Gardening in North Otago March 12th 2019

A small early autumn corner at Rockvale gardens

With nights cooling and days shortening it will not be long before the major leaf drop and days filled with raking them up, so I guess we need to play the waiting game for trees surrounding gardens to drop all before getting gardens ready for winter with spreading compost then pea straw. However, branches can be lifted on large tree's and climbers like wisteria, jasmine and honey suckle can be trimmed along with hedges and shrubs.

Rose dead heading now will be my last for this growing season as roses will soon need to stop putting out new soft growth. Rose wood needs time to harden before the big winter prune which means leaving spent flower blooms on to allow seed heads to grow. 

Keep dead heading dahlia's and geraniums to keep them flowering through until the first frost and continue to remove spent summer annuals so ground can be worked ready for winter flowering annuals like primulas, wall flowers, pollyantha;s, pansies and viola's. Fork in some compost and dampen well before replanting beds. 

Be on the look out for useful self sown seedlings, I am finding quite a few and transplanting now to settle in before winter. 

Spring bulbs need to planted during autumn and I see wonderful varieties on offer, plant in groups, at the right depth to bring your garden to life after winter.

Peony roses will be on offer now, they are really worth planting with their big showy blooms taking over from the spring rhododendron displays, be careful when planting not to disturb the new shoots (eyes) forming. A peony root to be planted should contain at least 3 eyes that will eventually become stems. A root with only 1 or 2 eyes will still grow, but it will take longer to flower. Taking the time to prepare the soil before planting is time well spent, plant with the eyes facing upwards and the roots spread out. Peonies are very adaptable, but they do prefer a sunny, well-drained, slightly acidic soil and benefit from compost added when planted and can remain in the same spot for upwards of 70 years. Peony roots should be planted relatively close to the soil surface; only about 2-3 inches deep. It may seem odd to leave roots so exposed, but they need a winter chilling to attain dormancy and set bud. Keep mulch away from the base of peony plants. 

Lift gladioli now : you do not need wait for leaves to die back, dry in a warm place then dust with insecticide to prevent infestation before storing in a cool place for next growing season. They can be left where they are growing if there is not a pest problem. If you want to grow a great number of gladiolus plants and don’t mind spending a few years doing it, seed germination is the way to go. Leave the flowers on the stem for about six weeks after they die off and produce hard casings filled with seeds. Sprout seeds into miniature plants and you’ll have full-sized gladiolus in about three years. For quicker results with fewer plants, try propagating small gladiolus corms. Each corm will have a number of baby corms, known as cormels or cormlets, attached to the bottom. When you remove these cormlets and plant them separately they’ll grow to flowering size in a couple of years.

It is time to empty compost bins in readiness for all in coming leaves, I have started using my compost which includes some of last autumns leaves, spring soft hedge cuttings and summer lawn clippings, a sprinkle of lime through the layers and a good amount of animal manure. With the heat and rains we have had it is rich black and full of worms. Trees, shrubs, plants and bulbs take so much from the soil during each growing season until soil reaches a stage of needing more than Man the made fertilisers which work by feeding plants and promoting growth and in doing so depletes soil of humus. Compost / humus is a soil enhancer taken down to where needed by worms to get the best results from both ornamental and vegetable gardens. 

Lawns: Get new lawns sown now, the cooler nights and mornings are allowing the moisture to remain longer after watering and a strike will happen pretty fast as the ground is still nice and warm. 

Vegetables: Good growth is still happening as long as water is kept up, pumpkins and corn should be ready to harvest. Dry off pumpkin and squash skins before storing them in a cool dry place. This is a good time for planting above ground annual crops that produce their seeds outside like lettuce, spinach, celery, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and grain green crops for digging in. 

Cheers, Linda.

Mixed gladioli