Gardening in North Otago

School holidays and rain! we wanted it and we sure got it ! Rain was needed here in North Otago but hard on the Mum's during that week with Bord Children and soggy washing. The autumn colours are amazing, becoming more intense as this month moves on. I am still busy bedding the garden down for winter, and still cutting back summer flowering perennials and annuals which have become long and lanky to clear the ground 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 discarded. The more we can put back on the garden the more the garden benefits. . .After the rain and the ground still warm we should take advantage and sow spring flowering seeds now, this will give plants a head start and the seedlings carried through winter are much stronger and will do better than the new punnets of seedlings on offer come spring. The top growth will stop but roots still keep on growing strong Seeds to sow outside now: are Alyssum, aquilegia, calendula, cornflower, perennial lupins, statice, stock, sweet peas. Seeds to sow under cover: Antirrhinum (snap dragon) dianthus, pansy, viola, poppy, scabious, sweet William, pollyanthas, primrose and primulas. If you still have not lifted gladioli corms do it soon and after cleaning and drying dust with flowers of sulpher before storing in old pantie hose or paper bags, never plastic. Tall asters have been flowering for a while and are now at the stage of falling all over the place without support. Make a note on your calendar to cut back their new growth by half at the end of next September. This will make them grow bushier rather than very tall. Asters exhaust the soil as the clumps get bigger so divide often when finished flowering. Because I am leaving the hydrangeas to finish the wonderful autumn show they are offering, I 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. Hydrangea Cuttings: Select cuttings from the base of the back or side of a mature hydrangea bush, look for a non flowering shoot with 2 to 3 pairs of leaves. It is important to look for a cutting near the base of the plant, woodier cuttings will produce more roots. Make sure you select your cuttings in the morning with sharp clippers and cut at least 2 inches (5.1 cm) below a leaf node. Cuttings should be at least 5 to 6 inches (12.7 to 15.2 cm ) in length, cut off leaves below the top leaf pair, being careful to cut above the leaf nodes. By removing these leaves the plant will produce more roots, then trim top leaves by half. Dip the bottom of hydrangea cuttings in rooting hormone. You can use either a liquid or powder form of rooting hormone. Hydrangea cuttings will propagate without rooting hormone, but roots will grow more quickly if you use it. Prepare pots for your hydrangea cuttings, Use a soil mix that is 1 part potting mix or peat moss to 1 part river sand and dampen, check to make sure there are no dry areas in the soil. Stick the cuttings into the prepared pot, push down gently until the cutting is 2 inches (5.1 cm) into the soil. Allow the hydrangea cuttings to root. It will usually take 2 to 3 weeks for cuttings to root, but it may happen more quickly depending on temperature and humidity. Place potted cuttings outdoors if your outside in a sheltered area protected from wind with partial shade. Move potted cuttings indoors if you are experiencing very cold temperatures. Make sure the rooting hydrangea cuttings receive partial or filtered sunlight. Do not over water, soil shouldn't become soggy, over watering can lead to rot. Roses Because roses and a number of other plants are coming into their end of the season, diseases such as black spot, mildew and rusts will appear. This is natural and it is often a waste of time and money trying to combat them now. On the other hand, young plants such as celery, pansies can be protected with sprays of baking soda. Lawns: The lawns are slowing down now, I have given mine a dressing of lime to keep them sweet over winter, if put on now the benefits will be had in spring. Keep off wet lawns as much as possible too much traffic will compact the soil which encourages grass to die off leaving bare patches where grass will not rejuvenate. This month is the very last chance you will have to deal to grass grub with grass grub granules, they start their winter hibernation in May. The granules need to be rained or watered in. Vegetables: I started on my first new seasons pumpkin through the week, it had been ripened to perfection, most of my crop are lined up against a warm wall out of the rain to dry out and keep ripening more away from the danger of an early frost. If pumpkins are are big and sound hollow when you knock them they are ready to pick. Now the ground is wet again snails & slugs will be about to feast on newly planted seedlings, protection can be obtained by removing the caps from clear, plastic bottles, cutting off the bases and placing over each of the plants until they get bigger, this will create a green house effect on chilly nights as well. Easter or Anzac day are traditionally the times to plant broad beans,if you missed those times any time now is good. Fruit: Remove dead wood from stone fruit trees including plums, nectarines and peaches. Be ready for the coming of winter by planting fruit trees on offer in bags, If they’re in the ground this month, they will have all winter to establish healthy root systems while dormant. If you miss doing this now a large number of bare rooted fruit trees will soon be dug and for sale in garden centers in June/July. Here on the coast take advantage of the still warm ground to benefit from quick-growing plants; your larder will thank you for it! Sow or plant: leeks, turnips, broad beans, silver beet, spinach, cabbages, cauliflower, peas, beetroot & broccoli. The Valley rugby club are taking orders for small bales of pea straw delivered Ph: John McKenzie 034343133 Gardening by the moon April 21st / 28th new moon During the time from the new moon to about half- full, plant annuals with above-ground yields, particularly leafy plants which produce their seed outside the fruit. Some examples of first quarter plants are asparagus, cabbage, celery, endive, and spinach. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago May 1st 2013

A mixed bag of weather this week with a nor wester and rain always near. Raking and then more raking of leaves and hedge trimmings this week but each full wool pack is getting to the end of them and the compost heaps are filling well. Once deciduous trees have lost their leaves we can see over crowded trees or branches needing to be removed to let more light onto gardens allowing spring bulbs the sun needed for them to preform well. The overall look of an established garden can be changed by having a clean out, don't be sentimental about a tree out grown it's spot or in the wrong place If it was not planted by you or just arrived in your garden odds are that the birds planted it! Clear those rouge trees out or transplant them to a spot where they are able to grow full size with out becoming a nuisance. This week I have been re potting some pots that been full of summer colour but were now looking very tired, some I have filled with succulents because I noticed that a lot of my succulents have flowered and become stalky which means that it is time to forgo the Mother plant and plant out her Babies. Each rosette on the end of a stalk can be broken off with a little part of the stem and pushed into river sand or potting mix. Each one will develop roots and become a Mother plant. These Baby succulents look great in pots over the Winter months, You can fill all of the vacant space or push in around the edges and plant Hyacinths or any dwarf Spring bulbs in the center. The succulents give your pots some interest before the bulbs come up. There are so many different succulents, in shades of red, orange, silver, fresh green. If you have exhausted clumps in the garden break them up, toss out the dodgy ones and replant the fresher. May is the last Month to plant Tulips to have them doing their thing when they should, Tulips seem to take a long time to come into flower, unlike a lot of other Spring bulbs already starting to make an appearance. Two plants you can dig a trench for and fill with manure are sweetpeas and clematis, to reach the desired height they need a lot of rich food and a sweet soil so some lime for these as well. I have sweet peas well through after planting them six weeks, they should start flowering in late August. Time to take rose cuttings, Choose a straight stem and cut off about 12 inches from the top just below a leaf node. Pull off the leaves along the stem and leave just two at the top. I soak in willow water for a couple of weeks then Dig a spade into damp ground, make a slit in the soil and bury cuttings about six inches down into this wedge. Firm the soil around the cuttings, name them, water them and watch them grow. Within a few weeks leaves will appear, which is a sign that they taken. Leave them in this spot until spring, and then uproot them carefully into pots to grow them on. You can use this method for many shrubs, like ceonothus, geraniums, potentilla, euonymous, hebes, weigela and even abutilon. Just make sure you pick a healthy straight stem. Rooting hormone powders and gels to dip cuttings in before planting will help cuttings to take root. Erica's - Autumn is when they bud up to start flowering in Winter, if they were cut back after flowering they should have gone through the Summer looking fresh and green and should now be well in bud. Ericas and callunas are wonderful ground covers and look good growing down retaining walls. There are many different shades of pink, lavender and white, some are ground covers and some are upright growing. There are large growing varieties to miniatures, so much choice and they are being offered for sale right now in garden centers. Erica's need full sun and good drainage to look their best. They are frost hardy and their colour intensifies the colder it is and look great planted in drifts of 3 or 5 together to give maximum impact. Our garden would be very dull in the Winter months without Erica's. Lawns have slowed down at last, lime and gypsum as well as a dressing of fine compost can be spread on lawns now, lime to sweeten, compost to add humus and gypsum to soften hard compacted ground which has a lot of clay content. After two or three years in a row of applying gypsum at this time of the year there will be no more cracks appearing when lawns during dry spells. Vegetables Carrots, growing these without a problem or two is not always easy, the ground needs to still hold a little heat for them to germinate and continue to grow, if they stop and then start growing again the regrowth ends up as a hard core and the carrot stops growing down into the soil. Carrot fly is also a problem which also attacks celery,dill,fennel,parsley and parsnip. The pest overwinters as pupae in the soil or in old host plant roots which have been left in the ground. The adult flies are long and black with yellow legs and iridescent wings. Females find plants by smell, mostly in the evenings they lay eggs in soil cracks adjacent to plants. Avoid thinning in late afternoon and remove all thinning's as the female is attracted smell and damaged plants, plant carrots in a different spot each year and Companion panting can help side track the carrot fly. Gardeners have found early crops sown in September or October usually mature before the fly is on the wing, but it is always handy I feel to have a carrot or two in the garden when needed. Companion plants for carrots are lettuce, onions and tomatoes ( in summer). never plant dill or parsnips beside carrots. I have just started digging parsnips I planted in late December and they have done really well, even though they are not known to be successful grown in dry summer ground, now that the ground is getting cooler I think they will sit in the soil for as long as I need them without going to seed, which will be great for winter cooking. Gardening by the moon May 2nd / 9th Last quarter During the fourth quarter, from half-full to new moon, cultivate, pull weeds, destroy pests, and turn sod. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago April 16th 2013

Lovely autumn days over the last week, and the leaf colours get more stunning by the day. My garden was inflicted to more chain sawing and hedge trimming this week; it took only a couple of hours to create havoc and the whole of the next day to clean it all up. If shrubs and climbers need cut back it needs to be done now while there is still time for things to recover, harden off and bud up again before June. Do not disturb peony roses, just cut back the dead tops and lay compost on top of the clump to protect the new growth during winter. If a clump needs divided wait until spring. Hellebores will benefit from fortnightly feeding now to encourage better blooms. I have been removing the old foliage from mine, but in colder areas it is best to leave their top growth on to protect the new growth. The flowers will soon shoot up past the old leaves. Cut all old leaves off and destroy when you can because green fly seem to winter over on the underside of hellebore leaves. Only feed bulbs and plants that are due to flower now, all other plants will be slowing their growth right down to sleep through the winter. Don't waste good fertiliser on plants that won't use it, unless as I said last week it is blood and bone which will get down to roots in readiness for spring growth and not encourage out new growth. Move all spring flowering plants in pots into a sunny spot now, plants like camellia, azaleas & rhododendrons that have been tucked away in a shady spot over the hot months. If you fed them with acid fertiliser when they finished flowering, they should be fine. If not then give them a little and water in well to give them a boost. Shrubs in pots get root bound and hungry, I shifted all my potted seedlings from semi shade where they have been over the hot months to a sunny spot where they should fine through the winter months, seedlings and rooted cuttings need as much sun as they can get over the colder months, they may not look as though they are growing as they will not put out any new growth on top but with the warmth of the sun on the pots they will be making lots of feeder roots. Keep layering leaves on the compost along with animal manure, soft garden green & soft hedge trimmings and un-sprayed grass clippings along with left over compost from your last lot. Give the heaps a good watering from time to time to get things started. With the very warm days we have been having damp compost heaps should be building up heat now which will remain working through the cold months. It is still possible to divide border plants and perennials or rock plants. In very cold districts leave the dead top growth on, or it can be cut but spread over the clump and left. If you are strawing your gardens this will do the same job. If you have small evergreen shrubs and conifers that need shifted do it now, as long as the root ball is not to well spread they should transplant well. Rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas can be shifted now as well. Lawns I spot sprayed the lawns this week, there was quite a lot of clover spreading, I usually only spot spray where needed because I would hate to kill wonderful hard working worms. I am still raking out and re-sowing where damage was done by grass grub, thankfully germination of the grass seed is very fast so the lawns will not look patchy for long. the next job will be to spread fine compost around the lawns to add humus Lawns have really picked up since the nights have cooled, Moss in a lawn is a good indication of sour ground a dressing of lime would sweeten it but not solve the problem which is usually due to poor drainage. Vegetables I planted broad beans and carrots this week and have had to have the hose out again to give the veg garden a good soak, let’s hope we get the rain that was promised Remove shading from glass houses now and reduce the watering,more light, less watering for pot plants inside as well. Leeks should be available now for planting, they are planted laying down in a trench that will hold water to get them going, then they sit up and grow fast. Fruit If you have apple trees laden, pick most of them unripe and store them a cool dry place for later. But leave as many as you intend to eat on the tree to ripen naturally, nothing nicer than ripe fruit straight from the tree. We are still picking those delicious late peaches It's grape picking time for me again while it is still dry, not such an abundant crop this year but enough to make into a few special bottles of wine....... or vinegar !!! which could be turned into Homemade Weed Killer, 1 gallon of white vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, dish detergent (any brand), Empty spray bottle. Put salt in the empty spray bottle and fill it the rest of the way up with white vinegar. Add a squirt of dish detergent. This solution works best if you use it on a hot day. Spray it on the weeds in the morning, and as it heats up it will do its work. So how ever bad the wine turns out there will be no waste. Gardening by the moon: April 19th until April 26th FIRST QUARTER PHASE – The best time to sow or transplant fruiting annuals (we eat the fruit or seed bearing part), and flowering annuals, grains. Also sow annual grasses, and green manures and apply liquid fertilisers. Prune flowering annuals to encourage growth. Carry out grafting and budding. Mow lawns to encourage growth. This is the second best phase to sow or transplant leafy annuals ( eatable leaf or stem) and flowering annuals. Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago April 10th 2013

How lucky we have been with the weather this summer & Autumn here in North Otago, warm sun filled days and rain from time to time just when needed. There is a lot to do in the garden this month as I go from one job to another putting the garden to bed for the winter. Such as like leaf raking, cutting back, bulb planting, mulching with compost & pea-straw and shifting shrubs that have become over crowded. Most leaves turn into good compost but it takes longer for oak leaves to break down, I have a lot of these so I make sure I keep enough compost back to layer with the oak leaves along with grass clippings and soft hedge trimmings. There are always more oak or walnut leaves than needed for compost so I burn what is left then add the ash to the compost. Because the ground is dry right now hydrangeas are hardening off, either going brown or changing into new stunning shades, I keep the water up to mine while they are looking so pretty and leave the flowers on for ages yet before pruning them back. Further inland it is wise to leave the old flower heads on over the winter months to protect the new growth below. 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 with pea straw and pine needles, 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 Rhododendrons 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 ranuncula 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. Ranucula 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. I have really enjoyed the drifts of blue from the Agapanthas in our garden this year which have just finished flowering so I have started breaking up clumps of both large and dwarf varieties to fill gaps, once shifted they need a lot of water to get them started in a new spot. 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 or open weave frost cloth raised above the plants while small, birds will not be so interested when the plants 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. Fruit 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 Late ripening peaches should be picked now before the birds take them all, I have one here heavy with fruit waiting to be made into jam & relish....when??? I have been told the new peach raised in North Otago and on offer for the first time last year did well and will be on offer again in shops again soon. 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 Gardening by the moon New moon April 10th /18th 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. I now have another contact for small bales of pea straw to be delivered around North Otago on request, just give me a ring for the contact at 03 4349786 Cheers Linda. http://nzstyleforever.blogspot.co.nz/

Gardening in North Otago 2nd April 2013

I hope all were able enjoyed the fantastic Easter weather, and now we are into April, the cooling down month. With evenings and mornings cooling down thank goodness days stay warm a bit longer here yet for growing to continue. With changing weather it’s important to be vigilant in the garden this month. Autumn here in North Otago is more predictable than spring or summer I feel. Autumn is a time to reap and sow lest all be lost to the frost! Thus gardening commentators always suggest to gardeners to apply potash to their plants as winter starts to approach and to avoid too much nitrogen. The potassium hardens up plant growth and helps prevent damage from winter chills. With the ground drying out really fast I am busy keeping the water up to plants and trees. I notice even some of my large established evergreen trees are starting to show signs of being dry and need turn about with the dripping hose. If we do get rain feed rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas with acid fertiliser, make sure it gets well washed in. The still days are great for allowing the brilliantly coloured leaves to remain on trees longer and for raking those that fall, into piles, which will make such good humus for the garden when composted down with manure, grass and soft hedge clippings. I have been viewing the light situation around my garden before all the leaves fall, trees and shrubs get taller and wider every year and block out light. I have made a note of what trees & shrubs to reduce in height and width and which trees and shrubs to remove altogether. Sometimes one tree or shrub will do the job of two or three that are in one spot. I am ready to sacrifice trees that give little interest for trees close by that offer more and shrubs that have grown too big in the front of a garden hiding what is behind need to be cut back, wrenched for shifting later or shifted . I have at times changed the whole look of gardens by removing a few things, letting more sun in then planting out sun loving plants. Here on the coast keep cutting back large daisy and lavatera bushes to encourage new buds that will flower over the next two months. Also get all hedges cut back now before frosts start and it should be the last cut until the new growth in spring especially photinia bushes and hedges, a trim now will encourage nice bright red leaves to brighten dull winter days. It is a great time to clean up garden areas that have been flowering all summer and to visit the garden centres (here on the coast only) to choose more plants for planting now to bud up and bloom through the winter, as long as they are planted while the ground is still warm to get the roots going and will continue to get winter sun they will bloom. Plant: Viola, snapdragon, pansy, polyantha's, stock, calendula, wall flowers, sweet William and good old primula malacoidies If you want to plant evergreen shrubs other than conifers now is the time or wait until the frosts are over, once frosts start it is only deciduous trees / shrubs and conifers that will cope with the really cold nights that can be safely planted, and still time to get spring bulbs in. Hybrid clematis are still on offer, they are the lovely huge bloom, deciduous type and are not as invasive as the Montana variaty. They love being planted into warm autumn ground and are so pretty growing in with other climbers and climbing roses that flower at a different time to them. All clematis like manure and lime. Lawns: This is a good time to spray lawn weeds and apply sifted compost to lawns ( a bucket to the square metre) with some lime added, the compost will improve the humus content and the lime will condition and sweeten the soil. If you have had a good strike with a newly sown lawn delay cutting until grass is 7-8 centimetres high, set the blades high and avoid cutting when the ground is wet and soft. Veg: I have dug the last of my potatoes and stored them with a covering of herbs like I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. The peas I put in a couple of week ago are up and making growth. I dug around a clump of yams but they are still too small so will leave a while yet and have not harvested any pumpkins or butternut yet, will leave growing as long as they can before the first frost. Time to dig up and divide Rhubarb crowns, mixing in heaps of compost before replanting. A good time for sowing of Spinach and Snap Peas &Spring Onions. Fill the top of a shallow pot with Spring Onions and pull them as they’re needed, start thinning when plants are still quite small. Gardening by the moon 10th - 19th April NEW MOON PHASE – the best time to sow or transplant leafy annuals (we eat the leaf or stem), and flowering annuals and grains. Also sow annual grasses, green manures, and apply liquid fertilisers. Mow lawns to encourage growth. This is the second best phase to sow or transplant fruiting annuals. Cheers, Linda