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.