Gardening in Waitaki October 15th 2024

Flamboyant begonias.

A chill in the air this week which keeps spring fresh and crisp as it should be. Town gardens are filled with spring prettiness which I enjoy viewing as I walk Scruff each morning.  I have been weeding and composting my small town gardens and watching as they fill with perennials that have been waiting to come back from the winter dieback. Hydrangeas are also pushing out new growth with buds forming, hydrangeas have a long blooming season so will benefit from a good thick layer of manure-enriched compost and moisture to keep strong growth up.  I see shoots on my flamboyant Begonias now and some tubers have become big enough to cut into several shooting sections to become plants on their own. Flamboyant begonias make a wonderful show as a boarder or in pots and hanging baskets and they flower on and on through the summer. Once they send up leaves I start feeding them fish fertilisers to keep them going strong, all begonias do well when fed with fish fertiliser.Keep the food up to your roses now, they are making their buds and it's hungry roses that get diseased. Nitrophosca is good right now on any summer flowering plants and shrubs for a quick result, used every fortnight to keep the food supply up, especially in pots & hanging baskets. Geraniums and pelargoniums are available now and should be planted in sunny positions. Fuchsias are also on offer, they benefit from afternoon shade. If you are concerned about a hot dry Summer having a disastrous effect on your garden? Plenty of Mulch breaking down in your soil will help retain water as well as improve the structure of your soil While suppressing weed growth. Mulch as straw, grass clippings, and weed-free compost are also excellent for breaking down clay or poor-draining soil. I do not like using sprays but found I needed to spot spray in my past large garden to keep those tough weeds convolvulus, couch grass, biddy- bid and clover under control but here in my smaller garden, I pull or dig them out before any seeds ripen and fall. Seeds are forming now on plants and weeds that have flowered so whack them off if you don't want them to spread. I planted Cosmos, larkspur, nasturtium, and marigold seeds that are now up and ready to prick out into punnets along with sunflower seeds I planted into trays a few weeks ago which are now large enough to plant out. With summer just around the corner, I look forward to the show of those huge sunny flower heads following the sun around the garden. Sunflowers are a perfect fast-growing plant for Children to grow and be amazed by the height they reach.    Lawns:So much lawn growth after that heavy rain, my lawn is struggling having been sown on clay soil so for the last 3 mows I have left the catcher off and raked the clippings over as mulch and spread gypsum to help with the clay compaction. Vegetables: Keep an eye on potatoes that are through the ground, mound the soil up around them, and frost cloth may be needed at night just to be sure if your garden is inland or low-lying. Seeds are popping up in no time now so get veg seeds in for them to be ready for salad time. Because of the cold snap, I have started Pumpkin, squash, corn, and courgette seeds in a glasshouse, if buying plants, be sure to harden them outside in a protected place for a while before planting out.The cold snaps have been good for keeping the white butterfly and aphids away but aphids will no doubt soon start to become a problem so keep an eye out for infestation and if necessary wash off with a forceful hose.  Cheers, Linda