Gardening in North Otago 22nd April 2014

The odd lovely Autumn day after all the rain during the Easter break. With the last of the weddings over here for the season I can now do some serious GARDENING! Because this is the last month to do this I inflicted the garden to more light hedge trimming and a massive amount of cutting back this week, it took only a couple of hours to create havoc and the whole of the next day to clean up. While all this was going on Scruff the pup had us scratching our heads with his disappearance, he was finally found some distance away, enjoying himself on the heels of a passing jogger!! ( no, not neglect, his lead broke) . Do not disturb peony roses, just cut back the dead tops and lay on top of the clump to protect the new growth during winter. If a clump needs divided or shifted 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 the top growth on to protect buds. Flowers will soon shoot up past the old leaves. When you can cut all old leaves off and destroy because green fly seem to winter over underneath hellebore leaves. Only feed bulbs and plants that are due to flower now, all other plants will be slowing their growth right down now to sleep through the winter. Don't waste good fertiliser on plants that won't use it, unless it is blood and bone which will not encourage 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 get very hungry in pots. I shifted all my potted seedlings to a sunny spot where they should be fine through the winter months, seedlings need as much sun shine as they can get over winter, they may not look as though they are growing as they will not put out a lot of new growth on top, but with the warmth of the sun on pots and trays seedlings will be making lots of feeder roots. Damp compost heaps should be building up heat now which will remain working away through the cold months. Keep layering leaves on the compost along with animal manure,( especially hen manure which will help to heat up a winter compost), soft garden weeds, un-sprayed grass clippings and left over compost from your last lot. Give the heaps a good watering if dry to get things started. Lawn: Lawns here are still soft & soggy, best to keep traffic off them and raise the blades on the lawn mower when next mowing. I spot sprayed the lawns this week, there was quite a lot of clover and flat weeds spreading, I usually only spot spray where needed in kindness to the hard working worms. Grass seed sown now should strike but once frosts start you will need to wait for a spring sowing. Fruit: If you have laden apple trees still to ripen, pick most of them and store in 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, same applies to quince. I am determined not to wast them, quince paste and quince added to apple jelly and is a wonderful taste from the past. Vegetables: The broad beans, carrots and peas I planted a couple of weeks ago are well up this week, helped along I am sure by the warm rains. The ground is still warm and perfect for getting seeds & seedlings well on their way before the frosts cool things down. plant food, nothing tastes so good veg picked straight from the garden and into the pot. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago April 2014

Leaves, leaves, leaves so many on the ground and yet to fall, "groan" but to compensate we do have a beautiful gold, red and orange wonder land out here right now but not the sun to go with them! Most of the leaves turn into good compost but I do not compost oak or walnut leaves, they take too long to break down in my heaps, I burn them and then add the ash. My leaf raking has become a very noisy job because Scruff the pup thinks the leaf rake is out to get him, so feels the need to bark continually at it....I fear it will be a long noisy autumn for me in the garden! The ground is pretty wet with the constant showers we are experiencing, hydrangea's are loving it as are rhododendrons, Camellia's & azaleas, they usually suffer from the dry in autumn. Give them all a dressing of compost because they are busy budding up in readiness for spring. Hydrangea wood is hardening with some flower heads transforming into dark rich reds which means they are at the stage, if picked, hung upside down or left in a vase until all water is gone they will remain that colour for many months. Other plants that will stay nice through winter if picked now are leucodendron, protea, and nandina. As I walk around my garden looking at all the plants collapsing after their summer display I was heartened this week to see the nerine buds popping open to take their turn on center stage. Nerines are very pretty in pink, white and red shades sending flowers up on long stalks from strappy green leaves, they last well in water when picked. Nerine bulbs are easy to grow in a good draining position, they need very little water when dormant but appreciate water in their flowering stage, they will do well in gardens this autumn. Prune back perennial wall flowers, mignonette and dentata lavender 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 from these daisy's, pot up and protect over winter, a lot of Marguerite daisy bushes are lost due to continuous inland frosts. This week I broke up more clumps of violas like Maggie mott and clumping primulas to 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, one clump will give you many. Ranunculus are still on offer, they so worth while and a good investment because they multiply well and give vibrant or soft mid height colour to an early spring garden. Ranunculus corms look very dried up and brittle in the packet when bought, soak them over night in water with a little liquid fertiliser and they will become nice and plump. 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. 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 raised above the plants while small, birds will not be so interested when 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. 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 like a glass house 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. Feed citrus well now, manure, seaweed, rock phosphate, dolomite or citris fertiliser and mulch. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 8th April 2014

More rain this week and cold, It's that waiting time of year again, waiting for the deciduous trees and shrubs to put on their spectacular autumn show then drop their leaves, waiting for plants to finish flowering so I can cut them back, waiting for the roses to make seed and not be tempted to cut them back until pruning time in July. It is important not to dead head roses now even though they look untidy just left, especially after all the drizzle. I have been pulling off the soggy petals which make the bushes look a little better. When a spent bloom sets seed the sap continues to be drawn up to feed these seeds and keep them developing, when this is happening the bud shoots on the steam are not activated because the sap is bypassing them to get to the seed. If we cut the seed head off the sap will go into making new growth which will be too soft to go through the winter and will most probably die back encouraging disease and stunted growth. Hard wood is needed for pruning so all I am doing with roses right now is removing and disposing of all the diseased leaves from bushes and the ground around them. I will spray soon to prevent the over wintering of rust, black spot and mildew. Guild or super shield is ok for this and will hold the bushes until a lime sulphur spray next month which should defoliate them. This is a good time to shift camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, and small conifers. Larger conifers and shrubs can to be trenched now and shifted in the winter. If roots have been removed in the shifting a third of the top growth should be removed, if you don't do this nature will do it for you. I sprayed weeds around our garden, drive way and paved areas during a dry spell this week. I usually spray at the end of a warm dry day when weeds were thirsty but have not had that option so far this autumn, however it did work because already I notice wilting. Frosts will take care of the next lot of weed that germinate so the weed spray can go away soon until spring. Lawns: Good opportunities lately with all the dampness to get the grass grub granules on, the grubs are actively eating grass roots until May and then they become dormant, re-emerging as the brown night beetles around November. Our lawns are too wet to do what is usual for me at this time of the year, de- thatching and resowing thin patches. March / April are the best months to sow a new lawn, it must be very frustrating for those wanting to prepare ground to do this with soil being so wet. Nights start cooling after the clocks go back but the ground should stay warm for another six weeks to get some seed sown when it is drier. As I mentioned last week, in autumn I give lawns that have not done well a dressing of sifted compost, about 1/2 a bucket to the sqm working it down to the roots with the back of a rake. It will improve both very light and very compact soils. Begin to give plants more light In glass houses, remove any shading and give plants less water. Vegetable & fruit Clean up sprays can be applied to all fruit trees and fruiting shrubs that have shown leaf spots. Super copper or Natures way fungus spray can be used. Any citrus bushes that have shown signs of leaf or fruit spot spray with super copper as well. Still time to sow a green crop when space becomes available in the vegetable garden, dig in veg gone to seed and annual weeds before they go to seed, it's all good humus. Keep planting winter veg, Cover pumpkins still growing if there is frost predicted. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 2nd April 2014

April, the cooling down month but thank goodness days stay warm a little longer even if the nights and mornings are cooler. With this change in the weather it’s important to be vigilant in the garden this month. Autumn here in North Otago is usually more predictable than spring or summer, but I must say not so this year. Autumn is a time to reap and sow lest all be lost to the frost! Thus gardening commentators always suggest gardeners should apply potash to their plants as winter starts to approach and avoid too much nitrogen. Potassium hardens up plant growth and helps prevent damage from winter chills. Because we have had so much moisture so far this autumn trees and shrubs are slower to colour up and leaves hang on longer, but when they do fall gather and make good humus for the garden, compost down with manure, grass and soft hedge clippings. I have been viewing the light situation around our garden before all the leaves fall, because trees and shrubs get taller and wider every year blocking out light. I am noting 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 the two or three in one spot. 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 cut out. I have at times changed the whole look of gardens by removing a few shrubs / trees, 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, this will be the last cut until the new growth in spring, especially photinia bushes / 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 winter, if they are planted while the ground is still warm to get the roots going they will continue to get enough winter sun to carry on and 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 planted without the need protection. Keep getting spring bulbs in the warm ground. Hybrid clematis are still on offer, they are the lovely huge bloom, deciduous type which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. This type are not as invasive as the Montana variety. 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: Spray lawn weeds and apply sifted compost to lawns if they are compacted ( a bucket to the square metre) with some gypsum added, the compost will improve the humus content and the gypsum will soften clay soils. 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 are up and making growth. I have not harvested any pumpkins yet, will leave growing until the threat of frosts. Time to dig up and divide Rhubarb crowns, mixing in heaps of compost before replanting. Sow: Spinach,Snap Peas, board beans and Spring Onions. Fill the top of a shallow pot with Spring Onions and have handy by the back door, start thinning when plants are still quite small, pull them as they’re needed, Cheers, Linda http://nzstyleforever.blogspot.co.nz/