IT’S time to get your garden in order before the rellies come over – you don’t want to be hearing “Geez, is your mower broken?” or “I didn’t know the messy look is the in-thing this year!”.
Let’s hope we get some decent rains over the next month or so to keep all our gardens going and to put a lid on the risk of bushfires flaring. But can I please order a spell of fine weather between Christmas and New Year … not too hot, not too wet, not to stormy … is that asking too much?
• If we have heavy rains
you may need to
re-fertilise around your
green leafy vegetables
as nutrients would have
leached out of your soil.
• If you haven’t done it yet,
prune your azaleas to
keep them nice and
compact, and give them
a feed with azalea fertiliser.
Spray them with a suitable
insecticide to protect the
leaves from the dreaded
azalea lacewing.
• Caterpillars and
grasshoppers have
started to multiply and
will need to be kept in
check. Hand remove or
spray with a natural spray
(such as Dipel) every
couple of days. Remember
that water washes off any
sprays – so retreat after
rain or watering.
• Fertilise your bananas
and cut out any suckers
you don’t want. For each
mature plant, you should
have one sapling and one
sucker. Regularly remove
yellowing leaves to keep
the clump tidy.
• Paw paw trees which have
grown too tall can be cut
back now. Cut the stem to
1m off the ground and
cover the cut top with a
tin can or yoghurt container.
• Funnel ants may be making
a mess in your backyard
with their unsightly mounds
of dirt. Control them by
sprinkling ant control
granules and watering it in.
• Don’t forget to slip-slop-
slap when you go out in
the garden, even if it is
for a short period. Try to
do most of the work in the
mornings or the afternoons,
so that you miss the
heat of the day. Take a
water bottle with you too
– keeping well hydrated is
just as important.
• Cherry tomatoes are the
easiest to grow during the
hot summer months. The
larger varieties suffer from
heat, humidity, caterpillars,
fruit fly, viral and fungal
infections.
• Tidy up the garden for Santa
– he doesn’t think too
highly of a messy garden.
