Gardening in Waitaki February 14th 2023

What glorious weather we are getting as I write this, but with it comes the dry ground and work keeping moisture up to the whole garden and lawns. There is so much to do right now, dead heading roses and dahlias and cutting back everything that has flowered and getting rid of weeds before they run to seed. The one thing we can hold off from at this hot time of the year is planting, unless you are able to water new plantings daily. Lavenders can be topped now to encourage new flowers, it's just a matter of cutting off the old flowers unless the bush has become woody, if so take it right back to the ground and it will soon send up some nice new soft growth. Cut well established buddleias right back to the ground if they have grown taller than needed, new soft growth is much more attractive than new growth on old wood. Buddleias are such great gap fillers for big gardens with beautiful flowers that attract butterflies but it is not worth planting them if you are not prepared to cut them off at ground level every now and then. Roses are giving us a second batch of blooms right now. During dry conditions roses struggle and will not be the healthy specimens they were at the start of the growing season. I remove rust and black spot diseased leaves as I decided not to spray a few years ago. My trial at the beginning was to foliar feed as much as possible to keep roses healthy, remembering not to let wet rose leaves go into humid nights so as not to encourage mildew and fungus. Deep root watering at the end of a day works for me, there is no sign of the usual mildew and I don't mind having to remove the black spot and rust leaves by not spraying to let roses build up a stronger resistance. Ponds: Masses of oxygen and duckweed may be choking ponds because of heat, it was always a great mulch for the garden when taken from my ponds. When removing let piles lay by the pond overnight so pond creatures attached to weed can find their way back into the pond. Pond water can get a bit murky at this time of the year, if you think your pond is stagnant and producing lots of green slime add some non sprayed barley straw and weigh it down with rocks. This will soon neutralise the water and get the pond working the way it should. There is also a product available called barley essence that can be added to get the same results. Lawns are very thirsty, especially those with a lot of clay content, clay shrinks when very dry creating cracks. I have been leaving the hose running on the lawn and shifting to needed areas rather than using a sprinkler which tends to water only top root growth encouraging roots to remain shallow. Hopefully we will get a good downpour as the tail end of the tragic happenings up north. Fruit trees are taking center stage now as fruit ripens, I keep an eye on what birds tell me is ready then harvest before they get the lot. I missed the boat this year with elderberries, they beat me to it. Apricot trees I find are plentiful every second year, peach and plum trees need to be visited daily as birds will be waiting close by and apple tree branches are sagging with abundant crops ripening. Cover grape bunches from birds as they ripen, old net curtains or frost cloth work by still allowing needed light. Vegetables: Keep water up to the vegetables, don't leave veg past its best alongside healthy vegetables and always rotate plantings of leafy veg with root veg to eliminate disease being passed on. I have been checking brassica leaves for caterpillars and removing whole leaves if too infested. Mound soil up around the roots of corn ripening, and keep an eye on the pumpkin patch, leaves soon let you know when in need of water to help them grow into prize winners. Cheers, Linda.