|
September journal Jobs to do * Water flowering bulbs with liquid fertiliser to encourage a longer flowering period. * Feed everything in the garden with a pelletised manure. * Soft tip cuttings can be taken while your plants are growing well. Push 3 cuttings into a pot and make a mini glass house over the top with a soft drink bottle.
In the flower garden Plant all lilies
Plant liliums into pots or into the garden. November or Christmas lilies are the easiest! Lilies take 14 weeks from bulb to bloom. Give them morning sun, mulch and keep them just moist, not too wet or bulbs will rot. Nurture roses
Roses need careful attention when it comes to feeding and watering. Water each rose once a week with seaweed solution in a full watering can. Feed every month with a pelletised manure such as Sudden Impact or Organic Life. Make sure you water before fertilising. Tie in new shoots around your rose arch or arbour. Plant up pots of herbs
Repellant herbs such as feverfew, pennyroyal, tansy, wormwood and pyrethrum will deter flying insects. A few posies of fresh cut herbs near your outside dining table will deter mosquitoes and flies. Plant natives
Aussie plants such as grevilleas, eriostemon, banksias, bottlebrush, correa, kangaroo paws, and mint bush will bring the birds into your garden. Aerate lawns
Lawns can become dry and compacted over winter so aerate with a fork, then feed. Choose either a controlled release lawn fertiliser or a granular, organic-based lawn food or a ‘pick up’ tonic with a seaweed-based lawn rejuvenator. In the vegetable patch: Trade tomatoes
Having trouble growing tomatoes? Plant Sweet bite, Tiny Tim, Grape and Mini Roma instead of the larger fruit varieties. These tomatoes might be small, but they are tasty and prolific! Start summer vegies
Get a head start with summer vegetables by seed sowing in a mini propagator instead of in the garden. Keep it warm, on top of the water heater or a sunny window sill, to encourage germination. There is a huge range of vegetables that can be grown from seed. Sow in other vegies
Silverbeet, lettuce, radish, spring onions, carrot, cabbage, herbs and beetroot can be sown now. Once all danger of frost has passed, plant out cucumbers, capsicum, cape gooseberries, eggplant, okra, zucchini and tomatoes. Soil temperatures need to be around 20° Celsius to germinate seeds of warm-season vegetables. Tackle fruit fly
Place fruit fly monitor traps near fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Grab a garden bag!
Look for the new ‘Grab ‘n Grow’ Garden In A Bag, for vegetables, herbs or flowers. Great for small gardens, courtyards and balconies, each bag contains an organic mixture with water-retention properties. The bags come in two sizes: 25 and 12 litres. [pin reminder] pin reminder head: Tips & Tricks * Don’t rush to mulch your garden in spring. Allow the sun to warm your soil and encourage new growth. * Softwood tip cuttings can be taken while your plants are growing well. To make a mini-greenhouse, cut a soft-drink bottle in half, poke a hole in the bottom with your garden fork, fill it with potting mix and push in two or three cuttings, then fit the top half back over the bottom half. * Insert five 20cm lengths of pipe or hose around the drip line of large trees to deep irrigate. Pour water, with seaweed solution added, into each pipe once a month through dry periods.
|
Powered By WEBHEAD