast sow seeds of carrots, parsnips, spinach, silverbeet, beetroot, swede, and turnip directly into the garden. These will need thinning later. Seeds of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprouts are best sown in trays for planting out later. Potatoes & onions can be lifted and stored in a cool, dry place. Herbs: Parsley can be grown from seed sown now. Perennial herbs such as chives, mint, thyme, rosemary, sage, and marjoram can be divided and replanted. Basil is a summer annual and should be picked before the cold weather to be dried or frozen for a taste of summer in winter cooking. Gardening by the moon Waning gibbins 31st March/4th April THE WANING MOON During the Full Moon and Last Quarter phases the Moon wanes or decreases in light and sap flow in plants is more concentrated in the root area. As sap flow gradually slows. Because sap flow is lower in the foliage part of plants, crops or seed harvested for storage or drying are less likely to rot if harvested during the Moon’s waning period. Last Quarter phase is best for cutting back rampant shrubs and vines, – regrowth will be less vigorous. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 19th March 2013

At last a good rain to settle the dust and freshen lawns & gardens, then it was back to this lovely time of the year with leaves turning and falling and busy insects getting the last of what the growing season offers. I have the rake and wool packs on the go again collecting the bounty of leaves to be added to compost heaps along with lawn clippings, manure and water, add to this ground warmth, microorganisms and worms that will be drawn up from the soil through the heaps to contribute to the decomposing process. By spring you will have what every producing garden needs to help it through the next busy growing season. Time to take stock of the garden and make plans for what gets trimmed, shifted, chopped out and nurtured over the soon to be here cold months. Collecting seed and taking hard wood cuttings is top of the list. Seed is gathered when dry and cuttings need to be in while the days are still warm enough for them to settle and start to take root. Take advantage of the warm ground and cool mornings / nights, keep planting out well grown shrubs ( here on the coast only) because their roots really take off at this time of the year and settle themselves in before the ground freezes. Further inland wait for spring now to do any major shrub or tree planting other than deciduous trees. I have been finding runners on some of my low growing shrubs, branches that have grown down and rooted themselves into the ground. At this is the time of year you can cut them from the mother plant, pot them up and nurse them over the winter then plant them out when the pot is filled with roots. Have a look around the bottom of climbers as well, jasmine, honey suckle, clematis there are sure to be sections rooted into the ground. While looking around the garden see what is there for the taking in the way of self planted seedlings, I have potted up heaps of natives, hollyhock, allyssum and created many dentata lavender hedges from seedlings that germinated in our gravel drive. In colder inland areas take cuttings now from plants you feel may be lost over winter, get them rooted and hold them over in a warm sheltered place until spring. Then let them go on making roots until they have half filled their container, pinch out the tops, plant out when multi branched and bushy and roots fill the container or repot into a larger pot to grow on. Sweet-peas popped up for me this week, they will hold over winter then take off as the ground warms in late august. Sweet-peas are gross feeders, they do best if grown in a different place each year but If you really want them planted in the same place dig a trench, fill with old stable manure and a little lime to keep them fed for their long flowering period. Keep an eye on hellebore's ( Winter rose's) they dry out at this time of the year to the point where they can die, These are one of the first plants to flower in mid to late winter so deep watering's for these and at the same time water in some blood & bone, manure or slow release fertiliser to encourage budding. Baby plants are usually found growing around mature hellebore's, they take about three years from seed to flower and can be potted up now if needed. Vegetables Keep sowing vegetable seeds, onion, radish, spinach and plant seedlings of, cabbage, celery, winter lettuce here on the coast. I like to sow and plant butter crunch lettuce now as it keeps growing well into the winter. Further inland broad beans, cabbage and spinach should winter over. Keep the white butterflies off brassicas with the woven frost cloth which still lets light in through the open weave. Fruit: Codling moth caterpillars can be trapped now as they are leaving the trees, Tie strips of corrugated cardboard (Corrugation inwards) around the trunks. Once the harvest is over remove and destroy the cardboard. Gardening by the moon FIRST QUARTER 20th / 26th March 2013 In areas where broad beans are planted in Autumn, soak overnight and plant into beds or into seed trays to transplant. In warmer areas this is your last chance to sow directly on the surface, silver beet, rainbow chard, endive, brassicas, peas, coriander and celery, feed three days before full moon. When transplanting winter veges, manure and lime well with dolomite and composted animal manure or fish meal and then mulch to keep soil warm, the worms will love it. Finish planting any spare beds in compost crops such as lupins, mustard and wheat rye. Orchard: Continue jobs as in the New Moon phase Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago March 12th 2013

Another dry week with Autumn really kicking in now and leaves beginning to turn, our garden is showing signs of tiredness but the odd drizzle we have been getting has given plants and grass a reprieve from the baking sun this week. With nights cooling off and days shortening I am waiting now for the major leaf drop so I can start getting the gardens ready for winter. Once most of the leaves have fallen I will remove any leaves and dry matter from around each plant where insects love to winter over then deep water and mulch each plant and tree with compost to empty my compost area in readiness for all the in coming leaves. I always save some compost to use along with grass and soft clippings between the layers of leaves wetting down as I go. My rhododendrons, azaleas and hydrangeas are really suffering during this dry period and with such a big garden I am also spotting everyday shrubs drooping that have missed being watered. Keep dead heading roses, dahlia and geraniums to keep them flowering through to winter and continue to remove spent summer annuals so ground can be worked ready for winter flowering annuals like primulas, wall flowers, pollyantha;s, pansies & viola's. Fork in some fresh compost and wet well before replanting beds. Be on the look out for useful self sown seedlings like fox glove, lupin, cineraria, hollyhock and primula melacoides, I am finding quite a few of them, they can be transplanted now to settle in before winter. Plants for spring and winter flowering can be planted out now on the coast even though there has been no decent rain, as long as the ground is well watered before they go in. These plants will keep making strong feeder roots over winter and be well ahead of any thing planted in early spring. Unfortunately colder area's will need to wait for spring. Lift gladioli now and store in a dry place, if left in the ground they may be attacked by pests. As I mentioned last week this is the best time to plant conifers, they love the cold and give fantastic winter interest planted along side winter flowering ericas and callunas. Don't be afraid to cut out conifers that have out grown their space, once removed build up the soil where they were growing and start again in the same place with new conifers. Lawns Get new lawns sown now, the cooler nights and mornings are allowing the moisture to remain longer after watering and a strike will happen pretty fast as the ground is still nice and warm. I am really wanting to de-thatch my lawns but have decided to wait until all the weddings are over. Dry weather encourages thatch to build up around the grass roots and lawns can become thick, with it killing out the good grass. Once a good portion of thatch is removed good grass gets a chance to grow strongly again, an added bonus is I end up with heaps of thatch adding bulk to the compost heaps. Vegetables Good growth is still happening as long as the water is kept up, pumpkins and corn should be ready to harvest, dry off pumpkin and squash skins before storing them in a cool dry place. Gardening by the moon New moon 12 March / 20th March At the new moon, the lunar gravity pulls water up, and causes the seeds to swell and burst. This factor, coupled with the increasing moonlight creates balanced root and leaf growth. This is the best time for planting above ground annual crops that produce their seeds outside the fruit. Examples are lettuce, spinach, celery, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and grain crops. Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago 5th March 2013

Autumn begins: "Ahhh this warm ripening season I love, long shadows, low sun in Cornflower blue sky's above". ( At this mellow time of the year the poet in me emerges!!) I am still cut, cut cutting back plants that looked stunning last season but are now just tied and straggly like bush lavatera, mignonette, lavender tops, geraniums, they will all leaf up again to go through the winter. I am still seed collecting, there are so many ready now, I plant a few now but save most to sow in spring. What I am planting now are lupin, Iceland poppy, pansy, pollyantha, primullia, aqulegia and ageratum ( snapdragon) wall flower, stock, Virginia stock and sweet-pea. if these sunny days keep up they should all be up and ready for me to prick out and and plant into containers where they will continue to grow and harden off a little before the danger of hard frost. If some of these seedlings grow big enough to reach bud stage I will plant into the garden but most will need to be carried over until the ground warms up again in spring.( Sweet pea seeds should to be planted straight into the garden now, they will pop up and hold over the winter and as soon as the ground starts to warm in August they will shoot up and flower early ) This week I have had the hedge trimmer out again because some shrubs in our garden have out grown their space with the favorable conditions we have experienced this growing season. I thought this might be a good time to mention the pruning and shaping of shrubs. Shrubs that have flowered on previous years growth like rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas, ceonothus, forsythia, coleonema (breath of heaven) only if they need to be trimmed and shaped to reduce their height and width. they should always have this done while there is still enough growing season left for them to make new growth and harden off before the frosts begin. In colder areas like Kurow the trimming of all flowering shrubs should be done as soon as flowering has ended, with the exception of hydrangeas the old growth can be left on these through the winter to protect the new shoots, pruning can be done in mid to late Spring. I have also thinned out crowded camellia bushes, there should be enough open spaces for a bird to fly through which will let enough light in to encourage the best buds for next spring. Shrubs that flower on current years growth like daisy bushes, rosemary, fuchsia are best left with top growth on them now until the end of winter. They will make rapid new growth then, you will only risk loosing them if you cut them back hard now. This month is the latest I feel to cut back natives like pittosporums and hebe's they to need to have new growth harden off before winter, if you intend to shape them be quick or leave them until after winter. You can always tell when it is time to trim hebe's, if they are covered in flower heads gone to seed they need the spent flower heads trimmed off, if this is not done hebe's will get lanky, woody and look untidy. Once they have been trimmed plant a few tip cuttings, remove the bottom leaves and cut the top leaves back by half then plant into the ground or trays, keep them moist and in no time at all they will develop roots. Once growing pinch the cuttings back at least twice to get nice bushy plants. The rule of thumb is hedging plants such as photinia, box hedge, viburnum and tecreium can be cut any time during the growing season but in late autumn I apply that only to here. Late spring and summer is a safer time in colder areas. Autumn is said to be the best time to plant conifers, there are such a lot of different types on offer now and I consider these contribute to the bones of the garden. Tall narrow conifers planted in groups give larger gardens a vertical push and formality. Read labels carefully they will give you the height and width for the first ten years, after that they do keep growing and can be removed if they start to look untidy but most ornamental conifers look wonderful for years & years. Lawns. This is said to be the best time to sow a new lawn,because perennial weeds have slowed down, the ground is nice and warm as are the nights and if the moisture is kept up grass seed will be up in no time. I have been spot spraying the flat weeds in my lawns and when we get rain again I will apply grass grub granules, from February until may is the time to do this. Vegetables: What a great year for produce it is, I have so much ready to use, parsnips, beetroot, carrots, potatoes, corn and pumpkins scrambling all over the place. Keep planting in rotation, leaf veg where root veg has been, the warm soil will keep germinating and producing until the first frost, and right now that seems ages away. When potatoes are dug they need to be kept in the dark or they will go green. I take what I need from a dig and leave the rest in the ground until needed. When the time comes for you to store them there are products which will inhibit sprouting, but many gardeners avoid chemicals near food so I will share a natural alternative with you. Layer the stored potatoes with dried sprigs of rosemary, sage and lavender, the essential oils given off by these herbs not only inhibit sprouting, they will also help to keep the tubers free from bacterial soft rots. Fruit: Apples, quince, plums, walnuts and late peaches so much at once! the birds must be overjoyed by their feasting and the rats / mice will be waiting patiently for the nuts and sun flower seeds to ripen, such abundance! Gardening by the moon Waning crescent This is not a good time to be sowing anything in the garden. Instead use this time to weed and harvest from the garden. It is an excellent time to start building a new compost heap. Dry and barren is a good time to plant bulbs. It is also a good time to sow Root plants like Asparagus , Beetroot , Carrots , Chives , Leeks ,Onions , Parsnips , Shallots , Spring Onions , but it would not be a good time to sow Flowering veg plants like Broccoli , Cauliflowers , Globe Artichokes. Cheers Linda