The garden is waking up, and you’re in charge. It’s time to start planting, pruning and preparing your garden beds to get the best out of your plants.
EDIBLES
- Check for growth, did you plant any bulbs, before winter or at the start, they might be just starting to pop their heads out of the ground.
- Prep garden beds ready for your new seedlings of veg and flowers.
- Remove all dead leaves and dig old composted mulch into the soil and add in some organics. Some of the vege that can be planted now include, Beets, Broccoli, Carrots, Lettuce, Silver beet, Corn and Tomatoes just to name a few. Once your new crop it planted protect your plants by putting a good thickness of mulch.
- Prune all your fruit trees if you didn’t do this in winter, prune before all the buds begin to break into bloom so as not to stress out your tree as this may result in a tiny crop.
- Once this is done, remove any grass or weeds growing around the base of your fruit trees, sprinkle some organic plant food around the root zone and gently mix into the soil with a garden fork. Finish with a good top up or mulch as this will keep the soil cooler and retain the moisture during the warmer months.
PERENNIALS
- Once new growth appears, it’s a good time to divide perennials. Some examples of these are Agapanthus, Kangaroo Paw, Anthurium, Dahlia, Clivia and Geraniums – see images.
- Transfer them to bare spots in your garden or give away to friends; you may be able to swap if they have a different variety to you.
- Give your newly moved and divided plants some fertilizer and water in well to de stress and finish off with a good covering of mulch
LAWNS
- Now is also a great time to give your lawns a bit of TLC, a good a start is to Aerate. It is recommended for decreasing the thatch as well as compaction. It also helps to increase the amount of air, water and nutrients getting to the soil, which strengthens grass roots and helps to create a healthier lawn.
- Pull out any weeds, most can be done by hand or mown over, if your lawn is healthy it will eventually choke-out most weeds. If you have weeds taking over and they don’t die off, talk to your local nursery or lawn specialist for advice on the best herbicides to use.
- Lightly fertilise your lawn as this will give it a kick start for summer but don’t go overboard, if you still have weeds in your lawn to much will result in them getting a great feed as well.
- This time of year we do get a bit of natural rainfall so you may find you only need to do a minimal watering by hand or sprinkler. This will also train your lawn to be less dependent on being watered frequently.
Remember a well looked after and maintained garden and lawn is a happy garden and lawn and will give you back as much joy and you give it. Happy Gardening
