Gardening in Waitaki April 27th 2022

May has sneaked up on us as it does after Easter and ANZC weekend and we were blessed with lovely Autumn days over that period and odd shower to keep growth strong here on the coast. No frost yet as I write this but with mornings and nights becoming chilly they will not be far off. This is the best time to prepare for colder months while there is still warmth in the soil. Cut back summer, spent growth, weed in gaps and then mulch using compost, straw or Arborist mulch, even grass clippings while mowers are still on the go. Anything to keep soil warm and stop germination by blocking out light. Autumn compost/leaf much making : Gathered leaves layered with garden green waste, leftover compost, stable or chook manure and plenty of water between layers will start to break down now then stop during the coldest months but continue working in Spring. Cover moistened piles with old carpet, straw slices or what you have on hand to retain the moisture, dry piles take much longer to break down. Mulch applied to gardens after rain in Autumn will help keep moisture in the soil and add to trees what has been raked away by gathering leaves. After rain snails and slugs arrive into gardens, they will find a dark sheltered spot among pots or behind plants growing up against a wall, flax and agapanthus are especially bad for harboring fast multiplying snails ready to destroy plants in spring. I have read that it is no good transporting snails to a vacant area away from your garden because they have homing instincts and travel long distances to return to THEIR garden of choice. I cannot bring myself to stamp on them or drown them in a bucket so if you are like me you can gather up as many as you can find and put them in a plastic bag, close it tight and put it in the freezer. This way they will go to sleep and not wake up, yes I know "what is she on about"? Working with Nature is what gardening is all about and snails belong in gardens until you remove them. Conifers have been out of favor for a number of years but I consider conifers along with tree's the bones of any garden and now that leaves are disappearing from deciduous trees I appreciate the wonderful conifers I planted many years ago. To find the right conifer for a particular spot needs a little homework because size and preference to shade and texture need to be considered. A conifer can be used as a focal point, to add interest at the end of a vista in an otherwise bleak winter garden. Find an image of the right conifer for your garden and get the information required then order because Garden centers do not carry many varieties these days. Conifers planted alongside erica's and callua's are the perfect combination for a low maintenance planting to make a winter garden interesting. Pots that have been full of summer colour will now be looking very tired, replace the growing medium as all nutrients will be exhausted. If very large pots, half fill with soil / compost then top up with a heavy potting mix and fill with winter flowering annuals like pansies, polyanthus, primulas, dwarf wall flowers, all of these have shallow roots. Some I have filled with succulents because I noticed that a lot of my succulents have flowered and become stalky which means that it is time to forgo the Mother plant and plant out her babies. Each rosette can be broken off with a little part of the stem pushed into river sand to quickly develop roots to become a Mother plant. These Baby succulents look great in pots over the Winter months, You can fill all of the vacant space or push in around the edges and plant Hyacinths or any dwarf Spring bulbs in the center. The succulents give your pots some interest before the bulbs come up. There are so many different succulents, in shades of red, orange, silver and fresh green. Lawns should be slowing growth down now but not this Autumn they are still growing like fresh Spring lawns! There is still time to sow grass seed which should germinate quickly, once up new grass will cope with first frosts. Our new lawn was sown on the 31st March and is almost ready for the first cut. Sown grass seed on the bare patches (only in sunny warm areas) Don't waste lawn fertiliser on grass now, save it for spring but a dressing of dolomite lime now will have worked down by spring to sweeten grass roots. Vegetables: Plant broad beans, cabbage, carrots, and spinach here on the coast, further inland forget about the vegetable garden apart from already planted veg already maturing to take you into winter and maybe a green crop to be dug in and left to break down over winter. Cheer Linda