Tag Archives: Abbie Jury

In the Garden: March 19, 2010

 

The rows of corn in the garden are interplanted with food for the butterflies here

The rows of corn in the garden are interplanted with food for the butterflies here

 

  • The push hoe is an invaluable tool but one best used in dry conditions when severed weeds can be left on the surface to wither. This means that our current dry early autumn conditions are still a good time to do a push hoe round. This week’s rain has only penetrated the top centimetre or so of the soil here and unless we get some gentle, steady rain over a few days we will remain dry a while longer. Hoeing also gently tills the soil and discourages the build up of liverwort and moss which you see on compacted ground. Keep your hoe sharp for best results – using a file on it is fine.
  • Naturally everybody has heeded our oft repeated advice and rushed out to plant brassicas in abundance for winter. Keep an eye on the white butterflies which may be hovering around your plants and laying eggs already. The hatching caterpillars will wreak havoc on your baby plants. They will be less of a problem when colder, wetter conditions set in but you may need to take action now. If you don’t wish to use a proprietary insecticide, you can resort to common flyspray for a quick hit or one of the organic based oil sprays (up to 10 ml of light cooking oil and a squirt of detergent per litre of water). Thuricide is a bacterial spray that attacks the caterpillar gut and is effective and selective (only attacks the one target) – you can buy it from your garden centre. If you have a really heavy infestation, you may need to spray and then cover your crop with old net curtaining to prevent reinfestation.
  • If you have cauliflower or broccoli maturing already, bending the outer leaves over the head is the practical and time honoured means of stopping sun burn on the edible portions.
  • Start the autumn feeding round now while plants are still in growth and can absorb the nutrients. It is a waste of time and money to feed when conditions are cold in winter and plants are dormant or semi dormant. More is not better with fertiliser and if conditions are too dry, it can burn the foliage so keep to recommended application rates and preferably spread it immediately before rain.
  • It is trimming time for formal hedges. We plan an Outdoor Classroom on the topic next week.
  • It should be safe to sow grass seed for new lawns now although you may have to get the hose out if we get another dry spell. What you don’t want to happen is for the seed to germinate and then fry in sunny, dry conditions so keep an eye on it.
  • We are enjoying a fantastic crop of sweet corn here and Mark, who harvests it only as required so it is a matter of minutes from being picked to being cooked, is warning that there is a veritable deluge of corn to come over the next two to three months. This compensates for the lack of onions and water melons this season.

Tikorangi Notes: March 19, 2010

Latest posts:
1) March 19, 2010: The simple purity of Lapageria alba and praise for the Chilean climbers which are almost never without a flower for us.
2) March 19, 2010: Outdoor Classroom on lifting and limbing – aka: a little bit of judicious pruning can make a significant difference.
3) March 19, 2010: In the Taranaki garden this week : With autumn approaching rapidly, we offer advice on garden tasks for the week ahead, including our usual plug for green crops and compost, along with advice on using animal manures.

The growing collection of birds's nests

The growing collection of birds's nests

We have recently started a little collection of birds’ nests here and Mark is regretting that he did not start recording his observations years ago so he could chart the changing materials our feathered garden inhabitants have used over the years. While we try and minimise litter here, it is frankly alarming to see the number of Tuflok labels, plastic ties and budding strips that the birds find to line their nests. They are also stripping the threads of fibreglass from a clear roof here. I was particularly taken by the little chaffinch nest constructed from dried grass and lichen and lined in what looks like dog fur (I did trim our long haired sheltie for summer) but which Mark disappointed me by telling me was in fact the fibrous thread from our tree ferns (pongas). We have been bringing in the abandoned nests we find in good condition and arraying them under cover up the vinous stems of Tecomanthe venusta.

Flowering this week: Lapageria alba

The perfect white waxy bells of Lapageria alba

The perfect white waxy bells of Lapageria alba

The lapageria is commonly known as the Chilean bellflower and is the national flower for that country where it is called copihue. In the wild, reddish pink is the dominant colour though there are pure white forms, pretty pale pink forms and apparently even picotees in cultivation. The white form, Lapageria alba, is particularly prized in this country, but rare because it does not set seed to itself. You need two different clones to get viable seed. In fact all lapagerias are fairly hard to source these days because they are not an easy nursery crop. Young plants can sulk and do nothing at all for several years. They will then send out a strong fresh tendril and some wayward snail will choose that very time to pass by and eat off the long awaited fresh growth. If you see plants offered for sale, don’t set your heart on a particular colour – just take what is available.

They are evergreen climbers which, like most climbers, appreciate a cool position for their roots and their heads into the light. Being forest dwellers, they will take colder temperatures but not frost. Once established, they are enormously satisfying because they are almost never without flowers. And the flowers are beautifully simple waxy bells, reasonably long lived and apparently good for floral art. We have some huge granddaddy vines in red, white and soft pink which have been growing in the cold, narrow back border of our house for several decades where they gently flower on and on and on.

In the garden: March 19, 2010

  • Don’t be tempted to sow lawns until we have quite a bit more rain and the moisture has penetrated deeper down. If you scratch around the soil, you are mostly likely to find that it is as dry as a bone a few centimetres down. However, the more work you do getting the ground levelled and taking off successive waves of germinating weeds, the better your lawn will be when the grass seed germinates. We favour a mix of fescue and rye for lawns here though in reality there are now many other micro greens in our grass. We try and keep out flat weeds, onehunga weed, kikuya and paspalum but beyond that, as long as it is green when mown, we are resigned to our mixed colony. We prefer that to the constant application of chemicals necessary to maintain a pristine lawn.
  • Root vegetable crops take longer to grow and mature so you have pretty much missed the boat on winter root veg but you can still plant the leafy harvests such as winter spinach, silver beet and winter lettuce along with the brassica family. It is the leafy crops which require most fertiliser so be generous with the compost or liquid feed. Vegetable gardening is like any form of cropping – you can’t keep taking harvests and expect the soils to remain fertile unless you keep feeding and replacing the goodness that is being stripped out. Using composts, green crops and manures is more sustainable than continually relying on proprietary fertilisers and also helps to build good soil structure and texture.
  • Compost chicken manure before use because when fresh, it can burn plants. If you don’t want to compost it, at least leave it until it is mature. Seaweed can be spread directly onto the soil and does not need to be washed first. Horse, cattle, pig and sheep manure can be spread directly on the soil. You may prefer to compost all fresh manure or leaving it to dry for several months before spreading around edible crops.
  • If you are not planting all your area in winter vegetables then plant a green crop as you take out the autumn harvests. At this time of the year, we recommend lupins, oats, ryegrass or mustard. We are trying vetch for the first time. You should avoid using lupins where you have been growing beans or peas because they come from the same legume family and it is wise to rotate crops.
  • As cooler temperatures set in, mice will start to migrate indoors so make sure you have any seed you are storing in rodent-proof conditions.. A disused fridge in the shed is good or plastic containers for smaller quantities. However, while rodent proofing is necessary, some seed, including fleshy types, do not want to be sealed off from all air so you may need to devise some compromise if the plastic containers have a tight seal.
  • If your strawberry plants have put out strong runners, these can be planted now to give vigorous cropping plants next spring. Strawberry plants are best replaced entirely every two years and some gardeners replant every year, using runners and divisions. If you plan to leave existing plants for another year, cut any runners off.
  • If you enjoy the mass display of annuals, you can sow seed now for an early spring show. Pansies, cineraria, alyssum, lobelia and snapdragons are all easy and reliable. Hollyhocks get badly mildewed in our climate, alas. Some perennials such as aquilegia, wallflowers, carnations and gypsophila can also be done easily from seed. Use seed trays for much better results. Don’t delay on taking cuttings of perennials and fuchsias. Hydrangea cuttings are best left until winter now and treated as deciduous cuttings.

Tikorangi Notes: March 12, 2010

Latest posts:

March 12, 2010 The ephemeral delight of Rhodophiala bifida in late summer.

March 12, 2010 Early autumn garden tasks for this week.

March 12, 2010 Who should pay when a garden is uneconomic to run? Transferring the costs of running Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust to the wider public.

The case of the nonconformist sunflower.

The non conformist sunflower

As anybody who has ever grown sunflowers knows, the flowers face the morning sun. All but this one. In a row of sunflowers standing around two metres high, all are obediently lined up to curtsey to the east, bar one which is defiantly facing west. Theories abound. It has a contrary nature. It is a northern hemisphere sunflower, confused by the southern orientation. It was planted back to front. Mark is of the opinion that the other flowers voted it to be the watch flower to ensure there are no ambushes from behind. I just think it wants to be different.