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The recent rain has certainly reduced the
numbers of Whiteflies in the vegetable garden, but it’s brought the Black Lawn
beetles to the surface of my lawn and for every slow crawling beetle you see there are
dozens of their fat root-eating witchetty grub underground larvae that you’ve missed. If you aim to control these larvae and give your lawn a boost at the
same time, you have only a week or two to do it before both go dormant. Spray with
trichlorfon sold as BayerŽ Lawn Grub Killer or any other product specified for Black Lawn
Beetle control. Sorry I don’t know of an organic control.
This in an ideal time to be taking cuttings of all those
shrubs and perennial plants you want to propagate. Short side shoots of Hebe, Salvia,
Marguerite Daisy and even conifers. Take 6-10 cm cuttings with a heal, shred lower half of
leaves and use a striking mix of 10 parts sharp washed sand and one part peat or copra
substitute. I’d skip the rooting hormones, these plants root between wet-fingers at
this time of year anyhow!
Put your cuttings 10 to a 130mm (5") pot and erect a
plastic bag over the pot fastened with a rubber band. Water by standing your pot(s) in a
bucket for a few minutes. Then put these in a spot that gets morning sun only. They root
slowly over winter and you can pot the rooted cuttings up in spring.
Sow those winter flowering and early spring flowering
annuals now too, like Primula, Pansy, Antirrhinum, Alyssum, Sweet William, Stocks,
Lobelia, Calendula and the annual Gypsophila.
In the vegetable garden sow direct the cool growing
vegetables, like the long white Japanese Daikon Radish, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts,
Carrots, Red beet, French Breakfast Radish, Spring Onions, Swedes, Celery, Chinese Cabbage
and Broad Beans. |
