Get your garden ready for the lazy days of summer sun!
As November heralds the final month of spring, it may feel as if summer has already arrived! Enjoy the abundant growth, massed flowers and produce. As temperatures warm and days lengthen, keep up with regular watering, fertilising and maintenance such as deadheading.
It’s also time to plant ahead for fresh vegetables for summer and autumn. Late spring is also a great time to plant summer-flowering bulbs including liliums and dahlias to keep a mass of flowers blooming through summer.
Grow your favourite tasty tomato
Everyone has their favourite when it comes to tomatoes, but there are so many varieties available that it is worth growing several to get a range of flavours, colours and ripening times.
Some of the sweetest and easiest tomatoes to grow are cherry-style tomatoes. These are a good choice for beginner gardeners.
As well as traditional small, round, red fruit, these small fruiting varieties come in a range of colours including yellow, green, striped, purple and pink. Cherry tomatoes also fruit early and for a long time, adding to their value in the vegie garden.
For something a little different in the vegie patch, look for purple-toned tomatoes, which develop a complex flavour and do well in cooler climates. Purple varieties include ‘Black Russian’ and ‘Black Krim’. There is also a purple and black cherry tomato varieties.
Keep roses healthy
To keep roses looking good and blooming well, regularly remove spent flowers and keep the plants both watered and fertilised. Use a slow-release fertiliser such as Seasol plus Nutrient Roses & Flower to boost flowers and help encourage strong, disease-free foliage. Top up the organic mulch around each plant by adding aged manure.
Watch for early signs of black spot, a fungal disease that disfigures rose leaves and leads to leaf drop. Signs of infection include the appearance of dark spots on leaves and leaf yellowing. Remove diseased leaves, including those that have fallen around the base of plant.
Apply an organic rose fungicide to reduce the infestation (follow the application rates and times on the container) and water fortnightly with Seasol. Avoid watering rose foliage – instead, direct water around the base of the plant – and remove encroaching growth to allow good air circulation around each rose plant.
Growing from cuttings
As spring growth hardens, it is a good time to make new plants by taking cuttings. Daisies, fuchsias, succulents and many native plants can be grown from cutting now.
Select a piece of new growth that is firm and is around 10cm long with lots of nodes (growth points along the stem). Remove any flowers and buds along with the lower leaves.
Insert the cutting into a small pot filled with moist media, especially for cutting such as Seasol Seed Raising & Cutting Potting Mix.
Put several cuttings into each pot and cover them all with a plastic bag to form a microclimate. Keep the cuttings out of direct sun but in a brightly lit spot and water weekly with Seasol GOLD to aid root development and mist the foliage as needed. Once roots form, repot each cutting into its own pot.
Looking after mature plants
Small garden tasks can reap big rewards. Deadheading for example is a simple but effective way to keep plants in flower as it prevents seeds forming and directs the plant’s energy into more blooms. Cut or snap off the stem just above a growth point (known as a node) as soon as flowers finished. Water and feed the plant once a season with Seasol Power Feed Granules All Purpose including Natives to encourage new growth and more flowers.
Staking plants also helps keep plants safe from adverse weather conditions, away from the ground and allows flowers or fruit to be easily admired or harvested. Plants that may need staking in late spring include dahlias and tomatoes.
Use soft ties to avoid damaging plant tissue. Adjust ties as the plant grows and regularly check that the tie isn’t cutting into an expanding stem. Stakes in wood or metal can be bought from garden centres or the hardware store or make your own from bamboo, straight branches or prunings.
Five important jobs for late spring
- Water well. New plantings, potted plants and vegetable gardens may need daily or twice daily watering in hot weather. Check plants underneath house eaves to ensure they receive water, often missed by rain.
- Mow often but lightly to keep lawns lush. Deep water once or twice a week and feed regularly with Seasol for Lush Green Lawns to promote healthy growth and enhance foliage colour.
- Watch for snails and slugs as dahlias and other summer perennials emerge. They can be controlled with hand removal (squash or drown in soapy water) and traps (such as beer traps) or barriers such as eggshells, wood shavings or coffee grinds.
- Apply or top up mulch to keep soils cool and moist to prepare for the summer ahead. Apply Seasol Plant + Soil Booster to the soil before applying mulch to improve soil health, promoting worm and microbial activity.
- Keep fruiting trees well watered as fruit forms and liquid feed regularly every fortnight with a fast-acting liquid such as PowerFeed PRO SERIES for Fruit & Citrus. Boosted with added iron to promote healthy budding and flowering and fruiting.
Be bushfire ready
Keeping your property safe through summer can mean preparing it for a bushfire. Before hot, dry times arrive, it is important to start planning. Keep lawns lush, green and mown. Also mow or clear along fence lines particularly near bush or wasteland areas.
Remove rubbish, including stored firewood, and remove flammable material from around your property to be fire safe.
Also, keep roofs and gutters clear and have a bushfire plan that includes what to do with pets including, chickens or other animals on your property.
Make sure your property is clearly numbered and, if you are in a rural area or set away from the road, there’s room for a fire engine to enter the property (check for overhanging branches or encroaching growth). Local fire brigades have resources to help you get fire ready.
Succulents are easy to grow
To grow succulents successfully, select a warm, sunny spot and plant them into well-drained soil. In containers, use special succulent and cactus mixes and top with fine gravel. They can be kept indoors in very well-lit locations such as bright, sunny windowsills.
To care for established succulents, water and feed with PowerFeed Controlled Release for Pots & Planters once a season for healthy, strong growth.
In times of extremely wet weather, move potted succulents into sheltered locations so they don’t become waterlogged. Regularly inspect plants to remove damaged or diseased leaves.
Most succulents are grown for their interesting foliage shapes or colours, but succulents do produce flowers. Remove unwanted or spent flowers to keep plants tidy.
