Gardening in North Otago January 16th

Whew! what a scorcher this week with the nor west wind, thank goodness for all that lovely moisture in the ground.  However it takes no time for things to dry out here in North Otago and the Waitaki valley was green for an unusually long time since spring but I see it has now reverted back to the dry summer conditions that we are used to.

Rhododendons, camellias and azaleas  are shallow rooted so keeping moisture up to them is important,  a layer of mulch and a good soaking now and then will keep them happy. Also keep an eye on maple trees,  I find they suffer during hot drying winds and let you know by leaves turning brown spoiling the lush look of them but they soon recover after a good soaking.

Roses are doing well now, dead heading  keeps them making new flower buds and a dressing of manure or blood and bone or rose fert now would give a boost. 

Hydrangeas and Dahlias are taking center stage right now, wonderful vibrant shades in both after such a good supply of moisture but with such a lush start some dahlias will need staking before they get top heavy. 

Hard wood cuttings of hydrangeas are best taken in early summer, choose a steam that has flowered and is pushing out new leaf growth, cut just above a bud around 6 inches long, remove remaining leaves and soft growth. Push cuttings into sharp river sand or crusher dust, place in warm shade and keep moist. They take a while to make roots so don't be tempted to pull out until you notice new growth. Once rooted pot up and keep moist and feed often to encourage strong growth, they should be ready to plant into the garden next spring when roots have filled the pot.

Seeds are popping and with two little Grand Daughters helping I now have small paper bags holding seed from delphiniums, dianthus, poppies, foxglove, hollyhock, sweet peas, lupins plus many more to come. With fast germination and growth seed trays are best kept outside in light shaded and mist watered only when the top layer of mix is dry. Over watering will encourage collapse as roots are too few to take in excess moisture.

Look around plants that have dropped seed from spring flowering plants in your garden, I have found nice little seedlings of pansies, viola, hellebore's, sweet William and aquilegias, which I pot up to get strong root growth before planting out.  Remove seed heads off anything you do not want to spread, that goes for weeds as well, make sure you whack the seed heads off and dispose of if you don't have time to deal with removing. 

Lawns

Keep an eye out for grass grub evidence, brown patches left as they munch the roots. they are most active from February to May.  For a few of years there was no product to deal to them but now I see some back on shelves. I did not see many brown night beetles around this year, maybe grass grub numbers will be down because of wet ground. 

Fruit: Seasonal fruit and veg are plentiful now for freezing or preserving, strawberries, cherries are still going and stone fruit is plentiful now so worth a drive up the Waitaki valley if growing fruit is not your thing.  

Vegetables:  Heaps of growing time ahead so keep sowing root veg seed and plants. carrots (harvest April / may) parsnips (harvest June)

board beans (harvest May / July) cabbage sow in seed tray, plant out in 4 weeks (harvest April May ) cauliflower sow in seed tray, plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest May / July) leeks grow in seed tray plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest May / June) lettuce I sow butter crunch now and stagger it right into winter

onions grow in seed trays, plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest July - October)

silverbeet (harvest March / April

Cheers Linda.