Around the Garden

Daylight savings is good for gardeners

Spring is well and truly upon us and daylight savings allows us extra time to spend in our gardens. Following the recent heavy rain now is the time to mulch the garden. This reduces water loss and weeds and also keeps the soil temperature down. It also makes for happy worms. In between showers fertilise everything. Citrus are extremely hungry, and will benefit from cow or sheep manure being spread around the drip line and then mulched.

Fertilise the vegie garden with blood and bone and potash. Plant sweet corn, tomatoes (try heirloom varieties for flavour), cucumbers, zucchinis, celery, capsicum, beetroot, eggplant and any other salad vegies.

Sprinkle potash around tomatoes to improve fruit size. Plant basil, marigolds, and parsley throughout the vegie patch.

Basil is said to improve flavour, and parsley will be a home for ladybirds whilst marigolds deter nematodes in the soil. Traditionally, Melbourne Cup day is tomato planting time. For dessert crops, plant watermelon, rockmelon, honeydew and strawberries.

Provide a thick mulch of pine needles under strawberry plants. Cover plants with a cloche made from onion bag netting, this protects the fruit from blackbird attack.

Old CD’s hung around the vegie patch and in fruit trees will also deter birds. Start a Christmas pot. This could be a planting of herbs, or cherry tomato with basil and lettuce, or colourful petunias or brilliant marigolds. Potted up now and they will be ready for a Christmas Day display.

We tend to overlook the simple flowers in favour of the newest trendy ones. Take good old nasturtiums for instance. Considered as a weed by some gardeners this little plant really is a giant in the plant world. Plant it under apple trees to deter codling moth, add leaves and flowers to a salad. Use seeds as capers or let dry and grind for a mild peppery taste. They are high in Vitamin C. Lastly, chop a cup of leaves, add to 3 cups of hot water, a dash of soap flakes and bingo, you have an organic spray for aphids. Nigella or Love in the Mist seeds can be used instead of poppy seeds. Marigold petals can be used in salads.

Rose petals and Lavender heads can be used in potpourri. As you can see, flowers have many uses, arranging them in a vase is just one option. Enjoy the longer days.

Happy gardening,
Lorraine.

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The days are slowly getting longer and the air has that ‘I am alive’ feel to it. The winter season has come to a close and spring has begun. Trees are blossoming in our town and the bees are hard at work gathering pollen. The sound of lawnmowers and whipper-snippers fill the suburbs.

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The fog rolls in across the bay as the sun peeps out between the grey clouds. Heavy dew hangs like diamonds on the cobwebs, which are strung between the skeletal trees. This is winter. You may think that this is the time to rest, but no, this is a busy time for the gardener. Read more >>

Herbs have been around for centuries and have been used for culinary and medicinal purposes. Lamb with rosemary, pizza with oregano or tomatoes with basil. These are marriages made in herbal heaven. Herbs can be grown in a variety of conditions. Quite a few that we commonly use come from the Mediterranean, so these require a warm dry spot in the garden. Read more >>

As a gardener I hear many garden tales, some are good whilst others are not. An uplifting story was the one about a lady who had a strange plant growing in her vegetable patch. It did not resemble anything else in her patch, so filled with curiosity she let it grow. And grow it did, tall and strong and after several weeks the mystery was solved. Read more >>

With the cooler days of Autumn, now is a great time to get out into the garden. The relaxing of the water restrictions will help to rejuvenate many tired gardens. No plant is drought proof and many of our gardens have suffered through these tough times. One or two healthy plants are better than two or three sick ones, replace these with tougher varieties such as grasses or succulents or the good old fashioned geraniums. Follow this with some mulch and an instant television-style garden appears. Read more >>