Gardening in North Otago December 21st 2020

This column will be short because Christmas is but a couple of days away and I am sure gardening will only come into play when it is time to dig the potatoes and carrots and pick the peas for Christmas dinner. What a treat to harvest your own produce, so worth all the work that goes into growing veg. In the flower gardens: Watering to keep gardens going will be needed over the festive season, a good deep soak will be kept longer in the soil if mulch is layered on top of bare damp soil. Mulch on hand could be compost mixed with grass clippings or Arborist mulched green waste, sometimes referred to as forest floor, even hedge trimmings or foliage cut back from plants or shrubs layered among plants will keep moister there longer and the hot sun from baking soil. This would be especially handy if going away for a break. Fruit trees are needing moisture to plump up fruit so a good soaking now and then and mulch if possible will ensure good crops. In the veg Garden: It is a shame that this very hot time of the year is when most head off for a break needing to leave produce at it's best behind in the veg garden. I grow a lot of stock plants in pot's and trays which I need to hold from drying out if I head off for a few days. I have found soaking them and then shading with shade cloth keeps them from drying out too soon. This could also work with veg plots, a good deep soak then shade created to stop that baking sun. Pumpkin plants are well on now so water needs kept up to them until enough large tough leaves have grown to shade roots. Corn should be putting on good growth as well, mulching around corn roots after a good soak will encourage good strong growth. Tomato plants will need supported, leaves removed to let light into over crowded plants and tunnel and glass house doors remain open to let insects in to fertilise flowers. Garlic will be ready to harvest if it was planted on the shortest day you will know garlic is ready to harvest when the bottom two leaves have died and a third is also showing signs of browning off, some green leaves will remain so once pulled from the ground leave the top green growth attached, tie into bunches and hang until all green tops have dried into the cloves. I wish you all a joy filled Christmas and a happy and safe 2021. Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in north Otago December 9th 2020

Rain then wind, rain then wind!!! hoses are not put away.I had a couple of days in Wanaka this week having Nana time with grandies, then back to the garden again on Thursday.I know all gardeners will be finding there is so much to be cut back in the garden, plants like tree peony which doubles in size each growing season. Don't let tree peony swamp your garden and smother other plants. When finished flowering the older woody canes can be cut out. By doing this now seed pods will be cut off as well, if allowed to ripen they will pop all over your garden and grow. Other larger plants I have had to cut back are bush lavatera's, English abutilon, ornamental broom, and false Valerian. These will all grow back soon and look a lot nicer, some will flower again. Keep deadheading roses, don't just cut the flower off, cut at an outward facing bud on a lower section of the branch strong enough to support a new flower. Begonias are really pushing through now and I see that I have lost a few that I left in the ground from last year. I did dig and store some of them over the winter which I am now glad about. The food begonias most appreciate is any fish based fertiliser, as a folia spray or watered in around their roots. Hydrangeas are producing flower heads now so it is important to keep the water and food up to them, old stable manure, blood and bone, dry, liquid or slow release fertiliser will keep them happy and flowering well. Remember it's lime for pink and Epsom salts or aluminum sulphate to keep them blue.  Fuchsias are making a lot of growth now as well, if you missed cutting any back do it now, they will flower later but will soon catch up .Fuchsias are on sale right now and are wonderful in pots for a shady spot and they soon become bushy and to fill a pot. Tip cuttings can be taken from fuchsias now, if you spot some you like in a friends garden ask for some cuttings. I break a cutting off at a heel or a bud section, remove some of the top growth and push into firm wet river sand.Tip cuttings cuttings from Hebe's will also root with no trouble in river sand .  Abutilon (Chinese lantern: If you are looking for something non invasive to make a show of colour against a wall why not try Abutilon (Chinese lantern, they come in three strong colours, yellow, orange, burgundy and white. I planted yellow and burgundy and white together in a large container with nice lime green grass's below, being a rather spindly plant I intertwined them and they now look like one bush. If trained against a wall leave some longer branches and shorten back others to get a good cover of flowers.  Peony roses: What a wonderful addition to the flower garden peony roses are, they have been fantastic this year or am I just seeing more in peoples gardens? The brilliant shades and very large blooms fill many vases I am sure. Remove seed pods once blooms have finished to stop plants putting effort into making seed. Low hanging tree branches: With the weight of rain not so long ago I could see which branches need lifting on large deciduous trees, if left they will cast too much shade over surrounding plants. It's the lower branches that can be removed without making the tree look as though it has been cut. The upper branches will hide the cuts, so any branch growing downwards with a canopy branch directly above it can be cut back or removed altogether.  Lawns: keep lawn food on hand for the next good rain, lawns get really stressed from now on as the heat of the day intensifies. If your lawns are inclined to crack when dry they have probably been planted on clay soil, apply gypsum ( soluble lime) and water in. After a couple of years of doing this your lawns will have a spring back in them. Gypsum works it's way through the clay and makes it become more like soil. Vegetables: The days are warm and the nights a little cooler, just right for growing. I am amazed that the white butterfly is STILL not a problem in our garden, long may it last. I had bad luck with the runner beans planted directly into the ground before labor weekend, they popped up then were eaten off I am guessing by snails / slugs!. So more beans have been planted but this time into trays to be transplanted when big enough to make a start on climbing up the frame. But, yes I know the slugs & snails will be waiting so I will make beer traps out of empty plastic fiz bottles by cutting the bottles with the lid in place through the middle, bury the lidded half in the ground and fill with beer, cut door opening in the other half for snails & slugs to slide in, then force the other half with door opening on top. The bottom of the bottle will be the roof to keep the rain out. Tomatoes will be getting taller and starting to fruit now, the removal of over half the leaves on a plant will benefit your plants by allowing more nutrients to the fruit along with more sun to encourage flowering and allowing flowers to become more visible for pollination, try it and see if you get a better crop. The cooler nights tend to upset tomato plants, leaves become bluish and tend to curl causing plants to become susceptible to blight. Another recipe!!  Comfrey liquid fertiliser. With its deep taproot, and large root system, comfrey pulls its nutrients from way down in the subsoil, where most other plants can't reach. Comfrey is high in just about every nutrient a plant needs, including the big 3, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium and many trace elements. Its high carbon to nitrogen value means that it does not deplete nitrogen from the soil, as it decomposes. In fact, it becomes a good source of nitrogen. And it has more potassium than composted manure.Comfrey leaves decompose down to a black liquid over a 6 week period. Pick and break up as many leaves as you can harvest, place in the bottom of a large container, weigh down with a rock and within 6 weeks the leaves will have decomposed into a thick  black liquid. Dilute to 1 part comfrey liquid to 15 parts water, dilute more when using on seedlings. ( let me know if you would like comfrey to start a patch)   Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago December 7th 2020

Rain, rain fantastic rain, gardens and pastures will be singing this Monday as I write. Does the cutting back NEVER end? It's getting rid of it all that creates a problem for most people, however at this time of the year the cut back growth is soft and with the help of daily heat will break down in heaps or on the compost so pile it up until it all reduces, then cart it off. Gaps left can be built up with fresh compost and planted out in summer annuals. Catmint edging can be cut right back now, it will grow back and flower again and lavender needs to be trimmed when it has finished flowering to stop it going leggy. English lavender is worth cutting, bunching and hanging once stems have firmed, it will continue to give off that lovely fresh lavender fragrance right through the year until it flowers again next summer if kept inside. Rhododendrons finished flowering need spent flowers removed before they make seed, impossible to do on very large bushes but beneficial to smaller bushes as you want them to put growth into the bush not seeds. There is a point on a spent flower that when bent will break cleanly without damaging new growth. Roses: will have enjoyed the rain but remove rain damaged buds and blooms, if left they will encourage fungus during humid weather. roses need dry sunny days to flower at their best. Lilies will be enjoying moisture in the ground, lilies cannot cope with dry ground but like most plants will rot if water logged. Hedge trimming : Ivy that has romped away can be trimmed right back now before it sets flowers then seeds because every ivy seed will germinate easily. Hedge trimming is on going here for a while when new growth has stopped. Storing dried Herbs: Herbs should be harvested when flavor and aroma oils are at their peak, before they flower. Harvest early in the morning after the dew dries and before the heat of the day. Herbs must be completely dry when cut and bundled for drying to rub and store, any moisture will result in mold. Drying herbs is well worth the effort as a summer harvest and drying can amount to enough mixed herbs to last all year, as well as a gift to others. Culinary herbs to dry: rosemary, thyme, sage, dill, basil, chives, parsley, oregano, tarragon, nasturtium (leaves and flowers) Fruit: black currents, raspberries and gooseberries are all wanting continuous sunny days , removed any strawberries showing signs of rot and large top leaves to let more air and light in but they need to have a net cover if exposed to birds. Vegetable garden: Weeds as well as veg are romping away but are easy to pull while the soil is damp, again get rid of any veg rotting and when time and weather allows work ground with a hoe to get air in. Keep potatoes mounded, not long now to dig for Christmas dinner along with peas, board beans, carrots, beetroot and lettuce, produce so good from your own garden to the table.