Gardening in North Otago October 2014

October already and North Otago gardens are blooming beautifully!

This month is where chasing weeds becomes a full time job - Hoeing and hand pulling weeds is still the best option while weeds are new and small in planted areas especially if you are clearing a garden to plant out for a summer show.  Couch grass and convolvulus need to be taken right out if you can, get each long runner under the ground and any little pieces that may have been chopped with the spade, they will grow and spread very fast if left. I spot spray Couch and convolvulus with round up in badly effected areas, trying hard not to bring the spray in contact with plants. Once all obvious weeds are gone cover the area with compost, thick enough to keep the light from allowing any weed seeds left behind to germinate. Compost if cooked well will have been heated to the point of destroying weed seeds. NOW plant,plant, plant! as many annuals and perennials as you can into the prepared area, they will grow really fast from now on and beat the weeds. If you have not feed plants, roses or shrubs do it now, powered plant food should always be watered in, if you have home made compost ready to use add blood & bone; and some sulphate of pot ash this will to add food and a flowering / fruiting component. Watering and liquid feeding for new plantings is the key to success as they settle in and make new feeding roots, first thing in the morning is the best time to water giving plants and dirt time to dry off before night. Fungus thrives in damp ground on mild nights. 

Mulch really comes into play now, the areas mulched here in my garden with pea straw are holding the moisture around trees and shrubs. Pea straw looks ok in shrubberies but I don't use it in ornamental gardens where I plant annuals.

I often mention using old stable manure along with compost around roses, spread around the drip line to keep them going over their long flowering period, watering / rain will take it to the roots as required. Once rose leaves have hardened off a little green fly can be dealt to.

Organic green fly spray on roses: I picked a bunch of new seasons rhubarb this week, cooked the sicks and from the leaves made an insect deterrent spray as follows.

3 or 4 rhubarb leaves roughly chopped, into 4 cups of boiling water, simmer for 20 mins then allow to cool. Strain, pressing rhubarb leaves in the strainer to get full leaf infusion. 

Spray: mix 1 teaspoon detergent or (baby shampoo if you have) to 2 1/2 cups of cold water, then blend this soapy water to the leaf infusion in a spray bottle. Spray onto roses and any other ornamental plants that succumb to green fly. Store left over leaf infusion by freezing, each application works best when fresh. Unfortunately it is not to be used on eatable plants, I use a garlic concoction on veg, which I will list next week.

Most lovely Camellias are still flowering but once finished they can be trimmed and shaped, take out branches from the middle if a bush is dense and bushy. This lets the light in to help form next years buds,there should be enough gaps for a bird to fly through. 

Hostas are starting to leaf now, so watch when working around them in the garden, it will not take much to knock the point off the new leaves, keep well watered and give them a dressing of compost and blood & bone, plus I will be trying different organic concoctions on hostas as well this year because Scruff the dog will soon sniff out, and down slug bait!! Slugs come in their droves if they get a sniff of hostas, they slide down into the center of clumps to lay eggs and the young then feast. Because the clumps are just beginning I will concentrate the concoction on where the eggs will be and will place sharp barriers around the outside edge of clumps that slimy slugs will need to cross and will try Diatomaceous earth,  known organic slug repellent.  

Slugs and other garden pests

Apply as a barrier around plants and garden beds. Reapply after rain. Any diatomaceous earth that washes into soil will continue to benefit your garden, since it acts like vermiculite in retaining water for future slow release. To insects DE is a lethal dust with microscopic razor sharp edges. These sharp edges cut through the insect's protective covering drying it out and killing them when they are either dusted with DE or if it applied as a wettable powder spray. If they ingest the DE it will shred their insides. Breathing in of Diatomaceous earth is not good for us so wear a mask, once settled on the plant or ground it is not harmful. ( While researching this I found that Talcom powder contains diatomaceous earth), could dust down in the center of hosta's with talc?? will let you know how my experiments pan out.

Lillies are pushing up, put in stakes to support them to before they get higher and never let them dry out, same for peony roses they do so much better growing up through holding stakes. 

I have been noticing a few ornamental cherry blossom trees with root stock branches being left to grow, all flowering cherry trees are grafted onto a strong root stock of a very ordinary white blossom tree. Cut rogue branches off while still small, If allowed to develop they will take over the whole tree. If you do have a tree with lovely pink or white blossom and you notice some blossom looks different then most likely it will be a branch growing from below the graft.

Lawns are really going for it now which means the ground has warmed enough to sow grass seed, sow thickly to beat weeds and birds, keep moist and you should have a strike in no time. Don't fertilise newly struck grass, all fertilisers will be too strong. I have roughed the ground up a little and sown seed in the bare patches left by moss removal and grass grubs then covered seed lightly with sifted soil.

Vegetables:

Plant shops are full of veg and herb plants, seeds, tomatoes plants and seed potatoes, from now on it is so easy to grow your own food. If you do not have an existing vegetable garden but you do have a patch of vacant ground, clear it, dig it or rotary hoe it, edge it with what ever you have on hand , lime stone blocks, tree branches or sleepers. Spray the weeds around the outside of your edging so they will not encroach on your planting space then go for it, get planting at this time of the year everything will grow fast and well as long as you keep the water up and hoe the weeds away. Compost will be needed only on ground that had large tree's or hedges growing near by. Once worked up, vacant soil should be rich enough to plant straight into. 

Corn and pumpkins need to be planted now to assure the long ripening season they need. Carrot seed planted now should mature before the carrot fly is on the wing again to lay the second generation of eggs. If carrot fly has been a real problem for you in the past I would cover rows with insect net once germinated from October until April which includes the three generational life cycle of the carrot fly. I have been told Resistafly F1 hybrid Egmont seeds are less likely to be infested. The fly is attracted to the carrot smell while flying low to lay her eggs so thinning out of carrots is almost like calling the flies.  Plant seed with a little river sand keep sowing's thin.

If it's a Herb garden you are keen to make and have chosen a sunny spot, dig in some old stable manure and lime before planting, all herbs like both. Why not plant up some mixed herb pots now and they will be ready to give as Christmas presents. 

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago September 24 2014

The ever changing weather of spring certainly came into focus this week, with very chilly then warm nor wester days which meant hosing topped the list of things to do with so much lush new growth happening moisture needs to be kept up.

This week all our gravel paths have had a work over, they pack down hard over winter and need grubbing and raking to get them weed free and looking fresh again. We use crushed marble from the Dunback Quarry this includes a good amount fines in the mix which help the gravel settle nicely.

Also during the week I potted on lavender and hedge cuttings taken at the end of last summer. Hedges are not for everyone because of needing to be trimmed, I love a nice hedge separating areas in a garden and because a lot of plants are required to grow a hedge I like to try my hand at cuttings. I also planted fast growing gap fillers into containers which I plan to use in my long perennial boarders once Lillie's, peony roses and other spring and summer flowering plants have finished. I plant them now so good roots establish, then cut them back and let them regrow to take them right through until the beginning of next winter. Plants I use for this are mignonette, Anthriscus sylvestris ‘(Raven’s Wing), Marguerite daisy, geranium, cineraria  silver dust and fuchsia.

Now is the time to take tubular begonias out of dry storage, I see mine are starting to sprout a little. I have been cutting large tubas with a sharp knife into smaller individual pieces each with a noticeable shoot ready to plant into baskets and containers.
The showy red flamboyant begonias become nice big tubas in time and by cutting sections off them each year you will achieve a nice boarder of them in no time. It's best to lift them at the end of their growing season each year because like dahlias they can rot in really wet ground like it has been this year. All begonias love any fertiliser with a seaweed of fish content.

All of this month is the time to layer azaleas and rhododendrons and low growing magnolias, any shrubs that lay their branches close to the ground can put out roots by pinning a low growing slim branch down to the soil and firming in with compost and soil. Hopefully by the end of this growing season this branch will have developed strong roots, leave growing like this off the Mother plant for another year then cut free and pot up to grow on as a new bush.

Lawns,
New lawns sown now on the coast and as soon as we have a few nice sunny days in a row to warm the ground up the grass seed will strike, as I have mentioned before seed must be sown thickly in spring to beat the annual weeds.
Keep the mower blades up when cutting spring grass to allow it to thicken up and feed a little each time it rains and they will stay lush..


Vegetables:
Still no white butterfly's about (in my garden) keep planting out but with the winds deep watering is required. Keep mounding up potatoes as they push leaf through and cover at night should there be another cold snap which will blacken off new growth.
I have had peas in over winter and they are now producing full pods for our little Grandies. Like climbing beans, peas they need to be planted in an open sunny place and support has to g o in when they are planted so they are not disturbed once growing.
I have had some climbing beans in my plastic zip up for a couple of weeks but no sign of them yet, beans like the ground to be warm before they get going.
All the veg seeds I planted at the same time are up and doing well, tomato, lettuce, carrot,corn and silverbeet that I grow year round for my chooks and birds.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago September 17th 2014

Rain at last in North Otago and what a difference it has made to new growth and the lawns. I was out in the rain with the lawn fertiliser to boost them even more.
We now have the hum of bees back with the flowering cherries in blossom, I was beginning to get a little worried by their absence. It's a joy to be planting out bedding plants and putting the finishing touches to gardens this week. I think every gardener enjoys trying new plants and colour combinations and now is the perfect time to sow seeds for summer flowering, but keep an eye on seeds if you have them germinated. Until now I have had mine under glass and some hardening off under frost cloth, this week I noticed they are up and in need of thinning and regular watering. I thinned them by transplanting some like Pansy and dianthus which have shallow roots into deeper seed trays and those with longer deeper roots like lupin, hellebore and Oriental poppy into their own individual small root pots. The shallow rooted plants transplant well into the garden or baskets from a tray but it is best to have a well developed root ball attached to the stronger, deep rooted seedlings when planting out.
Baskets and pots need to be thought about now, again use only shallow rooted plants for baskets like pansy, lobelia, small type petunias, nemesia, and trailers like Virginia stock and dwarf sweet pea, with the addition of slow release fertiliser and water Chrystal's to keep them going. The roots of what you want to plant will determine the size and depth of a pot.

I have removed a lot of old stalky lavenders that were on their final chance to thrive last growing season. English lavenders eventually get leggy and past it, don't nurse them thinking they will come back because they will probably not, dig them out and replace with new fresh plants.
I looked around the garden for plants to make an edge to take place of where a row of lavender had been, I have new lavender plants now in the spot but they are as yet tiny. I found just the thing, a large clump of lambs ear growing in my rockery which had doubled in size, I dug half of it out and broke it up into single plants. Silver is a perfect shade to use as a break between strong and soft shades and will grow in sun or semi shade, lambs ear also has the added bonus of being an interesting texture.

Potted roses and hydrangeas need a deep pot which will not heat up and cook the roots at the height of summer. Tin foil around the inside of a pot before filling,( shinny side facing out) will help keep roots cooler, for roses, camellias, azales, hydrangeas and small trees and shrubs. All potted plants need excellent drainage and a consistent supply of food and water. If a potted plant is left too dry, for too long between  watering's it will never thrive or look lush and healthy.

Roses are really leafing up now and the warmer it becomes the more aphids ( green fly) will be about, aphids settle on the top new growth of rose bushes and are easily visible on new small leaves for you to dispose of by removing with finger and thumb. I leave spraying until leaves are well grown and have hardened up a little.

Lawns:
New lawns sown on the coast should result in a strike now that the ground is warmer, as I have mentioned before seed must be sown thickly in spring to beat the annual weeds. Keep the mower blades up when cutting spring grass to allow it to thicken up and feed lawns just before or during rain and they will stay lush.
Vegetables:
 Here on the coast Plant lettuce plants at two week intervals and any spare ground could be planted out in seed potatoes. My board beans are well up and flowering, I was once told to plant each bean with a little pot ash to help with rust problems, they still get a little rust but I think that's probably due to them getting too dry between watering's, like corn, roots are well up near the surface, mounding soil up over roots stops them becoming exposed and drying out too quickly.
Strawberries are starting to move towards budding, they need fed, watered and mulched, animal manure and straw, pine needles or un sprayed grass clippings will do the trick.
Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago September 10th 2014

North Otago is looking so pretty after some nice sunny days this week, masses of lovely blossom and daffodils everywhere, 

"Spring makes it's own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer."~

G. B Charlesworth.

This week I have been working on my ponds,over flowing them and cleaning out leaves. Water lillies, oxygen weed and water iris's are starting to make a move. A couple of years ago a helper and I removed all the yellow bog iris's from the big pond, this was a much needed job because this common yellow iris was spreading so fast and took up a quarter of the pond with mat it's forming roots ( lesson learned, don't plant yellow bog iris in a domestic pond) The place for this iris is along the banks of a creek, the fibrous roots are fantastic at holding the sides back from erosion. Don't be tempted to add bull rushes to a domestic pond either, they also spread too quickly. 

Now the sap is up, I have been removing unwanted growth from prunus trees, (flowering cherry) it has been said that this is the best time to make cuts in prunus to avoid the spread of silver leaf which can spread from tree to tree while in the dormant stage. Cut out  any weak growth and cross over branches before they grow thick. After fruiting take the height down on fruiting cherries & plums if they have grown beyond picking height as they tend to fruit on the top branches.   

Cut out all dead branches from beneath Kilmarnoch willows if you have them, this is the ornamental pussy willow used so often now in small gardens. Each new branch grows out from the bud of last years growth. All subsequent years growth dies and builds up under the new growth. The grafted weeping tree is much nicer to look at with all those dead branches removed and it is easier to do this when bare of leaves.

Keep feeding new spring growing plants (other than bulbs ) with liquid plant food to encourage strong growth and plant, plant, plant all the pretty spring seedlings on offer now.

Lawns, 

Lawns benifit greatly from an early spring feed of lawn fertiliser but this works best with rain to wash it in. Because we have had no rain as yet I have been moving the sprinkler around. 

Vegetables:

The soil is warming up and the sun is staying around longer. Everything is now coming to life for spring, so this is a busy time for gardeners who will be sowing, planting and fertilising their edible gardens.

Get pumpkin, butternut and squash seeds started now under protection, they need a long warm growing season to grow and ripen.

It is good to be planting salad veg again, keep planting leafy veg as you use the veg you have carried over the winter months...still no white butterflies or aphids about in my garden. As an early season deterrent start spraying fish emulsion on both veg and flowering plants. This will feed the plants and repel pests by fooling them into thinking their favorite food is now protein not vegetable. Have some ready in a spray bottle to repeat after rain.

Once seed potatoes have sprouted get them in the ground. Our Weston School caretaker supplied the Children,s garden  with cut down car tyres to fill with the fantastic compost he has made to plant out in potatoes. Four seed potatoes in each tyre and once leaves appear another tyre is placed on top and filled with more compost, four more potatoes are planted in this tyre. The tyres are said to keep the growing conditions warmer than the ground. When grown we will have 5 x two tyres high of new pototoes, Yum! 

Fruit: All deciduous fruit trees can still be planted in September while the plants are just coming out of dormancy . The widest selection will be available in garden stores now.  All fruits require a position in full sun. Shelter from prevailing winds is preferable.

Spray stone fruit trees on bud burst with Super Copper to protect from leaf curl disease. 

Strawberries: will do well with a dressing of feriliser specifically formulated with extra potassium, I am sure there will be one on offer especially for strawberries.

All other berries on offer should be planted now to settle in to a season of fruiting.

Cheers, Linda.