In The Garden with Brownie
• Citrus trees are heavy feeders and need fertilising now. Use a specific citrus fertiliser and apply at the rate on the bag. It’s important to keep up regular watering of citrus while they are flowering and developing small fruits.
• Fertilise your Camellia sasanqua bushes as the buds appear. Use a special camellia and azalea fertiliser.
• Look at areas which have been saturated with the rains – they may need some underground drainage to take the water away. It will help prevent the soil from souring and from fungal diseases.
• Remove the spent flowering stems of agapanthus. You can collect the seed and grow them yourself if you wish.
• Sew broccoli and cabbage seeds now and raise them for planting in March and April.
• To treat lawn grubs, try sprinkling the area with a little laundry powder, and then water it in. The grubs will come to the surface and the birds will eat them.
• Cover tender plants with shade cloth when really hot days are predicted.
• If you haven’t done so, prune your poinsettias (including Snowflake) to promote new growth for the next flowering.
• Do not feed your garden in very hot weather, as it will place too much stress on the root systems.
• Do not use chemical sprays once temperature reaches 28 degrees, or you will burn your plants. Best time is early evening, once the sun is low in the sky.
• Water your plants and not your garden. Give your prized plants a watering can full of diluted seaweed solution once a week in very hot weather.
• Trim back wayward shoots of wisteria to keep it under control.
• Remove scale from indoor plants using soapy water and a soft toothbrush.