Gardening in North Otago March 17th 2020

Leaves have started to drop.

Gardening has not been cancelled, on a positive note weeding, raking and planting is full on so be safe if staying home at this difficult time is the right situation for you to spend time with nature, rewards are real.
Leaves are turning and some beginning to fall, Silver birch in our garden is always the first along with our wonderfully prolific flowering bougainvillea dropping a crimson carpet.
Cutting back has stepped up here in readiness for a layer of compost, then pea straw as a final cover when most of the leaves have been removed later on.

Now is a good time to re pot pots and baskets that have been flowering and filling containers with roots. At this time of the year everything planted will settle in well and put on growth before the colder months slow growth down. It is best to pull all out to see how root bound a pot or basket is then usually a spade is needed to chop through 2 thirds of the root ball. Soak potted shrubs with roots reduced in a bucket of water until bubbles stop before replanting into new mix. 

I water plants in at this time of the ear with comfrey tea. Brew a fertiliser with more potash and nitrogen than commercial feeds and comfrey leaves are plentiful right now for picking and making plant tea. Comfrey as a Fertilizer has three major nutrients plus high levels of calcium applied as a liquid soil drench or as a foliar spray.Making comfrey tea:  A generous bundle of comfrey leaves, A bucket of water. Place chopped comfrey leaves at the bottom of a bucket. Weigh down with a brick, fill bucket with water, and cover for three weeks before diluting, one part 'tea' to 10 parts water. If you would like a root of comfrey let the Ladies at the Garden corner at our Resource Recovery park know.

Keep dead heading roses in the hope of more blooms to make a last vibrant show before they will be left to harden for winter. Rust is always a problem on roses in Autumn, try to eradicate affected leaves from the bushes as well as those on the ground and burn them to reduce this problem for next year. Don't feed roses now, soft growth needs to make a start at hardening.

Lawns. 
As days become cooler and heavy dew's are happening again grass will start to recover from dryness and if lawns have no spring in them there will probably be a high content of clay restricting roots. Gypsum applied before a good shower of rain will help and if applied at intervals over a couple of years there will be a spring in your lawn.

Fruit:Late peaches, quince and apples trees are dripping with fruit, If you need to store a small amount apples, the refrigerator is a good option. Place them in the crisper drawer in a plastic bag with holes or cover the apples with a damp paper towel.Keep boxes of apples in a cool, dark place and they should stay stay crisp. Make sure there are no bruised or damaged apples among stored boxes.

Vegetable  Gardens will be growing new crops for the cooler seasons, leaf veg should not bolt so readily now and will not mind days getting shorter and cooler and root veg seeds will germinate well while the ground is still warm. My second sowing of peas are up, corn is picked and the pumpkins have out grown their space and just keep going. Onions can be lifted once leaves have bent over, don't bend or damage leaves before they are ready to bend naturally if you want them to store and keep well.  Once dug lay them out in a warm place to fully ripen then store in a cool place.

Cheers Linda.