Gardening in North Otago August 7th 2019

Lavender dentata hedge.

Brrrr the cold arrived this

week but very tame compared to other places,  which seems to be North Otago's way.

Much is beginning to awake in the garden, I feel spring in the air with swelling of buds and  birds are beginning to nest also I see blossom starting , jonquils and daffodils gracing fence lines about the town. We are coming to the end of pruning with cold, rose prickled fingers, wheel barrows of rose and hydrangea pruning. I have also been dealing to couch grass while the soil is damp, right now couch is dormant and easy to pull but getting right down and scratching out roots is the answer, it is so satisfying to pull a root runner right to it's and know that that will be the end of it.

 It is now time for me to create and dress the garden by planting out, shifting and feeding. I have been liquid feeding with worm and comfrey tea, adding at the strength of black tea to a full watering can, then applied generously to all new leaf, budding and flowering plants.  Any new plantings can be Helped along along by feeding now to get roots going and keep them green and strong through any cold snaps yet to come. Slow release fertiliser is a great idea now as well, sprinkle around established ornamental and newly planted trees and shrubs to be there ready when the plants need food as they awaken. Spread old stable manure around the drip line of hydrangeas and a dressing of lime for pink flowers and aluminum sulphate for blue, White never changes, but are best planted in light shade, the flowers will tinge pink in the full sun. It is easy to control the colour of hydrangea's in a pot, if the PH of your soil is high blue hydrangeas will always revert to pink no matter how often you add aluminum to the soil. If your PH is too high and you really want to grow blue hydrangeas in large pots use a acid tree and shrub mix. The use of coffee grinds, grass clippings or pine needles spread around the drip line can help to lower the PH of pink hydrangeas in the garden to encourage shades of purple. I have found pulling rooted branches from the base of big old gnarly hydrangea bush can become a new bush of a special variety.  

Geranium ccuttings from the hardened steams can be taken now, fresh grown geraniums give amazing colour to a warm sunny garden for all of the growing season and even into the winter. Take short cuttings, semi hard wood, (not a new green steam) and let them dry out a little before planting, this means you don't have to deal with them straight away. Plant them firmly into a soil and river sand mix, (Potting mix is too light to get a tight seal around the cutting). 

Lavender: Trim dentata lavender now if you haven't already, and it is looking untidy. Dentata is the tall growing one with the pale lavender bumblebee flower and serrated leaf.They will recover quickly from a cut back because they are budding up now, but Leave trimming other lavenders right back until it is warmer. Lavenders, clematis and all herbs like sweetening up with a dressing of lime now. 

Lavatera, English abutilon and buddleia bushes can be cut back now  to encourage fresh new growth ready for butterflies. 

Roses:  with roses making a move to bud up they will be needing food to draw on, powdered rose food needs watered in around the drip line, slow release fertiliser will work each time it rains. 

New seasons trees and Roses are still available in Garden Centers and  masses of bedding plants on offer now ground temperature warming up. 

Vegetables: The vegetable garden enjoyed the last rain, it is so good not to have to worry about the bugs during these colder months when planting out leaf veg. Cold and frosty areas inland can make a start now by adding some compost and a little lime in readiness for when you plant out later this month. 

Fruit: Lets hope the dull overcast days are over by the time the fruit trees blossom so the bee's will come out and set to work pollinating . Keep an eye on peach and nectarine trees, if they are just at bud burst it will be time to spray a copper fungicide to prevent leaf curl. When they are in flower it is too late to spray. 

Cheers, Linda  

Peach trees: spray with copper at bud burst to help with leaf curl

Peach and nectarine leaf curl