Gardening in North Otago December 9th 2019

Wind, heat then rain but once again North Otago  escaped the weather damage inflicted on  neighbouring districts.

So much in the garden has finished flowering now and needing a cut back, if early summer flowering plants have grown leggy and collapsed cut back the perennials and pull out annuals even if they are still producing flowers. Fallen plants will eventually rot along stems and rot what they have fallen on top of. Clear the ground where they have been, add compost and plant annuals that will continue flowering through until autumn. Cosmas, nicotiana,saliva, verbena are tall growing. Petunia, gaillardia, coreopsis, bedding dahlia and bergamont (bee balm) are all mid plantings. Alyssum, lobelia, coreopsis and begonias are front planting gap fillers.

Tree peony doubles in size each growing season. Don't let them swamp your garden and shade other plants, the older woody canes can be cut right down leaving the new green stalks to be next years flower branches. By doing this now seed pods will be cut off, if allowed to ripen will pop all over your garden and grow. Other plants I have had to cut back are bush lavatera's, English abutilon, ornamental broom, false Valerian and cat mint, all will grow back quickly and some bud up for another flowering.  

Monarch butterflies are being encouraged into many gardens as gardeners plant swan plants for caterpillars to feed on. To keep the butterflies in your garden plants they feed on should be growing. Buddleias are tall shrubs that flower on new growth, cut back after each flowering to produce new flowers through summer, all verbenas ( tall and low growing), echinacea, daylilies, hydrangea, zinnias, cosmos, Californian poppy, foxglove, Viper's Bugloss and coriopsis will keep monarch butterflies happy but for them to lay eggs there is no alternative plant in NZ for Monarch caterpillars than the swan plant. Swan plants succumb to frost during winter if not protected, I cover mine with a double layer of frost cloth.

Lawns dried out during the strong nor west winds, thankfully we received a heavy shower or two but not enough to repair the damage. Don't cut grass too low  and boost with lawn fertiliser during the next rain.

Veg  will be bolting during this early intense heat we are experiencing,  root veg and potatoes need deep moisture to draw on and leaf veg plants grow faster in moderate weather conditions. A rise in temperature increases the plant's growth rate but to an extent and if temperature goes on increasing growth rate starts falling and loss of moisture increases which will result into the death of plants. Rise in temperature also has bad affects on seed germination.

As tomatoes grow be sure to remove laterals from the taller growing variety and stake to keep them upright as the fruit gets heaver. They should be flowering now waiting for the bee's to pollinate, if they are in a glass house and you do not see many bee's you can spray with a product call tomset.

Rather than using spray on eatables  why not try companion planting, some plants have been proven to help and enhance others I have listed what has been proven to work.

Carrots and onions together, the onions help keep the carrot fly at bay and carrots the onion fly.
Celery and the brassica family, i.e.: cabbage, caulis, and broccoli. the celery will confuse the white butterfly when wanting to land and lay it's larvae eggs.
Marigolds and beans/brassicas, the marigold emits a natural gas which protects surrounding plants from insects like aphids and white fly.
Make your own natural sprays: The following plant leaves can be boiled in water and the resulting liquid used on plants.
Basil will eliminate aphids, Chives prevent mildew occurring on cucumbers, squash and pumpkins, Coriander also for aphids and spider mite. Eucalyptus is a good general purpose insecticide.
Rhubarb has been found to help prevent blackspot. These may be only plants but in liquid form they can be harmful to children so keep marked bottles high up.

Cheers, Linda.