Admire roses at their peak right now. Photo - Elizabeth Swane
Admire
Roses are at their peak. Visit local and interstate rose gardens for a dose of rose love, or pick up a pot of bloom at the nursery.
Prepare
Set up outdoor areas for summer entertaining: treat moss and algae with Wet and Forget; spruce up timber decks using deck cleaner and a fresh coat of oil.
Trim
Tip prune early spring bloomers as flowers fade to encourage bushy growth and a better show next year. Hedge shears make this a speedy task.
Keep hedges trimmed to maintain compact bushy growth. Taper the sides slightly wider at the base to allow sunlight to reach lower foliage.
Plant
Lilium bulbs offer gorgeous summer colour. There’s a myriad of colours and a range of sizes to suit pots or gardens.
Feed
Use a controlled release fertiliser on summer-flowering plants such as gardenias, hibiscus and hydrangeas to boost foliage growth and flower production.
A well-fed lawn stays thicker, greener and is more able to cope with foot traffic and irregular watering. Apply controlled release lawn food now.
Propagate
Soft-tipped cuttings taken from fresh new growth make roots quickly in water or cutting mix. After about four weeks pot them up to give away, or plant
out into garden beds. Salvias, begonias and geraniums are all good candidates.
Protect
Begin a fruit fly control program to protect stone fruit and tomato crops. Use a combination of traps and organic baits, exclusion bags or fine mesh netting.
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