8 minute read
Flower power: A seasonal garden guide
Seasonal gardening guide
More people than ever are spending time in their gardens.
Lavender
Our Home sat down with Sally sat down with Sally Mosely from Billabong Garden Complex to see what people should be doing in their gardens.
She also gives tips on ways to add colour to your garden.
How to keep plants fl owering At this time of year, there is still plenty people can do in their gardens, whether that be planting new plants, or pruning and fertilising ones that are already there.
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For those wanting to add a bit of fl ower colour to their gardens, they can still plant lavender, gardenias and African daisies (also known as osteospermum), Sally said.
These plants fl ower throughout spring and summer and into autumn.
However, she warned that after each fl ush of fl owers the plants needed to be trimmed back to keep them healthy.
“This will enable them to fl ower in summertime,” Sally said.
Gardeners should also deadhead fl owers after they have died.
“When fl owering, the plant puts all its energy into the fl ower, if you don’t take them (the dead fl owers) off, it can make the plant unhealthy,” Sally said.
She said people should also fertilise these plants with a liquid fertiliser appropriate to the plants after each fl owering.
While it was important for lavender to be pruned after each fl owering,
African daisy
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plants should not be pruned back further than one third of their size.
Annual fl owers such as petunias, marigolds, vincas and impatiens can also bring pops of colour to gardens at this time of year, according to Sally.
Succulents
These plants should be fertilised fortnightly throughout the season. Low maintenance options For those people who don’t have a lot of time to spend in their garden, succulents are a good option to bring colour to gardens, Sally said.
While some bring colour through fl owers, others give gardens colour through their foliage. “They don’t need a lot of water, fertiliser or care, but they give you a wow factor,” Sally said. Other hardy bushes such as nandinas and heuchera varieties, can also add colour to gardens year-round with to gardens year-round with their bright foliage, while also their bright foliage, while also remaining low-maintenance. remaining low-maintenance. “All year they give you pops of colour through the garden,” of colour through the garden,”
Sally said. Sally said.
Fertiliser and mulch
With lots more people taking to their gardens during COVID-19 their gardens during COVID-19 lockdowns, Sally said now was lockdowns, Sally said now was the time for people to ensure the time for people to ensure they continued to give their they continued to give their gardens some love. gardens some love. This year saw an upsurge in the number of people planting vegetables.
“No-one’s been able to go on that big holiday, so they want to make their home space inviting,” Sally said.
“Everyone is growing their own produce. A lot of people have never done that before.”
With vegetable gardens now established, Sally said now was the time to keep those gardens up.
“They need to look at “They need to look at their spring and summer their spring and summer produce,” she said.
When vegetables are producing, gardeners should be applying liquid should be applying liquid fertiliser fortnightly throughout the season.
Plants such as tomatoes and rhubarb are among those vegetables that are heavy feeders and need to be fertilised regularly.
“Once you’ve had vegetables in there, they deplete the soil of goodness,” Sally said. of goodness,” Sally said.
Tomatoes
Heuchera
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