OUT IN THE GARDEN
Can I urge you to plant Swan Plants now and get them to a decent size before the devouring hordes descend on them?
The monarch butterflies are about already, and we have a good supply of Swan Plants down in the bedding plant area.
Watering and Mulching. Improved soil moisture levels after recent rain, and possibly more on the horizon, but soon we’ll hit a dry spell so check out those hoses, tap fittings and connector tails to eliminate leaks, and if you’re not sure what you need, bring the broken bits in to us and we’ll sort it for you – see Tracey in our Irrigation Dept.
Meanwhile use mulch to conserve the good moisture levels; we have various options incl Mulch ‘n Grow (fine bark + fertiliser), fine grade bark, peastraw, and the decorative black bark (dyed with natural vegetable dye). I love a good layer of compost on the garden – gives everything a fertility boost and makes a great water-conserving mulch.
Watering pots and containers: I suggest you water deeply twice a week and always on the same days because “I watered just the other day” can, in reality, be ten days ago.
Saturaid is a wonder product that gives much better penetration of water into both potting mix and soil and stops water ‘beading off’ the surface. Remember that it’s pretty much impossible to overwater roses and they stay much healthier with good watering.
If you love the combination of lavender and roses just remember that they have totally opposing needs – roses love water and lavenders love dry, so if you’d like an alternative planting combo come in and talk to us about other possibilities.
Plant Health Straight Out of the Sea. OceanFert Granular Seaweed Fertiliser is not only a good plant food but seaweed is always a winner for plant health. Check out the pic above and you’ll see the benefits.
I use it at home combined with Nitro Blue & Dave’s Grow Pellets (sheep manure and southern humates) and the plant health is great.
OceanFert is slow-release so it’s great for containers.
Bug netting is a great way to protect vegetables from white butterfly, aphids, etc. The netting still allows the light in with the added benefit of wind protection and the creation of a micro-climate in the netted area.
Just put in some wooden tomato stakes or the convenient easy-to-use wire hoops, place the bug netting on top and make sure the netting has no gaps at the bottom for would-be invaders.
Microgreens & Sprouts for Crunch & Health
Come in and talk to Tracey about all the different varieties available to give you a good mix of colours and textures. All you need is the seed, a seed tray, seed-raising mix, and a warm sheltered spot, and hey presto, you have the perfect garnish for salads, chilled soups, fish dishes etc. Micros/sprouts are so easy and quick to grow – very rewarding.
Seed of the Week
iCan Chef’s Best Pumpkin Buttercup Dry Delight – great for cooking as a whole pumpkin and just scooping out the seeds and adding garlic butter.
Pumpkins are an essential part of the winter diet but they do take up a bit of space in the garden. The solution to this is to use short bamboo stakes to ‘guide’ them and you can send the growth round in a circle to minimise space needed.
Trimming and Feeding.
Hedges are growing fast and a trim now will keep them tidy and improve the density of the hedge. Hedges are tight and dense because every time you cut a stem it branches into two or three. Feeding after trimming will strengthen the colour of the foliage, and keep the plants healthy – after all, there is a lot of foliage on each plant and it all needs feeding.
Lawns are growing fast and could do with a bit of help to replenish what they’ve used up – the slow-release, non-burning Ezyfert is an excellent product. I use it at home regularly.
A reminder about Roses which are using up heaps of energy right now – we feed in September, November, January, and March so that there’s no pause in growth, health, and flowering – and remember with roses – water, water, water! At the base preferably.
Espaliered trees are much easier to train at this time of year when the new growth is soft and pliable and I suggest you use the Gardeners Cloth Tree Tie soft tie that comes in a ball – good price and non-abrasive on the bark.