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- A reminder that if you are growing Chrysanthemums and cut them down after
they finished flowering, they will have made plenty of basal growth and now
is the time to strike cuttings from that material. Short tips 10cm long,
shred the lower half of leaves and plunge into a striking mixture. They will
root in about four weeks. A PET drink bottle with bottom cut out makes a
neat mini-greenhouse for a 10cm (4") pot. Use the screw cap for
ventilation on warm days, if we ever get one!
- Tree Dahlias are nearing the end of the flowering season and are usually
cut down then, but make sure you save some culms to strike new plants.
Especially if yours are more than three years old, as they loose their
vigour with age. I had a single white sport, sprout from a white double this
year, so I’ll certainly be propagating that one. Sections of stem half a
metre long layered into a shallow trench root slowing and can then be
divided in late spring or summer.
- An Erindale reader asks what to do about bulbs in their garden, when faced
with a move in 3 months? Dig now or at the last moment? I’d favour waiting
until the last moment. Start feeding them now, even at the expense of the
flowering this winter-spring, to make sure that they are forming good
reserves for flowering next year. Even when you lift them in October they
may not have died down, but that’s not a problem. Leave them out of soil
in a dark place to desiccate, then plant them in March-April in their new
location.
- Rhubarb and asparagus crowns are in the nursery outlets this week. Plant
asparagus into a 45cm deep trench that’s been filled to within 20cm of the
top with as much well rotted compost and organic pellets as you can lay your
hands on. Lace that with some superphosphate and then a thin layer of light
friable loam or even sandy loan spread your asparagus crown tentacles out
and backfill, without tamping it down and mulch with Lucerne straw.
- Rhubarb crown just get a morning sunspot and a shallow hole in which they
are planted so that the emerging shoot is just clear of soil. Top dress with
organic pellets and superphosphate. Make sure the stems of the crown you buy
are a rich red, if that’s the type you aim to grow, because that’s what
they will always be. Use snail and slug baits to protect them too. The
leaves may be toxic to us, but not to snails and slugs.
- A few vegetables than can be sown now are Broad beans, Kohl Rabi,
Beetroot, Carrots, Radish and Silverbeet from seed. It’s last call for
seedlings of white onions, but it’s mid season for red and brown
cultivars. Peas from punnets can still go in and that gives you a 60% better
chance of survival from sparrows that raid them mercilessly unless
protected! Quite frankly I’ve given up on peas. What with a vigilant Jack
Russell Terrier and Kamikaze sparrows, it’s pretty near useless.
- I was asked by a concerned gardening grandmother last week what would be
the best gift she could make to a new homeowner grandchild. My immediate
response was half a tonne of gypsum. At about $40.00 delivered it’s very
good value and when spread over most clay loams in this area at 300 grams
per square metre (enough for the average 0.15 hectare garden) it would
immediately improve drainage and make a garden possible. No amount of tools
will have such an effect. After all the rain of this winter it’s a gift
the young homeowners will never forget.
- There’s still plenty of time to prune the roses and if you have lots of
them, maybe prune them slowing over the next four weeks. That way you can
dispose of the pruning material easily in your green organic council bin.
Anyhow it’s rare that all roses in a garden are ready to prune at the same
time. My wife Annie pruned her 44 rose bushes last weekend and I don’t
think she can prune a couple of the climbers for at least another three
weeks, since ‘Climbing Pinkie’ is still flowering!
- The lovely blue to lilac flowering vine all over this area at present is
the "Native Lilac" Hardenbergia violacea and ‘Happy Wanderer’
is the most prolific blue cultivar, while ‘Free ‘n easy’ is the
rampant white flowering form. They both thrive on our local clay soil and
along with the bronze form of the native Pandorea pandorana are pretty hard
to beat for winter colour on a fence.
- Some deciduous trees and shrubs that often get overlooked to plant at this
time of year are currently available. The Magnolias, Philadelphus, Weigela,
Lilac, Kerria and Kalmia if you can really be sure you have deep rich acid
loam and want to impress your plains gardening friends.
- Deciduous fruit trees like Apples, Pears, Cherries and Plums all need a
companion variety to fruit, so ask your supplier what’s the most reliable
co-pollinator when you order or purchase. While there is a self-fertile
Cherry (‘Stella’) and an almond (‘All-in-One’) they crop best when
you plant two of them. These trees can be planted reliably over the next six
weeks, but don’t be impatient to plant citrus, they are definitely a
spring venture in this area. Not winter planted! Solo fruit trees that bear
well are Peaches, Nectarines and Apricots.
- Down in the vegetable garden Oxalis tuberosa the red tuber of "Oca"
can be planted just as you would potatoes. Unlike the pesky Soursob, the red
form does not flower and will not become a menace. It makes a delicious
edible root for those that seek some thing different to accompany the
butternut in the Weber for those summer barbeques.
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