Gardening in North Otago August 12th 2020

Early spring pussy willow

Early spring is peeping out from winter here at Rockvale Gardens, snow drops are always first to push up through the frost then winter roses, early camellias, daffodils and now plum blossom. I know with the mild days we have been experiencing Gardeners get the itch to plant and sow. Sown seeds will need protection to bring soil up to a temperature to germinate. In the open garden the time is right for sowing when frosts are coming to an end and bees are in full buzz mode. , Plants that are budding to flower can have a liquid feed now as they will be looking for nutrients to keep strong root growth up. Diluted worm or comfrey tea if available are gentle for soft new growth or any liquid food you have on hand, at a diluted rate. Liquid manure diluted to the colour of weak black tea around rose roots will give a boost as they push out new buds. All rose pruning should be finished by the end of this month.

Comfrey has very deep roots, which means it extracts large quantities of nutrients from far below the soil’s surface, inaccessible to other plants. These nutrients are stored in its leaves. By harvesting the leaves and letting them break down, you’ll have a rich, dark, nutrient-rich plant food to use around the garden. It’s especially rich in potassium, making it the ideal feed to promote flowers and fruits in a range of plants, including tomatoes. Comfrey tea: Pick a good amount of comfrey, remove flowers and tough stems, then chop up leaves and pack them tightly into a water-tight container. Choose a container with a lid, as the solution can smell as leaves break down. Use a brick or stone to weigh down the leaves. Check on the progress every few weeks as leaves will break down gradually, releasing a smelly brown liquid. Collect any liquid into plastic bottles and store in a cool, dark place. Top up with fresh leaves. A comfrey root should be planted where it can spread as it can soon get out of control in a veg or flower garden.

Hydrangeas are showing new green growth at the bottom which means pruning can begin, prune all woody stems that flowered last summer down to the second bud from the bottom leaving all other stems because they will carry the new flowers. Pink hydrangea flowers grow in an alkaline soil with high pH (> 8.5) and blue flowers like an acid soil. The only successful way to keep good blue flowers if hydrangeas in your garden are pink is to plant in an acid potting mix in a large pot.

Keep planting roses, peony roses and gladioli from now until September if dividing or planting lilies get them planted straight away, they never stop making roots and should never dry out.  

Cut back : leggy,bush lavatera and buddlea's, they will bush up again in no time.

Weeds: I imagine the weeds have started at your place as they have at ours and with the ground being soft hand, and hoe weeding is really easy, get them out before they take off and seed everywhere, or dig them in before they seed. Getting rid of the unwanted plants that have invaded your gardens like ivy, aluminium plant (lamium), couch grass, Convolvulus and that pesky biddy bid . Get them out now before spring gardens explode into fullness. I have been scratching in gardens like a hen for weeks now with a determination to get them all gone......I know they will still be popping up here and there, if I spot them they will be gone!

Lawns: Moss can be dealt to in lawns, pathways and garden structures. There are a lot of products for moss but killing the moss in lawns is simply a short term measure, it does not address the basic problem. If you really want to eradicate moss from your lawn, then you have to find the problem causing it. The reasons are varied, but not too difficult to isolate.Things that would be causing moss in your lawn could be: Water logging, Poor feeding regime - usually shown by light green grass, soil too acid - carry out a test, lime may be needed. Shaded Lawns - overhanging trees or large shrubs. Mowing lawns too close is a very common cause, for it weakens the grass allowing moss to take hold. Sandy - free-draining soils. This can weaken the grass and allow moss to take over. Add humus (compost or sieved soil) to add more body and rake in, this will encourage worms as well. Compaction - continued use by children and pets with no remedial attention by way of aeration in the Autumn.Treating small areas of moss in lawns can be carried out with sulphate of iron watered on at the strength displayed on the pack per sq meter, moss will turn black and after a couple of weeks you can rake out the dead moss and re-seed. Generally, lawns that are well maintained which includes being well fed, cut properly, aerated and de-thatched  moss will have a problem competing with strong growing grass. The first spring feeding can be done when the next rain is about to happen.

Vegetables: Pick winter crops while still at their best - Fold cauliflower leaves over and tie to protect from frost and keep florets tight.  Asparagus is a vegetable that repays planting over many years. To prepare beds, cultivate deeply and add a generous amount of compost, plant asparagus on a mound to ensure good drainage. Existing asparagus beds should be cultivated carefully to avoid damaging the crowns that lie just below the surface, Sprouted Potatoes can go into the ground now for an early crop, people have been telling me of the benefits gained from planting potatoes on a bed of pine needles, I lay them on comfrey leaves, they decompose fast in the soil making plant food quickly available.Further inland soil will take a bit of thawing before any planting but the garden can be prepare by digging in compost / humus.  

Fruit: Soak then mulch fruit trees and soft fruit bushes because they have a lot of growing work ahead of them.

Cheers, Linda.

Growing asparagus

Gardening in North Otago August 5th 2020

                                                     Bee's are out and about.

After a few mild days last week I got to thinking Spring is upon us early and quickened up the pruning along with feeding the garden with the lovely pig manure I have bagged on hand. Looking back through past notes it reminded the "gardening me" about the past August snow, harsh frosts and floods......But the birds are wooing and singing spring melodies, bee's are buzzing and buds are swelling.

Plants do not go by our calendar which means we need to read when it is becoming spring in our own gardens and it will differ all around the district. However dryness is affecting all gardens in North Otago with many hoses out as they are here. A good soaking around roots right now is far more beneficial than sprinklers. Plants that suffer most during a dry winter are Maples, rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas because all have roots close to the ground surface. 

Keep an eye out for flowering camellias and rhododendrons now in garden centers, most are showing buds and flowers, this is the time to choose the right shades for your garden, they thrive in semi shade or afternoon shaded areas of the garden.

Sowing seeds: It's the perfect time to sow seeds undercover, any seeds that say spring sowing on the back of the packet will pop up now under cover. I use a tray of compost / soil with a layer of seed raising mix on the top, this way your seed raising mix will go further. Once sown cover the trays with plastic or glass, but use spacers to let air circulate between the plastic / glass  and tray.

lavenders can have a cut back now, I see them starting to put out new growth and really old woody bushes can be cut back hard to encourage new lower growth. If older lavenders did not do well last year it is probably time to replace them. Newly planted lavenders just need a light clip. A dressing of compost and lime for lavenders but no manure as it is best to grow them hard.

Softer shrubs that are encroaching on drive and walkways can be trimmed back , they will soon recover with new spring growth, also reduce the height on some of taller shrubs like phebaliums, pittosporums, psudopanax and the like now if you need to. You can do this without spoiling the shape by cutting out the center branch down to where the other branches bush out, this removes the natural point at the top of the shrub and will sometimes reduce the height by 2 or more meters.  New leaders will be sent up over time  but more growth will be put into the side branching which can be trimmed into shape if a problem. This being just the start of a new growing season plants are intent on just growing. (Leave doing this for another month further inland.)
A lot of climbers are in bud now ready to do their thing in Spring so when trimming watch you are not cutting off new buds. Hardenbergia ( happy wanderer) flowered in early winter so that is one that can be cut back. Jasmines have been knocked by frosts in my garden, I will leave them a bit longer until I am sure the frosts are over before trimming them. 

Roses: If you have still not feed your roses do it as soon as possible, they are moving fast now and should have food given even before they need it if you want them to stay healthy.
If you have no time to do anything else in the garden feeding plants is a must for health and vigour to take them right through to next autumn, it is well worth the effort. 
Slow release fertilisers are a safe bet for continual feeding over a long period, they are very clean and easy to apply and now days formulated to feed specific plants. Now would be a good time to mention that resent being fed. Many South African plants and Australian natives such as proteas, leucodendrons, banksias, and all grevillia's do not need feeding. I have lost some of these because they had absorbed fertiliser from neighbouring plants.

There is still time to divide hostas, these dramatic shade loving perennials can really highlight a shaded spot with their fresh greens and variegated light shades. Simply lift established clumps at least 4 to 5 years old, use a sharp spade to slice them into a few good sizes pieces, then replant. They also look great in pots but get slug bate around them as soon as they start showing leaf or try some of the slug repellent methods that have been passed down by gardeners listed below. Coffee Grounds: Used coffee grounds spread around susceptible plants may work. Epsom Salts: Epsom salts sprinkled on the soil will supposedly deter slugs and also helps prevent Magnesium deficiency in your plants. Magnesium helps to deepen color, thickens petals and increases root structure. Or by planting a group of lettuce previously pot grown to a good size near by slugs will feast on them instead.

Fruit & Vegatables
Deciduous fruit trees and small fruiting bushes should be planted in August at the latest, this is also the time to give fruiting shrubs & trees a dressing of pot ash to help with fruiting. 

If you plan to grow vegetables this year get the garden ready now, dig in some weed free compost and let the soil settle again while worms get to work. In area's you will not be planting out for a while why not sow a green crop to add humus to tired soils, mustard, lupine, barley or wheat. These will germinate in no time here on the coast but only when the ground is warm enough up further inland. Green crops should be dug in when lush, soft and green. Don't let it get to the flowering stalky stage, it takes too long to break down and is not worth the effort of digging in. 

Cover leaf crops from birds or you will be left with stalks, strawberry net framed over veg will keep them out.

                                             

                                                   Still time to divide hosta's

Gardening in North Otago 1st August 2020

Staking a tall bare rooted tree.

Here we are into another month and closer to Spring, with camellias blooming, magnolia buds beginning to burst and spring bulbs thinking it is mild enough to bloom. Going by my past notes we still have proper winter weather ahead this month before we can leap fully into spring. Soil along with plant's need continual cold temperatures to be at peek performance during the growing seasons.  Here in our garden the hard graft is almost over, whew!, soon it will be time to get creative and dress the garden by planting out, shifting and feeding.

Liquid feed annuals and perennials that have been nursed through winter, roots are starting to take in nutrients to plump up buds. 

Roses and hydrangeas are still getting the winter prune here, only flower carpet roses to go, this variety bush up with small non hard wood branching, if they are large, trim with a hedge trimmer, if newly planted prune back the flowered ends to hard wood.
Hydrangeas: I have taken cuttings from Annabelle hydrangeas hardened stems that flowered last season.Thick rather than thin cuttings are best about 12" long, dip cuttings in rooting hormone (this is optional) and insert cut end down into damp river sand, around the edge of the pot rather than the middle, water well and allow to drain. Annabelle hydrangea is lovely with white lacy flowers and is quick and easily grown from cuttings as well as root sections, they give a great show growing in a group.

Staking Trees: I have been noticing newly planted tall grafted tree's planted in gardens with out stakes, while the ground is firm and winds are few during winter they are settled but come spring with unpredictable weather these trees will be whipped about with wind with roots moving when they should be firm in the ground making the needed feeding roots. Tree's left un staked take much longer to make the roots needed to anchor them and grow slower, sometimes not at all.

Seeds can be sown of cottage annuals like cosmos, cornflowers, love in the mist, snapdragon and alyssum, all can be sown under glass in trays up off the cold ground in a warm area.  More tender annuals need to wait until it is warmer unless you have a heated glass house. Perennials and annuals already putting out growth need to be protected from any sudden freezing.  

Vegetable  gardens are enjoying the sunny days with frosts helping to break down soil. Birds will hungry and starting to nest so cover leaf veg with netting or frost cloth to keep them off. This month is time for sowing veg seeds to germinate in a warm well lit place to be ready for pricking out into punnets then planted into a warm spring garden. 

Fruit Trees are still available in Garden Centres, if you would like an apple tree but feel your garden is too small why not look at apple ballerina, a very slim non branching variety of apple with Medium, red skin, Crisp, juicy, nice eating and cooking apples, Ballerina  grows to 3-4m tall by 30cm wide perfect for adding height, blossom and fruit to a small garden.

Grape pruning needs to finish soon before sap rises, to prune a fruiting leader remove all new long growth on the vine other than the fruiting leader, on the leaders prune each new growth back to the second bud. These fruiting buds should be around a hand space apart to ensure adequate sized fruit, this means removing some of the new bud growth along the top of the leader and all of the new bud growth growing underneath. Some of these new budding top growths will throw two lots of bud branch, remove the least stronger one leaving only one lot of double buds to produce fruit.

Keep an eye on peach bud burst, in milder gardens it will happen early. A copper spray right at bud burst will help with leaf curl.

Cheers, Linda
 

Magnolia blooms snug in fury buds.

Gardening in North Otago July 22nd 2020

Sasanqua camellias

We are getting closer to spring, with another winter month almost over our gardens are beginning to stir beneath and above the ground even with the heavy frosts we have been experiencing. I remember when winter meant frozen ground right through mid winter and my pond with a cover of thick ice, but not so over the last few years when we experience hard frosts then warm days like last Tuesday, a warm spring like day. 

Pruning and composting and pea strawing is still going on here around this large, never ending garden! rain would be a bonus now because it is showing severer dryness in some parts of this garden. It may look as if growth has stopped but here on the coast with the warmer ground there is plenty of plant feeding going on now.  Bulbs,  hellebores (winter roses), pollyanthas, violas, which hazel, camellias and rhododendrons will all enjoy a dressing of compost or even a dressing of blood and bone would be beneficial when we get a shower of rain.

Garden retailers are offering  colourful sesanqua camellias in flower, different varieties of flowering hellebore's and cyclamen to brighten up indoors and porches. Any flowering plants on sale will have been grown under protection to get them looking so good so don't be too quick to plant out in the garden, let them harden off gradually first.

Roses:

About now I would advise mulch, mulch and more mulch around roses if we had rain,  I am mulching but soaking the dry ground first then mulch applied will hold moisture.  This also protects the root zone and enables the plant to concentrate on root movement and getting ready for the up coming growing season. Un-sprayed Pea or barley straw plus well cooked compost are all ideal for mulching. 

In early spring an application of Rose Fertiliser will enhance the establishment and growth of healthy roses as it has an excellent level of potassium, which is the nutrient responsible for promoting large, vibrant, healthy blooms. For established roses apply 200 g (1 cup) per square metre and water in well. An application just before the end of winter is a good idea, if buds are swelling they are using food. Apply again in mid December for an autumn flush of blooms. Have some on hand to apply next month.

Vegetable garden:

To have Christmas new potatoes you need to start thinking about them from now on, all varieties are available in shops now. There are early and late varieties so ask about the variety you choose, a potato is not just a potato any more! Lay your seed potatoes out on a tray in a dark dry place and get them sprouting or chitting by leaving them in a well lit, cool, protected place where they will form protrusions of leaf buds ready for early planting.

Keep sowing vegetable seeds in trays for planting out later, if your veg garden is in a warm spot plant Cauliflowers and Cabbage seedlings (cover from birds)  and sow early Peas. 

Asparagus crowns are now available and can be planted out in a well composted and fertilised bed. (no animal manure )

Fruit: There will never be a better time to choose and plant ornamental and fruiting trees than right now! Each tree will have an informative label to tell you exactly what you will be buying with instructions on how and where to plant. Plus all tall grafted trees need to be tied to a stake, any wind root movement will hold a tree back. All fruit trees need to grow in an open sunny position.

Cheers, Linda. 

Mulching for spring growth

Gardening in North Otago June 15th 2020

Frosty morniing at Rockvale Gardens

Some hard frosts this week which is just the thing for winter gardens. I have been busy with Grandchildren over these School holidays but managed to escape from time to time into the garden to spread leaf mulch and pig manure around before the top layer of pea straw. Any store bought powdered fertilisers would be wasted if used while the garden is resting but compost and well rotted manure will work as a mulch for plant roots which will be taken down by worms to be there when needed in early spring.  Mulch works well on all bare ground and tucked around winter flowering blooms helping to keep ground warmer and smothering annual weed seeds wanting to germinate.  The clean much on offer by our local Pukeuri ( Alliance  Group)  meat works is ideal for this, dry ground will need a wetting if rain hasn't done this before applying.Contact for this mulch is Gregg 0272293215  

How special each new bloom is in a bare winter garden, winter sweet (Chimonanthus praecox) fragile, papery sweet fragrant flowers are a treat along with hellebore's, (winter rose), early camellias, snowdrops and violets. I also have Virginia stock and polyanthus flowering and while the ground is damp and workable have been using a small sharp edged hoe on weeds that frost has been hard on. Where the ground is clear of weeds I have filled gaps with perennial sections taken from clumps that needed broken up and iris rhizomes in groups. Primulas and violas should be well clumped up now after an autumn cut back and because they multiply well  these plants make good borders. First dig out a clump and pull apart, each section with roots will become a new plant to clump up. Trim ragged perennials like cat mint back to the new growth you should be able to see coming through then dig around or mulch to encourage the new roots.
 

Sowing seeds: It is too early for seeds to germinate in the soil however I have sown cottage flower seeds like poppies, cornflower and cosmos in seed trays which are sitting in a sheltered tunnel house, I protect the trays with frost cloth during the cold nights and fingers crossed I hope for a strike.

Vegetables:The earlier mild winter weather was kind to producing vegetable gardens here on the coast, soups will be brimming with the addition of silver beet, broccoli, cauliflower flower, carrots, kale, leeks and all those lovely pumpkins stored before the frosts arrived.  When areas of the veg garden become vacant  spread some compost on and let frost and worms work on soil in readiness for an early spring plant out. In cold areas where ground is frozen start garlic off in containers and plant out later when the ground begins to thaw.

Fruit: If your strawberry patch is  cleared and manured, pot up the runners you plan to keep to establish strong roots before being planted.  Remember 3 or 4 years is long enough for a mature fruiting plant and always choose the runner replacement closest to the Mother plant.

Any major pruning on older out of control fruit trees should be done now while sap is down, but as I have mentioned in previous notes new upward growing growths on apples and espaliered fruit trees should be done in summer when cuts will heal over and not send more growth up around that pruned area. However early to Late Spring is best for Peach trees if they need size reduced or centers opened. Prune off  damaged wood in the early spring, this will allow the wounds to close faster as growth begins and in early spring you should also be able to see how many flower buds have survived the cold weather. Leave young fruit trees to blossom and fruit only removing any damaged wood or crossing branches, mulch all fruit trees now as they have a lot of work ahead of them.

Cheers, Linda 

New strawberry plants bedded for winter.

Gardening in North Otago 8th June 2020

                                                                 Rose pruning

Well into July now winter has kicked in but spring bulbs are being encouraged to burst through the ground on milder days wanting to retreat. I am sure when they find out it is still winter. A big job here in our garden on those milder days last week cutting back deciduous shrubs, and dealing with convolvulus roots now that they have died off on top. In one smallish patch of garden where convolvulus was growing up and smothering shrubs last summer I dug out a wheelbarrow full of roots, I kid you not!!, long white roots that criss crossed this patch of ground had spread through plant roots along the fence line seeming to know where they needed to be to climb. It is so satisfying to start at one end of a root and remove it without breaking right to the other end. Because I never use weed spray on the garden, digging and pulling it out is the only way to beat it. Pruning: Understanding how something grows is helpful before pruning, does it flower on new or old wood, how mature does a fruit tree need to be to produce fruiting spurs, will a wound heal well or will it bleed like cherries and plums and if so when does it produce less sap?.There is a right time to prune any plant for it to respond beneficially for your purposes by producing new flowers, fruit, foliage or training to shape, ect. But sometimes it is best just to do it, the worst that can happen is that you will lose a season's flowering and learn a useful lesson at the same time. Hydrangeas and lavender are best left now until you see new growth. Rose pruning: I was going to leave pruning our roses until the end of this month but I got a bit carried away cutting back and made a start on a few of the larger varieties. In cold areas rose wood will still be too soft, the time by which rose pruning should be completed varies by several weeks from the warmest to coldest gardens, pruning should be done and dusted by the time buds break. Bush roses: concentrate on clearing the center of the bush, remove all inward facing branches at an outward facing bud, prune height back by two thirds always at an outward facing bud and remove any old and damaged branches. Brush old gnarly rose centers with a wire brush to stimulate and encourage new budding. Floribunda bush roses: like iceberg with a number of blooms on one stem need a few older branches taken right back each year to encourage new strong branching and newer branches taken back by two thirds. Hybrid tea roses:These are the roses that can grow a single exhibition bloom on a stem, these rose bushes can be pruned back quite hard to an outward facing bud. Standard bush roses:Same as bush roses. Climbing roses:These roses flower at their best when the branches are trained horizontally along a fence or wall, they will then develop small branches along the length to carry flowers. After a number of years a main horizontal branch will become unproductive and need to be removed, replaced with a new branch to be trained gently to take its place. The new branch will bud up quickly sending out small outward growing branches to harden off in a couple of years. To prune established horizontal branches, take the outward growing branches back to the second out facing bud closest to the main horizontal branch. Pillar roses:These are the best type to climb up and be trained over an arch or pergola. I cut the old growth back from these with a hedge trimmer Fairy rose and flower carpet roses: I also cut back with a hedge trimmer but opened them up by removing branches from the middle with secateurs. Bare rooted trees:The bulk of new season's bare rooted deciduous trees are arriving into retail shops now, plant when the soil is soft and moist, but avoid times when the ground is frozen or excessively wet. Evergreen trees and shrubs are on offer as well, choose now but don't be in a hurry to plant them at this coldest time of the year because you will not gain any new growth until spring. Keep in their bags or pots outside in a sheltered place to harden off, they can sit like this through winter. Make sure to read the labels and know how high and wide a shrub / tree will grow, some grow fast and when mature will throw considerable shade, if planting along the side of a house ask advice. Compost heaps; are working slowly now compared to summer and autumn but worms will still be working as long as there is adequate moisture. Heaps can be kept warmer by being covered, even straw can be used and will let in rain. Veg: Rain will have made veg gardens a bit soggy to work in, young veg will sit now without growing because they dislike cold wet ground. Once they dry out I plan to dig the raised gardens over and work in some manure enriched compost in readiness for spring planting. In cold areas, if the ground is frozen start garlic off in containers and plant out later when the ground warms up.Early seed potatoes can be left in the dark to sprout long translucent sprouts but put them in a frost free brightly lit place and they slowly develop knobbly green purple shoots which are ready to grow quickly when placed in the soil, this is called chitting. While chittlng is not necessary for main crop varieties, the first or second earliest benefit by maturing earlier.Fruit: Plant deciduous fruit trees and bushes in a sunny site, avoid frosty hollows for early starters such as plums and pears. Prune.early to Late Spring Peach and nectarine trees to maintain an open center (only if needed) in early spring this will allow the wounds to close faster as growth begins, early spring also allows you to see how many flower buds have survived the cold weather. Cherries need summer pruning as well for the first 5 years and only on a sunny day to avoid silver leaf. I have found If I prune an apple tree hard each winter it will make a mass of new growth but no blossom, hence no fruit. So now any tree or shrub that is growing too vigorously I wait until summer to prune hard, when leaves are fully grown, before roots start to store food for winter, cuts heal over pushing out no new growth. This is a good rule of thumb for cordons (espaliered trees) only cut back any weak growth in winter to encourage vigorous new shoots in spring. If removing large thick branches in summer while sap is up wounds may need sealed if they bleed. Strawberries: are a crop that needs to be shifted about to a new spot each growing season for best results. or replace what you grow them in, soil / compost otherwise they build up and harbour viruses. Plenty of time before this needs to be done but now is a good time to prepare a new bed. If starting new plants from runners always take the runner closest to the parent plant, snip off all runners outside of this then push the runner to be a new plant into the soil to make strong roots while still attached to the parent plant. Snip off in early spring and plant out into a new bed. After 3 years of fruiting plants should be composted and new ones ready to take their place. Cheers, Linda. 

V