Gardening in North Otago August

 August and lucky enough to have experienced a good rain last weekend, so needed here in North Otago to benefit the rapidly approaching spring growth.

I have started on the roses, pruning the strong heritage and climbing first and noticed the bud swell and even shoots on some which means roses are taking in nutrients so feeding with rose fertiliser or manure enriched compost is what will give them the best start and keep them healthy.

Hydrangeas will be the next to be pruned  here the wood has hardened and buds are plump, Prune only those stems that have flowered, cut at the second bud from the bottom, leave all other stems because these are the flowers for this year. Spread old stable manure around the drip line.

I filled 2 litre milk containers with worm tea from my worm farm, adding to a full watering can to the strength of black tea, apply generously to new leaf, budding and flowering plants like pollyanthas, forget-me-nots, dianthus, sweet peas, pansy, viola. Any new plantings can be helped along by folia feeding now to get roots going and keep green and strong through any cold snaps yet to come.

Slow release fertiliser is a good idea now as well, sprinkle around established ornamental and newly planted trees and shrubs, plants start feeding on awaking. 

I have noticed frost effected foliage in parts of our garden, the mild winter encouraged new growth that could not stand up to the subsequent hard frosts, damaged growth is best not removed until hard frosts are over, new growth will continue to grow beneath. 

Cuttings from hardened geranium steams can be taken now, fresh grown geraniums give amazing colour to a warm sunny garden for all of the growing season and even into the winter, they are so easy to grow from cuttings. Take short cuttings, semi hard wood, (not a new green steam) and let them dry out a little before potting, this means you don't have to deal with them straight away. Plant them firmly into a soil and river sand mix, (Potting mix is too light to get a tight seal)

Trim dentata lavender after it's winter flowering. Dentata is the tall growing one with the pale lavender bumblebee flower and serrated leaf, they are budding up now so will recover quickly from a cut back, leave trimming other lavenders until it is warmer but you can give all lavenders a dressing of lime.

Keep planting roses, peony roses and gladioli from now until September if dividing or planting lillies get them planted straight away, they never stop making roots and should never dry out.  

Cut back leggy,bush lavatera and they will bush up again in no time.

Vegetables 

I have pushed wheel barrows of manure enriched compost up to my raised veg gardens, a bit of a climb and a good work out once it had all been shoveled onto the gardens. It will not take long for the worms to do their work now that it is dug in. Planting new seasons green veg seedlings and root veg seeds will happen here in a couple of weeks while white butterflies and aphids are still on holiday.

Fruit: 

Finish pruning grapes before sap rises if left too late a grape will bleed out sap. 

Time is running out for pruning fruit trees as well, keep an eye on peach and nectarine trees they need to be sprayed with fungicide right at blossom burst if leaf curl is a problem.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago July 19th 2016

Second week of the School holidays as I write this and not much has been done in the garden here in the last two weeks with constantly  hungry Grandies needing the attention. (Scruff is in his element with balls being thrown at him from all directions.)

Only three really hard frosts so far and I notice the days are drawing out a little since the shortest day, yes, true not wishful thinking and only three really hard frosts so far which is unusual for the end of July.

After that last night of strong wind it's back to raking up, will autumn ever be a distant memory? it is important to get leaves out of every nook and cranny during winter because bugs are looking for places like this to winter over. While raking I find a lot of self sown plants in the saw dust paths which I delight in potting up.

Because there is not a lot happening in the garden right now. I thought I would write about the benefits of raised gardens, perfect for gardeners with limited time. The basic idea of a raised garden being installed is to create a contained planting space above ground instead of battling with poor soil at ground level.

Advantages of a Raised Garden bed.

1. Raised beds warm quickly in spring, allowing you to work the soil and plant earlier.

3. Drainage is better.

4. Not difficult to construct using wood or (here in North Otago) Oamaru stone seconds as a surround. If you need time to think about a permanent position for a raised beds you could make some using straw bales as surrounds for a year. 

5. It's easy to tailor the soil to plants.

6. compaction is limited.

A sunny location is a must for growing vegetables and herbs, and access around all sides with a wheel barrow is recommended for ease of maintenance. Limit gardens to around four feet wide, this way you can reach to the middle. Access to water is essential, raised gardens need good soakings.

A raised bed of six inches is enough to grow leaf vegetables and herbs and at least ten inches for root veg but I don't see the sense in not raising to a height that will limit the amount of bending needed. Once in place to the size required fill with soil and compost and plant out.

keep an eye on what is on offer for planting now, this is the very best time for choice when buying deciduous tree's and shrubs.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago July 12th 2016

Brrrrrrr, now we know winter has arrived at last bringing those hard frosts, last year the first hard frost took the front of my established bougainvillea and took all of the growing season to come back resulting in no flowers last summer. I covered it with frost cloth long before these frosts started so fingers crossed the usual display returns come summer.

Keep an eye on Margarette daisies, geraniums and palagoniums here on the coast you can protect them with frost cloth, even if the top growth has been affected frost cloth on now will protect growth further down and damaged growth can be cut back once frosts have passed,
In land towards Kurow and further in gardeners will need to take cuttings of daisy bushes, geranium and paligoniums and protect them until spring because the frosts are too harsh for that soft growth.

Dahlia tubers:  In very cold areas tuber grown dahlias should be dug up and stored after the first frost has blackened leaves, cut stems back to about 6 inches above the ground then use a fork to loosen tuber and lift, either heal into a frost free area of the garden or store in a dry place. In less frost affected areas dahlias can remain in the ground that is free draining.

Flamboyant begonias: By now gardeners will have attended to their begonias, but if not this is a reminder to dig up and store indoors until the return of warmer weather. Dig up after the first frosts have collapsed them, spread clumps on newspaper and leave in a sunny area until thoroughly dry — about a week. Once they have sufficiently dried, cut away any remaining foliage and shake off excess soil. To prevent problems with fungus or powdery mildew by dusting them with sulpher powder prior to storage. Store individually in paper bags or line them in a single layer atop newspaper placed in a cardboard box in a cool, dark, dry location.

Hydrangeas:I have decided to leave most of my hydrangeas until buds show signs of shooting,  but you can give pink hydrangeas a dressing of lime now to keep them pink and blue hydrangeas a dressing of sulphate of allium or the specially prepared blue hydrangea mix that can be bought from the garden centre

Roses, Still holding back on pruning until frosts have done the job, but compost is being spread around them to be there when needed, rose roots start looking for food long before we know it. To be ready for pruning I need to invest in some new secateurs as the pair I have been using are not cutting clean and rips on a rose prune will not allow the cut to seal this which will result in die back, sometimes claiming a whole branch. The best planting time for roses is during dormancy and there is no better time than now to find what you need. I have seen wonderful healthy bush and standard roses on offer so if your garden can do with a rose or two be in.
If winter has left your garden looking a little too bleak, the local garden centres will also have nice potted colour to brighten things up. I have noticed pansy's, wall flower, polyanthus and primula malacoydies which look fresh and bright planted in groups or as a border, make sure to harden off by introducing gradually to cold nights before planting.

Vegetables

Time to start preparing the soil for spring planting. Cultivate vacant spaces, dig in green crops sown earlier. Add compost, and lime if you feel the garden needs humus and sweetening.

This week I planted some more garlic cloves, facts, benefits and legends surrounding Garlic are so many, garlic has been a staple in both the pantry and the medicine cupboard for century's. The shortest day is traditionally garlic planting time but it can be planted through out autumn /winter. Separate cloves and plant pointed end up five to seven cm below the soil surface and about 10 to 15 cm apart. Choose a sunny location in prepared soil with plenty of organic matter worked through, garlic will also grow well in containers or pots. Garlic grows to about 60-90cm tall during winter and spring, and flower before the top growth dies off over summer. Source bulbs from a garden center as garlic bought form a supermarket may have been sprayed to inhibit sprouting.

Fruit

Once again winter is the time you will find the best selection of fruit trees in garden centres. It may be cold and miserable outside but it's the best time to buy your trees for planting. They are usually grafted and tall growing so plant up to where they were planted in the bag and stake well to protect against the wind.

To eradicate codling moth attacking apple trees. quarter fill a tin or plastic milk container with treacle and hang in the tree it is said to attract male grubs because the treacle apparently smells like the female codling moths pheromone attracting the male grub into the container to reach a sticky end. A double bonus is that the treacle will attract grub eating birds. 

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 5th July 2016

Well into July now and still the odd mild day, as long as the sun shines I am happy, dull, overcast days closing in on us around 4.30pm do not inspire gardeners to work outside, the perfect garden planning time to be a step ahead before spring planting. A big job here in our garden this week eradicating years of ivy growth, it had really taken hold and was heading in under roofing in places. Now it will be woody weed killer on cuts to finish it off. Rose pruning:Still no rose pruning taking place in our garden with wood being still too soft.The time by which rose pruning should be completed varies by several weeks from the warmest to coldest gardens, pruning should be done and dusted by the time buds break. Bush roses:concentrate on clearing the center of the bush, remove all inward facing branches at an outward facing bud, prune height back by two thirds always at an outward facing bud and remove any old and damaged branches. Brush old gnarly rose centers with a wire brush to stimulate and encourage new budding. Floribunda bush roses:like iceberg with a number of blooms on one stem need a few older branches taken right back each year to encourage new strong branching and newer branches taken back by two thirds. Hybrid tea roses:These are the roses that can grow a single exhibition bloom on a stem, these rose bushes can be pruned back quite hard to an outward facing bud. Standard bush roses:Same as bush roses. Climbing roses:These roses flower at their best when the branches are trained horizontally along a fence or wall, these branches will develop small branches along the length to carry the flowers. After a number of years a main horizontal branch will become unproductive and need to be removed, replaced with a new branch to be trained gently out to take it's place. The new branch will bud up quickly sending out small outward growing branches to harden off in a couple of years. To prune established horizontal branches, take the outward growing branches back to the second out facing bud closest to the main horizontal branch.