The fruit and vegetable garden
Great time to add the goodies in the vegetable bed for great summer harvest: we love our organic ‘Dave’s’ pelletised fertilisers, Aquaticus soil conditioner (mussel shells) and Revital Grow-all (compost and worm castings).
Fancy an interesting tomato this season? Seek out heritage tomato seedlings with fabulous names like Mortgage Lifter, Aunt Ruby’s green and Mr Stripey.
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Mound soil around potato tops as they grow. Potatoes continue to form up the stem as soil gets added. Keep watered.
Eggplants can go in now – growing them in raised beds helps the bees find their rather insipid flowers. Pollination can be tricky, so planting nasturtiums nearby will bring more bees.
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Throw a pack of mesclun mix through the vegetable bed to ensure there are always some salad greens for picking.
Summer herbs that grow well from early spring include parsley, coriander, dill, chervil, oregano and the culinary thymes – lemon, pizza and chicken are popular.
Feed all the fruit producers – pip and stone fruit, citrus, berries etc.
The ornamental garden
Trim topiaries and hedges and feed with Prolawn All Purpose Fertiliser, then add mulch around them. These are investment plants – a structured garden relies on their performance.
Fertilise roses and check for aphids. Squashing them by hand is easy with small colonies, otherwise you may need to spray.
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Free plants – Take a look for seedlings around the ‘mother’ plants in the garden – NZ grasses, native trees and shrubs, and perennials such as hellebores produce ‘babies’ that you can transplant now.
Pretty spring-flowering shrubs that mark the new season: plant Californian lilac (ceanothus), Mexican orange blossom (choisyas), lavender, plus there are a host of showy viburnum options.
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Mow the lawn once it’s dried out. We’re very excited by the organic Lawnganics range and recommend ROOTS to promote healthy turf growing conditions.
Waterblast the outdoor furniture and rake the gravel – outdoor living is on its way after a challenging winter!
Project for September
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Tree and shrub planting season
Dig holes at least the depth of the pot or planter bag and twice as wide. If there’s clay in the soil, place a handful of gypsum in the hole then fill with a mixture of existing soil and compost or Nutra Soil. Mulch around the plants.