Gardening in Waitaki August 9th 2023

Pussy willow buds,

We are a little closer towards Spring as I see fluffy pussy willow and magnolia buds ahowing colour, a few rhododendrons bursting buds, early blossoms, flowering currant and viburnum flowering but it still feels very much like winter. Soil is wet and cold but as days lengthen ground temperature starts to rise gradually. It is the plants that let us know when Spring is here and they are happy to push out new growth. This is the time of the year I notice the yellowing of some plants, with the winter rain we have had ground gets depleted of nitrogen affecting shallow rooted camellias, azaleas and rhododendron, acid fertiliser especially formulated for them is available, ( If powder water in well) folia feeding is also beneficial now as roots are forming and looking for nutrients, I used a watering can to apply liquid comfrey feed made last summer as a boost to spring flowering plants that are showing movement. Worm tea diluted to (weak tea colour) horse / cow manure is an inexpensive folia / root food for newly planted annuals, perennials, roses and shrubs as new buds swell. Potted plants out growing their containers will soon show poor growth, these plants can be revived by reducing the root mass by half then re-potting back into the same pot or potting on into a larger pot. Remove the root bound plant from the pot and lay it on the ground, I use a sharp spade to chop the root ball in half. Then using tin foil, (shiny side against the inside of the pot ) will help with roots sunbaking, the use of a heavy tree and shrub mix is best for moisture retention. With all the slow release fertilisers on offer now it makes it easy to choose the right one for all plants. Keep planting roses, peony roses and gladioli from now until September if dividing or planting lilies get them planted straight away, they never stop making roots and should never dry out. Cut back : leggy, bush lavatera and buddleas they will bush up fresh new growth again in no time. Lawns Moss will be noticeable in lawns after a damp winter, there are a lot of products out there to deal with moss but killing the moss in lawns is simply a short term measure, it does not address the basic problem. If you really want to eradicate moss from your lawn, then you have to find the problem causing it. The reasons are varied, but not too difficult to isolate. Things that would be causing moss in your lawn could be: Water logging, Poor feeding regime, soil too acidic, shaded lawns and mowing lawns too close. Drought - not to be confused with a bit of summer-browning and compaction. Treating areas of moss in lawns can be carried out with sulphate of iron watered on at the strength displayed on the pack per sq meter, the moss will turn black and after a couple of weeks rake out the dead moss and re-seed. Moss rarely competes with strong growing lawns, the first lawn feed can be as soon as new growth is noticed. Slow release grass fertliser is ideal when the ground is wet and rain is about to happen, powdered grass fertiliser must be watered in either by rain or hose, if left to sit it will burn new growth. Vegetables Here on the coast get spring sowing off to an early start, plant peas and broad beans and veg seedlings on offer in garden centers. Further inland the soil will take a bit of thawing before any planting but an early start may be achieved by using a row of cloches or a stretch of clear polythene to warm and dry out the soil. Plenty to do preparing veg gardens by digging in humus/compost in readiness for the big plant out. I see seed potatoes are available for sprouting, then into the ground for early crop on the coast, people have been telling me of the benefits gained from planting potatoes on a bed of pine needles, I lay them on comfrey leaves but will use some pine needles as well this year, I am sure there will be many other potato planting traditions out there. Fruit Peach trees should be just about at bud burst so spray with a copper spray for leaf curl, once in blossom it is too late to spray. If you have not already pruned your peach or nectarine tree that's ok, they are best left until after the coldest weather. I will run through how to go about it. 1. Standard type trees are easily trained to an open center or vase shape with 3 or 4 primary scaffold branches or they can be trained to V-shaped trees with just 2 scaffold branches, cut larger branches needing removal close to the trunk leaving only a small collar to prevent decay in branches. 2. Remove small weak upright branches on trunk or main branches. 3. Leave 50 to 75% pencil thick shooting wood per tree. Both peach and nectarine trees fruit on wood developed last summer. Inspect the buds on newer wood, single buds are leaf buds, double buds are immature fruit buds and triple buds are mature fruit buds. Cut to an outward facing double bud, leave triples. Cheers, Linda

Peach bud swell.