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.