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.