- Prune your citrus trees to shape this month. The ideal time is after the last of the fruit has been harvested before it’s started to flower for next season’s crop. Don’t get carried away, they are a neat tree and will not grow out of control. Prune so you can reach the highest fruit safely.
- If you have been eyeing off a friend’s Frangipani, you can take some cuttings over the next few weeks. They are prone to rotting in cold weather and the warmer the weather the greater the success rate. A piece of wood about 40cm long is the ideal length. Make cuts about 3cm long at the bottom of the branch and paint with hormone gel, place into free-draining potting mix or washed sand and keep in a warm protected position.
- A spongy lawn causes many problems in summer. In warmer areas of Australia warm climate couch, grass varieties are vigorous growers and produce many runners. This build-up of organic matter over time stops the water soaking in. If your lawn is more than 3 years old, it will benefit from a vertimow. This will remove many runners and thatch and revitalise the lawn. In 4 weeks, it will look brilliant again and use less water over summer.
- Protect small mango trees from extremely cold weather. These tropical trees thrive in warmer areas of the South West, but if there is any sign of frost, they will drop all their flowers, which will result in no fruit set for the following year. On clear cold nights covering up small trees with Hessian or clear plastic at night will keep them warm enough to ensure the frost won’t damage them.
- Preparing a new garden bed is easy, good soil, water storing granules such as Seasol Planting Gel, a wetting agent such as Seasol Super Soil Wetter & Conditioner and correct watering will result in a fantastic garden. When establishing a garden in the warmer months, hand water each individual plant daily for 4 weeks to get the root system established and then they will be strong enough to cope with reticulation twice a week.
- September is also the month when we should all be looking to the skies and taking advantage of any spring rains to ensure fertiliser is watered in with the rains. PowerFeed Controlled Release Plant Food granular varieties will release gradually over a period of a few months and greatly reduces the chance of nutrients leaching into our waterways. It is also the best choice for the health of the plants.
