Gardening in North Otago 28th February 2014

More lovely summer days this week along with dark dramatic sky's, there are parts in our garden that are really tired now particularly the long boarders which I plan to attack this weekend. Cut back border and rockery perennials as they finish flowering then top dress with compost and some blood & bone to give all a boost. To get superior blooms on gerberas, dahlias, delphiniums and chrysanthemums dead head and give fortnightly feeds of liquid fertiliser, remove excess buds from large flowering chrysanthemums they will be putting on a show soon. I would dearly love to shift shrubs but I know they would suffer by being shifted at this time of the year even if the water was kept up to them. Best to wait until the end of Autumn when the sap has gone down. However if you have no option and have to shift trees and shrubs it would not be as traumatic if they were first wrenched to cushion them from the shock. Wrenching is when one half of the roots are dug around and lifted, then compost is added under them for new feeder roots to grow into. It is important to keep the water up once roots have been cut or disturbed. A tree or shrub will survive with being fed from the remaining untouched roots while at the same time the other half is making new roots into the compost in readiness for a shift later. Wrenched trees and shrubs have a much higher transplant success rate than trees and shrubs that are lifted in one go and transplanted. Wrench now and transplant in winter when plants are dormant. I am still gathering seeds with the help of two little Grand Daughters, the hot days we have been experiencing are ripening seeds on foxgloves, Poppy's, dianthus, lupin, marigold, sweet pea, lavender, snapdragon & hollyhock. We planted poppy, hollyhock, lupin & marigold into trays and stored the rest in brown paper bags in a dry place( where mice cannot get at them) to sow into seed raising mix at the end of winter. Watering plants is a priority now but it is best not to water in the heat of the day, wait until it cools down and your plants will absorb and retain the moisture. Mulching is also beneficial right now, but always apply mulch to ground that has been well soaked then forget about watering for a while because the mulch will do the job of keeping that moisture in the ground. I am sure many people will be on the look out for bales of new seasons pea straw soon, I look forward to passing on contacts should I be given any. Because I pile a lot of my garden waste in a sheep paddock along side the garden I am mindful of what I am leaving for the sheep to eat. There are a number of common plants that can poison animals and Children : Arum lillies, Calico bush, Daphne, English yew, foxglove, Hemlock, Holly berries, Iris, Ivy, Kowhai (especially seeds) Laburnum, Lily of the valley, Ngaio, Night shade,Privit, Rhododendron, Rhubarb (leaves) Spindle berry, Potato ( green berries & green tubers) Lawns: The lawn weeds I sprayed last week are wilting away, even the Hydrocotyle which I thought was not going to succumb to the spray. I am ready with grass grub granules next significant rain fall we get, I can see where the grubs are eating away at the roots of grass, mostly in the ground at the foot of trees the night beetles (Grass grub turn into these beetles) strip leaves from. Veg & Fruit Keep the water up to corn and pumpkins to ensure a juicy crop, they both need a long ripening season. Dig out old spent strawberry plants that have finished cropping and discard. Plants that are being kept for another season should have runners cut off now to preserve the strength of the main clumps. Transplant strong runners and keep the water up to them until they make roots. Grapes are filling out now, I will be putting the net over mine soon and keeping the moisture up to them. Cheers, Linda Blog: http://nzstyleforever.blogspot.co.nz/

Gardening in North Otago February 18th 2014

What a wonderful rain we got last week, just what North Otago was wanting for and how quickly my gardens and lawns recovered. I must comment on how pretty our town is right now with beautiful blue agapantha's cooling warm sunny gardens and complementing the second flush roses and vibrant dahlia's, and a special mention to the colorful Council gardens and pretty hanging baskets. I am still cutting back and dead heading so much, it all has to go if it has died back to encourage new fresh growth. February: is a good month for taking cuttings and propagating your own plants. Why? because by late summer the soft new spring growth has hardened and the cutting is less likely to lose water from the leaves. Semi-succulent plants like geraniums (Pelargoniums) or impatiens are easiest for beginners, but many common shrubs such as abelia, buxus, lavenders,camellias, azaleas, fuchsias and hebe's have a relatively high success rate, it is all about keeping the cut pieces alive while they develop their own new roots. Professional nursery people grow cuttings in glasshouses where they’re regularly misted with fine sprays of water. But there are lots of techniques that can help a home gardener to achieve success. Take cuttings early in the morning, while it’s still cool. Choose tip pieces that are about 100- 150 mm long. Wrap immediately in damp newspaper and then in plastic. Work in the shade, fill pots with Seed Raising Mix / crusher dust and water well, allow to drain, trim the base of the cutting so that it ends just below a leaf node (which is where the leaf is, or has been, attached to the stem). Remove bottom leaves, leaving a few at the top, large leaves can be cut in half. Dip the base of the cutting into hormone Gel or powder then poke into the mix, a 150mm pot can hold about six cuttings.( Keep moist) Place pot in a lightly shaded spot and cover with plastic wrap held above the cuttings, (wire hoops made out of an old coat hangers) Check regularly to make sure the mix stays moist and after a couple of months gently move the stems to feel if they’re firm. This will mean roots have started, plant in individual pots when roots are established. Hedges here got a light tidy up last week, (not the buxus, too much heat in the sun to trim them just now.) but ok for all other hedges that have put on unwanted new growth. I keep on about planting bulbs, they are in the shops and they want to be in the ground now. A bulb comes ready-equipped with the promise of a flower and they look best planted in groups. The one thing we can hold off from at this time of the year is planting trees & shrubs, unless you are able to water new plantings daily, no reason to not choose and buy trees and shrubs when you see them on offer now, store in light shade while still in growing bag and keep the water up to them until planting time in mid to late autumn. Lawns: During that last rain I fertilised lawns and the lawn weeds responded well along with the grass,hydrocotyle is thriving here this year so I sprayed this week with hydrocotyle spray which also deals to a number of other lawn weeds including clover, sorry worms! Fruit: Feed citrus trees with citrus food and spray any scale you notice with winter oil. Vegetables: Keep sowing veg seeds like carrot, beetroot, parsnip, spring onion, and keeping onions and lettuce because there is plenty of growing time left. to germinate seeds before the frost start again. Dig and store potatoes if you feel they have been in the ground too long, I was doing this the other day with the unwanted help of scruff the pup...I am sure he thought I was digging up ball's that be carted off ready for throwing! Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago February 12th 2014

What glorious weather this week as we move through summer towards autumn the dry ripening season. It is so important now to cut plants back that have finished flowering if you want the plants to grow back with a new lot of fresh leaves to fill the gaps. If you let things run to seed as they want to now some perennials and annuals will give up because they have made seed for plants to take their place. However if it is seed collecting you want then leave some flower heads to make seed, I have started collecting always storeing seed in brown paper bags and leave in a dark dry place until required. Seeds collected now can be planted now as nature intended or sowing can be done in the spring. Spring sowing works better some times, hot summer sowing will usually result in fewer seedlings surviving. Seeds to collect now would be delphinium, aqualegia, dianthus, poppy, marigold, rhododendron,sweet pea, lilies, violas & Pansy's, all of these will do well planted into seed raising mix and planted out when strong enough. I am also finding an abundance of native seedlings growing all over the garden, this is the work of birds doing their bit to regenerate the forna. I dig out the small ones and pot them up at this time of the year but leave the larger ones until winter, they will have a better survival rate then when lifted. Lift summer flowering gladioli as leaves begin to dry off, and hang upside down inside to ripen before cleaning and storing. It's the right time from now on to plant large flowering (hybrid) clematis to get roots established before winter. A fungus spray at planting will help eliminate the wilt problem some clematis suffer from at planting time, when planting try not to disturb the root too much and sprinkle a little lime to sweeten their ground. There are some stunning hybrid clematis on offer with huge or delicate flowers in vibrant shades that to me have a tropical look climbing and spilling through gardens. Keep planting spring bulbs where you picture a show of them in spring, Clumps are much more effective than one planted here and there. Continue dead heading dahlias to keep them bushy and flowering longer, take stalky old growth right back to where the stem is plumper. Lawns: Begin preparations for new lawns to be sown in autumn, start by spraying out all perennial weeds,then the area should be dug or rotary hoed then raked to ensure there is a fine tilt and no underlying hard pan. Test the ph and if soil is too acid bring it up to about 6 with lime, leave as long as possible for the lime to be absorbed before applying fertiliser once grass is up. To ensure a level, firm planting surface, the soil should be gently compacted again after digging by raking and treading or rolling. Veg & fruit: This is a major harvest month for vegetable and fruits, the jam and preserving pans will be busy and the gardens abundant with food. Keeping the water up to everything especially the late ripening fruit trees is a must to get the best crops. I am sure it must be the favourite time of the year for birds with so much on offer to them, pick and store before they take all. Cheers, Linda