Selwyn_Times: March 13, 2024

ime to tidy up and prepare for winter
MARCH IS a busy month in the
garden with the final harvesting
of summer crops and preparation
for your winter garden begins.
After the weird weather here
through January and February,
let’s hope the rest of March will
bring more settled conditions for
gardening.
The last of summer vegetable
crops are ready to harvest. Do a
general tidy up and remove any
finished or diseased crops and
weeds etc before you begin preparation
of your winter garden.
Soil plays an important part in
growing healthy strong plants, so
always prepare the soil that you
will grow your vegetables in well.
Enrich and aerate it by digging
in plenty of compost a week or
two before planting. Check drainage
is adequate for the wet winter
months and when planting out,
rotate the site for your vegetables.
By rotating where crops are
planted, you can manage the soil
nutrient balance. The benefit of
crop rotation is that as one plant
depletes the soil of certain nutrients,
the next plant will replenish
the soil as it grows.
Winter vegetables can now be
planted – either with young seedlings
or by sowing seed directly
into the garden.
Vegetables such as beetroot,
broccoli, brussells sprouts, cabbage,
cauliflower, carrots, lettuce,
onions, radish, silver beet, spin-
planting for a steady supply.
ach, swedes and turnips. Stagger
your plantings so you have
a steady supply over the season.
Apply side dressings of fertiliser
every four to six weeks throughout
the growing period (depending
on what you grow and how
often you water your garden)
to help keep plants in optimum
health.
Flowering annuals that flourish
in the heat and long days of summer
are now nearing the end of
their season.
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
HARDY: If you want winter lettuce now is the time to get the plants into the soil. Stagger
Some species will continue
flowering well into April, but in
general, it is time to remove old
plants and thoroughly prepare
sites for your winter displays.
Winter flowering annuals are
a wonderful way to add colour
to the garden during the colder
months.
Some varieties are; aquilegias,
alyssum calendulas, cinerarias,
cornflowers, lobelias, nemesia,
pansy, primulas, snapdragons,
statice, stock, sweet william, wall
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
flower and violas.
Planting of bulbs should be
completed by the end of the
month in colder parts of New
Zealand. Their blooms will be a
welcome sight after a long dreary
winter.
Prepare the sites well for your
new bulbs by adding compost
and ensure there is enough drainage.
Think about the final effect
you want to achieve from your
bulbs come spring, for instance,
bulbs planted in clusters produce
Wednesday March 13 2024 Selwyn Times
GARDENING 35
a more dramatic display.
Bulbs to plant in March include
anemone, daffodil, hyacinth,
freesia, ranunculus, Ixia, lachenalia,
sparaxis, tritonia, tulip and
watsonias.
It’s a great month for apples and
pears with many varieties ripening.
Gold queen peach (the last
of the peaches to ripen) is mature
on trees now. In early March, in
warmer areas, passionfruit will
be ripening – pick from the vines
or collect off the ground as they
turn purple. Stone fruit trees that
have finished cropping can now
be pruned to remove old and
crowded branches, retaining wellspaced,
new season growth for
next year’s fruit.
Once the weather has settled
and regular autumn rains have
arrived, the laying of new lawns
and/or the renovation of existing
lawns can begin. As with most
tasks in the garden, preparation
is the key to success. Always
check the quality of the top soil
you bring on to your property to
avoid a new lawn full of seeds.
Use bagged products for
smaller spaces. One of the top tips
for getting a superior year-round
lawn is sowing a mixture of lawn
seed.
With existing lawns, feed with
fertiliser and water it in well.
Mow your lawn regularly to
encourage strong, healthy grass
growth.
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