Gardening in Waitaki July 14th 2021

Good hard frosts now here on the coast so it's frost cloth on plants like bougainvillea, hibiscus, pelargonium and established Margarette daisy bushes.  If any of these have taken a knock from frosts just leave frosted top growth to protect new growth beneath but still cover.Further In land and up the Waitaki valley gardeners will need to have taken cuttings of daisy bushes, geraniums and pelargoniums,  protect them until spring. Hydrangeas: Here on the coast pruning back hydrangeas can be started now wood has hardened, further inland prune just before spring by cutting each flower stem off at the second bud from the bottom, leaving the stalks that did not flower because these are your flowering stems for this year. Give pink hydrangeas a dressing of lime now. Blue hydrangeas unfortunately will always revert to pink if planted in sweet soil. I have tried using sulphate of allium around hydrangeas I have grown from cuttings of blue flowering type which did not stay in the soil so I found this only works on blue hydrangeas that show a slight tinge of pink. If you planted a blue hydrangea and it flowered with no sign of blue you will not correct this as it will be growing in alkaline soil (sweet soil). If the bush is still small enough to dig up, plant in a large pot using rhododendron / azalea potting mix and flowers will bloom blue.Rose pruning will be full on now as rose buds swell, make sure all pruned branches and old rose debris is removed from around bushes to avoid the spread of disease. Roses start looking for nutrients long before they start putting out new growth so a dressing of manure enriched compost for worms to take down to roots is so beneficial now in winter then a rose food product throughout the growing season. Winter perfume while moving about the garden: The presence of fragrant winter flowering shrubs, winter sweet, daphne bholu, witch hazel,  sarcococca (sweet box) will be caught on a breeze if you are lucky enough to have them in your garden. Hardwood cuttings: are taken in Winter, The ideal time is just after Autumn or just before bud burst in early spring, if taken now cuttings will sit a while until early Spring before new growth will encourage rooting. Select vigorous healthy shoots grown in the current year, remove soft growth, cut into sections 15-30 cm a sloping cut above a bud at the top, cut straight across the cutting bottom, below a bud. Dip this end into hormone rooting powder / gel which will promote rooting and protect against rotting. Cuttings can go into a prepared slit in the ground ( shaded in summer) or a pot of river sand with two thirds of the cutting below the surface,  Some cuttings may need to be left until the following Autumn and hopefully you will have a number of well grown beginnings of shrubs and trees. Some cuttings will produce roots much faster. This is the perfect time to select cuttings for future hedging projects, buxus (box), corokia, Sarococca, hebe, viburnum, conifers, Lavender (choose lavender hard wood that has not flowered) Bulbs: of every sort are pushing through sodden cold ground reminding us this coldness will be over soon, all bulbs store food within the bulb and if fed extra nutrient's now it will be put into leaf growth not the flower, only feed bulbs after flowering.  Fruit: Once again winter is the time you will find the best selection of fruit trees in garden centres. It may be cold and miserable outside but it's the best time to buy your trees for planting. They are usually grafted and tall growing so plant up to where they were planted in the bag and stake well to protect against the wind. Because it was such a good season for apples birds are still feasting on the apples and crabapples remaining on trees  Apples produce fruiting spurs on wood 2 years and older that are productive for 6 to 10 years so if apple trees are young only prune the new growth height if it has grown beyond picking height. Thin out branches from the middle to allow light to all parts of the tree; this will encourage new spurs to develop. Remove older, unproductive spurs as the tree matures. If trees tend to become too heavy with fruit you may need to thin spurs after blossom to reduce the crop. Vegetable garden: Time to start preparing the soil for spring planting. Cultivate vacant spaces, digging in green crops sown earlier. Add compost, Dig compost mixed with sawdust into wet, boggy soils. If your veg garden did not produce well last growing season, a simple home soil test can tell you if your soil is excessively acidic or alkaline.  Home soil test: Dig up a tablespoon of dry soil and drip several drops of vinegar onto it, any fizzing will indicate the pH of the soil is above 7.5 and therefore is alkaline. it may need to be sweetened with lime. Most vegetables require a slightly acid soil to grow well. Oppositely, dig up a tablespoon of moist soil and sprinkle a couple of pinches of baking soda over it. If you see or hear fizzing, that means the pH of the soil is below 5 and highly acidic.A soil pH between 5.8 and 6.3 is ideal. In areas where the soil is a lower pH and therefore too acidic for growing vegetables, a regular supplement of lime is beneficial. Acidic soil is often found in areas that experience high levels of rainfall. Rain washes calcium out of the soil over time, and lime must be added to replenish the depleted nutrient.   Cheers, Linda.