Gardening in North Otago February 5th 2020

Buddleia Royal purple 

What a wonderful rain, I was getting fed up with dragging hoses to wilting gardens.  

This rain was really needed to help gardens recover from those hot nor wester days we have been experiencing. The hedge trimmer has been on the go again here and yes the plants and shrubs did shudder to their roots when it came their way! If it needs it, it gets it! Trimming with secateurs is not practical for us with such a large garden and at this time of the year you can not do too much damage so if hedges need height and width taken well back the regrowth time is pretty quick. 

 Buddleia's have been flowering for a while now for the  butterflies, but now they need all that growth cut well back to encourage new fresh growth to take them through autumn and winter. Buddleia's are a great fill in bush and look attractive with their blue green foliage even without the blue, pink or white flowers, plant at the back of a border and you will not be sorry. 

Begonias, petunias and Lilly's are taking center stage this month, begonias are tropical perennials and like partial shade, strong sunlight will burn leaves and blooms. If growing in dense shade they will grow more leaves than flowers and wind protection is needed because stems are damaged by strong wind. They prefer high humidity not wet soil, let the top inch of soil dry out before watering.

Petunias: dead head often, cutting back and feeding petunias will keep them flowering for ages. 

Lillies: should be in good draining soil but never be allowed to dry out, mulching helps with this. Lilies do not re bloom, remove faded flowers so plants don't waste energy making seeds. Leave foliage until it turns brown, energy is stored for next years flowers, cut dead stalks in late autumn. large lily clumps can be divided up and shifted straight after flowering

Dividing bulbs: The rain this week will have triggered autumn and winter flowering bulbs to break dormancy so time is limited for lifting and dividing congested clumps. Anemones and ranunculus: should be in Garden centers now I pop them in the fridge for a month in paper bags (not plastic) then soak them overnight in tepid water before planting (stratification), this simulates the winter chill then they are stimulated into growth with the water warmth before planting. Staggering the planting over several weeks will extend the flowering. 

Lawns: will green up again after the rain which means no slowing down in growth. I will spot sprayed lawn weeds again on a sunny day, clover really takes off if left and daisies like rain watering, then there is that creeping tiny leafed weed with yellow flowers that forms a mat in lawns. Every little plant off this needs to be zapped because it flowers and seeds very quickly then spreads from lawn to lawn when mowing. 

Fruit: It is time to shorten back fruiting leaders on grape vines, growth is needed for the grapes forming. If a leader has produced too many bunches remove some with shortening back. 

Veg Garden: Get seeds in now for autumn veg, lettuce, carrots, beetroot, dwarf beans, parsley, parsnip, silver beet. Keep mounding up potato rows to encourage bigger shores, corn can be mounded also when it gets high, they have a shallow rooting system and the mounding helps to keep them upright in strong winds. Corn also demands a very high level of nitrogen. The more available nitrogen, the closer plants can be spaced to support each other.

Cheers, Linda.  

Optimal grape vine length.