Pittwater Life October 2019 Issue

Garden Life
Jobs this Month
Garden Life
No doubt it will be a hot
and mostly dry summer
ahead, so mulch the
garden well with a thick layer
of compost or cow manure
to keep the moisture of the
wonderful recent September
rain. It also means bushfire
season is here: check
gutters for fallen leaves
and keep vegetation away
from buildings. And keep
hoses easily accessible as a
precaution.
Prevent bindii
Spray your lawns now to
prevent bindii in summer.
Nothing is worse than prickles
in bare feet! If you have a
buffalo lawn, check the spray
that you use. Some chemicals
will kill buffalo grass. If in
doubt, ask for advice at you
garden centre. Repair bare
patches in the lawn, either
with seed or new turf. Lightly
top dress with top dressing
soil and feed your grass with
Sudden Impact for Lawns.
Berry good
Plant strawberries now.
Look for the newer varieties
that have prettily coloured
flowers. Strawberry Ruby
Ann has deep ruby flowers
and still produces delicious
October
fruit. It looks great in baskets.
And remember to spray the
veggies with Bee Keeper to
get the best pollination and an
excellent harvest.
Snails at bay
Watch out for snails and
caterpillars that can devour
Hippeastrum buds and flowers
overnight. Use Multiguard
snail pellets that are harmless
to pets and wildlife.
Hot stuff
Time now to plant some
chillies, there are seedlings
of every variety available. If
you are impatient you can
buy plants that are already
laden with the coloured fruits.
Chillies will last from year to
year; they add decoration and
colour (pictured), in pots or in
the ground.
Summer colour
Plant up seedlings for
summer. Petunias, verbena,
dianthus, French marigolds,
white or coloured alyssum,
lobelia and nasturtiums all
go in now. For longer-lasting
colour, fill sunny beds with
gazanias.
Grow it sweet
Sweet potatoes are easy to
grow. You can plant tubers
or buy seedlings. Give them
plenty of space. The plants
will spread along the ground
or climb up a fence. Try
planting the red sweet potato.
It tastes just the same.
Veggie advice
Watch out for leaf miner and
fruit fly as the weather warms
up. Spray weekly and after
rain with Eco Oil and hang a
Cera Trap fruit fly bait in your
fruit trees and the vegetable
garden. Keep planting new
crops of carrots, spring
onions, lettuce, Asian greens
and silver beet seedlings
at three-weeks intervals to
maintain a supply through
summer.
Gravity-defying
tomatoes!
Try this experiment with
your tomato seedlings.
I have been told that
tomatoes will grow upside
down from the bottom of
plastic drink bottles. I have
used the largest drink
bottles.
I cut the bottom off and
lined the neck of the bottle
with a cheap face mask,
after making a small hole in
the middle of it, to hold in
the soil. I poked the seedling
through the neck, roots
first to avoid damaging the
leaves, then I filled the bottle
with soil from the top.
If it works it will free up
space in the garden for a
lower crop of carrots, spring
onions, basil or other lowgrowing
veggies! (However,
as the plants will have limited
root space it is very important
to feed them weekly
with a liquid fertiliser.)
Crossword solution from page 69
Mystery location: SALT PAN COVE
72 OCTOBER 2019
The Local Voice Since 1991