Gardening in North Otago February 3rd 2015

February already, where did January go?

The rains we have been experiencing here in north Otago have been fantastic, softening the ground for weeding and planting.

The first of the seeds I left to fall from spring flowering plants are up, I will wait until perennials are stronger, another week or two and then transplant them into trays to sit in the shade and keep growing ready to plant out at the end of next winter. Have a look around plants that have dropped seed in your garden, I have found nice little seedlings of pansies, viola, marigolds, hellebore's, sweet William, aquilegias, foxglove, and hollyhock to name a few. Seeded annuals can be planted out as soon as they are big enough ,they should flower over autumn.

Heaps of cutting back still going on here, early summer flowering plants like bush lavateras, buddleia, geranium, astrantha and lupins they will bush up again in no time and refill gaps.

I planted out a number of geranium seedlings before Christmas and with this hot summer they have grown into bushy flowering plants ready to fill some of the gaps. If you see any seedlings on offer grab them, they are such great flowering plants for sunny gardens and need little attention.

Take the seed heads off anything that you do not want to spread, that goes for weeds as well, make sure you whack the seed heads off even if you don't pull them out there and then .

Keep trimming hedges as they put on soft new growth and either compost the trimmings or scatter them around the garden, they are soft enough to break down at this time of the year.

Hydrangeas are looking lovely right now, I have been taking hard wood cuttings of one or two. Select a stem that has flowered and cut at a node just before a new shoot. Push the cuttings into some firm, damp shady ground where they will not be disturbed and place a pot with drainage holes over the top of them ( to let rain in). Forget about them until they start to shoot in late spring, then pot them up and get them big enough to plant out the following year in early summer.

Give roses a dressing of manure or blood and bone now as they will be ready for a boost after their first long flowering and keep the dead heading up to encourage flowering.

Give lavenders a hair cut now before they make seed, the bumblebee type will flower again, same for catnip I cut mine back twice during their flowering season then tidy them up again before winter.

Lawns

its grass grub time again, they are most active from February to May. I use a product that can be shaken on and watered /rained in well like powdered fertiliser. The grubs feed on the grass roots and leave dead patches on lawns, once a dead patch is visible they will have moved on to another area of the lawn so concentrate on the unaffected areas

Vegetables:

There is heaps of growing time ahead so keep sowing root veg seed and plants.

carrots (harvest April / may)

parsnips (harvest June)

board beans (harvest May / July)

cabbage sow in seed tray,plant out in 4 weeks (harvest April May )

cauliflower sow in seed tray, plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest May / July)

leeks grow in seed tray plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest May / June)

lettuce I sow butter crunch now and stagger it right into winter

onions grow in seed trays, plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest July - October)

silverbeet (harvest March / April

Cheers, Linda