Still no gardening for me while in recovery mode,coming from Dunedin and home a few days I was fortunate to then fall into the very capable hands of our wonderful Oamaru Hospital and equally wonderful caring Staff and now as this unusually mild mid winter weather will be getting bacteria working in my compost heaps I am concentrating on the same process for my inner well being.
Gardens will be stirring as they would in early spring during mild weather North Otago has been experiencing, very confusing for trees, shrubs, plants and bulbs as resting time is disturber but they will no doubt duck for cover again as we Gardeners will when temperatures plummet again.
How special each new bloom is in a bare winter garden, mulch works well now on all bare ground and tucked around winter flowering blooms helping to keep ground warmer and smothering annual weed seeds wanting to germinate. The clean much on offer by our local Pukeuri ( Alliance Group) meat works is ideal for this, dry ground will need a wetting if rain hasn't done this before applying the mulch.Contact for this mulch is Gregg 0272293215
Primulas and violas should be well clumped up now after an autumn cut back and because they multiply well these plants make fantastic borders. First dig out a clump and pull apart, each section with roots will become a new plant to clump up. Trim ragged perennials like cat mint back to the new growth you should be able to see coming through then dig around or muich to encourage the new roots.
If you have leggy Rhododendrons this would be a good time to cut back the height to healthy new growth lower down, this will encourage the bush to thicken up through the middle.Flower buds will be removed and It is not a quick fix as will probably take a number of years for a bush to push out enough new growth to compensate for what was removed but worth the wait.
Boost bedding plants with fish based fertiliser or a little dried blood to encourage buds during sunny winter days.
Vegetables:
This mild winter weather has been kind to producing vegetable gardens here on the coast, soups will be brimming with the addition of silver beet, broccoli, cauliflower flower, carrots, kale, leeks and all those lovely pumpkins stored before the frosts arrived. When areas of the veg garden become vacant work some compost in and let frost and worms work on soil in readiness for an early spring plant out. In cold areas start garlic off in containers and plant out later when the ground warms up.
Fruit: If your strawberry patch is manured and ready plant new strawberry runner plants in now while the ground is soft and moist. Finish planting deciduous fruit trees and bushes in a sunny site, avoid frosty hollows for early starters such as plums and pears. Frosty sites are no disadvantage for soft fruits as winter chills will stimulate fruit buds. Continue to shelter citrus in frosty gardens, they should be offering a lot of fruit to pick now ( marmalade sounds good ) this is the best time of the year to prune fruit trees however early to Late Spring is best for Peach trees they should be pruned yearly to maintain an open center, prune off the damaged wood in the early spring, this will allow the wounds to close faster as growth begins. In the early spring you should also be able to see how many flower buds have survived the cold weather. Be sure to thin the fruit on the trees to about 6 inches between fruits. The best fruit often grows at the top of the trees. Keep the tops of trees low, so they are easily accessible. Winter for Apples and pears The best time to prune your apple and pear tree is when it is dormant, you will want to cut away any overly vigorous stems, which are usually high in the trees.
Cheers, Linda
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