July has arrived and thank goodness for last weeks rain, still well down in the soil and so important for new spring growth.
With this winter continuing to be mild it changes the normal in winter gardening,
some good frost are needed to harden wood and there are definite signs of spring already around coastal gardens. Once plants have moved into the first stages of budding they should continue to bud up during the sunny winter days, camellias and rhododendrons are getting a head start and spring bulbs are well on which probably mean we are in for an early spring. Daphne bholua is in flower now wafting lovely fragrance around this garden, daphne bholua has the bonus of winter flowering and is a must for cold inland gardens having derived from Nepal's high altitude regions but unfortunately resents exposed coastal conditions. Like all daphne's, bholua can get that wilting back problem if unhappy but still so worth while in any inland garden.
Dahlias, gladioli, and peonies are in Garden centres this month and can be planted now in good draining soil, if you think there is a chance they would sit in wet soggy soil over winter they may rot. As I have mentioned often, if young trees or shrubs need transplanting now is a good time to do it whilst they are at their most dormant stage. Remember to continue protecting plants like Margarete daisies, pelegoniums, geraniums and small seedlings from frosts with frost cloth if in severe frost area.
Pruning is still on hold here in our garden, with all that rain in the ground frosts should be not far away to harden wood for an August pruning.
If like us you are still finding leaves to Rake up why not fill large black rubbish bags, add a little water then leave to rot. Leaf mulch is a natural benefit to soil, we tend to remove them all from the ground at leaf fall stage because they look untidy. Rotting leaves down in this way will make them hardly noticeable when put back on the garden for worms to take down onto the soil.
At this time of the year I make a few trips to the Waireaka Valley Lions Club sawdust and sheep manure stand, volunteers clean out calving sheds and under shearing sheds to keep the stand topped up for keen gardeners. Sawdust can be used on garden pathways as well as a weed suppressant on wet gardens to help absorb excess moisture, but never on dry gardens. I use sheep manure on the compost heaps, the vegetable garden and around the roses when horse manure is not at hand.
Vegetables: In cold areas start raising vegetable seeds for spring planting in glass houses or under glass / plastic with ventilation spaces to circulate air and stop seeds molding.
On the coast plant seedlings now on offer along with garlic cloves.
Comfrey: gardeners have long known the advantages of growing comfrey, I been reading up on it again, it is such a useful plant and if you can get your hands on some I suggest you plant some root sections in an area of your garden where it can spread (away from ornamential gardens) and send it's roots very deep down into the soil to tap into much needed nutrients. Comfrey is fast growing, high in potassium and can be cut back again and again. I have listed below some uses for comfrey around the garden.
1. Compost activator, add to your compost bin to heat up the decomposing materials and enriches the compost.
2. Put a handful of comfrey leaves into a bucket of rainwater and let them rot down for around 6 weeks to give you a rich liquid fertilizer for plants.
3. Lay comfrey leaves in a potato trench and leave for 3 days prior to planting seed potatoes to give them a potassium rich boost of fertiliser.
4. Use as a Comfrey leaf mulch around plants, by layering leaves around the stems of plants, potassium will slowly be released to the plants as the leaves break down – Great for tomatoes, beans and fruit bushes.
5. Use wilted leaves as a nutrient rich Chicken feed if they will eat it,( mine will not, too well fed I guess) Liquid form added to their water should do the trick. If you would like some comfery root please contact me. Ph: 03 4349786 also pig manure for the garden by the bag will be available next month, fund raiser for the Weston School Girls cricket team to get them to the Nationals contact: Loe 02703318214
Cheers, Linda. http://nzstyleforever.
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