Garden Advice › Garden Tips of the Month
Garden Tips January 2015
Summer Garden Care
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Dealing with the sap-suckers: a good blast with the garden hose (applied regularly) will usually dislodge pests that attack the undersides of plant leaves. This works well with aphids, but, for persistent colonies of whitefly repeat applications of pyrethrum may be more effective, but check the problem is widespread, because this spray, though natural, is broad spectrum. Another active, but unseen pest is the thrip, a tiny insect that 'rasps' the backs of leaves of popular evergreen plants such as rhododendrons, viburnums and bay trees, turning the leaves silver. In the case of the latter use Confidor once a month until autumn.
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Pile on the mulch to keep plant roots moist: Water first and then spread it around - BLACKGOLD Mulch is Central's new brew, with compost added to really boost the garden.
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Summer hardy plants: Here are some that you can pop in the garden, even in January, which will be hardy to drought - salvias, lavenders, daylilies, gazanias and geraniums. Plants with silver foliage such as artemesia, stachys, astelias and the pretty, white- flowered Convolvulus cneorum are tolerant of heat.
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Harvesting Garlic: garlic is usually ready around now and needs to be harvested: once the tops begin to die back, dig up bulbs (leaves attached) with a fork and leave to dry on the top of the ground for a week or so. Garlic stores well in a cool, dark area.
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Watering: The success of your veggie garden is hugely dependent on the moisture content of your soil. In summer many plants suffer dehydration and it inhibits their ability to grow and produce crops. This doesn't mean you need to irrigate twice daily, but when you water it needs to be deep and meaningful. Some veggie gardens require only a 2/3 times a week water, but if your plants are new and the area's baking hot, then water last thing at night or early in the morning, for 15 to 20 minutes.
Did you know?
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Doubling your spring onion yield: This January Digger is going to test the idea that you cut your spring onions off at around 1.5cm above the ground and they will re-sprout giving you another spring onion in a few weeks!
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Beans love water: Some keen bean growers even resort to squirting warm water from a syringe onto bean flowers to encourage good size beans! Anyway, ensuring a spray from the hose is applied to the foliage every few days seems to help.
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Blueberries: Berry sellers at farmers' markets will tell you that this is a late season for berry production due to cool weather. But keep watering the bushes as the fruit will grow and ripen.
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Mint past its peak: Mint starts to look a bit dry and manky at this time of the year - you can still use it for flavouring. However, it's also a great time to cut it down to encourage a good fresh autumn crop.
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Water for animals and birds: When you're watering your garden spare a thought for the creatures around and regularly top up water bowls, birdbaths and water features. It's not just the garden that feels the heat!
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'Party-time': It is possible to time the blooms of your hybrid tea and floribunda roses to coincide with a special event. Prune the roses back to an outward facing shoot about 9 weeks before you need flowers. Liquid feed with Living Earth organic certified Liquid Compost. Works especially well with the floribunda rose 'Iceberg'.
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Munch, munch, munch: This is all one notices on the full size and dwarf versions of our NZ kowhai, resulting in virtually no foliage over January. Well the young plants need some leaves to photosynthesize, so the options are: dust with Derris Dust, spray with Yates' Success or use digital (finger squashing) control.
Lawn Care:
With the summer dry and heat still with us most lawns will be experiencing some degree of discomfort. If you have been maintaining good deep watering practices but your lawn is still yellowing off then you may have an insect infestation. Dig into the lawn to a depth of roughly 3 inches (75mm) to see if there are any beetles or larvae present. Insects can be safely treated using Pyrifos G granular insecticide which comes in a convenient shaker pack. Pyrifos G simply needs to be well watered in after application and then children and pets are safe to go back on the lawn the next day.
Summer is also a good time to slightly raise your mowing heights. This reduces the stress on the plant and helps maintain good plant health. Continue to fertilise and apply AquaTurf Max as required.
Ask for the NEW Prolawn Lawn Guide at any of our yards for more information.
Garden Thought of the Month:
"A flower falls, even though we love it; a weed grows, even though we do not love it." Dogan