Gardening in Waitaki June 27th 2023

Winter colour with ericas

Here we are at the end of June and still mild days being experienced here on the coast plus there are jonquils flowering everywhere now instead of waiting for spring. Helleborus are also pushing up fat buds and flowering, removing all old leaves will show the flowers and allow new leaves to join them. I always started pruning large rambling roses now in my past garden, the time by which rose pruning should be completed varies by several weeks from the warmest to coldest gardens. It should be done and dusted by the time of bud burst so we have a good two months to get rose pruning out of the way here on the coast and a little longer further inland. There are new season roses on offer in Garden centers and this is the time to get them planted and settled in to get feeder roots forming for summer flowering. If planting new standard roses they will need staked to keep them secure until enough roots have established to grip and hold them upright. Newly bought roses also need pruned, growers just lop them back before sending them off to Garden centers so crossover branches need to be cut out and all others cut back to an outward facing bud. The bulk of new season's bare rooted deciduous trees are arriving into retail shops now and the ground is perfect for planting but avoid times when the ground is frozen or excessively wet, no roots like sitting in water, especially new young roots which have not made a root ball of feeder roots. Young deciduous trees and shrubs can also be moved at this time, trim any damaged roots and cut back any that are inconveniently long then stake well. Evergreen trees and shrubs are on offer as well, but don't be in a hurry to plant them. Keep in plant bags outside in a sheltered place to harden off. Choose now and plant later when frosts are over to give them a good start. I enjoyed digging out shrubs and plants that didn't work where they were planted and filling the gaps with a new look. Erica's give wonderful winter colour and I have known them to last for 30 + and still look good if they are trimmed annually after flowering. I managed to get hold of a number of small grade ericas to plant that will in time give drifts of bright clear colour through future winter months. Erica's are low maintenance plants, most are winter flowering, they look great planted as a border or to spill over walls. Fruit & Veg. Keep planting deciduous fruit trees and bushes in a sunny site, avoid frosty hollows for early starters such as plums and pears. Frosty sites are not a disadvantage for soft fruits as winter chills will stimulate fruit buds. Continue to shelter citrus in frosty gardens, they should be offering a lot of fruit to pick now. Keep planting garlic cloves, local if you can get them and never those bought in a Supermarket. In cold wet areas start garlic off in containers then plant out later when the ground warms up. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in Waitaki June 21st 2023

Gardens are sleeping through the cold short days but, are they? buds are swelling and bulbs are up answering the call of spring. While growth is slow and there is not a lot of urgency right now to do what needs to be done in the garden, there is time to plan and maybe construct for the coming growing season. Raised gardens have proven to be easy care but need to be put together well in the beginning. Advantages of a Raised Bed Garden: Raised gardens warm quickly in spring, allowing you to work the soil and plant earlier. Being raised they drain better. No compaction of soil, because they are not walked upon. Its easy to tailor the soil to suit plants in a raised bed. Raised beds are not difficult to construct using wood or (here in North Otago) Oamaru stone seconds as a surround. If you need time to think about a permanent position for raised beds you could make some using straw bales as surrounds for a year. Once in place to the size required, fill them with soil and compost and plant out. A sunny location is a must for growing vegetables and herbs. Accessing all sides with a wheelbarrow is recommended for ease of maintenance, keep a raised garden around four feet wide, this way you can reach the middle. Access to water is essential with drainage being greater in raised gardens and from time to time will need good spankings. Filling a raised bed: First layer: For a deep raised bed on grass I spread a layer of compost to bring up worms, then twigs sticks old stump matter, grass clippings / straw, then soil and manure enriched compost mixed to fill. However a raised bed of six inches above the soil is enough to grow leaf vegetables and herbs and at least ten inches for root veg veg but I don't see the sense in not raising it to a height that will reduce the amount of digging and bending you do. If winter has left your garden looking a little bleak, Garden centers will have potted colour to brighten things up. I have noticed on offer pansy's, wall flower, polyanthus and primula malacoides which look fresh and bright planted in groups or as a border before bulbs bloom. - Tulips planted in May should be showing now, don't give them any fertilizer as this will only promote leaf growth which will take away from the bloom. Tulips store the food needed in the bulb. Veg: Here on the coast get seeds in for broccoli , cabbage, cauliflower, broad beans, onions, spinach and silverbeet and protect in a warm spot with moisture kept up when needed and they should be ready to transplant in 6 -8 weeks from germination. Approximately 4 cm high with a good amount of root. Prick out into punnets, they will hold until frosts are over before planting out. Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in Waitaki June 13th 2023

Frosts are here to stay for a while now with the shortest day upon us, Plants wanting to be planted can be acclimatised to the cold by gradual exposure to outside and overnight temperatures as some bought plants have been nursed to get them into retail outlets. Many plants may be frost tender when young but will be quite tolerant when mature. Keep an eye on weather forecasts, if the overnight low is predicted to be 4 degrees Celsius or below with little wind, tender growth will need a cover. There are ways now to minimise frost damage when plants are young, overhead cover which still lets light in is frost cloth, acting as a duvet for plants but needs to be kept from touching foliage. Plants growing under evergreen trees are protected from frost so this might be an option for where to place potted tender plants. Water in mornings –it has been proven that a moist soil can hold four times more heat than a dry soil. It will also conduct heat to the soil surface faster than a dry soil, aiding in frost prevention. These days sprinklers are sometimes used on commercial plantings to keep plants “warm” on a frosty night, the science being that as water freezes, it releases heat, hard to figure? Most perennial plants will recover in spring from frost damage even if they have gone black or mushy, don't remove the affected growth, just leave to protect the new growth which will appear when the ground warms up again. In favor of frost, it is very effective in reducing the populations of over-wintering pests, it will will also help break down clay soil if clods are left exposed over winter and come spring soil will fork over easily prior to planting. Digging up and shifting plants around the garden like rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias, if shiftable size can be shifted now and anything you think has been struggling in the spot it has been planted in. This is also the time to remove trees and shrubs that have long out grown their youthful beauty, you can change the whole look of a tired garden by replacing these plants with a younger version of the original or something different. I notice many native shrubs that have grown into ugly woody trees, ake ake, hebe's, olearia traversiorum (Chatham island ake ake) and Hoheria (lace bark) which is a nice tree for a number of years but will then die back and eventually look half dead. Pittosporums will grow nicely for many years if trimmed but if left to grow into a tree will soon become unattractive. Most respond well to being taken right back to ground level and will regrow into a nice shrub. Over grown hoherias need to be completely removed. Lawns: that performed poorly in spite of feeding and watering during the growing season may be improved with a winter liming, aim to achieve a PH of around 6 (mildly acid) which will encourage strong grass growth. Worms will also appreciate lime. Vegetable garden: The shortest day is here already which which means gradually lighter days, but as we all know there is a lot of winter yet to come here in the south. The shortest day means garlic planting and plenty more veg here on the coast if you provide a warmer microclimate to aid growth. Cloches for protecting newly planted seedlings in frosty areas, or plant veg in pots or boxes and position them in a warm sheltered spot to make the most of our North Otago winter sun. Fruit: People have been asking me about the pruning of fruit trees, it is confusing to explain unless showing someone so I thought I would give an explanation which I hope will be easy to follow when planting a new apple trees. Apples are produced from shoots which are in their second year. One of the aims of pruning is to produce a balance between side shoots produced this year and those produced last year. The first pruning should occur immediately after planting, make sure you know if you have a one or two year old tree. A one year old apple tree - cut off the top half of the trunk with a sharp secateurs but before cutting make sure the bottom half contains at least four buds or formed branches. If not, make the cut higher above the fourth bud. Second, third and fourth year old apple trees: The light grey coloured parts of the tree show growth in the previous year, this should Not be pruned, black coloured side shoots should all be pruned by a third, cut just above an outward facing bud - this bud will then produce a side shoot in spring which will grow away from the centre of the tree. A five year old apple tree can be considered mature and the basic shape will have been established. Pruning should consist of keeping the centre of the tree relatively clear of growth, removing all weak or diseased growth and keeping the tree within the space available. Remember that apples will grow on wood produced the previous year, so always leave a good proportion (say 50%) of the previous year's growth. I hope this is straight forward and helpful. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in Waitaki June 7th 2023

Hello winter here on the coast in Waitaki, it was late in getting here but the frost cloth and winter woolies are now out and on. Pruning: Now trees and shrubs have shed leaves they are open for inspection, many ornamental trees need attention, branches crossing, too many branches blocking light from buds once in leaf, height and width reduction. Most trees are pruned in winter while sap is down and insects / diseases that can potentially invade pruning cuts are dormant as well as trees. In winter the worst disease is silver leaf, which attacks stone and pip fruit, roses, poplar, willows and escallonia hedges. It is during cold wet weather that spores are released which can then enter the pruning cuts, a reason to avoid pruning on cool wet days. Spores are not released during dry weather, this is the reason that some prefer a summer prune on susceptible trees, Thinning: is the removal of an entire branch if two branches are doing the same job, this technique rids the tree of weak and diseased branches and increases light penetration and air movement. I have included diagrams of where and where not to cut for best healing practice. Heading back: is shortening the length of a branch back to a bud or the next side branch. Rose pruning: is done once rosewood has had enough time to harden, end of June, July even August is not too late. Hellebores: I have cut the leaves from all my hellebores, they were infested with greenfly wintering over, new fresh leaves will soon appear after the beautiful flowers have popped up and flowered on their own. Erica's are flowering now, these are very hardy plants that are perfect ground covers, over wall spillers and great as a wide border. They usually grow only 6 - 12 inches high and spread 2 - 3 feet. Upright erica melanthera improved is one of the prettiest winter flowering small shrubs, bright pink 60cm high by 1m wide fully grown. Leucadendrons are looking wonderful now, perfect for picking and will last for weeks in a vase. Remember not to give them rich compost or fertiliser, they prefer poor soil conditions. Even though we are now in winter there is plenty on offer to plant, deciduous trees will settle in with a firm stake, roses do best planted now. If planting evergreen shrubs that look like they have been nursed get them used to the outside temperatures before planting then protect with frost cloth. Plant labels should tell you their hardiness. Mulching: If you have a bare garden over winter, opportunistic weeds will germinate during fine days, mulching will prevent this, plus protect not only plant roots but soil as well. If you haven't got a green cover crop in, or you've just run out of time to get winter food crops, put your garden to bed by mulching. Sawdust can be used on wet gardens, straw, shredded garden cut back or autumn leaves shredded with the lawn mower on dry gardens after a good watering. Vegetables: On the coast in gardens getting winter sun sow broad beans, garlic, shallots and rhubarb.