Selwyn_Times: July 26, 2023
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Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Wednesday <strong>July</strong> <strong>26</strong> <strong>2023</strong> <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
GARDENING 25<br />
Spring dreaming: Winter a time to plan<br />
Winter’s a good time to<br />
think ahead – peruse<br />
catalogues, order new<br />
seeds and plants, and<br />
prepare the soil<br />
Vegetables<br />
Gardening at this time of the<br />
year is limited, as winter’s worst<br />
weather usually comes in <strong>July</strong><br />
and August. Cold, wet days are<br />
an opportunity to look through<br />
garden catalogues and order new<br />
seeds or plants.<br />
This is also a good time to plan<br />
where next season’s vegetables<br />
will be sown or planted, using<br />
the practice of rotation outlined<br />
earlier this month.<br />
Although five-year garden diaries<br />
are valuable, an alternative<br />
is a sturdy indexed book. Record<br />
planting and other information<br />
under each alphabetically listed<br />
vegetable, noting the date when<br />
seeds were sown or plants put in.<br />
Note varieties and after harvesting,<br />
indicate how well each did.<br />
This gives a year-by-year record<br />
of the garden, one that is easier<br />
to cross-check than a series of<br />
diaries.<br />
Green manures oats, lupins<br />
and the like not yet dug in<br />
should be cut and turned into<br />
the ground. Soil cleared of<br />
crops such as winter cabbage,<br />
broccoli and parsnips benefits<br />
if it is turned over, too. Rough<br />
LOOK FORWARD: Take time over winter to consider what<br />
you’d like to plant in spring, and prepare accordingly.<br />
digging is the best treatment at<br />
this time of the year, with weeds<br />
placed under the surface and any<br />
spare compost thrown over the<br />
surface. Complete with a dressing<br />
of garden lime. The rate will<br />
vary depending on soil acidity<br />
but plan on 50g to 100g a square<br />
metre, the bigger amount for<br />
heavier soils.<br />
Hedges can be trimmed in<br />
warmer areas but should be left<br />
until later in the year in areas<br />
that experience hard frosts or<br />
snow.<br />
Soil can be prepared,<br />
conditions permitting, before<br />
cloches and cold frames are put<br />
in place for growing plants under<br />
shelter. If soil clings to tools or<br />
boots, the ground is too wet and<br />
any work should be postponed.<br />
When the soil has been dug,<br />
composted and worked to a fairly<br />
fine crumb-like consistency,<br />
position the cloches and leave<br />
them for three weeks before<br />
sowing seeds. This warms the<br />
soil under the cloches and the<br />
more that are used, the better the<br />
lift in soil temperature under the<br />
individual shelter.<br />
Cloche gardening is<br />
suitable for small gardens and<br />
strawberries give earlier crops<br />
grown in this way.<br />
Flowers<br />
Pruning roses this month can<br />
be risky, as early pruning can encourage<br />
roses to throw out fresh<br />
shoots that will be zapped by<br />
frost. Coastal areas can usually<br />
get away with winter pruning<br />
but in general, August is the preferred<br />
month for rose pruning.<br />
Garden centres have barerooted<br />
roses in stock now and<br />
buying early is recommended to<br />
obtain popular varieties.<br />
Cinerarias grown in a glasshouse<br />
will be pushing up their<br />
flower stems and will benefit<br />
from a liquid manure once a<br />
week, the day after they have<br />
been watered.<br />
Cyclamens (above) can also be<br />
started in the greenhouse and<br />
brought indoors as soon as the<br />
first buds appear.<br />
Tuberous begonias can be<br />
grown in pots in the glasshouse<br />
until almost ready to flower in<br />
summer, when they can be taken<br />
indoors or put on a sunny doorstep<br />
or deck.<br />
Carnations can also be treated<br />
in this way.<br />
Fruit<br />
If any new fruit trees are still<br />
to be ordered, do not delay or<br />
you may miss out on a chosen<br />
cultivar.<br />
Plant trees and soft-fruit<br />
bushes (currants, gooseberries,<br />
raspberries and brambles such as<br />
blackberries) in well-composted<br />
soil to get them off to a good<br />
start. Spending time getting the<br />
soil into good shape before planting<br />
pays dividends later.<br />
With young fruit trees, avoid<br />
letting them crop the first<br />
season. Let the trees’ sturdy<br />
trunks and branches develop for<br />
better fruiting as they mature.<br />
– ODT<br />
Canterbury<br />
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