Gardening in Waitaki 1st November 2023

Hydrangea in early bud.

A chill in the air last week with even a flurry of snow, Nature has her own way with fresh spring growth. Rhododendrons, azalea's, delphiniums and peony roses will put on their show as we look forward to the expectation of something new happening every day in the garden. But once again Gardeners will be pulling sticky biddy-bid, chick weed and convolvulus because every year there seems to be just as much as the year before! Convolvulus is the worst, the only way to completely eradicate convolvulus is to dig out the mass of roots below. These roots are easily identified; they are thick, white and long, it is so satisfying to pull a length right out without it breaking. Every little bit of root left behind will grow very fast. Hydrangeas are well leafed up now with flower buds forming, if you have not mulched them with manure enriched compost do it now and they will reward you well.  I use pig manure from the Recycling center on hydrangeas, roses and all other plants needing a boost.  Box hedges should have put out a good amount of new growth now so all new growth can be trimmed back to the last cut on established hedges. On new plantings even up only the top growth leaving the sides to grow together. Trimming is best on an overcast day to limit the amount of sun scorching that will happen. When planting a new buxus hedge 5 to 7 plants per metre for small plants. All other hedges can be trimmed when finished putting out spring growth.   Lawns: There should be excellent results from grass seed sown, to repair winter damage, rake out bare patches, add sifted soil and plant grass seed. Small patches can be covered with shade or frost cloth to keep birds off until seed has germinated. Keep lawn mower blades higher while grass is lush to shade roots and we are still getting dew which settles on longer grass keeping the ground from drying out. Veg Garden: A good no fuss way to grow veg is in a no dig garden.  Making a no dig garden: Find a sunny spot on bare ground,( not concrete) surround with sleepers, logs, Oamaru stone, boards or even small straw bales, high enough to hold layers of manure, soil, compost and straw. Flood the base dirt before you start to get dampness deep down. If you plan to create a no dig garden on top of grass soak the base ground well then spread a layer of manure on top to attract worms from deep down, second layer can be a thick layer of compost, old leaf mulch and dried grass clippings, soak before adding a layer of soil, (clay soil is fine in this layer), water well after each layer leaving no dry spots. Next add a layer of straw, (soak) then add more layers of compost, old leaf mulch and dried grass clippings, (soak) and top that with more soil, (soak). As you build layers add river sand, a little lime and an all purpose fertiliser. Lastly add a top layer of straw to suppress weeds. When you think the garden is high enough, start planting and you should be eating your own produce within six weeks at this time of the year.  Fruit: Bee's will be doing their job on fruit blossom, berry fruits are romping along so water is important while fruit is forming especially after wind, a good soak from time to time if rain is scarce will ensure full juicy fruit.  Grapes will be flowering, give only the vines you think could do with a boost fertiliser in early spring, feeding established vines that are doing ok will only encourage more leaves and leaders. A little potash from time to time will help with fruiting.   Codling moths appear from October to February I have come across another method of dealing with codling moths which is said to have worked well for some. Use a plastic milk container, and place in it 1 banana peel, 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup sugar. Fill the container almost full of water, replace the cap and shake it well to mix and dissolve the contents. Remove the cap and firmly secure one container into each apple tree. The moths are attracted to the scent of the concoction, becoming trapped and drowned when they investigate. Refill with water as needed throughout the summer.   Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in Waitaki October 25th 2023

The wonderful Labour weekend weather bought garden growth on beautifully with the last of the blossom trees in full bloom, prunus shimidsu sakura a lovely low, spreading prunus with large double very pale pink / white ballerina blossom and the upright prunus kanzan with bright pink blossom gracing many gardens in North Otago. Spring planting: There will never be a better time for planting annuals, perennials and herbs than right now, the soil is warm and moist to get roots growing. When growth is lush the most important thing along with keeping the moisture up is deadheading as blooms die off. If a plant is left to run to seed it has finished the job it had to do. Keep deadheading and plants need to keep flowering. Roses are doing well now that the nights have warmed up, keep the food and deep root watering up to them as they bud up, foliar feeding on fresh new leaves works well now along with slow release fertilizers which ensures they are feed each time they are watered. Green fly on bud tips can be washed off with a strong hose which will hopefully drown them. Cut spent flowers off hellebore's so you get the full effect of their wonderful leaves. Weed spraying: With warm ground weeds grow before our eyes but right now roots are still soft enough for weeds to be pulled or hoed. Wild areas may need spraying before they make seed and spread everywhere. Lawns: Keep feeding lawns when rain is about, powdered fertilizer's need to be washed well in to stop fertiliser burning lawns during hot sunny days. Vegetables: plant out pumpkin, squash and corn plants. Pumpkins need a large prepared area to ramble with lots of compost and old stable manure dug in. Leaves will always let you know when they need water. If you have a glass or tunnel house why not plant some peppers, they can grow high so staking will be needed. Tomato plants will be romping away, those planted early will have been affected by the last cold snap, bottom leaves can curl and take on a blueish look but they should grow through that and grow normally. It helps to plant bee attracting flowers as tomato flowers develop Raspberry Kane's and strawberries: both flower and fruit up really quickly as long as they get all day sun they will ripen fast. These berries and new season peas are perfect for encouraging Children into the garden. They all learn the results are well worth the wait. Rhubarb: Keep manure enriched compost up to Rhubarb, if the soil gets hard and dry around rhubarb it will grow stringy dry uneatable steams. Elder flowers are blooming now so elderflower cordial will be happening again https://thisnzlife.co.nz/recipe-elderflower-cordial/ Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in Waitaki October 19th 2023

Labour weekend upon us and the time I have always felt for safe planting of summer annuals both floral and veg with the needed warmth and moisture in the ground supports new fresh growth. Roses are budding up, keep the deep root watering up to them, foliar feeding on fresh new leaves works well now along with slow release fertilisers to keep roses healthy. Aphid is looking for new rose growth, if time allows removal with finger and thumb while on top growth will reduce numbers moving down into the bush and laying eggs. Cut back Erica's and callunas that have finished flowering, this stops them from going woody, removing all the spent flowers will encourage fresh new green growth for summer. If you don't cut the old flowering growth off they will make their new growth out from the old growth which means they become woody at the base. Cut back aubretia rockery plants and you will get another flowering, also cut spent flowers from hellebore to stop seeds ripening and spreading, if you want to build up hellebore numbers leave a few to drop seed. If you are concerned about a hot dry Summer having a disastrous effect on your garden? Plenty of Mulch breaking down on your soil will help retain moisture as well as improve soil structure and suppress weed growth. Mulch can be straw, grass clippings or weed free compost. So many spring perennials, iris and other pretty garden fillers well up now to notice as Gardeners walk their gardens. Lawns: keep feeding lawns when rain is about, to wash fertilisers in. A new spring lawn sowing will compete with strong growing weeds so a thick sowing of grass seed is required to choke out annual weeds. Annual grass weeds will be removed when mowing begins. Flat perennial weeds in established lawns will need to be removed or spayed before they spread seed. Vegetables: PLANT, PLANT, PLANT plants and seeds, I have planted pumpkin and squash plants grown from seed with a lot of compost and old stable manure dug in, they need a large prepared area for them to ramble. Peas and radish are perfect for encouraging Children into the garden, If you have a glass house or tunnel house you will have success with growing tomatoes, (strings attached from the roof to stakes for support as they grow up), cucumber, peppers and basil need the warmth of a glass house as well. Fruit: Berry cane's and strawberries both flower and fruit really quickly as long as they get all day sun. Gooseberries can cope with shade and actually do better without harsh afternoon sun. Blueberries are best planted in spring or autumn, if you have had trouble growing blueberries they need to be planted and grown in conditions suited to them, acid, clay free, good draining soil. If in doubt plant in a good size pot drainage stones on the bottom in acid mix and water with rain water if possible because it is thought tap water has a negative effect. Keep manure enriched compost up to rhubarb, if the soil gets hard and dry around rhubarb it will grow stringy dry uneatable steams. Mound up earlier planted potatoes, critical that you either mulch or mound up well to obtain heavy crops and avoid potato worms. A foliar spray with raw milk is a great way to kill blight spores, add to a foliar spray of high quality compost tea, this is a great way to strengthen the microbe populations on the potato and tomato leaves to help avoid blight. Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in Waitaki October 11th 2023

Fresh spring new tree growth:

This is such a lovely time of the year, with new fresh growth on trees, splashes of plant colour everywhere, longer days and soil warming, it's all on again in gardens. Tulips are best left after flowering until all green has been absorbed by the bulb, if like me you have a main display of them and need to get other plants in once tulips have flowered, dig them up with leaves still attached to the bulb. Bunched they can be bedded into another part of the garden or stored away in a box where rats can not get at them. Dead head all spring bulbs as they finish flowering leaving leaves to die back into bulbs. If allowing bulbs to make seed will weaken bulbs. With the exception of blue bells, they spread faster if allowed to drop seed. This is the time of the year that kept me busy getting my big, past garden presentable for Spring tours, the ground is damp and warm and just right for planting the abundance of plants on offer, I plant seeds now to be ready for summer flowering and eating. The seeds I planted in late winter are now ready to be planted out or pot on. Compost is heating up and working well with the addition of new grass clippings and plenty of water. A sprinkler on open compost bins is needed from time to time getting warm moisture working right through the middle to create the heat needed. Pansies and polyanthus will keep flowering if dead headed, pansies and violas can be cut right back and fed with liquid fertiliser to come into bud again and flower on a little longer, flowering will not be as strong as it has been but as long as there is a chill in the air they will keep on flowering until it gets too warm for them. Polyanthus soon let you know when it is too hot for them, if you feel they have done all they are going to do, dig them out, cut back and plant in a cool shady place where they can be left and planted out again next year. Coastal gardens will be ahead of gardens further inland, late frosts can be hard on new rose growth, don' t be too concerned because rose leaves recover very fast and will have new buds to open in six weeks time. To avoid mildew problems don't let rose foliage go into the night wet in mild weather, also keep food up to your roses while they are making their buds, it's hungry roses are susceptible to diseased. Fortnightly folia feeding and slow release fertiliser are good right now on any flowering plants and shrubs. The new growth we don't want, convolvulus, couch and clover will be popping up and in large properties spot spaying will be needed while growth is still low, any spraying needs to be done on dull days when bees are fewer. Biddy bid and chick weed needs pulled out before it runs to seed, I do this every year but it still seems to run rampant. I planted sun flower seeds into trays only a week ago which are now up and large enough to plant out, they do best being planted straight into the ground but I like to get good roots going with no chance of birds finding the seeds. Sun flowers are a quick result for Children to plant and watch grow taller than them. I also have almost ready to plant out cosmos, larkspur, nasturtium and marigolds, delphiniums, and alyssum. Attract monarch butterflies to the garden by planting swan plants, planting them now will allow them to get bushy by summer in the hope of attracting or introducing them into the garden. On warm days there are butterflies already about laying eggs so I advise covering your young swan plants with clean frost cloth or clean net curtain (which lets light in )to keep butterflies off until shrubs are strong and bushy. If monarch butterflies have already lain eggs on your young swan plants it is better to squish eggs than caterpillars. Fruit: strawberries, Raspberries, goosberries and currants are starting to flower so give them a boost of strawberry fertiliser watered in around roots. Blueberries like a more acid soil so citris fertiliser will work for them. Vegetables Potatoes are loving the warm ground, mine are well up and have had the first mounding . Veg seeds I planted are germinating in no time as well, Pumpkin, squash, corn and courgette seeds can go in now, if you prefer to buy plants be sure to harden them off outside in a protected place for a while before planting. If your vegetable garden has been disappointing in the past with plants not growing as well as you would like you could do a Ph test and if the PH of your soil needs to be raised you can then add lime. I sprinkle lime on my compost heaps in spring and Autumn which then goes on the garden with the added bonus of lime loving worms. If you have done a soil test and need to raise the PH Sprinkle lime over the soil surface and rake it into the top couple of inches, letting it naturally work down to the root zone, do not dig it deeply into the soil, it will leach down soon enough. Dolomite lime is less likely to drastically change the PH but if your soil is in need of sweetening our local lime (calcium carbonate) will do the trick. Usually application rates are 2 to 3 pounds per 100 square feet of garden area, every second year to raise the pH from 5.5 to 6.5. There are some veg that will tolerate acid soil, carrots, cucumbers, beans, peppers, parsnips, potatoes, and tomatoes so don't go adding lime unless your soil needs sweetening. Cheers, Linda Mound potatoes up as they grow.