GARDENING TIPS

      Garden Bed Maintenance

      • Compost, compost and more compost! With winter fast approaching, now is the time to add a layer of compost as a mulch to all your garden beds, this will act like a cosy blanket for your plants and they will be protected and flourish come Spring!
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      Fruit and Vegetables

      • Divide and plant strawberries well composted beds or pots.
      • Plant you winter veggies such as broccoli, Brussel sprouts, onions, cabbage, peas (plant a row every two weeks), broad beans, cauliflower, spinach, radish, leeks, lettuces (butterhead lettuce contains three times the vitamin A and one third more vitamin C than does crisp-head lettuce), carrots, turnips and parsnips (for those winter soups!) and potatoes this month. Prepare the beds very well for a good crop and remember there is nothing better than sitting down to a meal where the veggies come from your own garden.
      • Not forgetting your herbs, you can plant parsley, borage, celery, chives, oreganum, rocket and garlic chives now.
      • If you haven’t fed you citrus trees yet, now is the time. Feed lemons with 75gm. Magnesium Sulphate and 250gm. 3-1-5, which will harden the trees up for winter and promote fruit formation. Photo of citrus – Lemon variegated

       

      Flowering Shrubs and Perennials

      • Feed your pelargoniums and treat with a fungicide if you have rust on the leaves from all the rain we have been having.
      • Water your rhododendrons (azaleas) and camellias once a week and now is an excellent time to feed to promote beautiful blooms Photo of azalea – Rhododendron (Azalea Reine des Pays-Bas)
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      Lawns

      • Have you noticed how your lawns have suddenly stopped growing! (not to have to mow twice a week is a pleasure) Cut down on the watering but you can feed to strengthen the roots for winter and maintain its vitality and emerald green look.

       

      Bulbs

      • Spring-flowering bulbs now in stock. Remember for the best results, read the planting instructions carefully, and keep the soil moist at all times. To achieve this, water with a sprinkler for 40 minutes every 4 days!
      • Divide your over-crowded bulbs such as agapanthus now.
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      Colourful Annuals
      • Remove faded blooms on your annuals to encourage further flowering.
      • While the soil is still warm, seeds of annuals such as alyssum, antirrhinum, bellis perennis, calendula, cineraria, delphinium, dianthus, nemesia, schizanthus, stocks and violas can be sown. To entice you to sow seeds we have several seed-related specials for the month:
      • If you don’t want to plant seeds, you can start planting seedlings.
      • Lupins, primulas, snapdragons and stocks all prefer a sweet limed soil - add about 300g of lime per m2 of soil two weeks before planting.
      • We have also got stock of our primulas, pansies,  poppies, petunias, bellis perennis, calendulas and many more – pop in for inspiration. How soon do you want a colourful garden? When planting seedlings, it depends on the amount of coverage you want and how quickly you want it:
      • Full colour instantly – use colour bags – 25 bags/m2
      • Prepared to wait two weeks – use ‘6’ cavity trays – 25 plants/m2
      • Prepared to wait a month to six weeks – use ‘128’ cavity trays – 16 plants/m2
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      Pests and Diseases
      • Still keep a look out for the lily bulb borer in your clivias and zephranthus. Either use organic “Margaret Robert’s Biological Caterpillar Insecticide, or spray with chemical Knoxworm, Malasol or Servus.
      • Your roses should be looking really good but keep fertilizing and spraying for black spot. (Photo of Black Spot (fungus) on rose leaf)
      • Remember to use a “sticker” when you apply pesticides to your plants. This will keep the solution on the leaves for longer and it will not be washed off after each watering or rainfall.
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      Indoor Plants

      • Your homes are also becoming cooler so reduce the amount of water you give to your pot plants but continue to feed them and clean their leaves.
      • We have a wide selection of new indoors plants, suitable for all rooms within your home, visit us to make your choice. (Photo of indoor plant selection)
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