Gardening in North Otago 15th June 2016

Nice mild days early this week were great outdoor working conditions for gardeners doing the winter clean up.  It is too late in the year to trim soft trees and shrubs but ivy can be taken right back. If you have ivy growing it really needs to be trimmed at least twice a year, it is like wisteria if you are too kind to it new branch growth will want to turn into tree trunks.

This is the time to remove trees and shrubs that have long out grown their youthful beauty and replace with a younger version of the original or something different. By doing this and under planting with something new and colourful, you can change the whole look of a tired garden.

If a huge gap along a fence line will be left with the removal of a tree or shrub, fill the gap with a section of manuka screening placed behind the smaller replacement plant, it will give the plant protection and once the plant has reached the desired height and width the screening can be removed.

I found lots of rogue trees and shrubs that the birds have introduced popping up everywhere while weeding, some which have grown in among shrubs like rhododendrons and camellias and have become quite established before I noticed them so stubborn to remove. They need to be removed completely, even if it means lifting the shrub if small enough because the intruder will just keep growing stronger each year and undermine the roots of the needed plant. Self seeded plants like hellebore, lupins, poppies, pansy, viola, forget- me- not and primula and can be dug up and transplanted or potted up to grow on, they will not put on top growth at this time of the year but lots of roots will be forming.

If you have pollyantha's left in the ground from last year they will have multiplied, and will be easy to break apart and plant out separately. Polly's love dried blood it l greens them up after transplanting. If you do get some dried blood sprinkle a little around camellia's and Daphne's if not thriving.

Plant sweet-pea's now to flower very early spring.

Roses: I am leaving mine a while yet to harden wood before pruning apart from ramblers, take out old wood if possible and cut back long leaders to encourage new growth. Some old ramblers are best cut back with a hedge trimmer if they have been established for many years. 

Lawns 

Grass dried out again this week with the north west wind, it dose not take long for my lawns to harden on top with those winds so have had to soak some areas until frosts start again to draw moister up.  

Vegetables

In the vegetable garden where green leafy vegetables and onions will be growing next summer give a dressing of 250 grams per square metre of dolomite lime. If you follow a regular rotation this will ensure that most of the garden receives lime once in three years, permanent crops like rhubarb should be limed every three years as well. In gardens fed with compost rather than chemical fertilisers the PH tends to rise gradually eventually making regular liming unnecessary.

Cheers, Linda.