Gardening

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Tackling the tools for spring

AS I write, it’s a miserable, cold, sunless day of 10°C and I’m thinking about spring.

Spring officially starts from September 1, although nature may decide otherwise. With regular rain and a relatively mild winter so far, and BOM predicting above-average rain until at least the end of September, this augurs well for spring. It’s easy to be complacent but in the next few weeks we will need, as per the Scout motto, to “Be Prepared”.

Start by getting the mower ready. It’s a good idea to flush the tank out, if there’s not too much petrol in it. Give it a good overall clean, getting rid of the oily parts and not forgetting to change the oil for four-stroke mowers. Touch up the rusty parts, change the spark plug and fit new blades if needed. Now look at the tools, especially those with wooden handles. Give them a good sandpaper to prevent splinters and apply a coat of linseed oil. Clean the blades on secateurs.

You may have to use sandpaper on the blades to get rid of accumulated grime and rust. Oil all moving parts and sharpen the blades to the point where a man could shave the hairs off the back of the hand.

Then turn your attention to garden furniture. Timber outdoor furniture will almost certainly need a good sandpapering to get rid of splinters. Use good quality outdoor paint or wood preservative. Tighten up screws and bolts, as timber does shrink and the furniture can become wobbly.

OUR daphne and some azalea leaves are showing signs of yellowing, although they are otherwise covered in buds. If the leaves are a really bright yellow and at the base of branches, they’re generally shedding old leaves as the new ones appear. But if all the leaves on the bush are yellowing, this generally indicates lack of magnesium. To correct this, water with a good heaped tablespoonful of Epsom Salts added to a standard nine-litre watering can or bucket.

IT’S pruning time! Roses can be pruned at any time, especially with the to-date mild winter. Frosts are generally not going to kill off new shoots; it has been a few years since we’ve had severe enough frosts to do this. Time to look at garden furniture and daphne.

There are wide variations on the optimum time to prune fruit trees. Generally, apples and pears can be pruned now. Leave peaches, apricots, nectarines and other stone fruits such as cherries until after they’ve finished fruiting in late summer. The cuts will callous over quicker, preventing fungal problems entering the cuts. It’s vital to spray just as the first buds appear and before they burst into flower to combat brown rot and other fungal problems. Don’t spray once the flowers open because bees may be killed. Spray with Bordeaux or Kocide, not only the tree itself and the trunk, but also the ground under the tree and back to the root zone.

Chris’ Trees

• Tree pruning • Tree removal • Tree surgery • Hedge lowering • Spreading mulch • Retaining walls

$ 60p/h $200 minimum charge

“Quoting to win”

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Text or call 0468 695 561 Email cgsact@gmail.com Find me on gumtree.com.au

Aged Composted Horse Manure

• Pick up by the bag $7 each • Pick up by the trailer load $40 per trailer • We deliver truck loads 7 BELTANA ROAD, PIALLIGO

Any queries phone Ivan 0413 949 900

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Internal and external painting services for residential and commercial properties. Free quotes and seniors discount available.

BRAND NEW WILD TOURS!

Canberra’s Nati onal Zoo and Aquarium has just released three of the most exciti ng animal interacti on tours ever seen!

Only if you are game…… for 90 minutes, handfeed lions, a ti ger, a bear, try to fi nd a leopard in the rainforest, have a python wrap itself around you (defi nitely opti onal) and meet a hyena up REAL close! To bring your heartbeat back from racing to just fast, we will slow things down with an introducti on to the meerkats and ott ers.

Discover the magnifi cence of the African animal kingdom – pat a rhino, hand feed a giraff e, meet the zebras, lemurs, cheetahs, antelope and ostrich on a tour that winds through our open range secti on for 90 minutes. You can book just one of these two tours or do both (either on the same or on separate days). Also check our all-day Wonders of Wildlife Tour (WOW).

Gift vouchers for animal encounters, memberships and Jamala are available online or at the zoo.

You can also experience Jamala Wildlife Lodge – there is something for everyone at the Nati onal Zoo and Aquarium.

Stay at jamala wildlife lodge