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