Gardening in North Otago April 7th

What a wonderful Autumn week it has been, rain and warmth to settle new plantings in before winter. 

So much can be done in gardens right now, weeding, hedge trimming, cutting back and clearing out summer growth, feeding and mulching plus raking leaves and building new compost heaps....(Whew, no pressure)  

I have taken the time this week to look around the garden to see what plants have been flowering well over the summer months and which plants have not because of trees getting taller and wider and blocking out light. The plants I found most suffering were dahlia's, some bushes have not flowered at all from lack of light and moisture they will be dug them up and transplanted into a sunnier spot and watered well, leaving the top growth on to die off back into the tubers. Other plants that have suffered the same are dwarf agapantha, roses, asters and dianthas, all of these need a lot of sunshine and light to preform well.

If looking to improve the look of established gardens a front boarder will do the trick, there are so many plants multiplying around my garden like lambs ear, with it's lovely silver textured leaf that will break up and transplant easily to form a front boarder to give a garden a whole new look. Other plants that will allow you to do this are, the variegated iris, blue grass, dwarf agapantha, hosta, Helibours, purple sage, thyme, erigeron daisy, and succulents. Plus heaps of other low growing evergreen plants that cuttings can be taken from right now to create borders like purple sage, thyme, all of these plants I have mentioned look great planted en masse in long rows to change the look of a garden.

The following annual seeds can still be sown now, aquilegia,calendula (marigold) perennial lupins, stocks, sweet peas, dianthusand are most probably now germinating around where these plants have been growing. I pot up most worthy plants that nature supplies in our garden to be planted out either before or after winter depending on the maturity of them.

Top dress lilies with blood and bone and compost, a cup full of blood and bone to each bucket of compost. If you need to shift lilies never let them dry out, get them back in the ground straight away or store them in a wet sack or towel until ready to transplant.

If you have trees and shrubs that need to be moved, wrench them now, this means digging around one half of their roots and leaving the other half untouched for a few weeks. Make a trench around the dug roots and fill with soft compost, the cut roots will form new feeder roots into the compost which will make the eventual transplant cope better. Remember plants which have had their root system reduced should also have their top growth pruned to correspond, or they may die back.

Veg and fruit

Pumpkins and squash should be bought in before the frosts starts, always picking them with a short length of stem attached.

Tomato's need all the daylight hours now to ripen so I have removed all shading leaves, tomato plants threatened by frost can be dug out and hung in a shed for the last of the tomatoes to ripen.

Sweet pepper plants that need more time to ripen can be dug up and put into a pot and placed under shelter to continue growing.

 Sow a green crop, adding humus to vacant vegetable plots will improve the soil, Blue lupin, mustard, wheat, barley or oats are good for this purpose. Dug in just before the crop reaches flowering stage. 

In cooler areas citrus trees, especially when young should given a temporary roof for frost protection put in place. 

I had two of our Grandchildren were busy treading grapes (plasic bags on feet) last weekend, the wine is started and doing it's thing. Most of my grapes succumbed to bytritis  again this season.....need to come up with an organic method of treating after pruning.

Cheers, Linda