Gardening in North Otago February 17th 2015

This real summer continues to dry North Otago with crops ripening and ground cracking, we have in the past been considered a drought area which sure rings true this summer.

Keeping the water up here in this garden is top priority, dragging hose's from one garden to another with more often than not a small determined dog pulling the hose end the opposite way!! Yes, I know he thinks it is our special game and my verbal responses like Scruuuufffff...... seem to be the attention he craves from this one sided game. 

As well as hose pulling I have been tidying up the fluffy new growth on some hedges, the sharp neatness really stands out among the full summer growth. 

I thought it might be a good time to mention the pruning and shaping of shrubs that have flowered on previous years growth like rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas, ceonothus, forsythia, coleonema (breath of heaven) but only if they need to be trimmed and shaped to reduce their height or width. This should always be done while there is still enough growing season left for them to make new growth and harden off well before temperatures plummet. In colder areas like Kurow this trimming should be done as soon as flowering has ended, with the exception of hydrangeas you can leave the old growth on through the winter to protect the new shoots then prune in Spring when they begin to shoot.

This would be a good time I feel to cut back natives like pittosporums and hebe's as they must have new growth hardened off before winter. If you intend to shape them be quick or leave them until after winter. You can always tell when it is time to trim hebe's, if they are covered in flower heads gone to seed they need cut back, if this is not done hebe's will get lanky, woody and look untidy. Once trimmed pot up a few tip cuttings, remove the bottom leaves and cut the top leaves back by half, plant into the ground in a semi shaded spot or into river sand, keep moist and in no time at all they will develop roots. As they grow pinch the cuttings back at least twice to get nice bushy plants.

I am also working my way round camellias and thinning them out, there should be enough open spaces for a bird to fly through to let enough light in to encourage the best buds for next spring. And as time allows the removal of seed heads from rhododendrons is recommended, especially on newly planted rhododendrons to encourage new plant growth. There is a place on the stem where if bent will snap the seed head clean off, it dose not take long to discover where this point is.

Ornamental grasses have finished making seed and can be cut back now before too many of the seed heads float about the garden and germinate, cut them well back and they will soon fluff up again to waft about in a breeze.

Lawns.

With all this heat lawns are suffering and begging for the next shower,I notice even the lawn weeds are struggling which means lawn weed spray would work a treat while weeds are thirsty, spot spraying on a dull day is kinder to worms and bee's than full lawn coverage on a sunny day.

Vegetables.

Keeping water up to veg Gardens is on going, my raised beds dry out in no time so good soakings are require rather than the sprinkler now and then. I find myself wanting cooler nights for the sake of vegetables which is a bit on the sad side considering it is for once an fantastic summer.

If you are prepared to keep the water up keep planting in rotation, leaf veg where root veg has been, the warm soil will keep germinating and producing until the first frost.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago February 10th 2015

Rain, yes more rain on Monday to freshen everything up after all the hot weather, Hurrah!

Dahlia's are taking center stage now, they are making it into more and more flower borders and look great mixed with late summer perennials. Dahlia tuba's are a good investment for the garden because they increase in size from year to year and in time can be broken up to plant as gap fillers. Dahlias bring vibrant colour into summer gardens with a style and colour for every situation - cacti, singles, pompom and more, a bright splash of candy pink, almost black, vivid red or sassy orange and they remain through until the frosts force them back into the ground.  

Tall perennial phlox put on a fantastic show in our garden with it's tall frothy pinks and white. They are also a great investment for the garden because one plant will grow into large clump in no time and not only do they look beautiful the perfume from a clump of tall phlox can be intoxicating wafting about the garden. most tail phlox succumb to mildew, spraying with a herbicide when they start to leaf up helps to hold mildew back for a while. Once finished flowering cut large clumps down to the ground and remember to soak spray the crown when new growth appears.

Plant annual flower seeds now to give colour in the winter like Iceland poppy, primula malacoidies, Virginian stock (a great plant for winter hanging baskets) wall flower, and flowering kale. Have any of these at budding stage before the frosts arrive and they will push on and flower. This applies to coastal gardens only not further in land unless you have a frost free sheltered spot.

I have found over the years that if petunias in pots are cut back when they have finished flowering they will green up and flower again, I have one that is in it's third year of lowering and is into it's second flowering for this year. This works well for potted petunias but in the garden the ground would get too cold over the winter for them to last from year to year.

Pea straw is available again thank goodness, I could not garden as I do without the cover of pea straw over winter. Ross & Sue McCullough Phone 034326844 are offering large and small bales off the paddock.

Lawns

Lawns have really benefited from that last lot of rain it is strange to see them so green at this time of the year. As I mentioned last week grass grub is on the munch again but I have just learned that the only brand of grass grub prill's offered have been taken off the market! A water on product is available but I have never used it so cannot rate how effective it is, but I do know that if this product is used the lawn needs a good soaking down to the grass roots to enable the product to get down to where the grubs are feeding, however if too much water is applied it could wash the product past the root depth.

Veg &fruit Many edibles are peaking in production to enjoy at the moment. Water in the morning or evening before or after the full heat of the sun, otherwise there’s too much evaporation for the plants to thrive. I swear my pumpkins grow every time I turn my back on them! a bumper crop this summer I feel.

I have been free flow freezing veg when I have the time, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, courgette's beans, peas and corn all keep well after blanching in hot water then freezing in the free flow method. For those not familiar with this, after blanching I spread the veg out on oven trays, freeze then bag.

This is the best time for planting above ground annual crops that produce their seeds outside. Examples are lettuce, spinach, celery, cabbage, cauliflower.  

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago February 3rd 2015

February already, where did January go?

The rains we have been experiencing here in north Otago have been fantastic, softening the ground for weeding and planting.

The first of the seeds I left to fall from spring flowering plants are up, I will wait until perennials are stronger, another week or two and then transplant them into trays to sit in the shade and keep growing ready to plant out at the end of next winter. Have a look around plants that have dropped seed in your garden, I have found nice little seedlings of pansies, viola, marigolds, hellebore's, sweet William, aquilegias, foxglove, and hollyhock to name a few. Seeded annuals can be planted out as soon as they are big enough ,they should flower over autumn.

Heaps of cutting back still going on here, early summer flowering plants like bush lavateras, buddleia, geranium, astrantha and lupins they will bush up again in no time and refill gaps.

I planted out a number of geranium seedlings before Christmas and with this hot summer they have grown into bushy flowering plants ready to fill some of the gaps. If you see any seedlings on offer grab them, they are such great flowering plants for sunny gardens and need little attention.

Take the seed heads off anything that you do not want to spread, that goes for weeds as well, make sure you whack the seed heads off even if you don't pull them out there and then .

Keep trimming hedges as they put on soft new growth and either compost the trimmings or scatter them around the garden, they are soft enough to break down at this time of the year.

Hydrangeas are looking lovely right now, I have been taking hard wood cuttings of one or two. Select a stem that has flowered and cut at a node just before a new shoot. Push the cuttings into some firm, damp shady ground where they will not be disturbed and place a pot with drainage holes over the top of them ( to let rain in). Forget about them until they start to shoot in late spring, then pot them up and get them big enough to plant out the following year in early summer.

Give roses a dressing of manure or blood and bone now as they will be ready for a boost after their first long flowering and keep the dead heading up to encourage flowering.

Give lavenders a hair cut now before they make seed, the bumblebee type will flower again, same for catnip I cut mine back twice during their flowering season then tidy them up again before winter.

Lawns

its grass grub time again, they are most active from February to May. I use a product that can be shaken on and watered /rained in well like powdered fertiliser. The grubs feed on the grass roots and leave dead patches on lawns, once a dead patch is visible they will have moved on to another area of the lawn so concentrate on the unaffected areas

Vegetables:

There is heaps of growing time ahead so keep sowing root veg seed and plants.

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

Gardening in North Otago January 27th 2015

What great holiday weather North Otago has been experiencing again during this last week of January, a summer to remember for holiday makers there are probably more of than Gardeners at this time of the year. As a Gardener I have been loving the warmth and keeping the fitness up by dragging hoses around to keep plants and grass alive and grateful to be able to do because I have heard in some districts further north it is hand held hoses only.

This week I have been keeping on top of the weeds with the hoe and spray. Gravel walkways and drives are great germinating areas for weed seeds. I use round up on the established weeds as have found that organic weed spray works well on weeds at the early stage of growth but I have little success on bigger weeds.

Hedges can have a light trim to tidy them up, overcast days are the best time to do this so that the growth beneath is not stressed by the hot sun. 

All plants can do with a good feeding now because they have flowered well since the beginning of Summer, foliage feeding is great but if feeding with dry fertiliser around roots it should be watered in well, if left to sit on top it will burn exposed roots.

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Keep dead heading the roses but, to those new gardeners ( repeating myself I know) dead heading means more than just removing the spent bloom, you must cut down to a new strong bud, usually about 3 buds down from the spent bloom. Remove all old leaves with black spot and rust, don't leave them lying on the ground around the roses. Deep soak around roots often and spray fortnightly with a fungus and pesticide mix as well as liquid fertiliser, (all together is fine) There are some organic options available but the fortnightly ritual must be kept up, continuous hot dry weather really stresses roses.

Large clumps of daffodils and bluebells can be broken up now and planted in areas where needed, it is safe to do this once the green has been used up by the bulbs, but a job made easier if the ground has been softened by rain!

Lawns:

I fed the lawns during that last rain it kept them green but the ground did'nt take long to bake hard again. Don't cut lawns too low, I have found if they are encouraged to make top growth grass will develop deeper stronger roots to sustain it, a little sprinkle of water now and then on dry grass will produce weak growth, a good soak and the natural rain will do the job but do not be tempted to scalp once it greens up they still have a long hot Autumn to tolerate yet.

Vegatables:

Plenty to be had from vegetable gardens right now, new potatoes are still being dug, and later crops being put in and tomatoes ripening perfectly. I have just sown a third lot of peas because my little Grandies are so put out when a crop is finished. Carrots and parsnip planted now will be up in no time and there should be bumper crops of corn and pumpkins later on in the season. 

If spaces are left after veg has been dug sow with wheat or or mustard rather than letting weeds grow then dig in while soft and green, this will add humus to the soil and keep it covered until ready to plant a winter crop of veg.

Fruit:

My apple trees are laden, the late ripening peach tree is the same and I see local cherries still on sale, what a difference continuous sunny days make to fruit ripening compared to those overcast summer days in past years.

Nip back the growth on grapes to let the sun in and to stunt leaf growth, the fruit needs all the vine can give now to ripen. 

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago January 20th 2015

Happy New year to all enjoying such lovely summer days, not a cloud in the sky at times and gentle warm breezes following me around the garden as I work, and how about that much needed rain just when it was needed. After spending the last two months dragging hoses around I was so relieved when the heavens opened. I am still in holiday mode here with many little ones needing Nana time and the garden is taking advantage of my absences!! 

Keep cutting back all early summer perennials and shrubs before they make seed. cutting will promote a new lot of blooms, but remember to feed what you cut back because they will need help to make the new growth required of them. I am still filling the wheelbarrow time and time again with all the cutting back then filling the gaps with summer annuals. 

I have just harvested sweet peas which I let go to seed after a wonderful blooming, then replenished the soil with manured compost and planted this seasons seeds for hopefully another show before winter. Sweet peas need a rich soil to grow in the same place year after year, if no compost or manure is added they will come up but struggle.

Roses are budding up again from the pruning after the first flowering, it takes about six weeks from cut to new bud. I neglected the spraying this summer so finding many rust effected leaves to remove and destroy, I have been lucky enough to acquire another trailer load of donkey manure so spread a little around the drip line of most roses before that day of heavy rain, food after the first heavy flowering is a must to keep them healthy until the end of growing season.

 It's been a dry summer for rhododendrons, camellias, azalea's and hydrangeas, they all do best in moist soil so have given them all a dressing of blood and bone watered in when giving them a good soak when needed. 

Already because of this dry Summer I have lost a couple of well grown conifers and a good sized maple, I just did not realise  they were suffering until it was too late, so keep an eye on established tree's and shrubs as well as the newly planted during hot months.

English lavenders ( The tall straight single flower head type) can be cut now and bunched for drying, the fragrance is fantastic and once hung and dried will give off this fragrance through the winter months to remind us of the hot summer days. Picking must be done when the flowers are fully out and completely dry. If you have very woody lavenders, it's a good time now to cut them back by two thirds. They will regrow fresh and bushy and make hard wood again before winter. If they are too old and woody dig them out and replace with new. 

Lawn weeds can be sprayed out during dry days, use product at the suggested strength and consider spot spraying for the sake of the worms, if too heavy handed even the grass will be affected. There are a few different lawn weed sprays on offer, even some that weeds and feeds at the same time. All lawns should be back to growing after that down pour and with a feed on the next rainy day from they will remain green and lush. I have been having great success with Nitrophoska on the lawns. 

Fruit and Veg: It's proving to be a bumper year for both fruit and veg if the water has been kept up, corn and pumpkins have really taken off now after a slowish start, and gardeners are telling me their tomato plants are producing and ripening really well this year so pollination has been good with the sunny days bringing the bees and insects out. Plums are plentiful as well, because I am still picking black currents I added them to my plum sauce this year which got the thumbs up: The colour is deeper and I feel the currants improved the vinegary flavour that is usual for plum sauce. Looking back through my notes the growing pattern of dull days over the last five .years may have been broken, lets hope so. Keep rotating root and leaf vegetables to get the best results, i.e where carrots have been growing, plant lettuce. I have just sown carrots and parsnips, picked all the board beans and replaced the spot with lettuce plants, and planted another row of peas.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago December 10th 2014

With the Christmas lead up gardening will be on the back burner for most I am sure, including me,Ya! 

Heaps of watering had to be done this week even though we had a shower or two.

I had a couple of days in Darfield this week having Nana time with youngest Grandchild sweet Tahlia, to let her know I don't live in the computer!Then back to the garden again on Thursday with the hope of rain in my absence, Trimming with secateurs is not practical for me with such a large garden so the hedge trimmer has been out again, the grow back rate is pretty quick in summer. The newly trimmed box hedges are suffering from sun scorch, scorching of newly cut box in early summer sun is unavoidable but they soon grow through it and harden off.

If your catmint has been flowering for a while and it is looking a bit tired, trim the long growth back by half and in no time at all it will re-grow into a neater clump and continue to flower,the same applies to aubrietia.

Many winter damaged and dead branches need removed on trees here, I hire chain saw which is small on the end of a very long handle, just perfect for reaching up and removing dead branches and thinning out to let light onto gardens below. 

Anemones for winter flowering will be in shops now, Pop some in pots to have ready to put on show when all the summer & autumn pots finish flowering.

Large clumps of lilies can be divided up and shifted straight after flowering and planted into good compost but they must never dry out so keep an eye on them through the dryer months. I have had clumps of Christmas lilies completely disappear. It takes ages for lilies to grow from seed and little pup bulbs so they are worth looking after. 

Another recipe!! 

Comfrey liquid fertiliser. 

With its deep taproot, and large root system, comfrey pulls its nutrients from way down in the subsoil, where most other plants can't reach. Comfrey is high in just about every nutrient a plant needs, including the big 3, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium and many trace elements. Its high carbon to nitrogen value means that it does not deplete nitrogen from the soil, as it decomposes. In fact, it becomes a good source of nitrogen. And it has more potassium than composted manure.

Comfrey leaves decompose down to a black liquid over a 6 week period. Pick and break up as many leaves as you can harvest, place in the bottom of a large container, weigh down with a rock and within 6 weeks the leaves will have decomposed into a thick  black liquid. Dilute to 1 part comfrey liquid to 15 parts water, dilute more when using on seedlings. ( let me know if you would like comfrey to start a patch)

 Lawns: If you don't like using sprays and have a few flat weeds in the lawn try spot spraying them with vinegar,

I use white vinegar and it works! great on pathways and drives and leaves no dangerous residue to leach into nearby plants . For best results apply in the heat of the day, however clover is a toughie, vinegar browns the leaf off and knocks it a bit but it soon recovers.

Another recipe!! 

Comfrey liquid fertiliser. 

With its deep taproot, and large root system, comfrey pulls its nutrients from way down in the subsoil, where most other plants can't reach. Comfrey is high in just about every nutrient a plant needs, including the big 3, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium and many trace elements. Its high carbon to nitrogen value means that it does not deplete nitrogen from the soil, as it decomposes. In fact, it becomes a good source of nitrogen. And it has more potassium than composted manure.

Comfrey leaves decompose down to a black liquid over a 6 week period. Pick and break up as many leaves as you can harvest, place in the bottom of a large container, weigh down with a rock and within 6 weeks the leaves will have decomposed into a thick  black liquid. Dilute to 1 partcomfrey liquid to 15 parts water, dilute more when using on seedlings. 

Vegetables:

Sow late crops of cucumbers, courgettes, beans and basil, peas, rocket and corriander,

Keep mounding up potato rows to encourage bigger shores, corn also, having a shallow rooting system mounding helps to keep them upright in strong winds, planting in groups rather than a row also helps with wind support.

Nature will have its way if we turn a blind eye, weed seeds pop, fruit over ripens and the veg bolts. 

Fruit: Shorten back fruiting leaders on grape vines, If a leader has produced too many bunches remove some when shortening back leaders. Nitrate fertiliser will produce more leaves and leaders, like most fruiting plants a little pot ash to encourage fruiting is beneficial in spring.

Harvest garlic and onions, if ready. 

All of the above can wait until the New year, Christmas is time for thinking of others and for Gardeners to enjoy the produce bounty from a busy year past.

For you all I wish a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a safe and prosperous 2015,  from Linda, family & Scruff.

Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago December 2nd 2014

Still cleaning up after more hedge trimming here, things are looking a little too neat and tidy now but nature will do it's best to soften things up again in a couple of weeks.

Most of my roses have started flowering after what seems like a long wait so have been keeping the water up to them because it is still so dry. If you are at the stage of dead heading roses, don't just cut the flower off, cut at an outward facing bud on a lower section of the branch strong enough to support a new flower.

Begonias are really pushing through now and I see that I have lost a few that I left in the ground from last year. The food begonias most appreciate is any fish based fertiliser, as a folia spray or watered in around roots. 

Hydrangeas are producing flower heads now so it is important to keep the water and food up to them, old stable manure, blood and bone, dry, liquid or slow release fertiliser will keep them happy and flowering well. Remember it's lime for pink and Epsom salts or aluminum sulphate to keep them blue. Fuchsias are making a lot of growth now as well, if you missed cutting any back do it now, they will flower later but will soon catch up. Fuchsias are on sale right now and are wonderful in pots for a shady spot, they will soon become bushy and to fill a pot. Tip cuttings can be taken from fuchsias now, if you spot some you like in a friends garden ask for some cuttings. I break a cutting off at a heel or a nodule section, remove some of the top growth and push into firm wet river sand.Tip cuttings from Hebe's will also root with no trouble in river sand . Abutilon (Chinese lantern: If you are looking for something non invasive to make a show of colour against a wall why not try Abutilon (Chinese lantern, they come in three strong colours, yellow, orange, burgundy and white. I planted yellow, burgundy and white together in a large container with nice lime green grass's below them, abutilon being a rather spindly plant I intertwined them and they now look like one bush. If trained against a wall leave some longer branches and shorten back others to get a good cover of flowers. Peony roses: What a wonderful addition to the flower garden peony roses are, they look fantastic this year and I am seeing more in peoples gardens. Peony rose's come in brilliant shades and the very large blooms will fill many vases I am sure. Remove seed pods once blooms have finished to stop plants putting energy into making seed. 

Low hanging tree branches: With the weight of the last rain I could see which branches need lifting on large deciduous trees, if left they will cast too much shade over surrounding plants. Lower branches can be removed and the upper branches will hide the cuts. Any branch growing downwards with a canopy branch directly above it can be cut back or removed altogether. 

Lawns: keep lawn food on hand for the next good rain, lawns get really stressed from now on as the heat of the day intensifies, if your lawns are inclined to crack when dry they have probably been planted on clay soil. Apply gypsum ( soluble lime) and water in, after a couple of years of doing this your lawns will have a spring in them. Gypsum works it's way through the clay and makes it become more like soil. 

If lawn weeds are a problem spray before cutting or remove flat weeds with a knife when noticed. I spot spray with lawn weed spray because I don't want to upset the balance and the work going on in the soil by contaminating with chemicals. 

Vegetables: Dry weather puts a lot of stress on not only plants but also the soil, stressed plants attract pests so I have been keeping the water up but hosing will not give the same results as a good rain. I am amazed that the white butterfly is STILL not a problem in our garden yet, due I am sure to the very cold snaps we have been experiencing, long may it last. 

My runner beans have been slow to start but are away now and snails and slugs not a problem here this year because of drying winds. If you do have a problem with snails & slugs when beans first pop through the ground plant beans into trays to be transplanted when big enough to start climbing up the frame. But, yes I know with the water being kept up slugs & snails will be waiting so why not  make beer traps out of empty plastic fiz bottles by cutting the bottles with the lid in place through the middle, bury the lidded half in the ground then fill with beer, cut a door opening in the other half for snails & slugs to slide in, then force this half with door opening on top of the other beer filled half. The bottom of the bottle will be the roof to keep the rain out. 

Tomatoes will be getting taller and starting to fruit now, the removal of over half the leaves on a plant will benefit your plants by allowing more nutrients to the fruit along with more sun to encourage flowering and allowing flowers to become more visible for pollination, try it and see if you get a better crop. If you are noticing a lack of bee's to pollinate tomato flowers gardeners have been known to take a hair dryer into the glass house, turn on half speed then gently waft it among flowers to spread pollen.

The cooler nights tend to upset tomato plants, leaves become bluish and tend to curl causing plants to become susceptible to blight. One method of keeping them in good health I have been reading up on is the use of copper wire. 

Basic premise: The presence of copper (wire) would help the tomato plants be more resistant to "blight" related diseases during the course of the growing season. Material: 12" length of 18 gage (wall picture hanging wire). the main vine should be at least 1/4" in diameter and transplant shock over. Insert or force one end of the wire through the center of the main vine about 1" above ground level. Kink the protruding wire end so that it doesn't slip out of the vine. Force the remainder of the wire (9-10") into the root zone in the ground. That's all there is to it. The person who wrote the above also wrote that he used this method on half his crop and controlled the other half with sprays. Result, the copper prevention was as successful as his spraying programme. Any new idea is worth trying to avoid spraying what we eat!

 Cheers, Linda.