Garden Tips December/January

Mulch and Water – This is probably the most important activitiesfor your garden during the hot summer months with high temperatures and NW winds.

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Edible Garden

• For those who protected their potatoes and other vegetables from the late frosts – start digging up and eating (once flowers start to die off on the potatoes)
• Keep planting lettuce, spring onions and radish
• Pick beans every 2 – 3 days, keep watered
• Once your pumpkin (or melon) vine have 2 – 3 fruit, nip the ends so the growing energy goes into the fruit
• Tomatoes and corn will be ready late January in a good season or warm site
• Strawberries, raspberries and cherries are ripening so cover with bird netting to protect.  If you are making jam to get the BEST results use the freshest berries and do in small batches (1 -2kg)
• Sow sprouting broccoli and cauliflower etc. mid December for planting out in late January – Beware grey aphid and white butterfly
• Stop harvesting asparagus in mid December to allow for root reserves for next season – support with stakes and twine

Prepare Garden For Christmas

• Give flowers from your garden to friends and family
• Enjoy the fruit of your labour on Christmas day – Potatoes, peas (sown mid September), beans, lettuce, carrots, spring onions.
• Enjoy the raspberries, strawberries, black currents for desserts and juice or make jam to give as a gift
• Christmas Gift Ideas for the keen gardener: Pruners, sprinklers, trowel, weeder, stainless steel spade or fork

Irrigation

• Watering systems should be installed to conserve water
• Trickle irrigation is the most economical
• Time clocks will avoid over watering
• If you have automatic irrigation set for early morning e.g. 5am or late evening e.g. after 9pm

Holiday Care for your Garden

• If going on holiday give the garden a good soak before you take off, or make sure the irrigation system is working well and not leaking, or have sprinklers on a timer system and ask neighbours to turn the timer around  if summer is particularly dry
• Mulch is great for keeping the moisture in
• Place potted plants in  cool shade behind the house
• A good idea to have lawns mown by family/neighbours – makes the property look lived in.
• If you have a full vegetable/fruit garden, invite friends etc to enjoy rather than waste

Trees/shrubs

• Ensure any newly planted trees/shrubs have sufficient water to help get them established
• Fruit trees need to be sprayed with Bravo to prevent fungal infections

Lawns

• Water just enough to keep green, browntop and fescue are fairly drought resistant and survive even if browned off
• Do not cut lawns too short to keep them from drying out too quickly and keeps the roots cooler

Roses

• Prune to 5 leaf after flowering, watering will encourage flowering
• Water early in the morning is better for the plant
• Fertilise roses with Evergreen Rose Fertiliser to encourage new growth for  second flowering

Flowers

• Plant your summer annuals now and enjoy the bright colours this brings to your garden
• Dead head/cut down and fertilise to encourage more flowering
• Provide support for Dahlias and Christmas lilies
• Lavender:  After flowering, cut back about 1/3, but make sure not to cut back to hard mature wood with no re growth potential.