October is bringing plenty of spring colour to Waitaki gardens. Despite strong winds and the occasional cold snap, growth is staying fresh with warm ground and heavy dews. Rhododendrons, tulips and the beautiful bright pink Prunus Kanzan are taking centre stage.
Weeds are growing strongly now, particularly convolvulus, couch, biddy-bid and clover. Remove or dig them out before they set seed. If spraying is unavoidable, be extremely careful around roses, as hormone sprays will severely deform their foliage. Never spray on a windy day.
The ground is now warm and damp, making it an ideal time for planting. Seeds sown in late winter will be ready to prick out, pot on or plant into the garden. Continue sowing seeds for summer flowers, including sunflowers, cosmos, larkspur, nasturtiums, marigolds, delphiniums and alyssum. Sunflowers are particularly rewarding for children, quickly growing into impressive plants. Swan plants can also be planted now in the hope of attracting monarch butterflies.
Pansies and violas will continue flowering while the weather remains cool. Deadhead them regularly, and they can be cut back and fed with liquid fertiliser for another flush of flowers.
Polyanthus can be lifted once they have finished, cut back and planted in a cool, shady position until next season.Roses are making buds now, so keep food and moisture up to them. Fortnightly foliar feeding and slow-release fertiliser can benefit flowering plants and shrubs.
Coastal gardens are generally ahead of inland areas, although late frosts may damage new rose growth. Fortunately, roses recover quickly.
Avoid letting rose foliage stay wet overnight, particularly in mild weather, as this encourages mildew.
This is a good time to look critically at overgrown front shrub plantings. Removing one or two large shrubs can completely transform a space and create room for new planting, perhaps a maple surrounded by spring bulbs and hydrangeas for summer colour.
Lavenders: take tip cuttings now from firm new growth with a little older wood at the base and place the cuttings in damp, sharp crusher dust. Shrub cuttings can be treated in the same way.
Prune woody fuchsias back now as they flower on new growth.
Tall chrysanthemums benefit from having their first new growth cut back so they remain shorter and more manageable.
It is still a little early to trim box hedges; wait until the new growth has firmed. Hydrangeas are pushing out new growth and forming buds, a thick layer of manure-enriched compost and regular moisture will encourage strong growth and a long flowering season.
Begonia tubers are beginning to shoot and can be divided into several plants. Because they are hybrids, they cannot be reliably grown from the seeds. To get a plant that looks exactly like the parent, you must use vegetative propagation, such as division or cuttings; each section must be showing active shoots. Fish fertiliser will help keep begonias growing strongly.
Geraniums, pelargoniums and fuchsias are now available in retail outlets for planting.
Mulching remains one of the best ways to prepare for a potentially dry summer. Straw, spray-free grass clippings and compost help retain moisture, suppress weeds and improve soil structure. On heavy clay, organic matter helps build new soil and hard-working worms.
Keep compost heaps working by layering grass clippings, soft hedge clippings, manure, soil and seed-free garden waste. Moisture is important; water heaps and bins occasionally to encourage the heat needed for good decomposition.
Lawns are growing lush as are lawn weeds, I have been busy popping them out with my secature blade before they seed. Keep lawn food handy for the next heavy rain, thick growth leaves no gaps for weeds.
Vegetables: Potatoes are growing strongly and should be mounded as they come through the soil; frost cloth may still be needed in colder or low-lying areas. After the recent cold snap, tender crops can be started under glass and hardened off before planting outside.
For glasshouse tomatoes, prepare the soil with well-rotted compost. Tomatoes need plenty of sunshine, around six to eight hours a day, and good ventilation. Never allow tomato foliage to remain wet overnight, as the glasshouse can become an ideal environment for fungal disease.
Fruit: Apple and crab apple blossom is providing plenty of food for bees, and blackcurrants, strawberries and raspberries are looking promising. Keep fruiting plants watered until we receive some decent rain.
Cheers, Linda.
Tomatoe plants.
No comments:
Post a Comment