Summertime BRING ON
The warmer weather is now in sight and with it comes the weeds, pests and diseases. The focus for November is keeping these under control, and the best way to do that is to make sure your plants are well watered and well fed.
Kitchen Garden Watch out for and prevent pests. Use an environmentally friendly spray around your vegetables. Spray late in the day when the bees have gone home. Remove weeds early - this is where pests hide, and weeds take valuable nutrients and water. Water deeply less often, rather than a little bit every day. Stagger planting of green salad crops like mizuna, lettuce and mesclun for continuous supply. Plant seedlings: tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums, eggplant, lettuce, corn, gherkins, spinach, spring onions, melons, cucumber, beetroot, celery and cabbage. In most areas’ seeds can be planted directly into the garden and now is the time to put in another round of summer crops. Beans, pumpkin, courgettes, carrots, beetroot, radish, corn, capsicum, eggplant, melons and spring onions. Scatter bait to protect seedlings from slugs and snails. Plant a second crop of potatoes and remember to mound up soil around the foliage as they grow. Plant blueberries,
passionfruit and tamarillos. Plant annual herbs like basil and coriander, pinch out the tips for a bushier plant. Pinch out the laterals on tomatoes. Fertilise with a specific tomato food. Feed and water strawberries, mulch underneath and protect from birds. Spray copper oxychloride and spraying oil to combat verrucosis, aphids and mealy bugs, mildew and blackspot.
Garden Colour Keep on top of the weeds when they are small, use a torpedo hoe to nip them off at the roots. Liquid feed all flowering annuals and perennials with an all-purpose fertiliser. Plant seedlings: cosmos, petunias, lobelia, impatiens, marigolds, phlox, verbena, portulaca, petunias, impatiens, dahlias, verbena, cosmos, marigolds, nemesia and dahlias. Sow seeds: alyssum, Californian poppy, marigolds, cosmos, nasturtium, portulaca, salvia, sunflowers and hollyhocks. They can be sown directly in to the ground.
Plant for bees: pineapple sage, bergamot, lemon balm, blue salvia, coreopsis, gaillardia alyssum, rosemary. Spray roses with insect and fungus control products suitable for roses and feed with a rose specific fertiliser. Remove any dead leaves and clippings from the base to reduce the risk of disease. Feed spring bulbs with blood and bone as the foliage dies away, they use this food for next season. Lift tulip and hyacinth bulbs once the foliage has completely died away, store in a cool dry place ready for next season. Most other bulbs can stay in the ground for a few seasons. Use a water retention product to retain moisture in pots.
Trees and Shrubs Feed flowering shrubs with a side dressing of general fertiliser. Keep on top of the weeds, fertilise and apply mulch around the shrub beds, trees and rose bushes. The mulch will help conserve water in the coming dry months.
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