Be captivated by a busy garden!
In cold climates many plants are dormant but below ground, there’s lots happening. Roots are growing especially on spring-flowering bulbs, which are also starting to shoot and, in some areas, are in bloom.
This is also the month to prune, plant dormant plants, enjoy native and scented plants in bloom and make the most of the coolest time of the year.
Enjoy winter-fragrant plants
Winter flowers aren’t always bold and colourful. Many take a backseat in the looks department, instead relying on their scent to get noticed.
Daphne, osmanthus, wintersweet and the Australian native shrub brown boronia are fragrant in winter, even if their flowers are subdued.
Jonquils and Paperwhite narcissus too, are beginning to bloom and both are sweetly perfumed. Annuals such as sweet peas, polyanthus (some are fragrant) and wall flowers also add perfume to winter gardens.
Look for these and other scented flowering plants at your local hardware or garden centre, and pick up a few pots to suit your location and climate.
When preparing the soil for planting add Seasol Organic* Worm Fertiliser into the soil to ensure there are plenty of nutrients to support healthy growth and masses of beautiful flowers.
Enjoy an indoor flower display this winter
Enjoy flowering plants as indoor potted plants to add colour to your indoor garden. Cyclamen, kalanchoe (flaming Kate and others) and potted poinsettias are in bloom now and can add colour to indoors.
Also available to be enjoyed indoors as temporary residents are cymbidium and other orchids that are in bloom during winter. Orchids bloom indoors for up to six weeks but need to go back outside into a sheltered but bright location.
When looking after indoor plants in winter ensure they are near indirect bright light but away from cold draughts, such as doors or windows.
Check soil moisture and only water when the plant is dry. Test by inserting your finger down to the second knuckle. If it’s dry water it, if it’s moist, leave it and check it again next week.
To keep indoor flowering plants happy and healthy with masses of blooms liquid feed every fortnight to the soil with PowerFeed Indoor & Potted Plants trigger spray.
What to do in the mid-winter vegie patch
If there’s bare soil in the vegie patch after the autumn cleanup, it can be used for sowing new crops such as broad beans, snow peas or podding peas. Other vegies to start now include cabbage, Asian greens and English spinach. For a quick start, plant seedlings. These vegies crop well into spring for a tasty harvest.
To get your seedlings off to a flying start when planting, water them in with Seasol to help reduce transplant shock and then regularly apply Seasol every week to promote healthy growth.
Alternatively, give vegie growing a break and cover the soil with mulch to let it rest until spring. To add nutrients while the soil is resting, sow a green manure mix. This is a crop of mainly nitrogen-fixing legumes that can grow in winter. Their nutrients are then harvested by digging the plants into the soil ahead of spring planting.
Get a head-start on tomatoes
In areas with mild winters such as northern parts of Australia, sowing tomato seeds in July can help keen vegetable gardeners get a head start on this popular summer vegetable crop.
Sow seeds into a seed raising mix such as Seasol Seed Raising & Cutting Potting Mix in punnets or vegie trays and keep them in a warm, frost-free location, such as a greenhouse or indoors near a window.
As the seedlings grow, they can be pricked out and moved into individual pots to await planting in late winter or early spring as the soil warms outside.
To keep young tomato plants growing strong and healthy liquid feed them every week to fortnight with PowerFeed PRO SERIES for Tomatoes & Vegetables.
Five important jobs for mid-winter
- Prune roses and other winter-dormant shrubs including hydrangeas as well as fruit trees. Apply Seasol after pruning to help with the stress of pruning.
- Shelter your garden from winter winds with a living hedge. Evergreen choices include pittosporum, photinia, Indian hawthorn, camellias and many native plants such as bottlebrush and grevillea.
- Liquid feed leafy winter vegetables and winter annuals such as pansies, cinerarias and primulas. Apply a fast-acting liquid fertiliser such as PowerFeed All Purpose including Natives every 10-14 days. It’s ideal for all plants in the garden or pots including vegies, natives and flowering plants.
- Winter is planting time for deciduous trees and shrubs including fruit trees and roses. Also look out for one of the most beautiful of all flowering climbers: clematis. Dig Seasol Super Compost into the soil before planting to revitalise the soil and boost plant health.
- Clean out the shed and recycle plastic garden products such as punnets and pots and return them to hardware and garden centres.
Winter lawn care
Depending on your winter climate with warmer temperatures some lawns will still be growing, while in cooler regions many will become dormant. No matter what the lawn is doing, it’s the perfect time to rejuvenate the lawn with some easy maintenance.
- Aerate your lawn using a garden fork or aerating machine to let moisture and nutrients soak in. Apply Seasol Lawn + Soil Booster to boost lawn health.
- Limit foot traffic on frosty lawns to protect the grass. Regularly use Seasol hose-on to help the lawn cope with winter stresses.
- As grass growth slows, mow less frequently, raise the height of mower blades, and monitor soil moisture during dry spells.
- In warmer areas, as grass grows, apply Seasol for Lush Green Lawns monthly for a strong, vibrant lawn.
Check out our winter lawn guide for more information.
Fruit and ornamental dormant tree pruning
One of the big garden tasks for July in many parts of Australia is dormant tree pruning. Ornamental and fruit trees are pruned in winter to around a third to half of last season’s growth for easy fruit and flower harvest. The winter prune encourages new growth that in turn produces flowers and fruit in spring and summer.
Pruning is also an opportunity to remove dead, diseased or crossing and inward-growing branches and stems to open up the tree for good air circulation. It also sets the tree up for future year’s growth.
Some quick tips to help you navigate pruning is to wear gloves and long sleeves. Have sharp tools (secateurs, loppers and a pruning saw) and have the green waste bin handy for prunings.
After pruning, apply a copper fungicide or lime sulphur to prevent fungal diseases.
