The rains this week were timely, even though there has not been sufficient to bring moisture levels back up to normal. But as far as container plants and the vegetable garden go, it is more efficient use of water to keep those levels up now rather than to let it all become bone dry again and then start watering. A little often is much better than a lot occasionally.

• If you feel you must and haven’t yet done so, spray for thrips on rhododendrons – those nasty leaf sucking critters that turn the leaves silver and weaken the plant. An insecticide is required – ask at your local garden centre which ones are recommended for home gardeners. But unless it is a pretty special variety, we advocate avoiding spraying. Open up around the plant to allow more light and air movement. If the plant is really suffering, dig it out and replace it with a healthier option. Not all rhododendrons get thrips and some get them much worse than others.
• The same can said for roses. If you want to avoid the need to spray, take a critical look now at which ones in your garden look good and which ones don’t justify their place. I am afraid Burgundy Iceberg is destined for the burning heap here whereas all the Flower Carpets, the rugosas, Sparkler (white) and a few others whose names I need to locate again are still looking just fine.
• Our onion crop is non existent this year (after a brilliant harvest last year) but others who are more successful will be harvesting them as the tops die down. Onions need a cool, well ventilated situation to store well.
• We are at least picking green beans but sadly the heritage variety, Borlotto Fire Tongue, does not cut the mustard. Heritage may equal old and unmodified but does not necessarily equal tasty and tender. These are stringy darned things that we won’t be growing again. The modern varieties are cropping better and taste better.
• At least the rain this week makes it easier to start planting some winter vegetables, especially those varieties started from seed – brassicas (except brussel sprouts – too late now), carrots, spinach, silver beet and salad veg.
• Keep melons watered well. Watch out for aphids and white butterfly, especially on brassicas.

With no rain forecast yet and the need to conserve water, there is not a whole lot most of us can be doing in the garden. We don’t expect this sort of extended dry spell in Taranaki but other parts of the country cope with it most years. And at least the autumn rains will come in due course, unlike large parts of Australia who have no such prospect.

• So a reminder that moving container plants to shaded areas or plunging them in the garden will reduce their need for water. If the water flows out the bottom of the pot as fast as you pour it in the top, it means you are wasting water because the mix is so dry that the water is running straight through and not being absorbed. Using a surfactant will help water absorption. A squirt of liquid detergent will also work.
• Watering in the evening or early morning will mean that more water is absorbed. Rather than leaving a hose in one place to give a deep soak, repeatedly passing over an area with a fine spray (in other words, copying the action of banned sprinklers or emulating a light rain) will do more to soak an area and direct the water to where it is most needed. It takes longer but if you do it properly, you won’t have to do it so often.
• Do not forget to keep an eye on the water level in the goldfish pond. If the level drops too much and the water heats up, it is not good for the fish.
• Many of the spring bulbs are starting to move already and as soon as the rains come, they will all bolt in to growth. You can tell when they are starting to grow by the fresh white root which forms. So do not delay on digging up overcrowded patches that you may have earmarked for attention last spring. By far the largest proportion of our bulbs in this country are South African in origin, particularly those whose growth is triggered by autumn rains.
• Spray citrus trees with summer strength copper and oil for mites. This also helps protect against botrytis which can strike later on and makes the leaves turn brown and cause the fruit to fall off.
• A further reminder to prune flowering cherry trees now. We will admit that Mark still has to do ours. Remove witches brooms (the patches of dense foliage which look different to the main part of the tree – these will never flower and tend to take over) and shape the trees as required.
• An update on monarch butterflies – if you have run out of swan plants, bigger caterpillars at least will eat pumpkin and pupate. Their golden excrement has a certain novelty value and is an indicator that they are happily digesting the pumpkin. It does not appear that you can raise young caterpillars entirely on pumpkin.

Today may herald the start of a new month but until some rain comes, there is not a great deal to be done in the garden. Central and South Taranaki gardeners in particular are under complete watering restrictions now and that is unlikely to change for several more weeks. Set priorities for what water you can use. Moving all container plants to shady spots will substantially reduce their need for water as will burying terracotta pots below the soil surface (plunging). You can recycle dish water, shower water or the rinse cycle of the washing machine.

• While container plants can die from dryness and heat and so can recently planted material, established trees and shrubs may wilt and get stressed but will generally weather the drought out as long as rains come by autumn. There is no point in wasting water on them.
• Digging an irrigation trench alongside rows in the vegetable garden gets the water closer to the roots that need it, as opposed to sprinkling water on the top. Many vegetables like peas, beans and tomatoes will need water at this time if you want a crop.
• You can always weed and at least pulling weeds out or push hoeing means that the sun will effect a good kill rate on them by shrivelling them up very fast so you only need to remove those weeds that have set seed. The sun will not kill the seeds.
• Ignore the brown patches in lawns. Green lawns are a luxury when water is short. Most of the world lives with brown lawns in summer.
• Unless you have your own water supply, hold off planting even in the vegetable garden until some rain is forecast. You won’t lose anything by waiting another week or two before sowing the winter veg. But if you have water to spare, you can be sowing parsnips, carrots, dwarf beans and brassicas as well as keeping lettuces going.
• Pinch back cucumbers, melons, courgettes, pumpkins and similar spreaders to keep them under control and to encourage fruit set. Tender pumpkin tips are delicious to eat, as are stuffed courgette flowers, if they are not infested with white fly.

• No doubt we are not alone this week in having to deal with the unscheduled arrival of the winter firewood, although with older trees than most people, we may have to deal with more. It is a mystery to us why ours fell on a calm Friday night rather than in Tuesday’s winds but the fires here this year will be fuelled by tawa and pine.
• Harvest garlic if you have not yet done so. To store it, garlic is best cleaned up and then hung with plenty of air around it in a cool, dark place. The traditional way is to plait the stems but if you can’t be bothered, recycled onion bags can be used (the orange mesh type) as long as the garlic is dry and not packed in tightly. Keep some in reserve for planting in mid winter. Imported Chinese garlic should be shunned in the garden. It is frequently infected by virus which is threatening local garlic producers and it is not worth the risk of trying to grow it. It is also a waste of time and effort because it has crossed hemispheres and its growing season is so disturbed that yields will be poor.
• Do not be lulled in to a false sense of security by the small amount of rain we had this week. It was not enough to get the moisture content of the soil up and we are highly likely to go back to being very dry. With severe water shortages around much of the province, it is not sensible to indulge in dividing plants and creating gardens which will need watering to keep plants alive. There is not a lot you can do in the ornamental garden in high summer beyond weeding, dead heading, summer pruning roses and general maintenance.
• As plums are harvested (Sultan plums are worth growing here), prune the trees to keep them open and well shaped. Summer pruning reduces the risk of silver blight getting in on the cut surfaces.
• It is down to the last week for sowing corn for late harvest in coastal gardens but too late now for inland areas. Planted now, it will hold into the winter and extend your corn eating season into June. Sweetcorn fresh from the garden is much more tender than sweetcorn from the supermarket or fruiterer as much of the sugar content turns to starch very soon after picking. It is also getting late for sowing carrots so do not delay past this weekend on getting carrot seed in for a winter crop.
• Continue planting lettuces and beans.