Gardening in North Otago May 22nd 2019

                                                                         

Still very dry as I write this and the odd morning frost reminding us of winter approaching as growth is shutting down to rest over the colder months. Gardens are looking tired and messy with plants such as dahlia, perennial phlox, alstroemeria, Japanese anemone and salvia, along with annuals that flowered over summer and autumn all coming to an end. Don't wait around to see how much more flowering they will do, chop perennials back and remove annuals before they exhaust themselves making unwanted seed, however I always save seed heads from one or two. Once the cutting back is done fill gaps with annuals for new season colour. 

If worms are rare in your garden, this usually indicates that the organic content of the soil is very low, worms will always find manure but it needs to be spread as a layer low down under a soil bed for them to come up to it. This would be a daunting task to undertake in established gardens, although worth doing bit by bit when setting out new gardens where the soil is dry and has clay content.   

Deciduous trees and shrubs will come into retail outlets soon,  plan new plantings remembering they will grow both up and outwards.  If your ground tends to get wet and sticky in winter it would be a good idea to dig the area up now while the soil is easy to work with. Dig out the soil add peat or compost and blood and bone to it then fill back in again until you are ready to plant. If you know which deciduous trees and shrubs you require order them now from the garden centre and you will not miss out  

Very strong rambler roses can be pruned from now on cutting out any dead stems and cutting back all side stems on canes to with in 2-3 buds from the main steam. Shorten back vigorous leaders by about 1/3 to promote branching. If the bush is out of control like some of mine reduce the size with a hedge trimmer then cut some canes right out from ground level.

Lawns : Those who have had a good autumn lawn strike will probably have given the first cut, don't be too hard on new grass it is still very soft and roots will not be far down. An autumn sow needs to winter over to harden off, don't worry about the annual weeds that came up with the grass the first mowing and frosts will take care of most of them. Leave spraying until spring because you will not gain anything by doing it now and very new grass could be effected by harsh sprays. 

Rake leaves off lawns, if light is kept from grass it will suffer.  

Veg: Continue planting strawberries, raising the beds where drainage is suspect. it is still not too late to sow a green crop in vacant areas of the vegetable garden , oats or blue lupin are a good nitrogen fix when dug in. Broad beans are also suitable, better than a single variety is a mixture of legume and a cereal. Dig them in while still soft and green,this adds nitrogen and humus needed in soil.

Cheers, Linda.