Selwyn_Times: April 12, 2023
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WINDFALL: Harvest ripe feijoas regularly from the ground. PHOTO: DALTONS<br />
Time to harvest<br />
feijoas, kiwifruit<br />
Autumn is now arriving with<br />
many deciduous trees displaying<br />
beautifully coloured leaves. In<br />
preparation for winter, there are<br />
many tasks for the home garden<br />
inside and out<br />
Vegetable garden<br />
With the ongoing increases in vegetable<br />
prices, having a home vegetable patch<br />
has become even more crucial. Make<br />
the most of whatever space you have.<br />
Think creatively and consider growing in<br />
containers, in vertical gardens, or even<br />
hanging baskets – you will be surprised at<br />
the array of veges that can be grown like<br />
this – particularly dwarf varieties.<br />
Plants growing in containers are in a<br />
confined space and are reliant on the mix<br />
you use, so always choose a good quality<br />
potting mix.<br />
For traditional gardens, what you put in<br />
is what you get out, so soil preparation is<br />
absolutely vital. Incorporate a mixture of<br />
fresh Garden Time compost and vegetable<br />
mix to all areas that will be planted.<br />
Remember to rotate crops to different<br />
parts of the garden, from where they were<br />
growing last winter.<br />
New seeds and/or seedlings to be planted<br />
in <strong>April</strong> include peas, radish, silver<br />
beet, spinach, swedes, and turnips.<br />
Flowering annuals<br />
Time to prepare and plant winter flower<br />
beds. As with the vegetable garden, incorporate<br />
fresh compost along with Garden<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Time enriched garden mix into the existing<br />
soil prior to planting.<br />
To add colour to outdoor areas over the<br />
cooler months, plant winter annual’s seedlings<br />
in containers, large pots or hanging<br />
baskets now. Position them where you will<br />
see them regularly such as on decks or in<br />
entrance ways.<br />
Winter flowering annuals include alyssum,<br />
calendulas, cineraria, cornflower,<br />
lobelia, nemesias, lupins (South Island<br />
only), snapdragons, stock, sweet william,<br />
pansy, primulas, and violas.<br />
Fruit harvesting and pruning<br />
Time to harvest late-season apples. Feijoas<br />
are now ripe and its best to regularly collect<br />
fruit from the ground and not pick it<br />
off the tree.<br />
Kiwifruit can now be picked and<br />
although they may still be hard, they will<br />
ripen after being harvested.<br />
Early in <strong>April</strong> the last of the passionfruit<br />
will fall to the ground. The vines can be<br />
given a tidy up prune before winter arrives.<br />
Stone fruit, peaches, plums, and nectarines<br />
can be pruned and then sprayed with<br />
copper oxychloride to help protect them<br />
against bacterial diseases.<br />
Add a good layer of mulch to help<br />
insulate the soil around the trees’ roots,<br />
keeping them warm and protected during<br />
the cold winter months.<br />
• For more free, helpful gardening<br />
advice or information, visit www.<br />
daltons.co.nz<br />
BACKYARD CRITTERS<br />
GARDENING 33<br />
Leaf murder mystery<br />
Mike Bowie is an ecologist who specialises in entomology<br />
(insects and other invertebrates). Each week he introduces<br />
a new species found in his backyard at Lincoln. His<br />
column aims to raise public awareness of biodiversity, the<br />
variety of living things around us. Check out the full list<br />
of invertebrates found at www.inaturalist.org/projects/<br />
backyard-biodiversity-bugs-in-my-lincoln-section<br />
I LOVE a whodunnit, but not the normal<br />
murder mystery type that usually comes<br />
to mind.<br />
As an entomologist you often get damaged<br />
leaves thrust upon you and asked<br />
whodunnit. Peter, a work colleague,<br />
recently approached me with a pumpkin<br />
leaf wanting to know what was causing<br />
the damage.<br />
Sometimes leaves have eggs, immatures,<br />
adult insects, or old exoskeletons (exuviae),<br />
which can be easily identified. Often<br />
the damaged leaf is the only clue you have,<br />
although the type of foraging can indicate<br />
if the pest is a sucking, chewing, rasping<br />
or leaf mining species.<br />
Fortunately, entomologists have compiled<br />
a comprehensive list of insects and<br />
host plants that also helps to narrow down<br />
culprits. I recently found several clematis<br />
seedlings with characteristic leaf mines on<br />
the leaves.<br />
Mines are where small larvae travel<br />
under the leaf surface, creating an obvious<br />
trail where they have fed. Some leaf<br />
mining species have characteristic zig-zag<br />
patterns, while others look quite random.<br />
The clematis mines were the random<br />
type and literature lead me to the leaf<br />
mining fly Phytomyza clematadi. This is<br />
DRY<br />
SCREENED<br />
TOPSOIL<br />
Wednesday <strong>April</strong> <strong>12</strong> <strong>2023</strong> <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
an endemic fly about 3mm long. Females<br />
lay a single egg into a leaf and as the larva<br />
grows and moves through the leaf, the<br />
mine width increases with its three larval<br />
stages (instars).<br />
Larvae reach 3mm in length before<br />
forming a hard and brown puparium that<br />
have a pair of breathing organs called<br />
stigma at each end that pierce the leaf<br />
surface.<br />
Adults emerge by breaking through the<br />
leaf to eventually fly off and find a mate.<br />
I have placed some fine mesh bags over<br />
the leaves to try to catch some of the<br />
emerging flies to confirm their identity.<br />
Back to Peter’s pumpkin eater – that<br />
mystery remains unsolved.<br />
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Start planning your winter vegetable garden<br />
Establish new lawns, replenish and<br />
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Add compost to existing gardens to boost<br />
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Add mulch to protect your plants from the<br />
cooler temperatures<br />
As we move through the<br />
autumn months, now is the<br />
time to get on top of your<br />
lawn maintenance and<br />
prepare your gardens for<br />
the winter.<br />
Herbs you can grow now<br />
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