Spring gardening essentials

SPRING GARDENING

Essentials

Robin Williams couldn’t have put it better when he said that “Spring is nature’s way of saying let’s party!”. During spring an abundance of plants step proudly into the gardening spotlight and put on the most magnificent flower show.

Bare branches of apple, pear and stone fruit trees are smothered in bee attracting blossoms, azaleas and magnolias are dazzling and swathes of spring flowering bulbs are delighting us with their gorgeous blooms. It’s important that plants can access enough nutrients to promote healthy leaf and stem growth, as well as support the spring flower extravaganza.

The three main nutrients required by plants are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Plant foods containing these three nutrients are known as ‘complete’ fertilisers. Nitrogen is key in encouraging healthy green leaf and stem growth, phosphorus plays an important role in root development and potassium promotes flowering, fruiting and overall plant health.

During spring, it’s important to feed plants regularly with a complete fertiliser. And using fertilisers that are specially formulated for different plant types are ideal, as they contain the right balance of nutrients for those plants, for example, citrus and fruit, vegies and herbs or roses and flowers. To maximise spring flowering, feed plants with a potassium-rich fertiliser such as Yates ® Thrive ® Flower & Fruit Soluble Fertiliser. It’s as simple as mixing 1-2 spoonfuls into a 9L watering can and applying around the plant’s root zone every week.

Green thumb tip! Yates Thrive Flower & Fruit also contains trace elements such as iron, magnesium, manganese and zinc for extra plant vitality.

FRUIT PROTECTION

Codling moth is a serious pest of apples and pears, their caterpillars tunnelling into and ruining fruit. To prevent codling moth infestation, start spraying apple and pear trees with Yates ® Success ® Ultra every 14 days from petal fall. Yates Success Ultra will also control leaf rollers, which can damage leaves and fruit. Leafrollers are so named because they create webbing and roll leaves into a cylinder in which to hide.

Pear slugs are slug-like larvae of a sawfly that rapidly skeletonise leaves of fruit trees like pears, cherries, apples and plums. To control pear slugs, start spraying

Yates Nature’s Way ® Pyrethrum Natural

Insect Spray over foliage as soon as the slugs or their damage are first seen. Respray each week while the slugs persist. CODLING MOTH

PEAR SLUG

Lawn weeds

Patches of broadleaf lawn weeds, such as prickly Onehunga weed, catsear, chickweed, dock and thistles, that have developed over the cooler months will be growing rapidly during early spring. It’s important to control these weeds before they have a chance to flower and set seed. Yates Turfix ® Gun ™ comes in a handy ready to use trigger applicator and contains an effective combination of two weedkillers to control broadleaf weeds in lawns as well as pathways. Yates Turfix Gun also contains a wetting agent for improved spray coverage and weed penetration. It’s time to get on top of your lawn weeds!