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.