Gardening in North Otago September 29th 2015

October

This month is where chasing weeds becomes a full time job - Hoeing and hand pulling weeds is still the best option in planted areas.

If you are clearing a garden to plant out for a summer show I suggest clear all annual weeds, pull out, or dig well under. Couch grass and Convolvulus need to be taken right out, get each long runner under the ground and any little pieces that may have been chopped with the spade, they grow and spread very fast if left, I spot spray them with round up while they are just coming through the ground  in badly effected areas. Once all obvious weeds are gone cover the area with weed free compost, thick enough to keep the light from allowing any weed seeds left behind to germinate. If you do not have your own compost try the compost produced at Pukeuri meat works, mulch from the Recourse recovery park or mushroom compost, any medium that has been heated to the point of destroying any seeds that it once contained. 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 any weed seeds blown in or dropped by birds.

.

A healthy garden starts with feeding plants now at the beginning of the new growing season is the answer. Powered plant food should always be watered in, if you have home made compost ready add to it eight parts (by weight) blood and bone and one part sulphate of pot ash this will to add food and a flowering and fruiting component. I often mention using old stable manure around roses which will keep them going over their long flowering period but don't dig the manure in as this can cause root damage, watering will take it to the roots as required. Also keep it away from the trunks and steams, extend out just beyond the drip line enabling the food to be on the outer third of of this circle where the most active feeding roots are.

If like me you have areas in your garden that you have trouble establishing lawn or an area that has been garden but is now vacant from the felling of trees and you need time to decide how to plant it out, why not turn it into a wild flower garden for this growing season? The beginning of spring is the perfect time to prepare and plant a wild flower garden. I have an area at the top of my hill garden that is exposed to wind and has become to dry and firm for growing grass, I plan to soak the ground then break it up enough to work in some compost and keep soaking until moisture is well down, then sow the area in wild flowers and hopefully in the autumn the ground will be improved enough to achieve an autumn grass sowing. Wild flower meadows require maximum light, full sun however I came across a seed merchant that offers a wild flower selection for the shade so will be trying that mix in shade areas as well. 

Most gardeners save sun flower seed from year to year, I adore seeing theses big happy flower faces en masse following the sun, planted out in groups where they can stand high behind existing shrubs and any sunny bare areas that need brightening up.

This being a late spring most camellias are still flowering beautifully, once finished flowering they can be trimmed and shaped, remove branches from the middle if a bush is dense and bushy to let light in, there should be enough gaps for a bird to fly through to allow future bud forming, 

Hosta's are starting to leaf now, give them a dressing of compost and blood and bone while leaves are still small. Slugs are sitting in wait to munch on those beautiful leaves and how disappointing it is to one day find leaves full of holes, for those who can't use slug bait try a collar of gorse prickles, pine needles, coffee grounds, or coarse grit.

If you have a blossom tree and notice some blossom looks different then most likely it will be a branch growing from below the graft, cut it right out because it will become stronger and in time will become the tree.

Lawns are really going for it now and need fed often during the growing season, have some lawn fertiliser on hand for the next decent rain, this is the very best time to apply lawn fertiliser to established lawns. If applied in dry sunny weather it is likely to burn grass off. I am busy raking out and resowing the damage caused by grass grubs, Grrrrrrrrr I get so sick of doing this each year.

Vegetable garden

The shops are full of veg, herb plants, seeds, tomatoes plants and seed potatoes, from now on it is so easy to grow your own food. All Tomato plants apart from Russian red and sweet 100's need to be growing in a warm glass or tunnel house to do well.

Once again I will encourage those who do not have an existing vegetable garden but do have a patch of vacant ground, to clear it and edge with what ever you have on hand, lime stone blocks, tree branches or sleepers and build up with top soil and compost. 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 grow well as long as you keep the water up and hoe the weeds away.

Corn and pumpkins need to be planted now to assure the long ripening season they need but protection for both at night may still be needed. I have made a mound of soil and horse manure in a sunny vacant area near my raised vegetable gardens for pumpkin plants to grow and spread down the mound and over the ground.

Herbs are growing fast, Pretty painted pots planted out in herbs now will be full and ready to give as Christmas gifts, everyone, I am sure would appreciate this useful living gift.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago September 25th 2015

Still experiencing hard frosts here in North Otago which means cold morning starts but it soon warms up and becomes pleasant working conditions. However the cold nights and mornings are holding spring back and because of this I have had time to give trees and plants a ride in the wheel barrow to be settled in a more suitable spot and after Wednesday's soft rain everything in the garden will be happy. 

I have spent a good few hours over the past two weeks digging out acanthus mollis, (bears breeches, oyster plant) from a garden that always looked ok with the dramatic leaves of acanthus but having removed the three mop top's it was under planting this garden needed to change. Acanthus mollis has invasive thick roots which filled my wheel barrow many times and I am sure the evidence of roots I missed will still be popping up.This garden now features a tall standard weeping white mulberry in the center, an edge of hellebore's for early winter interest and lupins filling the rest of the space for a spring display before the mulberry puts out leaf.  

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 the trimming, 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 put in cuttings. Also in early spring I pot up fast growing gap fillers to use in my long perennial boarders once spring and early 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 mignoette, geranium, fuschia, geranium, cineraria silver dust and anthriscus sylvestris ,I call it bronze Queen Anns lace, spreads from seed profusely but pulls out easily and is a wonderful gap filler with its large feathery bronze leaves and clusters of small white flowers.

I absolutely love sweet peas, I have had groups sitting over winter for an early flowering and today have planted more to scramble up behind lower plantings in the boarders. Sweet peas are gross feeders so a trench filled with well rotted animal manure below the soil they are sown in is beneficial.

This is usually the time to take tubular begonias out of dry storage, as they begin to sprout but with it still being so cold there is time enough to do this. The showy edging flamboyant begonias become nice big tubas in time and by cutting sections off them each year you will achieve a boarder 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 wet ground during winter, All begonias love any fertiliser with a seaweed of fish content.

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

Ponds will be warming up now, mine started to grow green slim on sunny days, the addition of un sprayed straw weighted down with rocks will help in keeping water clear, barley straw is said to be the most efficient, It takes a couple of weeks after the straw is introduced to get the pond water working as it should. My pond is still not warm enough for the oxygen weed to put on new growth but I see the water lillies are starting to move. Keep fertiliser from drifting into ponds, slime growth is encouraged by added nitrogen. 

Lawns,

New lawns sown now on the coast will strike as soon as we have a few nice sunny days in a row to warm the ground up, as I have mentioned before seed must be sown thickly in spring and kept moist to beat 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..

Fruit: 

Blue berries are a popular fruit and a health benifit, Blue berry bushes need to be growing in an acid soil with consistent moisture. I have watered my bush well and mulched with pine needles which will gently make the soil beneath acid.

Vegetables:

Still no white butterfly's about (in my garden) keep planting out green and root veg.Get the sprouted seed potatoes in and mounded if already in and up.

Too early and cold for beans right now.

All the veg seeds I planted at the same time are up and doing well lettuce, carrot, corn (protected from frost) and silverbeet that I grow year round for my chooks and birds.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago 16 September 2015

This week started with a heavy frost then Tuesday gave us the nor wester wind which was a nice reprieve from the cold for the function held in our garden that day, BUT the wind can stop now before the ground dries out and all the new blossom is blown off!!!  Yes I know, Gardeners are never happy! With the wind the hoses come out, I have been watering different areas of the garden each day to keep things going having had the nod that we could be in for frequent dry periods, deep soak hose watering works best on windy days

Roses are top priority right now : 

Things to watch out for are die back after Winter, not all branches make the grade, if they have been affected cut them right back to new growth.

Watch for growth below the graft, it comes up from the root stock, is usually a different colour and leaf to the other grafted branches. Cut it right out because it is stronger and will leave the grafted branches behind. All roses are grafted onto strong disease resistant root stock of an insipid flowering rose.

Once leaves are fully out and have hardened off spraying can begin to keep your bushes healthy, use what works well for you every 10 to 14 days if you are new to roses good old shield or guild will do the job, they combated both insects and disease.

I prefer maintaining mine organically by keeping them well fed and if needed spraying with fish emulsion and pyrethrum spray plus a natures way fungicide. Fish emulsion feeds the bushes and fools the insects into thinking that the foliage is protein.

Keep rose crowns clear of soil and remove any lower leaves that come in contact with the ground, they will allow fungal infections to travel up into the bush especially after rain.

Do not water rose foliage at the end of the day and go into the night wet, mildew thrives on wet rose leaves at night.

Eliminate stress right from the start of the season by supplying lots of food for new growth and deep watering, a rose bush will always let you know if it is stressed by dropping leaves and susceptibility to black spot and rust, it is hard to bring a rose back to good health after being stressed.

If you were given a cyclamen in flower it is now time to plant it outside in a cool shady spot to finish the growing year, keeping an eye that moisture over summer and autumn is kept up. Pot up just before Winter to bring back inside to flower, they will continue to do this for many years. 

My perennial tall phlox is pushing up through the pea straw now, I will start early this year with a copper spray well down into the root area in the hope the mildew problem can be solved. I do know that tall phlox need to be grown in full sun to get the best result and the heady fragrance they waft through the garden in late afternoon is worth growing them mildew and all.

Lawns:

I have been sowing grass seed in the areas of lawn that have been effected by grass grub, I am sure the birds were delighted when they saw me doing this and were down on the seed as soon as I turned my back! I cover small areas with weighted down frost cloth or shade cloth, this still allows light and moisture through and I leave it on until the seed has germinated. once the young grass is up keep the moisture up to it but do this early in the day so the ground is not attracting fungus's by being wet and cold through the night. Sulphate of iron is great for getting rid of moss in lawns, buy a small bag from a garden centre, quantities for a watering can will be on the bag, once watered on effected areas leave until moss turns black then rake out.

Veg:

The nights have been still too cold for new young seedlings and plants without covering them with frost cloth, this goes for vegetable plants too in colder area's, I have a lot of seedlings planted early to get the roots going but the cover still goes on at night.

Get seed potatoes and peas in now and they should make good growth and be ready for Christmas and all herbs can go in now there are heaps on offer for summer cooking. Always harden new flower and veg plants off before planting out, leave them outside in a sheltered lightly shaded spot for 2 or 3 days to get them used to your outside temperature, never plant them out in the heat of the day, they will only wilt and then take a while to recover.

Fruit:

Raspberry canes need attention now:

Summer bearers produce berries on two year old canes while one year old canes grow right beside them. Older canes are brown and the new are green. In autumn older canes that finished a fruitful year should have been taken out and about 6 strong green canes left, remove all canes growing sideways.

In a row, tying these new canes into hoops keeps them neat and easy to pick, left alone all summer rows will become thickets. 

To get best fruiting results raspberry canes need to be mulched right through the summer to retain needed moisture.

Rhubarb is on the move as well now, it will be looking for some good manure enriched compost.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago September 8th 2015

Still cold and frosts here in North Otago this week but they are gone as soon as the sun comes up and are keeping the bugs away.
The cherry blossoms should be out by the time this goes to print, then the bee's will be back after a long winter for them I am sure. With spring being so late it has given me more time to shift and reduce the size of perennial plants, shift shrubs and trees and plant out bedding plants on the sunny days. I am sure every gardener enjoys trying new plants and colour combinations. Now is the perfect time to sow seeds for summer flowering, I have had mine under glass and some hardening off under frost cloth, germination has also been slow this year but I see most are up this week and some in need of thinning and regular watering. I thin 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. It is best to have a well developed root ball attached before planting out.

Baskets and pots need to be thought about now, 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. To get the best results the roots of what you want to plant will determine the size and depth of a pot, give plants depth for growing.

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 so felt they needed something in front, I found just the thing, a large clump of lambs ear growing in my rockery which had doubled in size so 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.

Hydrangeas here have now all been pruned, fuchsias can be pruned once they start showing new growth, they flower on new growth that's why growers cut them right back to encourage new fresh growth so cut back all that straggly old wood, but have the frost cloth ready in case we have another cold blast.

Dahlias will be late this year as well, I am keeping a cover of pea straw on top of mine because I feel nothing will be happening with them until well into next month.

Potted roses and hydrangeas need a deep pot which will not heat up and cook the roots at the height of summer. As I mentioned last week tin foil around the inside of a pot before filling,( shinny side facing out) will help keep roots cooler, for roses, camellias, azaleas, hydrangeas and small trees and shrubs. All potted plants need a good heavy potting mix and excellent drainage plus 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 late leafing up this spring which means we still have time to plant new ones and feed all established roses, plus we don't have to chase aphids ( green fly) yet but they will be about soon to settle on the top new growth, easily visible 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:
Prepare ground for sowing new lawns, here on the coast ground will soon be warm enough to get a strike, as I have mentioned before seed must be sown thickly in spring to beat the annual weeds. Once spring mowing starts keep the mower blades up to allow grass to thicken up and feed lawns just before or during rain and they will stay lush.

Vegetables:
Here on the coast sow lettuce seed and plant lettuce plants at two week intervals, 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. Strong winds will be with us soon so will need to secure them more than they are at the moment.
Prepare ground for planting seed potatoes.

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.