Is it Spring or Autumn?? with those damaging winds North Otago has been experiencing I have spent day after day raking up leaves and branches and watering. Drying winds are the last thing fresh Spring growth needs but they have arrived so we need to deal with it. Soak hoses are the way to get moisture down into the ground, wind and evaporation is zapping the ground and gardeners as well I am sure. I have been leaving the majority of the watering until late in the day in the hope that the wind will die down but no it kept up it's destructive blowing through most nights. Keep an eye on the shallow rooted shrubs like rhododendron, camellia and azaleas, newly planted tall tree's will be moving about if they are not secured to stakes, stopping roots from establishing. A couple of large rocks around the base will add weight if bare rooted trees have just been planted. Hydrangeas and roses are just making leaf so need watered daily while the winds are happening. I am pleased now that some of the cherry blossoms are late this spring, the few that had blossom here in our garden have been stripped.
Bedding plants: All bedding plants, once planted need attention, water and folia feeding. I have been sifting soil for resowing patches in the lawn and decided to use the sifted soil as a top layer to soil before planting annuals and seeds. Sifted soil packs round new roots firmly so they don't dry enabling roots to grow quickly. Soil, is after all nature given for growing and here long before we had so many other growing medium choices! BUT planting comes to a stand still on windy days, don't be tempted to plant out anything until the ground can hold moisture. Plants will last in pots and punnets until the time is right.
Plants for the right place starting with dry areas of the garden, under hungry trees or areas that drain too readily. You will be wasting your time and money planting shallow rooted plants like rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas, roses or hellebore's in these areas. It's best to group with plants that will work their roots down to look for moisture like:
Euphorbias in all their varieties, colours and sizes
Agapanthus: large and small varieties they are great on a slope.
Buddleias: To fill gaps at the back of a border, lovely sliver blue foliage and blue to cerise/ purple flowers, must be cut back well after flowering to keep bushy and at the height you require them to be.
Grass's always look good grouped together as they are in nature, they do well in the dry and add movement to the garden wafting in the wind.
Geraniums also require little attention in a dry spot once established but do need water until established.
Lupins: Are wonderful in big groups, they also need water until they become established, after the first flowering they will self seed to make their groups larger.
All these plants once established will cope with dry conditions.
Damp, Shade loving plants to consider:
Hydrangea, such a lovely bush in so many modern shades now.
Hostas with their interesting leaves
Heuchera: Not all shade loving plants have to be green. Heuchera plants come in a delightful variety of colors. Plant these as borders around the base of trees or even along the edge of walkways!
Acanthus mollis: Large bold, dark green shinny leaves, I have it planted in so many problem spots and area's where a statement plant is required but it needs to grow in a big space on its own because it has a massive root system.
Aluminum plant: (Ground cover) would be too invasive for a small area but in an area that drives you potty because what you have planted just sits long enough to be taken over by weeds this plant is fantastic with it's variegated leaves lighting up the darkest of area's, it covers the ground in no time.
Hellobores: (Winter rose) A must for every shade garden.
Ponds: I know wrote about ponds not long ago but with the warmer weather quickening up pond growth it's time to watch for slime developing which is harmful to fish if caught in their gills. A good way of clearing a pond after Winter is to flood it and most of the rubbish will float off, don't stir up the bottom as long as the water is clear on top the pond is working. If a pond fills with green slime it means that there is too much nitrogen in the water, maybe fertiliser drifted in when lawns or gardens were being feed. Or if you feed water lilies with Manure some may have leached out into the water. I have mentioned barley straw being used to clear a pond however this will be hard to come by for most people, there is a product called Barley straw extract if not able to get it locally go on line www.fishpond.co.nz/ I have heard this is a good natural product to clear ponds. Oxygen weed and pond snails help to keep ponds clear as well and fish blow eggs into the weed. When I first wanted fish in my ponds I just put in some oxygen weed from a pond full of fish and the baby fish eggs all hatched, with no older fish in the pond to eat the eggs or hatching's they had no predators so all survived. Fish start chasing each other around the pond and laying eggs when the water warms up enough for water lillies and water iris to put on growth.
Vegetable garden: Keep molding up potatoes as they show leaf, this keeps them cooler allowing more time for them to grow a bigger crop.
I have sown mixed lettuce seeds in a tray and plan to transplant them into the garden as I need them, lettuce seedlings will hold in a tray for a long time in a shady spot and only really start growing when they are fed and watered in a sunny spot. The broad beans took a hammering in the winds this week and needed a couple of good soakings, flowers are turning into small pods so the bees eventually found and pollinated them. Beans can go in now, the soil is a perfect temperature for veg growing, every seed planted will germinate and do well.
Cheers Linda.
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