ALL READY FOR AUTUMN

Horticulture author and along with Pete Little, hosts ‘At Home with The Gardening Gang’ 8 - 10am live every Saturday on CoastFM96.3 cheralyn cheralyn.darcey cover with thick layers of cardboard for a couple to few weeks.

Go over your herb garden and be ruthless.

Many of our culinary herbs only last a year or two so pull up those that are getting past their use-by date and replace with fresh, health young plants.

It’s time to plant citrus trees and treat any established citrus for scale.

Are you an artichoke grower? Have a look at your plants as it may be time to divide and transplant suckers to increase your crop.

Lawn Work

Now is a good time to create a new lawn by laying turf or sowing lawn seed.

In established lawns, remove dead grass so that air, water and nutrients get to the roots.

This is done via scarification (raking out dead matter) and aeration which is achieved by piecing small holes into your lawn with a garden fork.

Your lawn needs a good feed now as well to strengthen it for the coming winter and slowing of growth ahead.

While there are many good commercial products out there, here is an organic homemade one you might like to try: Lawn

NEWS & EVENTS

Permie Kids - Killcare, Wednesdays 3.30 - 5.30pm

Nature based activities in the garden for 8–12-year-olds. Bookings Essential - $25 per class - SMS Anna 0407 591 278. Coming up: 29 March - Building habitats for native animals; 5 April - Natural decorations - egg blowing and decorating.

Musical Kitchen in the Garden at SWAMP Tuggerah - 9:30 – 11:30am Friday 31 March best suited for children 1 – 6 yrs of age

Mandy dos Santos and Phoebe Cormack share this wonderful experience with local families and children by hosting a seasonal foodie music session, each season of 2023.

They come together singing and engaging in musical play, sharing original songs with others. There will also be an opportunity to engage with some musical and food activities, including making your own seasonal morning tea. And of course, enjoying the magic of the community garden and the season we find ourselves immersed in. Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/57evd7yr

Plant Sale and Permaculture Talk - Saturday 1st April

Community Environment Network invite you to come to their April Plant Sale and learn about the principles of Permaculture with Permaculture Central Coast. Plant Sale 9am – 12pm, Permaculture talk – 10am. Wildplant Community Nursery, Loop Road, Ourimbah

Gardening Planner

This week you could plant: culinary herbs, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrot, cauliflower, chicory, cress, endive, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, salsify, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, swedes, turnips, ageratum, alyssum, calendula, candytuft, carnation, cineraria, columbine, coneflower, delphinium, dianthus, everlasting daisy, forget-me-not, foxglove, godetia, gypsophila, hollyhock, larkspur, linaria, lobelia, nemesia, nigella, pansy, polyanthus, poppy, primula, snapdragon, statice, stock, sweet pea, viola, wallflower

Feed – (for an average sized suburban block).

Ingredients: a can or stubbie of beer, 1 cup of ammonia, 1 cup of baby shampoo (not antibacterial).

Mix together outside to provide ventilation for yourself. Spray lightly and evenly over your lawn now and in a fortnight.

Pests & Diseases

Powdery mildew looks like white or grey dust on your plants.

With all the rain and the heat, we have been experiencing recently, powdery mildew is a huge issue so to treat, remove effected leaves and to prevent try this organic mixture: Milky Powdery Mildew DefenderInto a spray pump bottle add 40% milk to 60% water.

Shake well and then lightly spray onto plants as a preventative.

It can be sprayed on effected plants and will help somewhat.

This time of the year is also caterpillar time so pick off, try an organic product such as Yates Caterpillar Killer or provide a sacrificial border crop to send the caterpillars elsewhere.

Soft lettuce is ideal.

Sweet Peas With St Patrick’s Day occurring last week, it indicated that it’s time to plant your Sweet Peas, Lathyrus odoratus, in Australia.

Why this day? Well, it’s early Autumn and seasonally that’s when Sweet Peas are best planted here.

The date is just a way to ensure we remember to do it.

Sweet Peas need a protected position with at least six hours of sun every day along with very good drainage. Get your soil ready by improving it with well-rotted cow manure and compost. Check the pH level as well because Sweet Peas do prefer soil slightly on acidic side. If needed add dolomite or lime to get it to between pH 6.0 – 7.5.

Watch when feeding your Sweet Peas as they will not produce many flowers if your fertiliser is high in nitrogen. Look out for potassium flower encouraging mixes instead. Provide the plants with a trellis to grow upon and keep soil moist with balanced watering and mulch like sugarcane or pea-straw. Flowers will start appearing from 12 weeks after sowing, depending on type.

To encourage repeat flowering, pick often.