Gardening in Waitaki January 18th 2023

I am loving this real summer weather with all the growth and I do tend to repeat myself, mentioning cutting back all early summer perennials and shrubs before they make seed. You can be especially hard now on hedges if height and width need reducing as the grow back rate is fast to cover any unsightly scalping. Height can be taken out of shelter shrubs like pittosporum, laurels and conifers should they be getting taller than required by removing the center leader to a point where lower branches will cover the cut. This will stop these shrubs from becoming the trees they were created to be. Growth removed from top's and sides will regenerate but branches removed from the bottom will seldom regrow. Heat this summer is hard on shallow rooted rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas, if any have outgrown the space allotted width and height can be reduced now before budding becomes too advanced and removing as many spent flower heads as can be reached will benefit growth. Collecting rose petals to make potpourri is a nice way to carry summer into the colder months. Pick petals and rose buds early in the morning when still plump from dew, lay them out separated on newspaper and place in a dark, warm, very dry place ( there must be no hint of moisture or petals will grow mold). Once the petals have completely dried place in a glass jar with a lid, at this stage you can add spices (such as cinnamon or cloves) or dried rosemary, lavender or even dried citrus slices to personalise your scent. Close the container and gently shake from time to time then store and enjoy the scent of summer whenever the lid is opened. Seed collecting is well under way now, a few warm days in a row will ripen pods that have been slow to mature. I like to store mature pods into small paper bags / envelopes where they can pop in their own time. Continue to mulch with light scatterings of un-sprayed grass clippings to keep moisture in soil, they break down into humus quickly with summer sun and rain. All tree foliage benefits from mulch around a tree root area to retain moisture needed to benefit foliage at a height. Lawns scorch badly as they experience day after day of intense heat, keeping the catcher higher, early morning soakings and feeding during rain helps them stay green. Lawn weeds can be sprayed if needed, there are a few different lawn weed sprays on offer to deal with whatever weeds are a problem. I pick a time to spray when bees are not about and only spot spray to consider the worm population working in the soil. Fruit & Veg: It's proving to be a bumper year for both fruit and veg, my corn, beans and pumpkins have really taken off now after a slowish start, and my cucumber plants are producing and ripening well but tomatoes are very slow to ripen, other Gardeners have confirmed the same is happening with their tomato plants. Keep rotating root and leaf vegetables to get the best results. New potatoes will be loving the warmth, I leave them in the ground well covered until ready to use even when the tops have died back. Garlic is dug and hung to dry, I plant local Kakanui stock and still, after years of growing, find it surprising when I lift such large bulbs produced from single cloves. Cheers, Linda.