Gardening in North Otago July 29th 2014

The start of another new month!! and what a lovely warm day we had here in North Otago on Tuesday, so good to have dry washing and be able to work with the warm sun on my back.

Roses:
I noticed while pruning that roses are beginning to bud burst with the odd warm day pushing them on. If your roses have not had compost or manure now is the time to give them fertiliser, watered in well if it is powered fertiliser, not so important for slow release fertilisers designed to feed each time it rains or water is applied.
My roses will also get a dose of liquid donkey manure when I get around to it because when they start to shoot it means their roots are feeding.

The wisteria is next to be pruned, All the long slim leaders growing out in all directions will be removed.
Once your wisteria has reached the length you require with a chosen leader, or maybe two going in opposite directions all other leaders can be removed. If allowed to grow, a wispy new leader will eventually become as thick as a tree branch, and too many of theses become a tangled mess and very heavy if being trained along a balcony. Don't prune any other part of a wisteria at this time of the year because you will remove the flower buds forming right now. Reduce the size of large established wisterias once flowering has finished.

As I mentioned last week hellebore's are looking fantastic in our garden right now, once pollinated the center of the flower changes to form seed pods, when this has taken place the stems become firmer and will last in water when picked. Hellebore's seed down very readily growing masses of baby plants beneath the mother plants. These seedlings can be transplanted or potted up in the second year when they have developed two strong leaves, but will not flower until around the forth year.

I notice some shrubs and my bouganvillea have been badly damaged by frost, I will leave the damaged growth on top to protect the growth below then cut damage off when frosts have finished. However I have not had to cover my borgenvilla so far this winter, last year it was very frost damaged even with frost cloth covering, but came away and flowered as well as ever come summer. Only this month to go then we will roll head first into spring and leave these cold months behind us.

Vegetables & Fruit
The warmer North Otago mid-winter days, are perfect for planting at a time when we usually don't. There are edibles that can go into the ground when it is cold and damp. But none of these will survive in boggy soils so good drainage is essential with early plantings, if weeds are growing plants are growing.
Garlic and Shallots are available to plant - dig compost through soil that has been resting from the last busy growing season or fill a container and plant separated cloves of garlic approximately twice the depth of the clove. Take care not to damage cloves when separating out the bulb and you could get up to 20 cloves per bulb!

Strawberries are easy to plant in all kinds of containers or straight into sunny / raised garden beds along with slow release fertiliser. I enlarged my strawberry bed last year to twice the size, leaving year before plants to fruit again in one half and planted the other half out in new runners.Strawberries also seem to do very well in hanging strawberry bags with an abundance of slow release food, but it would pay to wrap it with bird netting once the fruit starts turning red.

I got really stuck into my gooseberry bushes this week, cleaned the middle out of cross over branches and took off the branches skirting the ground which lifted the bushes up enough for picking underneath, many of these lower branches had grown roots into the ground so I have potted these sections up, they will develop into good size bushes after a couple of growing seasons.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago July 22nd 2014

I see the days are drawing out a little since the shortest day, yes, true not wishful thinking, I notice the daily pattern because I am out there freezing at one with nature most day's, but
must admit my starts are not as early as in the other seasons!

This week I have spent another good percentage of my time raking up old leaves, will autumn ever be a distant memory? it is important to get leaves out of every nook and cranny during winter because bugs are looking for places like this to winter over. Once leaves have been removed from the base of roses, hydrangea's and other deciduous plants I am applying manure enriched compost to be there in readiness for spring feeding.

I continue to re-sawdust rough pathways, freshening these areas up is allowing me to find a lot of self sown plants in the old saw dust topping which I delight in potting up.

My hellebore's are up and looking lovely on their own after having all last years leaves removed, blue bells and tulips are pushing through, and the leucodendrons and erica's are standing out beautifully amongst the majestic winter starkness of deciduous trees and shrubs.

As there is not a lot happening right now with lawns and in gardens, I thought I would write about the benefits of raised gardens.
With life being so busy today for most young families I can see how gardening time becomes limited but I am sure most would love to grow their own fresh produce.
Raised gardens may be the answer rather than a great patch of ground level veg garden, why not build a couple of easily constructed raised gardens.

Advantages of a Raised Bed Garden
Raised beds warm more quickly in spring, allowing you to work the soil and plant earlier.
Raised beds drain better than ground level gardens.
The soil in raised beds doesn't get compacted, because they are constructed with accessibility in mind and it's easy to tailor the soil for your raised bed to the plants you plan to plant.
Contained raised beds are not difficult to construct using wood or Oamaru stone seconds as a surround.
If you need time to think about a permanent position for raised beds you could make some using straw bales as surrounds for a year.
A sunny location is a must for growing vegetables and herbs, and access around all sides with a wheel barrow is recommended for ease of maintenance.
Restrict the width to four feet, this way you can access the middle.
Access to water is essential,with drainage being greater in raised gardens, they need good soakings.
Even a raised bed of six inches above the soil is enough to grow leaf vegetables and herbs and at least ten inches for root veg but I don't see the sense in not raising it to a height that will benefit the amount of digging and bending you do.
Once in place to the size required fill them with compost enriched soil and plant out.

keep an eye on what is on offer for planting now, this is the very best time for choice when buying deciduous tree's and shrubs.
Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago 16th July 2014

Another good weather week for North Otago, still not the consistent hard frosts needed so far but I am sure we will get them so I covered exposed Margarette daisy bushes and all seedlings with frost cloth over night.

I have decided to leave most of my hydrangeas until buds show signs of shooting, as I mentioned last week I did prune some very protected hydrangea bushes but need to stop myself from being tempted to start on any others until nearer spring. But you can give pink hydrangeas a dressing of lime now to keep them pink and blue hydrangeas a dressing of sulphate of allium or the specially prepared blue hydrangea mix that can be bought from the garden centers.

This time last year I attacked a group of large leggy rhododendrons that had leaves, buds and blooms only on the top of long woody branches taller than myself. I was only going to cut the woody non productive wood off because the bushes were beginning to flower, however once I started I ended up cutting them all right back to a healthy bulging nodule, then they got compost and straw. In spring they soon pushed out fresh new growth and this year I see even the odd small bud but it will take a another couple of years before they bush up.

Tulips planted in May should be through the ground now, don't give them any fertilizer as this will only promote leaf growth which will take away from the bloom. Tulips store the food needed in their bulb.

More rose pruning this week as well, I had to invest in some new secateurs as the pair I have been using were not cutting clean, rips on a rose prune will not allow the cut to seal which will result in die back and can sometimes claim a whole branch. Because roses should ideally be planted during dormancy new varieties are available now from garden centers.

If winter has left your garden looking a little too bleak, Garden centers will also have nice potted colour to brighten things up. I have noticed on offer pansy's, wall flower, pollyanthas and primula malacoydies which look fresh and bright planted in groups or as a border before bulbs bloom.

Vegetables

This week I planted some more garlic cloves, the list of facts, benefits and legends surrounding Garlic are many and varied, garlic has been a staple in both the pantry and the medicine cupboard for century's.  The shortest day is traditionally garlic planting time but it is still ok to plant them now by separating cloves  and planting pointed end up in well prepared soil with plenty of organic matter. Plant five to seven cm below the soil surface about 10 to 15 cm apart in a sunny, well drained location.  Garlic will also grow well in containers or pots.

Time to start preparing the soil for spring planting. Cultivate vacant spaces, digging in green crops if sown earlier. Add compost, and lime if you feel the garden needs humus and sweetening. 

Fruit

Winter is the time you will find the best selection of fruit trees in garden centres, they are grafted and tall growing so plant up to where they were planted in the bag and stake well to protect against the wind.

A tip I read the other day that could work to eradicate codling moth attacking apple trees, quarter fill a tin or plastic milk container with treacle and hang in the tree to attract male grubs because the treacle is said to smell like the female codling moths pheromone which will attract the male grub into the container to reach a sticky end. A double bonus is that the treacle will attract grub eating birds.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago July 9th 2014

Some good frost this week to harden wood off but with the mild weather we had been getting there are definite signs of spring around coastal gardens, once plants have moved into the first stages of budding they should continue to bud up during the sunny winter days, camellias and rhododendrons are getting a head start I am picking Christmas cheer rhodo here and spring bulbs are well on which may mean we are in for an early spring. Daphne bholua is in flower now also wafting lovely fragrance around this garden, this daphne will never let you down and has the bonus of winter flowering. Daphne bholua is a must for cold inland gardens having derived from Nepal's high altitude regions but unfortunately resents exposed coastal conditions.

Dahlias, gladioli, and peonies are in Garden centres this month and can be planted now in good draining soil, if you think there is a chance they would sit in wet soggy soil over winter they may rot. As I mentioned last week, If young trees or shrubs need transplanting now is a good time to do it whilst they are at their most dormant stage. Remember to continue protecting plants like Margarete daisies and pelegoniums and small seedlings from frosts with frost cloth if in severe frost area.  If like me you are still finding leaves to Rake up why not fill large black rubbish bags,add a little water then leave to rot. Leaf mulch is such natural benefit to soil, we tend to remove them all at leaf fall stage because they look untidy, rotting leaves down in this way when put back on the garden they will not be noticed, the worms will take leaf mulch down onto the soil. 

Pruning of trees is still going on here in my garden, as well as some older roses and sheltered hydrangeas cut back hydrangea canes that have flowered at the second bud from the bottom, leave all canes that did not flower because these will be the new seasons flowers. In colder areas I would leave hydrangeas until they really start bursting bud. 

This is a good time to reduce the width of gardens, I find trimming grass edges with a line trimmer gardens tend to increase in width slightly each year, to the point where after a number of years I need to reduce width by filling in back to the original line with sifted soil, then resowing grass. Garden borders do not need to be wide to give a colourful display, wide borders mean digging and unnecessary work and expense filling them.

If you have borders getting choked with clumps of bulbs leaving not a lot of room for other plantings put a sharp spade through the clumps now and remove half before the bulbs put on too much growth. 

At this time of the year I make a few trips to the Waireaka Valley Lions Club sawdust and sheep manure stand, volunteers clean out calving sheds and under shearing sheds to keep the stand topped up for keen gardeners. I use the sawdust on some garden pathways. Sawdust can also be used on wet gardens as a weed suppressant and help to absorb excess moisture, but never on dry gardens. I use sheep manure on the compost heaps, the vegetable garden and around the roses when horse manure is not at hand. 

Vegetables: In cold areas start raising vegetable seeds for spring planting in glass houses or under glass or plastic with ventilation spaces to circulate air and stop seeds going mouldy. 

On the coast plant seedling plants that are now on offer along with garlic cloves. Gardeners I have long known the advantages of growing comfrey,  I been reading up on it again, it is such a useful plant and if you can get your hands on some I suggest you plant some root sections in an area of your garden where it can spread (away from ornamential gardens) and send it's roots very deep down into the soil to tap into much needed nutrients. Comfrey is fast growing, high in potassium and can be cut back again and again. I have listed below some uses for comfrey around the garden. 1. Compost activator, add to your compost bin to heat up the decomposing materials and enriches the compost. 2. Put a handful of comfrey leaves into a bucket of rainwater and let them rot down for around 6 weeks to give you a rich liquid fertilizer for plants. 3. Lay comfrey leaves in a potato trench and leave for 3 days prior to planting seed potatoes to give them a potassium rich boost of fertiliser. 4. Use as a Comfrey leaf mulch around plants, by layering leaves around the stems of plants, potassium will slowly be released to the plants as the leaves break down – Great for tomatoes, beans and fruit bushes. 5. Use wilted leaves as a nutrient rich Chicken feed.

 Cheers, Linda

I so enjoyed the lovely days this week, especially after a good frost last weekend.  These warmer than usual days have encouraged early flowering of

of hellebore's, daphne, jonquils, primula and pollyanthas, but no bee's about to take advantage of all the early pollen just yet.

With all the compost and pea straw in place now it will not be long before bulbs and perennials will be using what is offered and pushing up through it all, then I will know where the gaps are for filling with all the small plants coming on from the seedlings and cuttings I have been nursing since last summer. Plants like viola Maggie mott, pansy, carnation, primula and dianthus can be planted now but the others will stay under the frost cloth until early spring.

Rose pruning of the tough old varieties can be done now but I am leaving my more modern type until the end of this month in the hope that they will get a good continual freezing before then to harden the wood and kill the bugs. 

How I prune:

Bush roses: concentrate on clearing the center of the bush, remove all inward facing branches at an outward facing bud, prune height back by two thirds always at an outward facing bud and remove any really old and damaged branches. Brush old gnarly rose centers with a wire brush to stimulate and encourage new budding.

Floribunda bush roses like iceberg need a few older branches taken right back each year to encourage new strong branching and newer branches taken back by two thirds.

Hybrid tea roses: These are the roses that can grow exhibition single blooms, these bushes can be pruned back quite hard to an outward facing bud.

Standard bush roses: Same as bush roses.

Climbing roses: These roses flower at their best when the branches are trained horizontally along a fence or wall, they develop small branches along the length of the trained branch and give a brilliant show. After a number of years the long horizontal branches will need to be removed and replace by a softer new branch, being careful not to damage this soft wood train gently out to take the place of the removed old wood. The new branch will bud up quickly sending out small outward growing branches and harden off in a couple of years. Prune the outward growing branches growing along established horizontal branch's back to the second outward facing bud. It's the new bud growth from this pruning that will develop into flowers. 

Pillar roses; These are the best type to climb up and be trained over an arch or pergola. I cut the old growth back off these with a hedge trimmer.

Fairy rose and flower carpet roses: These, I also cut back with a hedge trimmer but open them up by removing branches from the middle with secateurs. 

Compost heaps are working much more slowly now than in the summer and autumn but the worms will be still working as long as there is adequate moisture. Once wet right through heaps can be kept warmer by being covered, Straw is perfect for this as it still lets the rain in.

Boost bedding plants with fish based fertiliser or a little dried blood.to encourage buds during sunny winter days.

Veg: This mild winter weather has been kind to producing vegetable gardens, I planted peas in Autumn as a trial and so far so good, they will sit over winter, flower and pod up for early summer peas . 

Once I have used all carrots, parsnip and silver beet I will dig the raised gardens over and work in some compost in readiness for spring planting.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Fruit:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

If your strawberry patch is manured and ready, plant new strawberry runner plants in now while the ground is soft and moist.

The best time of the year to prune fruit trees.

Early to Late Spring for Peaches Peach trees should be pruned yearly to maintain an open center, prune off the damaged wood in the early spring. This will allow the wounds to close faster as growth begins. In the early spring you should also be able to see how many flower buds have survived the cold weather. 

Prune apricot trees in late winter or early spring as the new leaves and flowers begin to open because the tree is actively growing and the pruning cuts heal quickly. Remove all branches with a narrow crotch—(those that grow up more than out.) on  newly planted trees remove all branches that are within 18 inches of the ground. Remove additional branches as necessary to space them at least 6 inches apart. Shorten the remaining lateral branches to 2 to 4 inches in length. Each stub should have at least one bud. In older trees thin out the canopy so that sunlight reaches the interior and air circulates freely. 

Early Spring for Plums, Plum trees should be pruned to maintain an open center, don't let your plum tree branch too close to the ground. The best fruit often grows at the top of the trees. Keep the tops of trees low, so they are easily accessible. 

Winter for Apples and pears The best time to prune your apple and pear tree is when it is dormant, during the late Autumn and winter. During the dormant season, you will want to cut away any overly vigorous stems, which are usually high in the trees. 

Scruff our pup graduated from doggy School this week, gaining success in disciplining us, but I feel he would benefit from higher tertiary learning!! he was rewarded for his attendance and effort with a very handy pink ball thrower, a bag of dog food, and our promise that we will continue to jump through hoops for him.

Cheers, Linda