Gardening in Waitaki December 1st 2021

Dead heading roses.

It's dead heading roses time again, I have been laying the rose petals out on a trestle table to dry for potpourri. The fragrance as they dry is wonderful, It is 6 weeks from cut to new bud at this time of the year. I have found old hellebore leaves that had not been removed, absolutely loaded in green fly!! Cut every last one out and dispose of them so green fly do not fly off onto your waiting roses. It is so important right now to keep the water up to roses, constant feeding and deep soaking at the roots will keep them healthy and not in need of spraying. A rose that is struggling will be susceptible to everything bad. Night beetles are on the wing again, newly planted young trees are the worst targeted, they can strip leaves right off, If this happens don't be alarmed because another lot of leaves will grow. Night beetles usually sleep through the day under a tree they are feeding on and you will not notice the leaves striped from the top new growth of established trees so nothing needs to be done about the night beetles on these. Flag iris have flowered now so large clumps can be broken up and transplanted in a sunny spot. Prepare the bed by digging in fresh compost and some lime then plant, leaving half the rhizome (root) exposed to bake in the sun over summer. Long leaves can be cut half way back to reduce transpiration while reestablishing.　 While you can still see where spring bulbs have been cover them with mulch to stop them drying out over summer, Weed free compost is fine then you can plant annuals on top to fill gaps. If large clumps of bulbs flowered poorly this is a good time to break them up and plant out into smaller groups using fresh compost to give them a good start. \Montana clematis has finished flowering but wait a little longer before trimming back because they have not finished their new growth spurt, if you trim now you will have to do it all over again in a couple of weeks. However wisterias can be dealt to now, if your wisteria has nice strong flowering hard wood branches that flower well then no more will be required, remove all the new long trailers, most of these if left will in time grow into hard wood branches. A wisteria is like a climbing tree and will take over and out grow it's place in no time and become very heavy if you let too many leaders grow. Lawns: will be suffering with new growth being scorched in heat, keep the mower blade up a little higher and mow in the cooler part of the day to help with recovery, mow without the catcher sometimes and give deep watering's rather than a light sprinkle. New lawns will need feeding and water kept up to help them to strengthen enough to cope with this summer. If spraying lawn weeds add liquid fertiliser and feed the grass at the same time, don't use sprayed grass clippings around the garden or in compost, spray containers have printed information on how long the with holding time is. Herbs: Culinary herbs are the original cut-and-come-again crop, if you grow them get snipping and picking. The plants really will benefit from it, and you'll have wonderful flavours to add when cooking. Most herbs and leafy plants naturally want to create seeds, and once they get to that stage, it means the end of a herb like parsley, chives or basil. So pick leaves early and often to encourage the plant to put out more foliage and prevent it from running to seed. It may be cheating Nature but it extends the life of your plants and gives you handfuls of herbs to enjoy, pick bunch, hang, dry then store in glass jars. Vegetables: Don't feed leaf veg now or have the soil too rich, they will put out too much soft growth and bolt, all that is needed is moisture when dry. I am experimenting with some plant concoctions to keep the white butterfly and aphids away. Organic bug spray 1/2 cup hot peppers, diced 6 cloves garlic, peeled 2 cups water Blast in a food processor, strain, add 2 teaspoons liquid soap (without bleach) Fill a plastic spray bottle and mist spray affected plants. Cheers, Linda.

Hanging fresh herbs to dry.