Gardening in North Otago 1st March 2017

The odd lovely summer day this week along with coastal mist, heavy dews and darker mornings......beginnings of autumn. There are parts in our garden that are really tired now particularly the long boarders which I plan to attack today. Cut back border and rockery perennials as they finish flowering then top dress with compost and some blood & bone to give all a gentle boost. To get superior blooms on gerberas, dahlias, delphiniums and chrysanthemums dead head and give fortnightly feeds of liquid fertiliser, remove excess buds from large flowering chrysanthemums they will be putting on a show soon. With our frequent summer showers and the now heavy dews I feel gardens will carry on as in summer until the first frosts, dead heading will encourage flowering rather than seed producing. With summer moisture supplying roots leaves will most likely turn and fall later this autumn but from past experience it will be a long raking up season with nature enforcing leaf drop bit by bit!! Wrenching: I would dearly love to shift shrubs but I know they would suffer by being shifted at this time of the year even if water was kept up to them, best to wait until winter when the sap is down. However if you have no option and have to shift trees and shrubs a root ball would need to be as wide as the plant and as much of the tap root as possible, the planting hole should be twice as big as the root ball, compost or peat added then filled with water before planting and firming in with a secure stake to protect the transplant from wind movement. I always leave a hose dripping down into roots until I feel things have settled. It would not be as traumatic if a transplant were first wrenched to cushion from shock. Wrenching is when one half of the roots are dug around and lifted, then compost or peat is added under them for new feeder roots to grow into, the untouched roots on the other side will continue to feed the tree or shrub, wrench now and transplant in winter when plants are dormant. Those who are lucky enough to pile garden waste in a stock paddock be mindful of what is being left leaving stock to eat. There are a number of common plants that can poison animals and Children : Arum lillies, Calico bush, Daphne, English yew, foxglove, Hemlock, Holly berries, Iris, Ivy, Kowhai (especially seeds) Laburnum, Lily of the valley, Ngaio, Night shade,Privit, Rhododendron, Rhubarb (leaves) Spindle berry, Potato ( green berries & green tubers) Lawns: The lawn weeds sprayed here last week are wilting away, even the Hydrocotyle which I thought was not going to succumb to the spray. I am ready with grass grub granules next significant rain fall we get, seeing where the grubs are eating away at the roots of grass, mostly in the ground at the foot of trees the night beetles strip leaves from, (Grass grub turn into these beetles). Veg and fruit: New veg plants have gone in here, board beans and carrots are up and going strong and new leaf veg don't look back once planted in the warm moist ground, cover from birds when first planted they seem to go for the small newly planted. I am picking corn, potatoes, carrots, celery, runner beans and cabbage and knowing they are free from pesticides makes them even better. I sprayed the grapes with the milk solution last week and plan to do it twice more, as this was suggested in the article I read for eradicating powdery mildew, I will let you know the end results. Dig out old spent strawberry plants that have finished cropping and discard. Plants that are being kept for another season should have runners cut off now to preserve the strength of the main clumps. Transplant strong runners and keep the water up to them until they make roots. Apples, late peaches, nectarines and quince are the next picking crops then walnuts will be falling..... Tis the giving season. Cheers, Linda. http://nzstyleforever.blogspot.co.nz

Gardening in North Otago February 14th 2017

First frost on Monday night, February??? Because of this years summer rain trees, shrub and plants will continue to put out new growth while the ground stays warm and moist, here is hoping for summer continuing into autumn and autumn continuing well into what should be winter. My wheelbarrow has been busy this week, with so much growth the cutting back seems endless, any plant or bush that has finished flowering needs cut back to where the new growth is starting to appear.  Hebe's finish flowering and make seed very quickly, cut all those seed heads and stems off, the bush will look bare but will soon push out new growth and stay the size you require it to be. Photinia bushes and hedges trimmed now will reward you with new bright red foliage in April / May. Roses will be enjoying the bursts of rain but with the sun so hot at other times the ground and roots become dry, roots drying out between watering's will respond with yellowing leaves, rust and black spot, don't be alarmed these are usually old leaves but will soon spread to new leaves if left. Remove them before they fall and spread disease into the ground even if it means removing most of the bush, new leaves will soon take their place. Roses should continue budding up and flowering for many more weeks. Buddleias, ( the butterfly bush) tall thin arching branches with grey/blue leaves and lavender, purple or pink long narrow flower heads, cut them back almost to the ground when they have finished flowering. They grow back very quickly and are best grown at the back of a border. Garden centers are full of lovely bedding plants and shrubs right now, read labels regarding where to plant, sun/shade, with shrubs frost tolerance is important, I have noticed some tender shrubs not suitable for hard frost areas on offer, they look nice but have probably been grown under cover and would not cope with frosts if planted out in the open, in pots under cover they should be ok. Lawns: The evidence of grass grub will soon be noticeable in tree shaded area, the adult brown beetles tend to lay eggs under the trees they feed on. There was an absence of product for a couple of years but I see there are choices back on the market. Eggs of the NZ grass grub are laid in the soil during summer; normally hatching after about 2 weeks. The small larvae feed on the grass roots, infested grass dies off leaving a dead mat. The grubs can feed about 15 cm below the soil surface but right now they should be only 5cm below, control of the grub requires getting insecticide to this level in the soil. Treatment is most effective from February to March. Fruit: A strange fruiting season, my raspberries, flowered, started to fruit then stopped in the early stages, apricot's were few compared to last year as were the strawberries. Apples, quince, late peach and walnuts are plentiful but my grapes have succumbed to to powdery mildew again. I am loathe to use a chemical spray so will try this organic method which is fast, inexpensive and backed by science. Mix 1 part whole milk and 9 parts water and thoroughly spray effected plants. Spraying in full sun works the best, spray once a week but don’t spray more often than that because it can cause another kind of mold to grow on your plants. This technique was developed specifically for zucchini by a Brazilian scientist named Wagner Bettiol, www.sciencenews.org/blog/food-thought/dairy-solution-mildew-woes Bettiol’s research triggered an organic gardener and vintner, David Bruer to try the milk mixture on his vineyards. And guess what? It worked there, too! I am sure this method would be best applied just as leaves open but I have given my grapes, with fully grown leaves a good drowning with this and now await results. Vegetables: Keep planting all vegetable plants in rotation...if you now have a space where root veg were growing fill it with leafy veg and visa versa. Any spaces you have vacant fill with a green crop, wheat, barley, oats, blue lupin or mustard seed. Dig into the soil before it flowers. The humus created from a green crop is about the very best thing you can do for tied soil.  

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago February 8th 2017

Not much watering had to be done this week after the rain, it was really needed to help gardens recover from those hot nor wester days. The hedge trimmer has been on the go again here and yes the plants and shrubs did shudder to their roots when it came their way! If it needs it, it gets it! Trimming with secateurs is not practical for us with such a large garden and at this time of the year you can not do too much damage so if hedges need height and width taken well back the regrowth time is pretty quick. My buddleia's have been flowering for a while now attracting butterflies, but now they need all that new growth cut well back to encourage new fresh growth to taken through autumn and winter. Buddleia's are a great fill in bush and look attractive with their blue green foliage even without the blue, pink or white flowers, plant at the back of a border and you will not be sorry. Begonias, petunias and Lilly's are taking center stage now begonias are tropical perennials and like partial shade. Strong sunlight will burn leaves and blossoms. If growing in dense shade they will grow more leaves than flowers and wind protection is needed because stems are damaged by strong wind. They prefer high humidity not wet soil, let the top inch of soil dry out before watering. Petunias: dead head often, cutting back and feeding petunias will keep them flowering for ages. Lillies: should be in good draining soil but never be allowed to dry out, mulching helps with this. Lilies do not re bloom, remove faded flowers so plants don't waste energy making seeds. Leave foliage until it turns brown and energy is stored for next years flower, cut dead stalks in late autumn. large lily clumps can be divided up and shifted straight after flowering Dividing bulbs: The rains this week will have triggered autumn and winter flowering bulbs to break dormancy so time is limited for lifting and dividing congested clumps. Anemones and ranunculus: will be in Garden centers now I pop them in the fridge for a month in paper bags (not plastic) then soak them overnight in tepid water before planting (stratification), this simulates the winter chill then they are stimulated into growth with the water warmth before planting. Staggering the planting over several weeks will extend the flowering. Lawns: continue to stay green with the rain and warmth which means no slowing down in growth. I spot sprayed lawn weeds again this week, clover really takes off if left and daisies like the continual rain watering, then there is that creeping tiny leafed weed with yellow flowers that forms a mat in lawns. Every little plant off this needs to be zapped because it flowers and seeds very quickly and spreads from lawn to lawn when mowing. Fruit: It is time to shorten back fruiting leaders on grape vines, the growth is needed for the grapes that have started to form. If a leader has produced too many bunches remove some with shortening back. Veg Garden: Get seeds in garden now for autumn veg, lettuce, carrots, beetroot, dwarf beans, parsley, parsnip, silver beet. Keep mounding up potato rows to encourage bigger shores, corn can be mounded also when it gets to about knee high. They have a shallow rooting system and the mounding helps to keep them upright in strong winds. Corn demands a very high level of nitrogen. The more available nitrogen, the closer plants can be spaced. Cheers, Linda.