Selwyn Times: August 12, 2020

SELWYN TIMES Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Wednesday August 12 2020 31
Gardening
Don’t put the gumboots away just yet
IT’S THAT time of the year when
gardeners are yearning for spring
– and it’s just around the corner.
In many areas, it’s still very cold
and soils are wet so you may need
to don the gumboots before you
head out to the back yard.
August is an excellent time for
planning your new season garden
and completing your planting of
deciduous ornamental and fruit
trees.
Continue to harvest winter
maturing vegetables and
where the soil is friable (easily
crumbled) and not too wet, sow
seeds of beetroot, carrots, onions,
peas, radish and spinach.
Continue to cultivate soil in
preparation for early spring
planting by chopping up and
digging in any green manure
crops. This will significantly
improve the organic content of
the soil. If you haven’t grown any
green manure crops, then add
in compost and mix well with
existing soil.
If possible, try and raise the
planting areas to 100-120mm
above the existing ground level.
Drainage will be improved and
soils will warmer quicker in
spring if you do this.
Winter flowering annuals will
be at their best and late flowering
annuals such as cineraria are now
beginning to bloom. Continue
last plantings of alyssum,
calendulas, cornflower, larkspur,
lobelia, pansy, snapdragon,
stock, violas and wallflowers.
These flowering annuals are also
perfect for growing in containers
and provide instant colour in
the garden. Start preparing your
summer flower beds as they can
be planted out towards the end of
next month.
It’s cropping time for
many citrus; late mandarins
(clementine), lemons, navel
oranges, grapefruit and limes.
While seminole tangelos look
very attractive on trees, you will
need to be patient as they won’t
be sweet enough for eating until
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October/November.
Give pip and stone fruit trees
a spray of copper oxychloride so
they start the new growing season
in a healthy state. Complete
pruning of kiwifruit as they will
commence growing next month.
Feijoas should be pruned
to “thin cut” their typical
dense branch growth. This
enables better light penetration
throughout the bush and
ultimately increased fruit
production next season. Young
strawberry plants will be in active
growth already.
Pinch out any flowers that may
appear as plants will not form
healthy berries until well into
spring. Apply copper oxychloride
MAINTENANCE:
It’s time to
sharpen the
blades of your
mower so that
your lawn gets
an even cut.
Do the last of
your pruning,
especially roses.
to help maintain plants in a
healthy state.
Complete the pruning of rose
varieties that were very late
dropping their leaves. While
plants are dormant, apply a
copper oxychloride and/or
horticultural oil spray to ‘clean
up’ any overwintering pests or
diseases. The addition of fresh
compost around existing plants
will greatly benefit early spring
growth.
In most parts of New Zealand
there is little grass growth in
August. However, it is not too
far away. Get your mower blades
sharpened and identify any
problem areas in the lawn to be
rectified in spring/early summer.
In wet shady areas, there is often
significant moss growth which
will usually disappear over the
hot dry summer months.
However, you may want to over
sow these areas with fresh law
seed from October onwards.
Continue to plant out
ornamental shrubs and trees.
Site preparation is critical to the
success of these plantings so avoid
areas that are exceptionally wet,
unless you are planting specimens
that specifically grow in these
conditions.
Add compost to all planting
sites and cultivate soil thoroughly
before planting. Allow enough
space between new trees and
shrubs for full development. Be
guided by local plantings in parks,
friends and neighbours gardens
when considering what to plant.
Weather dependant, August
can be an outstanding month
for bulbs in the home garden.
daffodils, hyacinths, jonquil,
lachenalia and muscari, should be
either in bloom or not far away.
A good trick is to mark the best
performing varieties with small
bamboo stakes as you may wish
to lift and divide those once bulbs
are dormant.
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