• The autumn rains made a brief appearance and then disappeared again so we are indeed dry here. But this is Taranaki, not Australia, so you can be positive that the rains will return with a vengeance and sooner rather than later. Saturday is the likely date at time of writing.
• There is considerably less evaporation at this time of the year with cooler temperatures so you should not be worrying too much about the dry spell. Container plants will need watering every few days but you should not be needing to water the garden or lawn. But if you are planting any trees and shrubs, you need to ensure that the roots are completely saturated before planting. Hosing down after planting will not do the trick.
• If you have bought dry spring bulbs from the garden centre, get them planted as soon as you can. If they are looking very dehydrated, you can soak the bulbs overnight in water. You have missed the boat on lifting and dividing bulbs already in the ground. They will be on the move.
• Pruning and shaping should be in full swing in the ornamental garden although if you are working on winter or spring flowering shrubs, you do not want to be cutting all the flower buds off. Think in terms of thinning and shaping rather than hacking back and trimming all over. Do not leave clipping hedges any longer past this weekend.
• Rhubarb can be lifted, divided and replanted. Think of it as a very hungry perennial (commonly referred to as a gross feeder). Rhubarb responds well to rich soils, well dug over and fed with humus. It also wants plenty of moisture and full sun. The rule of thumb is that a third of the rhubarb patch should be renovated each year.
• Strawberries need replanting on a two year cycle. If you have some growing, it is likely that they will have put out runners. These are what you lift and cut off, replanting into fresh ground with well cultivated soils.
• From the irrepressible Pollyanna School of Positive Thought comes the unattributed quote: “Don’t grumble that roses have thorns, be thankful that thorns have roses.”

* If you are intending to move any large plants this winter, start the wrenching process without delay. This initially involves making cuts to the roots on two sides of the plant. Calculate how large a rootball you can reasonably move (the larger the better) and cut from there. In a couple of weeks, follow up on the other two sides, and underneath if you can and then carry out the removal operation two weeks later. All this is to reduce stress on the plant and to encourage it to start the process of forming new roots where you have cut. You don’t need to bother with small plants.

* As you do the autumn clean-up round in the ornamental garden, get a layer of mulch onto all the garden beds possible. Any mulch suppresses weeds as long as it is thick enough (3cm or so). Our standard mulch here is home made compost which also provides nourishment and texture to the soil. Mulches of bark chip, gravel, stones and the like (fortunately the dreaded scoria seems to have disappeared) do not do anything for the soil. Pea straw is very fashionable and very expensive (so we do not use it) but is ideal as a mulch, if rather intrusive visually. Last year’s calf shed wood shavings are excellent but don’t put it on too thickly. Sawdust can be used if not tanalised but needs considerable caution. Don’t dig it in. Only people of no aesthetic sensibility use weed mat as a mulch and we hope in this day and age that nobody who reads this column would even contemplate using black plastic.

* If you covet a politically incorrect green velvet sward, you can fertilise your lawn at this time of the year. Use a cheap NPK fertiliser or Bioboost.

* Anything planted in the vegetable garden from here on is more likely to be ready for harvest in early spring, rather than the depths of winter. All the usual candidates – brassicas, winter greens, spring onions, carrots, broad beans, beetroot and even leeks (from plants not seed) – can be put in now.

* If you have a favoured warm, frost free position, you can put in an early crop of potatoes. Pick a quick maturing variety such as Swift or Rocket. For some unfathomable reason, being able to dig a very early crop of potatoes earns maximum brownie points amongst serious gardeners. Make sure the potatoes are well sprouted before planting and do not waste your effort unless you can be sure of protecting them from winter frosts.

* Although the potato hails from South America, apparently 90% of the world’s potato production occurs in Europe. In the somewhat harsh climate of much of Britain, it was the prime source of Vitamin C in the two world wars, thereby holding scurvy largely at bay. The modern diet of the very thin potato crisp may not be sufficient to achieve the same outcome.

April 9, 2009 In the Garden

· As predicted, the autumn rains started just prior to Easter but before you relax, have a little delve down in your garden or lawn and see how far the water has penetrated. That said, it should be safe enough to sow new lawns this weekend and to over sow bare patches in existing lawns. If the worst comes to the worst and we get very dry again, you can give the new areas a water but it isn’t likely to be necessary.
· The autumn rains will bring an explosion of freshly germinating weeds. Be vigilant on these varmints. With leaf drop just starting, using fallen leaves as mulch will suppress weed germination and there is a surprising amount of goodness as well as useful humus in rotting leaf litter. Frankly it is no longer acceptable on this planet to burn fallen leaves. Compost them or disperse them through the garden.
· Hellebores (winter roses) will be coming into growth soon. Cutting all the old foliage off means you can see the charmingly understated nodding flowers of helleborus orientalis. Heavy aphid infestations in the spent flowers in spring are a good reason to deadhead these plants (so too is their habit of seeding promiscuously), but we have also found quite heavy aphid occupation on the old foliage this year, which is another reason to cut it off and cart it all away to the compost heap. If the foliage is clean, you can leave it lying as a mulch. If you don’t remove the old foliage, the flowers tend to hide beneath the big leaves. If you leave it any longer, you have to trim around each plant taking care to avoid the new shoots but done this early, you can slash and hack your way through with little precision. Some have even been alleged to use the motor mower (but not here). Hellebores are excellent bedding plants for open woodland conditions but orientalis does not like being lifted and divided (will sulk, sometimes for years) so if you want to build up numbers, do it from seedlings.
· In the vegetable garden, make the autumn clean up round a priority for Easter. Most gardens will have mildew and bug infested crops well past their best now. Don’t leave these to rot where they are. If you make hot compost, bury the diseased crops in the middle of the heap, or feed them to your worm farm. Good hygiene and tidy habits can reduce pest and disease infestations in the future.
· Peas prefer the cooler weather so you can be sowing them now. Inland gardeners may be wanting to sow their first crop of broad beans. While the yield on peas for the home gardener can be disappointingly meagre and the frozen product is actually very good and cheap, the opposite applies to broad beans which can crop extremely well and are infinitely better than the bought product.
· Get any bare areas of the veg garden sown down with a green crop as soon as possible. Oats, lupin, vetch, phaecelia, mustard or even plain rye grass are all options.
· If it rains incessantly over Easter, take heed of John Lubbock, aka Lord Avebury, who wrote: There is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.