Gardening in North Otago April 3rd 2021

Easter will roll into April the cooling down month but thank goodness days stay warm a little longer even if the nights and mornings are cooler. Autumn here in NorthOtago is usually more predictable than spring or summer, it is a time to reap and sow lest all be lost to the frost! Gardening professionals suggest gardeners should apply potash to their plants as winter starts Potassium hardens up plant growth and helps prevent damage from winter chills. Because we are experiencing a dry autumn trees and shrubs are colouring up and leaves are dropping, gathering and storing for leaf mulch or composting down with manure, grass and soft hedge clippings will become wonderful garden mulch to apply in spring. Look around your garden before all the leaves fall, because trees and shrubs get taller and wider every year blocking out light. Note what trees and shrubs to reduce in height and width and which trees and shrubs to remove altogether. Sometimes one tree or shrub will do the job of the two or three in one spot. Sacrifice trees that give little interest for trees close by that offer more, and shrubs that have grown too big in the front of a garden hiding what is behind need to be cut back. Wrenching shrubs and trees can be done now for shifting later or cut out. I have at times changed the whole look of gardens by removing a few front shrubs / trees, to let more sun in then planting out sun loving plants.  Here on the coast keep cutting back large daisy and lavatera bushes to encourage new buds that will flower over the next two months. Also get all hedges cut back now before frosts start, this will be the last cut until the new growth in spring, especially photinia bushes / hedges, a trim now will encourage vivid red leaves to brighten dull winter days.  Clean up garden areas that have been flowering all summer and visit the garden centres to choose more plants for planting now to bud up and bloom through winter, if they are planted while the ground is still warm to get the roots going they will continue to get enough winter sun to carry on and bloom. (This does not apply to further inland where frosts are harsh and start early.) Plant: Viola, snapdragon, pansy, polyantha's, stock, calendula, wall flowers, sweet William and good old primula malacoidies.  If you want to plant evergreen shrubs other than conifers now is the time or wait until the frosts are over, once frosts start it is only deciduous trees / shrubs and conifers that will cope with the really cold nights that can be planted without the need of protection.  Keep getting spring bulbs in the warm ground and Hybrid clematis are still on offer, they are the lovely huge bloom, deciduous type, this clematis type are not as invasive as the Montana variety. They love being planted into warm autumn ground and are so pretty growing in with other climbers and climbing roses that flower at a different time to them. All clematis like manure and lime.  Lawns: Spray lawn weeds and apply sifted compost with some gypsum added to lawns if they are compacted ( a bucket to the square metre), the compost will improve the humus content and the gypsum will soften clay soils. If you have had a good strike with a newly sown lawn delay cutting until grass is 7-8 centimetres high, set the blades high and avoid cutting when the ground is wet and soft.  Veg: The last of my potatoes have been dug and stored, I layer them with sprigs of rosemary, sage and lavender, the essential oils given off by these herbs not only inhibit sprouting, they will also help to keep the tubers free from bacterial soft rot. Store in a dry, dark well ventilated place, cardboard boxes with holes in the sides do the trick. Eliminate any light, even a little light will cause potatoes to turn green. Leave pumpkins to ripen until the threat of the first frost.Sow: Spinach,Snap Peas,Brussel sprouts, board beans and Spring Onions, fill the top of a shallow pot with Spring Onions to have handy by the back door, start thinning when plants are still quite small, pull them as they’re needed,  Fruit:A busy time for the jam, pickling and preserving Gardeners with such an abundance of fruit and veg for the picking but so worth while to know through winter the warmth of summer can be tasted. Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago 24th March 2021

April soon already and Easter on it's way with so much needed to be done in gardens right now, weeding, hedge trimming, cutting back summer growth, spraying, mulching, building new compost heaps then all those leaves ....(Whew, no pressure)  Cuttings: I take cuttings in April while the ground is still holding warmth to stimulate root growth, deep trays packed with moist river sand are ready here for cuttings. Purple sage, geranium, breath of heaven, buxus, fuchia, escalonia, succulents, lavender rosemary, lonicera, hebe's can all be taken now,  deciduous. hardwood cuttings are taken during winter when plants have lost leaves and are dormant. Take time to look around the garden to see what plants flowered well over summer and those that have not because of trees getting wider and blocking out light. The plants that would  suffer most are dahlia's, some may not flowered at all from lack of light and moisture and others get hidden behind other plants. Dig up and transplant into a sunnier spot, leaving the top growth on to die off back into the tubers. Other plants suffering the same could be dwarf agapantha, roses, asters and dianthas, all of these need a lot of sunshine and light to perform well. If looking to improve the look of established gardens a front border will do the trick, there are so many suitable plants that maybe multiplying around your garden like lambs ear, with it's lovely silver textured leaf, variegated and dwarf iris, blue grass, dwarf agapantha, hosta's, helibours, purple sage, thyme, erigeron daisy and violas, plus heaps of other low growing evergreen plants that cuttings or divisions can be taken from right now to create borders. All these plants I have mentioned look great planted en masse in long rows to change the look of a garden. Sowing seeds: The following flower seeds can still be sown now aquilegia, calendula (marigold) lupins, stocks, sweet peas, dianthus, antirrhinum (snap dragons) some will already be germinating around where these plants have been growing. I pot up most worthy plants that nature supplies to be planted out either before or after winter depending on the maturity of them. Lilies:Top dress lilies with blood and bone and compost, one cup of blood and bone to each bucket of compost. If you need to shift lilies, never let them dry out, get them back in the ground straight away or store them in a wet  towel until ready to transplant. Wrenching shrubs to be shifted: Still time for wrenching shrubs and trees that need to be moved by digging around one half of their roots and leaving the other half untouched for a few months. Make a trench around the lifted roots and fill with soft compost, the cut roots will form new feeder roots into the compost which will make the eventual transplant cope better. Remember plants which have had their root system reduced should also have their top growth reduced. Fruit:In cooler areas citrus trees, especially when young should have a temporary roof for frost protection put in place soon. Grapes will be ripening for birds if not covered, picked bunches do not continue to ripen, they need to ripen on the vine. This has been a good season for apples, get them picked and stored in a cool place, remove any damaged apples as they will eventually spoil others. Veg and fruit Tomatoes need all the daylight hours now to ripen, remove all shading leaves.Sweet pepper plants that need more time to ripen can be dug up, put into a pot and placed under shelter to continue growing if there is any threat of frost.Sow a green crop, adding humus to vacant vegetable plots will improve the soil, Blue lupin, mustard, wheat, barley or oats are good for this purpose. Dug in just before the crop reaches the flowering stage.  Cheers, Linda

Overcast mornings and the threat of rain during the week but seeming more and more like Autumn with days drawing in and leaves changing and dropping. Cut back everything that has finished flowering,  I needed no encouragement in this area the wheel barrow was always getting good use. Once I start chopping back at this time of the year there is no stopping me leaving destruction in my wake. Plants that should get the chop are Acanthus mollis (bears britches), agapanthus, tall phlox, day Lillie's, damaged hellebore and hosta leaves, buddleia, honeysuckle, jasmine, abutilon, evergreen viburnum, alstromeria, hebe's, iris and all leggy, gone to seed herbs. While working your way around, deal with all the bearded iris's by cutting leaves back by two thirds and making sure the top of rhizomes were above ground to bake in the autumn sun. Shift any in shade to a sunny position. Iris's are well worth the trouble of growing and look wonderful planted together enabling them to put on a grand display on their own. Propagation is usually 6-8 weeks after blooming rhizomes can be divided, leaving a chunk of rhizome and roots to every new division.  Bulbs, Bulbs, Bulbs: To create a spring explosion in your garden plant them now, bluebells and snowdrops can cope with dappled shade, the daffodil family need sun, the wonderfully fragrant Hyacinth's look great in either pots or garden, ranunculus and anemones are vibrant after a long dull winter and freesia's love a sunny warm spot as do all the other spring bulbs on offer, Tulips are planted in May. Over years of multiplying bulbs can take over garden beds so If your bulb clumps are getting too big offer some to other gardeners who I am sure would gladly dig them up and find the perfect spot in their garden for them or take them to our resource recovery park garden corner, from there they will find a good home. It's time to cut back ornamental grass, seed heads just pull away with a rake leaving grass clumps a lot tidier. Clumps can be trimmed back if getting too big or divided by putting a spade through the middle. Sometimes I have to dig the whole grass out to do this, then put the spade through and pull apart while standing on half. If thinking of adding Rose's or more roses to your garden I suggest looking at rose variety books or going on line to make your choices then getting your order into Garden centers. New seasons roses will begin arriving in June and by ordering now you will be sure not to miss out. LawnsAutumn is the best time to sow a new lawn as perennial weeds are not so vigorous and will soon be zapped by frost. Grass grub can be addressed from now until May. Vegetables. March is an important month for planting winter veg, prepare prior to planting with compost, general garden fertiliser and lime if needed, add lime to your compost. Beetroot, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, and silverbeet seedlings can be planted but will need to be protected from the white butterfly and birds.   Any areas of the veg garden not being used for vegetables this winter can be planted with a green manure cover crop to be dug in before it flowers to enrich the soil for spring and summer crops.  Oats, blue lupin, mustard or are good options. Herbs: Parsley can be grown from seed sown now. Perennial herbs, chives, mint, thyme, sage, and marjoram can be divided and replanted. Basil, a summer annual should be harvested before cold weather, it can be dried or frozen. Cut, hang and dry all herbs during autumn then when completely rub from stalks and store    Fruit: Late peaches should soon be ready to pick and nectarine trees can have a summer prune  once fruit is picked. Citrus trees should be putting out new growth after heavy cropping, feed with citrus fertiliser before winter. All fruit trees benefit from a dressing of potash around the drip line in autumn. Cheers, Linda

-- Linda Wilson

Monday the 8th March was the take over day for the new owners of Rockvale Garden at Weston. Husband Bob, myself, Scruff and our cat are downsizing after 41 years of bringing up our four Children, developing and maintaining our property Rockvale. We have been privileged during this time to share Rockvale with many wonderful visitors, weddings, functions and bus loads of garden interested people and now look forward to another chapter in our lives. We wish the new owners well with taking Rockvale into the future. I will continue to share garden Knowledge under the facebook page of Gardening in North Otago. With nights cooling and days shortening it will not be long before the major leaf drop and days filled with raking, so I guess we need to play the waiting game for trees surrounding gardens to drop all before getting gardens ready for winter with spreading compost then mulch. However, branches can be lifted on large tree's and climbers like wisteria, jasmine and honey suckle can be trimmed along with hedges and shrubs. Rose dead heading now will be the last for this growing season as roses will soon need to stop putting out new soft growth. Rose wood needs time to harden before the big winter prune which means leaving spent flower blooms on to allow seed heads to develop. Keep dead heading dahlia's and geraniums to keep them flowering through until the first frost and continue to remove spent summer annuals so ground can be worked ready for winter flowering annuals, such as primulas, wall flowers, pollyantha;s, pansies and viola's. Fork in some compost and dampen well before replanting beds. Be on the look out for useful self sown seedlings, you will find quite a few for transplanting now to settle in before winter. Spring bulbs need to planted during autumn and I see wonderful varieties on offer, plant in groups, at the depth suggested on packets ( 4 to 6 inches dirt cover ) to bring your garden to life after winter. Peony roses will be on offer now, they are really worth planting with their big showy blooms taking over from the spring rhododendron displays, be careful when planting not to disturb the new shoots (eyes) forming. A peony root to be planted should contain at least 3 eyes that will eventually become stems. A root with only 1 or 2 eyes will still grow, but it will take longer to flower. Taking the time to prepare the soil before planting is time well spent, plant with the eyes facing upwards and the roots spread out. Peonies are very adaptable, but they do prefer a sunny, well-drained, slightly acidic soil and benefit from compost added when planted, they can remain in the same spot for upwards of 70 years. Peony roots should be planted relatively close to the soil surface; only about 2-3 inches deep. It may seem odd to leave roots so exposed, but they need a winter chilling to attain dormancy and set bud. Keep mulch away from the base of peony plants. Lift gladioli now : you do not need wait for leaves to die back, dry in a warm place then dust with insecticide to prevent infestation before storing in a cool place for next growing season. They can be left where they are growing if there is not a pest problem. If you want to grow a great number of gladiolus plants and don’t mind spending a few years doing it, seed germination is the way to go. Leave the flowers on the stem for about six weeks after they die off and produce hard casings filled with seeds. Sprout seeds into miniature plants and you’ll have full-sized gladiolus in about three years. For quicker results with fewer plants, try propagating small gladiolus corms. Each plant will have a number of baby corms, known as cormels or cormlets, attached to the bottom. When you remove these cormlets and plant them separately they’ll grow to flowering size in a couple of years and be true to the Mother plant whereas seeds will develop their own shades. It is time to empty compost bins in readiness for all in coming leaves. Shrubs, plants and bulbs take so much from the soil during each growing season until soil reaches a stage of needing more than the Man made fertilisers which work by feeding plants and promoting growth and in doing so depletes soil of humus. Compost / humus is a soil enhancer taken down to where needed by worms to get the best results from both ornamental and vegetable gardens. Lawns: Get new lawns sown now, the cooler nights and mornings are allowing the moisture to remain longer after watering and a strike will happen pretty fast as the ground is still nice and warm. Fruit: Apples in abundance dripping from trees, pick when pips are brown and store carefully without bruising in a cool dark place. Vegetables: Good growth is still happening as long as water is kept up, pumpkins and corn should be ready to harvest. Dry off pumpkin and squash skins before storing them in a cool dry place. This is a good time for planting above ground annual crops that produce their seeds outside like lettuce, spinach, celery, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and grain green crops for digging in. Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago March 3rd 2021

Signs of Autumn this week with our silver birch tree's tingeing gold and leaves dropping but gardens should still be holding green and should continue to do so a little longer if moisture is kept up.  Summer potted annuals will be looking tired now but deadheading and folia feeding will keep them flowering through autumn. Here on the coast we can still enjoy colour during winter if bedding plants are prepared now. The idea is to utilize the warmth from now on to encourage individually potted plants to bush, bud and harden for planting before frosts get heavy. Bedding plants that respond well to this method are pansy, viola, pollyanthus wallflower, stock, calendula and primula malacoides. It is so worth taking the time to pot individual young seedlings into single pots for root development and become acclimated to early winter conditions rather than buying plants that have been forced into flower at the time. I place these pots on trays and store them in a cool shady place until frosts begin, then the trays are put in a sunny spot to bud up. Keep rose and dahlia deadheading up to encourage a last vibrant show. Rust is always a problem on roses in autumn, strip the affected leaves from the bushes as well as those on the ground and burn them to reduce this problem for next year.  Carnations can be layered now, pin the center of a stem  down under the soil while still attached to the mother plant with the flower end still exposed, roots should form along the buried stem. Once rooted cut from the mother plant and pot up to grow on before planting out in lime sweetened soil. This layering method can be applied to many herbs, plants and shrubs. Lawns.There should be a lot of new lawns being sown in the next couple of months, don't worry about annual weeds appearing as the grass germinates most will disappear after the first mow. All lawn weed sprays are too strong for new grass.Birds are after grass grub in lawns now while the grubs are feeding on grass roots, you have until the end of May to deal to grass grub should they be a problem. Fruit: This is proving a good season for apples, quince, pears and walnuts. The more I read about the health benefits from eating walnuts I feel we should all have access to a tree. The east coast is said to be the preferred place for growing walnuts, they need a dry climate, with a high summer temperature and winter chilling (down to -10ºC). Walnuts are self-pollinating but the more trees you have, the better the pollination rate, if planting trees from scratch, they won’t be producing at economic levels until about Year 8.  Vegetable Gardens will be ready to plant out new crops for the cooler seasons, root veg seeds will germinate well while the ground is still warm. Keep water up to corn and the pumpkin family. We have been experiencing higher humidity than normal for North Otago, this encourages fungus in glass and tunnel houses, water early in the day to ensure produce is dry going into the night.

Cheers Linda