Gardening in Waitaki January 16th 2024

I do hope all you Gardeners have had some time to relax while enjoying the results of last year's gardening work. Roses should be doing well, deadheading keeps them making new flower buds and a dressing of manure, blood and bone or rose fertiliser watered in now would give a boost for the second flush of flowering. Hydrangeas are taking center stage right now and looking good with the summer moisture received but with such a lush start water will need to be kept up for them to cope with summer heat. Dahlias will be next to brighten gardens with their long flowering, deadheading as blooms fade is needed to keep them going on and looking good. Hardwood cuttings from hydrangeas are best taken in early summer, choose a steam that flowered last summer and is pushing out new leaf growth, cut just above a bud around 6 inches long, remove remaining leaves and soft growth. Push cuttings into sharp river sand or crusher dust, place in warm shade and keep moist. They take a while to make roots so don't be tempted to lift until you notice new growth. Once rooted pot up and keep moist and feed often to encourage strong growth, they should be ready to plant into the garden next spring when roots have filled the pot. Seeds are ripening, Those that are ready I have been collecting in small paper bags, delphiniums, dianthus, poppies, foxglove, hollyhock, sweet peas, plus many more to come. These seeds will store until sowing in spring or some could be sown now if you are happy to nurse them through the hot months. Seed trays are best kept outside in light shade and mist watered only when the top layer of mix is dry. Over watering will encourage collapse as roots are too few to take in excess moisture. When pricked out and potted on they will make good roots for planting out in early spring. Have a look around plants that have dropped seed from spring flowering plants, I have found nice little seedlings of pansies, viola, hellebore, sweet William and aquilegias, potted up they will get strong root growth before planting out. Remove seed heads off anything you do not want to spread, that goes for weeds as well, make sure you whack the seed heads off and dispose of them if you don't have time to deal with removing them. Lawns Keep the catcher up higher as length on grass shades roots during the hot months, scalping a lawn leads to poor growth and lawn weeds. Fruit: Seasonal fruit and veg are plentiful now for freezing or preserving, strawberries, raspberries, black currant and cherries are still going and stone fruit is plentiful now so worth a drive up the Waitaki valley if growing fruit is not your thing. Vegetables: Heaps of growing time ahead so keep sowing root veg seed and plants. If planted now, carrots (harvest April / may) parsnips (harvest June) board beans (harvest May / July) cabbage sow in seed tray, plant out in 4 weeks (harvest April May) cauliflower sow in seed tray, plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest May / July) leeks grow in seed tray plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest May / June) lettuce I sow butter crunch now and stagger it right into winter onions grow in seed trays, plant out in 4 to 6 weeks (harvest July - October) silverbeet (harvest March / April. Cheers, Linda.