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.