Gardening in Waitaki July 4th 2023

convolvulus roots ned to be removed

Here we are now in July and winter has kicked in with hints of the spring to come with spring encouraged to burst through the ground on milder days and some even flowering. Windy days have blown remaining leaves from trees to swirl about and tug at exposed plants and young trees in need of staking. If roots are moving in the ground, shrubs and trees will never anchor into soil and thrive. I have found watering is needed on gardens under eaves through winter, especially during windy days. I have such a garden protected from rain which needs to be watered at least fortnightly. A big job in my past garden on milder days right now was cutting back deciduous shrubs, and dealing with convolvulus roots now that top growth has died off. In patches of garden where convolvulus was growing up and smothering shrubs I would dig out wheelbarrows full of roots, I kid you not!!, long white roots that criss-crossed ground spreading through plant roots and along a fence lines seeming to know where they needed to be to climb. It is so satisfying to start at one end of a root right to the end and remove it without it breaking . Because I never used weed spray on the garden, digging and pulling it out was the only way to beat it. Pruning continues through this month to control trees and shrubs from getting out of hand and to encourage new growth and fruiting at the right height. Understanding how something grows is helpful before pruning, does it flower on new or old wood, how mature does a fruit tree need to be to produce fruiting spurs. Will a wound heal well or will it bleed like cherries and plums and if so when does it produce less sap? But sometimes it is best just to do it, the worst that can happen is that you will lose a season's flowering and learn a useful lesson at the same time. Hydrangeas and lavender are best left now with old growth protecting new growth, pruning can be done in early spring. Rose pruning is done to encourage new growth and stop last summer /autumn growth running to seed which would use up energy needed for flowering in the season. Bush roses: concentrate on clearing the center of the bush, remove all inward facing branches at an outward facing bud, prune height back by two thirds always at an outward facing bud and remove any old and damaged branches. Brush old gnarly rose centers with a wire brush to stimulate and encourage new budding. Floribunda bush roses: like iceberg with a number of blooms on one stem need a few older branches taken right back each year to encourage new strong branching and newer branches taken back by two thirds. Hybrid tea roses: These are the roses that can grow a single exhibition bloom on a stem, these rose bushes can be pruned back quite hard to an outward facing bud. Standard bush roses: Same as bush roses. Climbing roses: These roses flower at their best when the branches are trained horizontally along a fence or wall, they will then develop small branches along the length to carry flowers. After a number of years a main horizontal branch will become unproductive and need to be removed and replaced with a new branch to be trained gently to take its place. The new branch will bud up quickly sending out small outward growing branches to harden off in a couple of years. To prune established horizontal branches, take the outward growing branches back to the second out facing bud closest to the main horizontal branch. Pillar roses: These are the best type to climb up and be trained over an arch or pergola. I cut the old growth back from these with a hedge trimmer Fairy rose and flower carpet roses: I also cut back with a hedge trimmer but opened them up by removing branches from the middle with secateurs. Veg: Rain will have made veg gardens a bit soggy to work in, young veg will sit now without growing because they dislike cold wet ground. Once they dry out I plan to weed the raised gardens and top with manure enriched compost for worms to take down in readiness for spring planting. In cold areas, if the ground is frozen start garlic off in containers and plant out later when the ground warms up. Fruit tree pruning: I have found If I prune an apple tree hard each winter it will make a mass of new growth but no blossom, hence no fruit. So now any tree or shrub that is growing too vigorously I wait until summer to prune hard, when leaves are fully grown and before roots start to store food for winter. Cuts heal over pushing out no new growth. This is a good rule of thumb for cordons (espaliered trees) only cut back any weak growth in winter to encourage vigorous new shoots in spring. If removing large thick branches in summer while sap is up wounds may need sealed if they bleed. Cheers, Linda.