Garden Advice › Garden Tips of the Month
Garden Tips March 2016
Reclaiming the garden!
The near record heat of February should begin to cool off in March, allowing gardeners to do some serious preparation for the lovely, long autumn season that Aucklanders traditionally enjoy.
PLANTING
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Increased rainfall will soften the ground and assist in the pulling of weeds. It's a great time to pull and tidy weeds, clearing the soil for autumn planting.
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Add compost to your soil! Living Earth Organic Certified Compost is available at all our yards and it has lots of fantastic nutrients to replenish your soil
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Sow carrot, beetroot and Florence fennel directly into the soil. Sowing a crop of rocket works well now - as the season cools it is less likely to go to seed.
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Edge the vegetable garden with parsley seedlings to create beautiful green 'hedges' that look crisp and eye-catching over winter - not to mention providing lots of goodies for winter soups, salads and casseroles.
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Plant out seedlings of cabbage and broccoli and crops of different lettuce varieties. A good idea is to plant into areas where a potato crop has been harvested, because potatoes are generally a great way of loosening up soils.
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A bit early for tulip planting, but other bulbs are good to go in the ground later on in March - Dutch iris, hyacinths, daffodils, anemones and species gladioli. Bulbs generally prefer free-draining soil, with half a day of sun on the area.
PEST & DISEASE MANAGEMENT
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Deal with powdery mildew by mixing 1 cup of milk with 1 litre of water and 1 tsp of baking soda and spraying it over courgette, cucumber and hydrangea foliage that has succumbed to this disease. Repeat sprays may be necessary.
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A silvery look to the leaves of evergreen shrubs such as viburnums, bay trees, citrus, rhododendron and even rose and hydrangea foliage can occur at this time of the year. This is caused by small, invisible to the eye, insects known as thrips. Once it is noticeable the control period is limited. Cutting back the silvery foliage at the end of March encourages growth of fresh foliage during autumn, when the thrips are ceasing to be active.
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Brown scale is rife on citrus trees at the moment, with colonies increasing rapidly due to the humidity. Scale tend to suck the sap from the leaves and generally weaken the bush overall and limit fruit production. Digger tends to flick the brown scale off the back of the leaves to keep the colonies at bay. If it's widespread, spray the undersides of leaves with Conqueror Oil or 'Aquaticus Glow' at summer strength.
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Passion Vine Hopper - there's a raft of these annoying insects breeding heavily on the undersides of many green leaves of both vegetable and ornamental leaves. Try to use a deterrent spray such as garlic, chili and pyrethrum to apply to foliage to get rid of them (particularly the undersides of leaves).
The Lawn
With autumn around the corner and temperatures starting to cool down it is
time to turn attention to your lawn. After a long hot summer even existing
lawns need some TLC and the sooner you do this the better it will look for the
autumn. This will able your lawn to go into the winter months looking lush and
healthy. If your lawn is looking tired, yellow, full of weeds or just a little
thin then it's time for an autumn renovation.
1. Fertilise with Prolawn Turfmaster Gold to encourage strong growth.
2. Spray weeds with Prolawn Broadsword selective weed killer to control
broadleaf weeds.
3. About 3-4 weeks later scarify the lawn heavily to create a good seed bed.
4. Oversow bare or weak areas with the appropriate Prolawn seed blend and
fertilise with Prolawn Turfmaster Starter.
Garden Thought of the Month:
"Remember that children, marriages and flower gardens reflect the kind of
care they get."
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
