Autumn is colouring gardens beautiful.
Make some time to visit some open gardens to enjoy the show.
Love and wishes salvia. Photo – Robin Powell
Admire
Salvias are at their best. Long-flowering beauties include S. ‘Waverley’, ‘Santa Barbara’, ‘Embers Wish’ and ‘Love and Wishes’ pictured above.
Plant
Push garlic cloves (organically grown is best) knuckle-deep into compost-enriched soil in sunny, well-drained gardens or pots. Harvest in 6-7 months.
Choose autumn foliage plants while they are showing off their best colors, Look for shrubs, perennials and climbers if you haven’t room for trees.
Sow seeds of sweet peas in a sunny position into soil sprinkled with a handful of lime. Provide a teepee of stakes for support. Water in.
Consider planting a grevillea to provide valuable nectar-laden flowers for local birdlife through autumn and winter. We love G. ‘Peaches and Cream’ and
‘Superb’.
Propagate
Take cuttings of fuchsia, daisy, lavender and coleus. Remove lower leaves, dip into hormone gel and insert cuttings into pots filled with moistened propagating
mix. Cover with a mini green house to protect cuttings.
Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of perennials and strappy leaf plants, like agapanthus, day lilies, dianella and lomandra.
Check
Snails and slugs love cool, moist conditions, and can decimate strappy leaf plants like hostas, acanthus and leafy vegies so bait, trap or squash these
slimy invaders.
Rusty pustules on the undersides of geranium leaves and frangipani can be controlled with Eco-fungicide or Yates Rose Gun Advanced. Collect and bin any
fallen leaves to contain the spread.
We hope you have enjoyed this article so far.
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