Garden Matters
– March
If you feel like me and over the hot
weather, gardening is probably the last thing on your mind!!
As I said last month, the main thing is to water your plants
deeply, and keep the mulch topped-up around your garden, making
sure to keep it away from the stems of plants. I still only
water my front garden (cottage garden) once a week, maybe twice if
really hot, and it is looking good, as I added water crystals and a
lot of sheep manure when I planted!! (and mulched with sheep
poo!)
VEGIE PATCH - A lot of vegies are nearing the end
of their use by date, so now is the time to pull them out and start
preparing your ground ready for your winter crops, so add compost,
animal manures and Blood & Bone with added Potash and trace
elements!! Much as many of us want to go completely organic,
we need potash and trace elements to promote flowering and fruit,
etc! It is still TOO HOT to plant seedlings as they will cook
in this weather, so prepare your ground and hopefully the true
Autumn weather will be with us soon!
HERBS- These can be planted now and the best place
is in a large pot/wine barrel or old wheel-barrow under your back
veranda or patio with a little bit of morning sun, and as the
weather cools down, you can move them out into the full sun.
Remember to treat Basil and Coriander as annuals!!!! If your
parsley has gone to seed, pull it out, or better still, let it self
seed and plant a new plant next to it, so you are not without
parsley! Parsley is great to chew when you have bad
breath or have eaten garlic!! Italian parsley has more
flavour then the common curly variety. Buy a pretty ceramic
pot (large) fill with a good potting mix and plant with an
assortment of herbs, and by Mother's Day, you will have the perfect
gift, planted with love!!
JOB LIST - Prepare your garden beds for sowing
sweet peas in early Autumn (usually between St. Patrick's Day and
Anzac Day!) Acid soils need a dressing of lime or dolomite,
and plenty of well-rotted manure. Dig this in now so it can settle
before planting!
** Allow your dahlias to die down naturally, don't cut them
back!
**Prepare your garden beds with lots of organic matter in readiness
for planting spring bulbs!! If you are growing tulips,
hyacinths and Dutch Iris, don't forget to put them in the crisper
bin in the fridge in early autumn and leave them there till late
Autumn when the temperature of the soil has dropped!
** Feed chrysanthemums regularly with liquid fertiliser, and disbud
if extra large blooms are required!
GREVILLEAS - With so many varieties to choose
from, even with a small garden, you will be able to find one
suitable! Grevilleas are not restricted to the native garden
and generally work well with other plants. They are easy to
grow but require good drainage, moderate water and full sun.
Some experts discourage any feeding but many will benefit from a
specialised native food or pure Blood & Bone. Prune
plants after flowering each year. One of my favourites is
Grevillea "Lady O" This is a free flowering grevillea
with abundant red flowers, and under the right conditions, can
flower all year round, so I would prune it lightly in early
spring. BIRDS love grevilleas, so planting one or more will
encourage them into your garden!!
Hopefully, the rain will come soon and our spirits will lift with
the lovely Autumn days. Keep cool, until next month,
HAPPY GARDENING!
Erika McManus from Erika's - look
for the Red Van at the Market)
