Gardening in North Otago December 13th 2017

Here we are at the end of another growing year and thank goodness rain was sent to our parched land, I was out in the rain with the fertiliserfor gardens and lawns on Wednesday.  Half of this week for me has been in Wanaka helping a busy Daughter and her family and yes whipping around their garden until a trailer was filled, the other half of the week I was here doing a lot of the same here, does it never end this the cutting back of the remains of spring. I am left with gaps which have been topped up with sifted soil / compost to put body back into tired soil. Trimmed plants soon bush up again with fresh new growth and will fill out and cover the unsightly gaps. Delphiniums have grown so tall and strong here this year they pushed over the supports, its hard to stand them up again with out stems breaking so have cut them back to the broken point to continue to put out smaller flower heads. As it is count down time now until Christmas I am sure gardens will be taking a back seat for everyone. If you are going away pop all your indoor plants in the bath with a little water to keep them going and baskets and manageable pots around to the shady side of the house until your return. Dead head as many roses as you can so they can get going on their second flowering, deep water and mulch if you have the time. Then let the garden look after it's self while you have a well deserved break. 

Fruit for us Kiwis fruit ripens at the busiest  possible time for picking, it is such a waste if left to drop so maybe with some bribing Children could be recruited as pickers and then fruit popped into the freezer until your return?  laden black current branches can be cut from bushes and stripped of fruit in a cool place while having a Christmas drink, this way pruning is also taken care of. Gooseberries are the tricky fruit to pick but the end of a branch lifted with a gloved hand will find fruit hanging from the underside ready to strip off a handful at a time. I find raspberries and strawberries the most time consuming to pick but so worth the effort.

Vegetable garden: So much is ready for picking in the veg garden right now, I will be throwing shade cloth over mine to protect from sun and birds when I am not here to keep an eye things.

That's it from me for this year, our tree is ready and waiting for the pitter- patter of small feet on Christmas morning and not one of them will need to hunt for Nana in the garden. I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and all the very best for 2018.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago 6th December 2017

It's dead heading roses time again, I have been laying the rose petals out on a trestle table to dry for potpourri. The fragrance  as they dry is wonderful, It is 6 weeks from cut to new bud at this time of the year.

I have found old hellebore leaves that had not been removed absolutely loaded in green fly!! I will cut every last one out and dispose of so green fly do not fly off onto my waiting roses. It is so important right now to keep the water up to the roses, constant feeding and deep soaking at the roots will keep them healthy and not in need of spraying. A rose that is struggling will be susceptible to everything bad.
Night beetles are on the wing again, newly planted young trees are the worst targeted... they can strip leaves right off, If this happens don't be alarmed because another lot of leaves will grow. The way I dealt to them when our trees were young was to wait until just on dusk when they were thick on the trees tucking in, I then sprayed them with a kill on contact spray, this way you get rid of heaps of beetles and keep the future grass grub numbers down. Night beetles usually sleep through the day under a tree they are feeding on.
Get rid of weeds like biddy bid, while seeds are still green, where ever you see it pull it out, don't let the seeds ripen and drop.  Convolvulus is a battle here for me  popping up through plants everywhere, next winter I will make an effort to get to the roots while the garden is resting. Some gardeners have had success with soaking long convolvulus runners in weed spray solution which should kill well down through that net work of roots. Fat-hen is another weed that spreads quickly, it will be ripe now needing to be pulled before seeds drop.
Flag iris have flowered now so large clumps can be broken up and transplanted in a sunny spot. Prepare the bed by digging in fresh compost and some lime then plant, leaving half the rhizome (root) exposed to bake in the sun over summer. Long leaves can be cut half way back to reduce transpiration while reestablishing.　
While you can still see where spring bulbs have been cover them with mulch to stop them drying out over summer, Weed free compost is fine then you can plant annuals on top to fill gaps. If large clumps of bulbs flowered poorly this is a good time to break them up and plant out into smaller groups using fresh compost to give them a good start.
Montana clematis have finished flowering but wait a little longer before trimming back because they have not finished their new growth spurt, if you trim now you will have to do it all over again in a couple of weeks. However wisterias can be dealt to now, if you wisteria has nice strong flowering hard wood branches that flower well then no more will be required, remove all the new long trailers, most of these if left will in time grow into hard wood branches. A wisteria is like a climbing tree and will take over and out grow it's place in no time and become very heavy if you let too many leaders grow.

Lawns: are suffering with new growth being scorched in heat we have experienced, keep the mower blade up a little higher and mow in the cooler part of the day to help with recovery, mow without the catcher sometimes and give deep watering's rather than a light sprinkle. New lawns will need feeding and water kept up to help them to strengthen enough to cope with this summer. If spraying lawn weeds add liquid fertiliser and feed the grass at the same time, don't use sprayed grass clippings around the garden or in compost, spray containers have printed information on how long the with holding time is.
 Herbs: Culinary herbs are the original cut-and-come-again crop, if you grow them get snipping and picking. The plants really will benefit from it, and you'll have wonderful flavours to add to dishes. Most herbs and leafy plants naturally want to create seeds, and once they get to that stage, it means the end of a herb like parsley, chives or basil. So pick leaves early and often to encourage the plant to put out more foliage and prevent it from running to seed. It may be cheating Nature but it extends the life of your plants and gives you handfuls of herbs to enjoy, pick bunch and dry

Vegetables: Don't feed leaf veg now or have the soil too rich, they will put out too much soft growth and bolt, all that is needed is moisture when dry. I am experimenting with some  plant concoctions to keep the white butterfly and aphids away. 

Organic bug spray

1/2 cup hot peppers, diced 

6 cloves garlic, peeled

2 cups water

Blast in a food processor,

strain, add 2 teaspoons liquid soap (without bleach) 

Fill a plastic spray bottle and mist spray affected plants.

Cheers, Linda.