Gardening in North Otago May 26th 2015

We were sure jolted out of our warm autumn comfort zone this week with the meanest polar blast across the country, out came all the winter gear, it took me a couple of days to become accustomed to the freezing winds but a positive is, all the remaining leaves have been blown off the trees here.

This is a good time to give thought to improving the look of your garden while trees are bare and gardens are clear of full growth.

Don't cling to plants, shrubs or trees that are past their best. If they look like they are past it they probably are. Remove them and replace the spot with something fresh and worth looking at.

If you are worried about removing large ugly shrubs, leaving a gap and lack of privacy you can always fill the gap with manuka screening attached to wooden uprights until the replacement shrubs grow to the required size.

It is also time to look at the shape of deciduous trees now that the leaves are gone, remove lower branches if you think the tree would look better with more trunk showing and check young trees are not sporting double trunks. Cross over branches should be removed and if there are two branches doing the same job remove the lower branch of the two and any weak spindly growth. Some trees like silver pear and crab apples can get get a mass of branches in the center going in every direction, they look so good once they have been thinned out.

If you need to remove large branches it is important to cut at the right place and leave the basal collar in tact, ( a slanted cut leaving a short portion of the branch at the base of the trunk) as this contains cells which will seal the wound from disease.

Turn pruned branches into mulch, slim straight branches are perfect to feed through a wood mulcher to create wood chip for the garden.

If, like me you are finding small native trees planted by the birds popping up around your garden, now is a good time to lift these and pot them up. They will be perfect in a couple of years to create a native area for birds. I have been potting them up for years so have them at all different stages. There is always a need for a native tree planting be it a private woodland where there is room in a large garden or a School or community project. I am nursing some of my more established natives to add to the planting at Cape Wanbrow. 

The ground is getting drier by the week with all the wind and still no rain, plants like hydrangeas, rhododendrons, azaleas and spring bulbs are looking for water.  I have been soaking gardens before the mulch goes on which will keep the ground warmer and retain moisture, it is also adding food and humus to the garden.

Leucodendrons are taking center stage now, they are wonderful for picking once fully hardened and will last for months picked and put in a vase, just the thing when there is not lot else to pick. Leucodendrons are easy to grow in the conditions they prefer, being full sun, good draining acid soil, newly planted leoucodendronsneed staking and protected from strong winds until established. They will grow on dry banks and rough area's as long as they do not have to compete with grass and weeds. Leucodendrons resent any type of  fertiliser and once planted and growing will die if shifted. There numerous types of leucodendrons to choose from for the right spot, upright /tall for the back ground, large and bushy to fill a gap, small front planters and low spreaders which look great spilling over walls. They all add wonderful colour to a dull winter garden.

Vegetables and  Fruit

Keep planting out seedling veg plants, board beans.

Winter is also the time for planting rhubarb and asparagus crowns so prepare the ground with rich composted now, get them planted and in no time they will be established.

Black current bushes should have as much of the old dark shoot removed leaving only the light coloured smooth vigorous young growth. I cut the fruit branches off when fruit is ripe and remove fruit while sitting at an outside table to eliminate all the bending. Red currents however will not fruit on new wood so older wood should be kept for 3 years just cut out the odd old branch yearly to encourage a few new replacements.

Give all current bushes a little potash now and a good two hand fulls of bonemeal or blood and bone in spring to ensure a good crop of fruit.

An update on Scruff the dog...he is not such a handful now, until that is when someone new arrives, then it is like he is on a trampoline!!!

He has let us know that the kennel outside is not for him now it's winter, began to sit outside paring in the widow looking miserable until he won Bob over. He now has a new big soft indoor bed on the heated floor, yes he has defiantly scored big time!

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago May 20th 2015

Having experienced only a couple of frosts yet here on the coast this lovely, mellow time of the year is such a treat for us Gardeners who are outside and busy.

A heap of work was done here in the garden this week, my ready compost is going down fast, as autumn leaves and annual weeds have been removed from gardens it gets shoveled on thickly over beds, but not quite ready for the pea straw cover yet as still a few more leaves to fall and collect.  Before the straw goes on a good watering will be needed if we still have had no rain.

Bearded Iris rhizomes and freesia bulbs need to be exposed to bake in the sun so compost and mulch are being kept off them.

I have been shifting bigger shrubs that were wrenched in March , this garden gets carried away from time to time and tries to out grow the size allotted to it!! shrubs I planted and thought at the time I could keep shaped to fit the space but after a while I get fed up with trying to keep them the right size, they are dug up and given a ride in the wheel barrow. Complete new garden rooms can be created by shifting tall front plantings to the back which opens a garden up allowing room in the front to be edged and graveled for the placing of seating or may be a statue or large ornate pot. Don't hesitate in reducing the height and width of trees and shrubs, it is essential if garden space is limited, if only to let more light on to lower growing plants to stop leggy growth and encourage optimum flowering.

This is a great time to make new perennial beds or re-organise existing beds, with perennial clumps increasing in size annually they soon over fill a space. Lift overgrown or stagnant clumps, break up and replant some of the youngest growths from the perimeter. Healthy vigorous plants can be reduced by putting a sharp spade in where you would like a reduction then lift the cut portion out without disturbing the plant remaining. I have been doing this with asters, phlox, aurbretia, small grass's, hosta's, and herbs like sage, thyme and lemon balm. Rockery plants can be divided now as well. Once plants have been sectioned and rearranged cover the bed and around plants with compost which will encourage new root growth and help keep the perennial bed warmer through the colder months to come.

I have been removing the old leaves from my hellebores and notice they are budding up for a winter display, a fortnightly liquid feed can be given now if you feel they need boosting after all this dry weather. Further in land it would be advisable to leave some top growth on to give frost protection to clumps.

Lilies, this is the main time to shift or divide old over grown clumps of lilies. Be careful not to break the fleshy scales and to retain all the basal roots. Don't pull the old steams away from the bulb as it leaves a hole where water can enter and cause rot, just cut old stems short and bend, never allow Lilly bulbs to dry out while out of the ground. I plant lilies on a little river sand and cover with compost which has had blood and bone added.

Vegetables and fruit .
Continue planting strawberry plants, raising the beds where drainage is suspect and adding manure rich compost to the beds.
Garlic, such a used component in today's cooking very beneficial to health, I go through so much of it so need to grow enough for use as well as replanting. It is said to plant garlic on the shortest day but any time from late May until August is ok. Select large single cloves (plant point up) 5cm deep and 20cm apart in warm, well-drained sites where soil has been recently limed.
Having been such a good ripening season apples are dripping from trees, it is best to pick apples for storing when not too ripe and store in a cool dark place
Start pruning pip fruit trees any time after the leaves have fallen, remove dead or damaged wood, crossing or inward turning branches, excess leaders or sucker growth developing on the main trunks. Shorten back vigorous leaders by about a 1/3 to promote branching. Prune long side branches back to a weak twig to discourage further spread.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago May 6th 2015

The year is marching on! and May is the official beginning of winter for NZ.
For me June is the start of winter because Autumn means leaves and more beautiful leaves which is what we are dealing with right now. In nature leaves are soil food, they fall to the ground creating humus but leaves falling around a garden and on lawns are usually raked up, this is why it is so important to add compost to gardens and lawns to put humus back.
I am adding to my compost daily layering with leaves, grass clippings, soft garden and hedge clippings, manure and established compost. Cold weather has a marked slowing down effect on compost organisms and any insulation wrapped around a bin will help them keep working, I do this on my heaps with a thick layer of straw. I do go on about compost don't I?

The cut back is still going on in my gardens and the compost / mulch is going on to provide food for the plants when they need it which also helps to keep the soil a little warmer for plant roots over winter. Once every plant, shrub and tree has been mulched and watered and leaves raked off gardens the pea straw will go on.

After rain I am finding a lot of snails in the garden, they will find a dark sheltered spot among pots or behind plants growing up against a wall, flax and agapanthus are especially bad for harboring snails to multiply fast and be ready to destroy plants in spring. I have read that it is no good transporting snails to a vacant area away from your garden because they have homing instincts and travel long distances to return to THEIR garden of choice. I cannot bring myself to stamp on them or drown them in a bucket so if you are like me you can gather up as many as you can find and put them in a plastic bag, close it tight and put in the freezer, this way they will go to sleep and not wake up, yes I know "what is she on about"? working with Nature is what gardening is all about with me and snails belong in gardens until you remove them.

Keep planting tulips until the end of this month, plant them deep because they like it cool, if you have a special tulips you would like to multiply plant them against a south facing wall and forget about them they will grow and multiply there for years. Also keep planting and dividing Lilly's now as well and keep them damp, there should be a good range of lillys in the garden centres,

Plan new plantings of deciduous trees and shrubs remembering to allow room for them to grow both up and outwards. Deciduous trees and shrubs will come into retail at the end of June / July. If your ground tends to get wet and sticky in winter it would be a good idea to dig the area up now while the soil is easy to work with. Dig out the soil add peat or compost and blood and bone to it then fill back in again until you are ready to plant. If you know which deciduous trees and shrubs you require order them now from the garden centre and you will not miss out.

Hydrangeas are deepening into rich shades as gardens head towards winter, l like to leave this colour for as long as it takes for them to look faded and untidy, this also gives stems time to harden off and once hardened off they can be shifted if needed. Really large bushes can be dug up and root cut or pulled into several individual bushes. In cold districts don't prune back until spring, leave the tops on to protect the new growth.

A start can be made on pruning very strong rambler roses by cutting out any dead stems and cutting back all side stems on canes to with in 2-3 buds from the main steam. Shorten back vigorous leaders by about 1/3 to promote branching. If the bush is out of control like some of mine reduce the size with a hedge trimmer then cut some canes right out from ground level.

Veg:
If worms are rare in your garden, this usually indicates that the organic content of the soil is very low, worms seem to always find manure but it needs to be spread as a layer low down under a soil bed for them to come up to it. This would be a daunting task to undertake in established gardens, although worth digging into trenched rows as veg is used, defiantly the way to go when establishing a new veg area where soil is dry and has clay content, the introduction of worms will make all the difference.
Fruit:
Continue planting strawberries, raising the beds where drainage is suspect, this year I plan to build up with compost then cover the bed with polythene as commercial growers do, plant out with new runner plants pushed into slits cut in the polythene. This way the ground stays warm and fruit will not be competing with weeds.

Cheers, Linda.

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