Gardening in Waitaki November 14th 2023

Some nice spring weather over the last few days, even one so hot I had to take Scruff the dog to Friendly bay for a dunk in the sea. It is time once again to cut back plants that have finished flowering, alyssum, ground cover phlox, aubrieta, aquilegias and forget-me-not. if you cut them back now they will green up again and look good over summer, same goes for Erica's, cut all the brown spent flower stems back and they will green up again in no time. Spread compost in the gaps created and fill every gap with flower seedlings like cosmos, petunias, statice, blue salvia, nasturtium, lavatera and lobelia. Leaving no room for weeds to grow while creating a magic summer picking garden. Dahlias should be pushing up leaves leaf now, once in bud they can be pinched out like chrysanthemums to encourage bushiness, they will still get tall so put stakes in now before they get up too far and begin to bend and fall. If your daffodils did not flower so well this spring, It's a good time to break up large clumps while you can still see where they have been. Flowering will be restricted when clumps get over crowded. Dug bulbs can be left to dry, (leaves left on) to be planted again in Autumn or replanted in small groups in about 20 cm of compost...plant, feed with blood and bone and mulch so they don't dry out over summer. There are autumn flowering bulbs in Garden centers now, like belladonna lilies (naked Ladies), nerines & crocuses plant in full sun where they will not be disturbed. Water lilies can be added to ponds now that the water is warmer, if buying one it should be in leaf, plant into a plastic basket using thick news paper first then some manure and garden soil, plant the lily in soil then top with a thick layer of stones or gravel. It is important not to let any fertiliser or manure leach out into the pond water because it will encourage the water to go green with slime which is harmful to fish when caught in gills. If your pond is stagnating it means that it is not working, put in some un-sprayed barley straw weighed down with a rock so it does not float around. At first the pond water will not look too healthy but soon you will be amazed at how fast it will clear and stay clear once things start working naturally. There is now a liquid barley extract of barley straw on offer. To work naturally the bottom of the pond can and should be a little muddy, but the top should be clear, you can easily tell when it is. Introduce some oxygen weed from a pond already filled with fish. Fish blow their eggs into the weed so there is sure to be eggs now in the weed, these will hatch out in your pond with no big fish around to eat them. You will not have to feed fish as the warmer months attract plenty of bugs to a pond. Lawns: Keep mowers up a notch and try mowing without the catcher now and then, then rake the clippings out over the lawn to add humus. Lawns need fed regularly through the growing and cutting seasons but never without moisture to follow to avoid grass burning. Have some fertiliser on hand for the next rain. Dig out daisies, clover and flat weeds before they seed or spot spray each weed, then gaps where the weeds die should fill in with grass during this rapid growing season. Fruit: Check your fruit trees now for over crowded bunches, thin bunches out by snipping small fruits off if winds do not do it for you. Vegetables: I have planted peas where the broad beans were and lettuce and coriander where I dug out the beetroot. Potatoes are well up, corn and pumpkins should be romping away during warm days. So far no white butterflies about looking for brassica to lay eggs on. Keep planting all vegetables but not too many of the same at one time and cover to keep bugs off while small. Cheers Linda.