A little moisture this week and even a couple of days with no frost and warm sun, while I enjoy the reprieve from the chill I must admit to negative thoughts of ....shortest day soon will it be a late lingering winter??
I have had a busy Nana time lately, in Wanaka, Christchurch and now here as our three Wanaka Grandies arrived on wednesday for a few days, gardening was replaced with playing so no complaints from me.
With rose flowering finished now don't cut spent flower heads off, leave all types of roses to make seed and harden wood before the big prune next month. Have some lime sulphur on hand for a clean up spray after pruning, use on all rose bushes and climbers as well as the ground around where they are growing to kill all fungus and disease remaining from the summer flowering. Lime sulphur smells like rotten eggs when first applied, is safe for bees and is also the spray to use for the removal of lichen and moss growing on branches of trees and shrubs.
New seasons bare rooted roses should be arriving in Garden centers soon so if you plan to plant a certain type of rose or shades ask a Garden center to hold them for you so you don't miss out. Prepare ground now by digging in old stable manure or bagged rose mix. If planting a rose in the same place a rose has been growing, you will need to remove most of the soil the old rose was growing in and replace with soil from another part of the garden, disease is transferred very quickly from one rose to another. Bare rooted, winter planted roses are less likely to suffer from planting stress.
Keep the water up as the garden lets you know it needs it, soak rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and hydrangeas as they most certainly will be needing water during this dry spell,
Re-pot container grown buxus every second year or if they look pot bound.Trim the outer roots and replace any loose soil with new potting mix. Buxus make a huge amount of root growth every year and do not seem to suffer from the removal half of these roots.
Plant polyanthus, pansies, primulas and snapdragons for colour, a few poly's in a pot is all that's needed to brighten up any doorway.
Once wisterias have lost leaves water in some blood and bone and prune off all long and unruly canes because if you don't they will entwine themselves around established branches and keep growing thicker each year.
Lawns; Growth should have slowed right down now and lawns will be at the tuffty stage but like here in this garden lawn mowers will still be on the go until the last of the leaves have been picked up. On the coast in early winter there will be still some growth so these lawns would benefit from one last feed. However with lawns being as dry as the garden right now any lawn food will need to be watered in. A few weeks after feeding sprinkle some garden lime over lawns. Most grasses prefer a sweet soil and the lime will counteract any acidity. If in doubt, take some soil to a garden centre and ask to have its pH checked, if found to be below 6 on the pH scale lime will make a marked improvement in growing conditions.
Vegetables: On the coast Sow broad beans, garlic, shallots and rhubarb. Colder areas nothing much can be planted without protection.
Fruit: Bare rooted fruit trees will be arriving in garden centers soon, ask if they will be stocking required trees and have them put aside on arrival.
Ground can be prepared now for planting, choose an open, sunny position, sheltered from strong winds. Fruit trees will grow in a wide range of soil types as long as there is good drainage.
Plums and pear root stock tolerate heavier soils than most other fruit trees. Using good quality compost will improve water retention in lighter soils and improve drainage in heavier soils as well as improving fertility. Pruning of newly planted fruit trees will not take place until trees have branched. During early stages of tree development, the main goal is to develop the shape and framework which will support the heavy crops of fruit.
Pruning:
Apple Trees After initial shaping of apple trees, the only pruning necessary is the removal of excess twiggy growth. Apple trees usually produce fruit on spurs, short stubby growths attached to main branches. They continue producing on the same spurs for a number of years. Pears and cherry fruit also grow on spurs and require similar treatment.
Peach & Nectarine Trees: These trees flower on new wood made the previous summer, prune hard to encourage new growth otherwise, fruit will be produced further and further out on the branches each year. Flower buds are plump while growth buds are flatter.
Plum Trees: Plum trees produce fruit on the same spurs for several years. Once shape has been established, they require little pruning because excessive pruning can over stimulate tree growth at the expense of fruit. Remove vertical branching and water sprouts’ regularly. Look at a tree and it is easy to distinguish the water sprouts from the regular growth they grow straight up from the canopy branches and trunk and are thin and scraggly in appearance. A heavy hand when pruning may increase the number of water sprouts on the tree. When pruning plum trees in the winter only remove 20 percent of the growth from the previous year.
Cheers, Linda
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