April and how lucky we have been with the weather this summer and autumn here in North Otago, warm sun filled days and rain from time to time just when needed. There is a lot to do in the garden this month, leaf raking, cutting back, bulb planting, mulching with compost and pea-straw and wrenching shrubs and trees needing shifted.
Compost put down in spring should be ready to spread around gardens now, leaving heaps and bins empty and ready to recieve autumn leaves. Most leaves are benificial in making good compost but it takes longer for oak leaves to break down, I suggest leaving oak leaves in a pile somewhere where they will not blow about to break down over time before adding to compost, or if burning add the ash when layering leaves, grass clippings, soft hedge trimmings and manure, also keep back some ready made compost to use between layers and give all a good soak to get heaps heating before winter.
Because the ground is dry shrubs are hardening, most noticable are hydrangea flowers going brown or changing into new stunning shades, I keep the water up to mine while they are looking so pretty and leave the flowers on for a while yet before pruning them back. Further inland old flower heads can be left on over the winter months to protect new growth until the worst of the frosts are over.
Camellias are budding up now and some may need topped to reduce height and opening up to let in light needed for buds to develop remove inward facing and cross over branches. Feed camellias and rhododendrons with acid fertiliser, water in well then mulch with compost, pea straw / pine needles and they will reward you in spring. Azaleas need food, as soon as they have finished flowering but if you missed feeding them then feed them along with Rhododendrons and camellias.
Prune perennial wall flowers and bush lavateras now, do the same to lavender and marguerite daisies, further inland take hard wood cuttings of daisies and protect over winter as Marguerite daisy bushes are lost due to continuous frost.
Break up clumps of viola like Maggie Mott and the clumping primula vulgaris, plant sections with root attached into pots or trays, they will grow and clump up from now on ready to be planted out in spring. Both of these make lovely edging plants.
Renuncula and anenomies planted now will give vibrant colour to the garden in early spring, they are so worth while and a good investment because they multiply well. Ranucula corms look very dried up and brittle in the packet when bought, soak them over night and they will become plump, plant at least five together in groups to get the best effect.
Lilies will be available for planting this month, established clumps in gardens may be lifted if necessary, but do not disturb them unless they are very crowded or unsuitably sited, instead top dress them with a mixture of compost and blood and bone. (A cup full of blood and bone to each bucket of compost. Be sure to keep lily bulbs moist while they are out of the ground, roots must never dry out. Almost all lilies need to be planted as deep as three times the height of the bulb, the only exception to this deep planting is the Madonna lily which is planted just below the surface and prefers to be shifted in mid summer straight after flowering. I have really enjoyed the drifts of blue from the Agapanthas in our garden this year which have just finished flowering.
Agapanthas have flowered well this summer, cut off seed heads and breaking up of clumps both large and dwarf varieties can be done now. Once shifted they need a lot of water to get them started in a new spot.
Planting evergreen shrubs should be done now to get them settled in and hardened enough before winter and evergreen hedges can get a last light trim during this month.
Vegetables: Growing a green crop in vacant areas of the vegetable garden to be dug in while soft and green will add humus to spent soil, blue lupin as a nitrogen additive, mustard seed as a good soil conditioner and oats before winter.
Green vegetable seedlings are being targeted by birds and white butterfly right now so best to cover them with net or open weave frost cloth raised above the plants while small, birds will not be so interested when the plants plump out a bit. Broad beans can be planted now, try a little potash in the soil just below the bean when planted, it is said to help prevent rust.
Fruit: Walnuts are falling along with leaves, most of the nuts on our tree fall in their green casing and if I don't pick them up they attract rats who nibble through the casing and the soft shell to get to the nut. Because of the fleshy casing they need to be spread out separated from each other in a dry place to allow the green casing to dry and shrivel away from the nut. If all lumped together in a box they will soon go mouldy. Apples and quince are ripening well and late ripening peaches should be picked now before the birds take them all.
Get orders in for the fruit trees you require so you don't miss out when they come into garden centers in june / July, PEACH SWEET PERFECTION- a chance seedling from an orchard on the banks of the Waitaki River - strong resistance to leaf curl - bountiful and regular crops of excellent quality fruit is said to be a winner.
Cheers, Linda.
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