Gardening in North Otago May 1st 2015

Some needed rain this week and raking and then more raking of leaves and hedge trimmings here this week and each full wool pack is getting to the end of them and the compost heaps are filling well. Once deciduous trees have lost their leaves we can see over crowded branches needing to be removed to let more light onto gardens allowing the sun in for spring bulbs to preform well. The overall look of an established garden can be changed by having a clean out, don't be sentimental about a tree out grown it's spot or in the wrong place, If it was not planted by you or just arrived in your garden odds are that the birds planted it! Clear those rouge trees out or transplant them to a spot where they are able to grow full size with out becoming a nuisance. 

This week as well as raking leaves I have been re potting some pots that have been full of summer colour but were now looking very tired, some I filled with succulents because I noticed that a lot of my succulents have flowered and become stalky which means that it is time to forgo the Mother plant and plant out her Babies. Each rosette on the end of a stalk can be broken off with a little part of the stem and pushed into river sand or potting mix, each one will develop roots and become a Mother plant. These Baby succulents look great in pots over the Winter months, Fill a pot or push in around the edges of pot planted out in Hyacinths or dwarf Spring bulbs. There are so many different succulents, in shades of red, orange, silver and fresh green. If you have exhausted clumps in the garden break them up, toss out the dodgy ones and replant the fresher. 

As mentioned in past notes some of my dahlias have collapsed with frost but some are still growing well, those needing attention I have cut back and covered with pea straw, cut tops can be left on top to protect tubers if straw is not available. If you have dahlia tubers in ground that could flood and stay wet they will probably rot. Gently lift them, hose off dirt and store in slightly damp river sand or damp sawdust in a cardboard box, leave in a cool, dry ,dark place, label and plant out again in late spring. Dahlia tubers can be divided now as well, dig up and hose off as explained, a division needs a tuber and an eye, the eyes are located on the neck of a tuber clump, near a cut stalk, an eye resembles a potato eye ( a small swelling) cut with a clean sharp knife, you may get three divisions from one tuber clump, name and store.

May is the last Month to plant Tulips to have them doing their thing when they should, Tulips seem to take a long time to come into flower, unlike a lot of other Spring bulbs already starting to make an appearance but tulips are so worth planting in a spring garden.

Two plants you can dig a trench for then fill with manure are sweetpeas and clematis, to reach the desired height they need a lot of rich food and a sweet soil so some lime for these as well. I have sweet peas well through after planting them in March, they should start flowering in late August. Sweet peas planted now will come up and grow slowly over winter and then really take off when the soil warms up again. 

Keep taking rose cuttings, choose a straight stem and cut off about 12 inches from the top just below a leaf node. Pull off the leaves along the stem two half leaves can be left at the top. Soaking in willow water for a couple of weeks is said to introduce hormone for rooting into the cuttings. Dig a spade into damp ground, make a slit in the soil and bury cuttings about six inches down into this wedge and firm the soil around cuttings. Name and water and they will make roots in the spring.  When you see they are growing on their own roots uproot them carefully and plant into pots to grow them on. You can use this method for many shrubs, like ceonothus, geraniums, potentilla, euonymous, hebes, weigela and even abutilon. Just make sure you pick a healthy straight stem. Use rooting hormone powders / gels to dip cuttings in before planting will help cuttings to take root other than than the willow water method. 

Erica's - Autumn is when they bud up to start flowering in Winter, if they were cut back after flowering they should have gone through the Summer looking fresh and green and should now be well in bud. Ericas and callunas are wonderful ground covers and look good growing down retaining walls. There are many different shades of pink, lavender and white, some are ground covers and some are upright growing and large growing varieties to miniatures, so much choice in ericas being offered for sale right now in garden centers. Erica's need full sun and good drainage to look their best, are frost hardy and their colour intensifies the colder it is, they look great planted in drifts of 3 or 5 together to give maximum impact, our garden would be very dull in the Winter months without Erica's.

Lawns have slowed down at last, lime and gypsum as well as a dressing of fine compost can be spread on lawns now, lime to sweeten, compost to add humus and gypsum to soften hard compacted ground which has a lot of clay content. After two or three years in a row of applying gypsum at this time of the year there will be no more cracks appearing in lawns during dry spells. 

Vegetables: 

Growing carrots without a problem or two is not always easy, the ground needs to still hold a little heat for them to germinate and continue to grow, if they stop and then start growing again the regrowth ends up as a hard core and the carrot stops growing down into the soil. Carrot fly is also a problem which also attacks celery, dill, fennel, parsley and parsnip. The pest overwinters as pupae in the soil or in old host plant roots which have been left in the ground. The adult flies are long and black with yellow legs and iridescent wings. Females find plants by smell, mostly inthe evenings they lay eggs in soil cracks adjacent to plants. Avoid thinning in late afternoon and remove all thinning's as the female is attracted to smell and damaged plants. Plant carrots in a different spot each year and Companion panting can help side track the carrot fly. Gardeners have found early crops sown in September or October usually mature before the fly is on the wing, but it is always handy I feel to have a carrot or two in the garden when needed. The carrot rust fly season is marked by distinct flights, starting in September/October going through to May. Companion plants for carrots are lettuce, onions and tomatoes ( in summer). never plant dill or parsnips beside carrots. Parsnips planted in late December will be being dug now, they are known not to be successful grown in dry summer ground but if you managed to get them to mature, now that the ground is getting cooler they will sit in the soil for as long as needed without going to seed. 

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago 22.4.2015

North Otago is on fire with Autumn colour which brightened up all those dull rainy days we experienced, and the first frost last week which knocked back all my dahlias, blackening the leaves and turning the flowers to mush, the nasturtium's collapsed as well.

Things have quietened down here now after such a busy spring, summer and autumn and with winter approaching it is time to now do some SERIOUS GARDENING! 

This is the last month to lightly trim hedges but cutting back is still on the go here, it takes only a couple of hours to create havoc and the whole of the next day to clean up, and when that was finished it was back to the leaf raking to fill the compost bins.

The last rain will have dampened compost heaps which should be holding heat now to keep them working through the cold months. Keep layering leaves along with animal manure,( especially hen manure this helps to heat up a winter compost), soft garden weeds, un-sprayed grass clippings and left over compost from your last lot. Give the heaps a good watering if dry to keep things going. 

 Peony roses resent being disturbed at this time of the year, just cut back the dead tops and lay on top of the clump to protect the new growth during winter. If a clump needs divided or shifted wait until Spring. 

Cut old leaves from hellebore's then fortnightly feedings of blood and bone will give them what they need to bud up as the first flowers of the new season. In colder areas it is best to leave some top growth on to protect buds. 

Only feed bulbs and plants that are due to flower soon, all other plants will be slowing their growth right down to sleep through the winter so don't waste good fertiliser on plants that won't use it.

There are still great bulb choices on offer in garden centers, think spring and get them in, they are such a good investment for a garden.

Move all spring flowering potted plants into a sunny spot now, plants like camellia, azaleas and rhododendrons that have been tucked away in a shady spot over the hot months. If you fed them with acid fertiliser when they finished flowering they should be fine, if not then give them a little and water in well to give a boost, shrubs get very hungry in pots. I shifted all my potted seedlings to a sunny spot where they should be fine through the winter months, seedlings need as much sun as they can get over winter, they may not look as if they are growing on top but they will be making lots of feeder roots. 

 Lawns:

 Lawns here are soft and soggy, best to keep traffic off them and raise the blades on the lawn mower when next mowing. Still time for sowing a new lawn and spraying clover and flat weeds on a dry day. 

Fruit:

If you have laden apple trees still to ripen, pick most of them and store in a cool dry place for later. But leave as many as you intend to eat on the tree to ripen naturally, nothing nicer than ripe fruit straight from the tree if you can beat the birds! 

I am determined not to wast the quince weighing down the branches here, quince paste and quince added to apple jelly and is a wonderful taste from the past. 

This is the best season for walnuts here that I can remember, while raking the leaves there is a continuous plop of nuts falling which entertains Scuff the dog no end as he rushes from one drop to the next.

Vegetables: The broad beans, carrots and peas I planted a couple of weeks ago are well up this week, helped along I am sure by the warm rains and warm ground, perfect for getting seeds and seedlings well on their way before the frosts cool things down.

Plant food, nothing tastes so good veg picked straight from the garden. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago April 14th 2015

Wow, what an early introduction we got to winter this week!! out came my winter woollies and boots then I looked everywhere for some enthusiasm for cold weather gardening and came to the conclusion it was too much of a shock to the system in early April. I chose instead to paint garden chairs and work on my landscape design plans until it warmed up, then it was back to leaves, leaves, leaves so many on the ground and yet to fall, "groan" but to compensate we do have a beautiful gold, red and orange wonder land out here right now. Most of the leaves turn into good compost but I don't compost too many oak or walnut leaves, they take too long to break down in my heaps after a few wool packs mixed in with grass clippings the rest get burned then the ash can be added to the compost heaps. 

Dampness will stay in the ground if we don't get drying winds this gives us a break from hosing and hydrangea's, rhododendrons, Camellia's and azaleas a chance to make hard wood before winter. Hydrangea wood is hardening with some flower heads transforming into dark rich reds which means they are at the stage, if picked and hung upside down or left in a vase until all water is gone they will remain that colour for many months. Other plants that will stay nice through winter if picked now areleucodendron, protea, and nandina. Give all a dressing of compost because they are busy budding up in readiness for spring.

As I walk around our garden looking at all the plants collapsing after their summer display I was heartened this week to see thenerine buds popping open to take their turn on center stage. Nerines are very pretty pink, white and red shades sending flowers up on long stalks from strappy green leaves, they last well in water when picked. Nerine bulbs are easy to grow in a good draining position, needing very little water when dormant but appreciate water in their flowering stage, Prune back perennial wall flowers, mignonette and dentata lavender now to encourage new growth for a good winter flowering.( On the coast only), do the same to Marguerite daisies. Further inland take hard wood cuttings from these daisy's, pot up and protect over winter, a lot of Marguerite daisy bushes are lost due to continuous inland frosts. 

This week I broke up more clumps of violas like Maggie mott and clumping primulas to plant sections with root attached into pots or trays, they will grow and clump up from now on ready to be planted out in spring. Both of these make lovely edging plants, one clump will give you many new plants.

Ranunculus are still on offer, they so worth while and a good investment because they multiply well and give vibrant or soft mid height colour to an early spring garden. Ranunculus corms look very dried up and brittle in the packet when bought, soak them over night in water with a little liquid fertiliser and they will become nice and plump. Plant at least five together, (claws down ) in groups to get the best effect. 

With lilies becoming available in shops this month established clumps may be lifted if necessary, but do not disturb them unless they are very over crowded or unsuitably sited,  top dress them with a mixture of compost and blood and bone. (A cup full of blood and bone to each bucket of compost. be sure to keep lily bulbs moist while they are out of the ground, roots must never dry out. Almost all lilies need to be planted as deep as three times the height of the bulb,the only exception to this deep planting is the Madonna lily which is planted just below the surface and prefers to be shifted in mid summer straight after flowering. This is also one of the few lilies which also prefers limy soil. 

Keep planting well grown evergreen shrubs, still time to get them settled in before winter. Give evergreen hedges a last light trim during this month. 

Vegetables: 

I have mentioned growing a green crop in vacant areas of the vegetable garden, oats is probably the best one to plant in the autumn, it will grow in no time, dig in while still soft and green. First timers might like to follow the green manure suggestion of using blue lupin as a nitrogen additive . other wise, use mustard as a good soil conditioner in spring and summer, changing back to oats in the autumn.

Green vegetable seedlings will be targeted by birds right now so best to cover them with strawberry net raised above the plants while small, birds will not be so interested when plants plump out a bit. Broad beans can be planted now, try a little potash in the soil just below the planting hole, it is said to help prevent rust. 

Fruit

Quince, apples and crab apples in abundance all needed now is time to process them into delicious jam, jelly and paste.

Walnuts are falling along with the leaves, most of the nuts on our tree fall in a green casing and if I don't pick them up they attract rats who nibble through the casing and the soft shell to get to the nut. Because of the fleshy casing they need to be spread out separated from each other in a dry place like a glass house to allow the green casing to dry and shrivel away naturally from the nut. If all lumped together in a box they will soon go mouldy.

Feed citrus well now, manure, seaweed, rock phosphate, dolomite or citris fertiliser and mulch. 

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago April 7th 2015

Easter been and gone for another year already now it's that waiting time of year again, waiting for the deciduous trees and shrubs to put on their spectacular autumn show then drop their leaves, waiting for plants to finish flowering so I can cut them back, waiting for the roses to make seed and not be tempted to cut them back until pruning time in July. It is important not to dead head roses now even though they look untidy. When a spent bloom sets seed the sap continues to be drawn up to feed these seeds and keep them developing, when this is happening the bud shoots on the steam are not activated because the sap is bypassing them to get to the seed. If we cut the seed head off the sap will go into making new growth which will be too soft to go the  winter. Hard wood is needed for pruning so all I am doing with roses right now is remove and dispose of all the diseased leaves from bushes and the ground around them to prevent the over wintering of rust, black spot and mildew. A spray of lime sulphur spray next month will defoliate them and kill off the remainder of summer disease. 

Lovely lovely piles of leaves to break down into leaf mulch and compost to be put back onto the garden. Layer leaves with already made compost / soil, grass cuttings and frequent watering's to get it all cooking while the heat is still around and by spring you will have just what the garden needs for the new growing season.

This is a good time to shift camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, and small conifers. Larger conifers and shrubs can to be trenched now and shifted in the winter. If roots have been removed in the shifting a third of the top growth should be removed, if you don't do this nature will do it for you. 

I have been lucky enough to have received a truck load of good soil, I have been adding compost twice yearly to gardens but because of the very dry growing season we have been experiencing the top layer on gardens here are dry and too light so the addition of a thick layer of real soil is a bonus.

Bob sprayed around our garden, drive way and paved areas during a dry spell this week, I notice it worked well with everything wilting. Frosts will take care of the next lot of weeds that germinate so the weed spray can go away soon until spring. 

Hedges can be pruned for the last time if needed, leaves laying on the top of hedges need to be removed as they may rot the top growth of the hedge.

Lawns:  De- thatching can be done now if required, lawns can get thick with dead thatch under good grass a dethatcher will pull all that build up out to give remaining growing grass a chance to grow healthily. March / April are the best months to resow thin patches and sow a new lawn, nights start cooling after the clocks go back but the ground should stay warm for another six weeks to get some seed sown.  In autumn I often give lawns that have not done well a dressing of sifted compost, about 1/2 a bucket to the sqm working it down to the roots with the back of a rake. It will improve both very light and very compact soils. 

 

Vegetable and fruit 

Clean up sprays can be applied to all fruit trees and fruiting shrubs that have shown leaf spots. Super copper or Natures way fungus spray can be used. Any citrus bushes that have shown signs of leaf or fruit spot spray with super copper as well. 

Still time to sow a green crop when space becomes available in the vegetable garden, dig in veg gone to seed and annual weeds before they go to seed, it's all good humus. 

Keep planting winter veg and keep pumpkins growing on, no sign of frost yet here on the coast.

Begin to give plants more light In glass houses, remove any shading and give plants less water.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago March 24th 2015

Autumn is all around, sun low in the sky and moisture staying in the ground to benefit trees and plants as they come to the end of this growing season, preparing now for a magnificent colourful finally.

The grass is staying green and weeds still popping up but if the hoe is kept on the go while weeds are small in soft ground they wont get away on us like they do in spring. ( wishful thinking?) I am still cutting back still because everything is really tired now and wanting to make seed but am holding myself back from getting too carried away until after the last wedding of the season happening here on Easter Saturday. Once I really start chopping back at this time of the year there is no stopping me from leaving destruction in my wake. 

While working my way around I dealt to all my bearded iris's by cutting leaves back by two thirds and making sure the top of rhizomes were above ground to bake in the autumn sun. Some needed shifted from the shade created by trees getting bigger, into sunny well drained locations. Iris's are well worth the trouble of growing and look wonderful planted together in their own bed enabling them to put a grand display on their own. 6-8 weeks after blooming rhizomes can be divided leaving a chunk of rhizome and roots to every new division. 

If needed you can also divide and re potted clumps of water iris now. To re pot water iris line a plastic pot ( that will still stand with the top heaviness of the iris when tall) with sacking, or loose woven material place a generous amount of gravel on the bottom then some soil, a little stable manure, or slow release fertiliser granules well into the middle of the pot then plant iris and add another thick layer of gravel. The gravel on the bottom and top helps to prevent manure or fertiliser leaching from the pot while at the same time weighting the pot down when the iris becomes top heavy. Submerge replanted iris back into the pond.

If you are having trouble with pond water growing green slime, remove as much of it as you can and place a good slice from a bale of  straw into a least visible part of your pond, weigh it down with a rock then flood the pond to overflowing. The straw will rot down and the pond will go through a murky stage before eventually working the way it should be. Be careful never to let fertiliser drift into ponds, nitrogen is what causes still warm water to green up.

Remove seed heads from ornamental grass if you have not already done so, they just pull away with a rake. Clumps can also now be trimmed back if getting too big or divided by putting a spade through the middle and removing half. Sometimes I have to dig the whole grass out to do this, by putting the spade through once pulled apart while standing on one half of the clump.

If thinking of adding Rose's, or more roses to your garden I suggest you look at rose variety books or go on line to make your choices now,  then get your order into a Garden center. New seasons roses will begin arriving in June and by ordering now you will be sure not to miss out. If ordering for a new rose bed be sure to take note of heights and widths because they will be all growing together and you would not want some out growing and shading others. 

All bought roses have been grafted onto strong root stack but roses can be grown from Autumn cuttings on their own roots. Choose a strong new growth about the thickness of a pencil that has made hard wood, if cut from the bottom of the bush three or four cuttings can be taken. Strip all leaves, make a straight cut on the bottom and a slanted cut at a bud node on the top of each cutting. Dig a narrow slit into firm damp earth and push cuttings in straight cut down, then firm soil around cuttings and water in. These cuttings will not make roots until spring, shift and pot each one up when you notice buds swelling.

Vegetables. March is an important month for planting winter veg, prepare prior to planting with compost, general garden fertiliser and lime (only if needed to bring the Ph up), I add lime to my compost then know the garden is getting it when compost is added. Beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, and silverbeet seedlings and broad beans can be planted, cover with netting or frost cloth if they are troubled by white butterflies until the cold temps deal to them. In colder areas seeds of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprouts are best sown in trays for planting out later. 

A green manure cover crop will germinate quickly right now to be dug in before flowers develop, this will add enriched humus to soil. Blue lupin, mustard or oats are good options. 

Parsley can be grown from seed if sown now and perennial herbs such as, chives, mint, thyme, sage, and marjoram can be divided and replanted. Basil, a summer annual should be harvested, dried or frozen before frost. 

Prepare garlic beds, sow heartease (small wild pansy) along side, a companion plant to garlic and onions.

Fruit: Manure, mulch and compost around fruit trees while ground is warm. Late peaches should be ready to pick now. Feed citrus bushes with citrus fertiliser, they just keep on producing flowers and fruit. 

A Scruff update, showing initiative now by bringing his food bowl and placing it at my feet when he thinks I have left him waiting too long and the other day he dropped his lead at my feet...telling me something??

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago March 18th 2015

Having had rain last week and more this week plus such a cold snap last Tuesday Autumn has probably taken a couple of steps back confusing plants and Gardeners alike! The silver birch tree's and the bougainvillea are always the first to drop a carpet here so the leaf blower and rake are on the go again to fill the first of many wool packs.

Still cutting back and tiding plants here before the compost and pea straw is applied,  I got a bit desperate for potting mix so dug into one of my compost heaps and was pleased to find everything was decomposing really well due to the heat and the showers we have been experiencing, I was able to add some to the potting mix to make it go further.

The rain spoiled a lot of my rose blooms but there are still buds to come to make a vibrant last showing before winter.  Rust is always a problem on roses in Autumn and if you did not get rust under control during summer try to eradicate affected leaves now from the bushes as well as those on the ground and burn them to reduce this problem for next year. Don't feed roses now, let soft growth harden off to take them through to the big winter prune.

Here on the coast we can still enjoy colour during winter if bedding  plants are prepared now. I have been potting up seedlings grown from seed and some bought in punnets. The idea is to utilize the warmth in the days from now on to encourage individually potted plants to bush up, bud up and harden up for planting out before frosts get heavy. Bedding plants that respond well to this method are pansy, viola, pollyanthus wall flower, stock, calendula and primula melicoidies

March is defiantly a great planting month with the soil warm and the cooler nights and mornings retaining moisture newly planted trees and shrubs settle in well. There are a lot of well grown shrubs and plants on offer right now in Garden centers ready and waiting to be planted. Gardner's further inland will need to read the labels to establish frost ratings before buying, if in doubt wait until spring. 

If you have not already done so break up really large clumps of Spring bulbs, clumps tend to double in size with out you noticing and in no time a garden bed can become choked, looking attractive only in spring and dull for the rest of the year. I have been asked often the reason for spring bulbs not flowering after the first couple of years from planting and the problem can be over crowding, lack of adequate light as trees become larger and throw more shade during summer, but the most common problem is bulbs may not have not been planted deep enough. Spring bulbs need to be planted 4 to 6 inches deep and that's 4 to 6 inches on top of the bulb, if not planted deeply eventually when they do come into leaf and experience a slight dry patch during this time and they wont take up enough moisture to come into bud.

Rake mulch off bearded iris rhizomes they need to be exposed to the sun for a baking now.

Layer carnation stems by pinning the center of the stem down under the soil while still attached to the mother plant with the flower end still exposed, roots should form along the buried stem. Once rooted cut from the mother plant and pot up to grow on before planting out in lime sweetened soil.

Lawns. 

After those baking hot days and a lot of mowing lawn growth starts slowing down from now on although, catchers will still be filling up for a while yet. Lawn weeds start to slow down as well which is beneficial for newly planted autumn lawns, not having to compete with weeds as in a spring sowing. 

The flat weeds I do come across now I pop out with the blade of secateurs before they seed and spread.  

Vegetable Gardens will be growing new crops for the cooler seasons, leaf veg should not bolt so readily now and will not mind the days getting shorter and cooling and root veg seeds will germinate well while the ground is still warm. My second sowing of peas are ready for picking now, corn is picked and the pumpkins have out grown their space and just keep going. Onions can be lifted once leaves have bent over, don't bend or damage leaves before they are ready to bend naturally if you want them to store and keep well.  Once dug lay them out in a warm place to fully ripen then store in a cool place.

 

Cheers Linda

Gardening in North Otago March 3rd 2015

Autumn begins:
Another much needed rain at the beginning of this week but it only wet the surface of our baked ground. At this mellow time of the year growing slows and I tend to slow down a little as well, often topping up on moisture around roots by hand watering and at the same time noticing what needs dead headed or cut back, Autumn crocus has burst into flower and chrysanthemums are budding and perennials cut back last month have bushed up again to fill in gaps.

Sow Seeds

March is the month to sow the seeds of hardy annuals, foxglove, honesty and sweet william directly where they will flower with a little fertiliser, forked into the soil, before sowing. Once sown these areas need to stay open to the sun so mark them to avoid covering with winter mulch.

Hard wood cuttings: This is the time to take hard wood cuttings , place cuttings in a water filled container as they are taken. Prepare cuttings by removing the bottom leaves and cutting the top leaves back by half. Plant into river sand filled trenches in the ground or trays of river sand, keep moist and in no time at all they will develop roots. Once growing pinch the cuttings back at least twice to get nice bushy plants.

Bulbs:

Plant Spring now, iris, crocus, hyacinth and any daffodil bulbs you need to shift. Tulips and lilies can be planted in may or June. Bulbs require a deep planting in a sunny well drained spot.

This week I have had the hedge trimmer out again because some shrubs in our garden have out grown their space and with the favorable conditions we are experiencing they should make new growth which will harden off before frosts here on the coast. 

Planting

With days shortening and nights cooling the still warm ground begins to retain moisture again making Autumn one of the best times for planting trees and shrubs. Always plant trees and shrubs to the depth they were in the pot or bag and stake well if tall.

Autumn is said to be the best time to plant conifers, there are such a lot of different types on offer now and I consider these contribute to the bones of a garden. Tall narrow conifers planted in groups give larger gardens a vertical push and formality. Read labels carefully they will give you the height and width for the first ten years, after that they do keep growing and can be removed if they start to look untidy but most ornamental conifers look wonderful for many years. 

Caring for soil is important now after the intense heat and summer blooming this year, deep watering then the addition of organic matter either dug in or left as a top mulch will help to condition soil in readiness for next spring.
I wait until autumn leaves have been raked off gardens before I add the compost and pea straw cover that will take gardens through winter which leaves time from now until then to sow a cover crop like blue lupin, mustard or alfalfa to add natural nitrogen to soil. Dig in before flowering, or as I will do, cover with compost in which lime has been added, then a final cover of pea straw.

Lawns. 

Keep sowing those new lawns, the ground is nice and warm, perennial lawn weeds have slowed down and if the moisture is kept up grass seed will be up in no time. 

I sprayed for flat weeds at the end of January but see the odd few settling in again so have been popping them out with the blade of my secateurs to avoid spraying. 

Vegetables: What a great year for produce this is, keep planting in rotation, leaf veg where root veg has been. Sow Root plants like Asparagus , Beetroot , Carrots , Chives , Leeks ,Onions, Shallots, Spring Onions and last month to sow parsnip before winter.

When potatoes are dug they need to be kept in the dark or they will go green. I take what I need from a dig and leave the rest in the ground until needed. When the time comes for you to store them there are products which will inhibit sprouting, but many gardeners avoid chemicals near food so I will share a natural alternative with you. Layer the stored potatoes with dried sprigs of rosemary, sage and lavender, the essential oils given off by these herbs not only inhibits sprouting but will also help to keep the tubers free from bacterial soft rots. 

Fruit: Apples, crab apples, quince, plums, late peaches and soon walnuts, so much at once! the birds must be overjoyed by their feasting and the rats / mice will be waiting patiently for the nuts and sun flower seeds, such abundance!

Cheers Linda