Spring at last with maybe a hint of winter. There is still a risk of frosty nights. Frost cloth is easy to use when the night temperatures fall. Have lengths ready cut to drape over sensitive plants. Expect frost if the overnight temperature will be below 4 degrees and there is no wind. If tender plants do get frosted, don’t be tempted to trim them back. The dead leaves will provide some shelter for new buds beneath.
Complete preparing the vegetable plot for planting by digging in plenty of quality compost.
Protect vege seedlings from slugs and snails with slug and snail bait.
Sow seeds or plant seedlings of silver beet, spinach, spring onions, cabbage, cauliflower,broccoli, peas, beetroot, carrots, radish and lettuce. Plant with blood and bone or vegetable fertiliser.
Protect young vegetable and flower seedlings from downy mildew with FreeFlo Copper.
Sow seeds of warm season vege crops in pots indoors using Black Magic Seed Raising Mix. Try buttercup, courgette, cucumber, dwarf bean, tomato.
If you’re planting out seedlings in cooler temperatures you can protect them from frost and slugs & snails, by using 2-litre soft drink bottles. Take off the lid, cut off the bottom and push the bottle down over the seedling, into the soil. When the seedling is ready to face the elements, remove the bottle during the day and pop it back on overnight, until the seedling is mature enough to grow on its own.
Replenish the herb garden with fresh seedlings – parsley, thyme, chives, sage, mint, oregano – to name a few. Prepare the soil with compost and blood and bone.
Potatoes will always be one of the best value vege crops. From a 1kg bag of seed, expect to harvest up to 20kg of delicious potatoes. Plant early and main crop varieties now and have them ready for Christmas. Mix ½ a handful of superphosphate into the soil with each potato ‘seed’.
Protect early potato shoots from blight, aphids and tuber moth with FreeFlo Copper and Enspray 99. Mounding the soil around these shoots adds extra protection; apply superphosphate to the soil when raking up the mound.
Plant new rhubarb plants and lift and divide any established rhubarb clumps. Rhubarb plants are heavy feeders so dig in plenty of compost at planting time and follow up with general garden fertiliser at regular intervals through the year.
Plant new citrus trees and small fruits including raspberries and blueberries, into free-draining soil enriched with compost, adding a slow-release food as a base fertiliser.
Protect citrus trees from aphids, scale and sooty mould with a combination spray of Bioneem and Enspray 99 whichwill smother the pests and their eggs.
Plant strawberries into free-draining soil enriched with compost. Feed with a fruit fertiliser. Five plants per person will supply the family at each harvest.
Feed newly planted and established fruit trees, small fruits and ornamental trees and shrubs with a fruit fertiliser. Add a layer of mulch around the dripline and up to but not against the trunk of the tree.
The first signs of green tips and flower buds on stone fruit trees (peaches, plums,nectarines, cherries and apricots) means it is time to spray for leaf curl and bladder plum disease. Use FreeFlo Copper three times, two weeks apart for best control.
Protect against brown rot that destroys peaches, nectarines and sometimes apricots and plums, just as they ripen–the only fix for this is preventative spraying early spring. Use Fungus Fighter or the new biological organic spray Botry-Zen, spraying once in full bloom, and once at shuck fall (when the remains of the flower drop off the developing young fruit–usually 1-2 weeks following petal fall).
Protect apple and pear trees from codling moth attack using Success Ultra every 14 days from petal fall.
Sow seed of your favourite spring and summer flowers in seed trays with Black Magic Seed Raising mix. Keep cold sensitive plants such as marigolds, impatiens and petunias in a warm sheltered environment.
Clean up empty pots and hanging baskets in preparation for the new planting seasons. Replace old potting mix with new for best results.
Plant up containers and hanging baskets with seedlings of your favourite spring and summer flowers such as lobelia, alyssum, pansies, violas, petunias and cornflower. Use a quality potting mix and feed with a liquid plant food for quick results and plenty of blooms. Mix some water storage granules into the potting mix to minimise summer watering.
Keep deadheading late winter/early spring flowering annuals such a primulas, pansies, polyanthus and cineraria. Feed with a liquid plant food - this will help prolong flowering and give you colour until summer annuals come to life.
Plant gladioli corms and dahlia tubers for stunning summer displays. Prepare the planting site compost and blood & bone or bulb fertiliser. Gladioli will flower approximately 90 to 100 days after planting.
Plant new roses with quality planting mix, sheep pellets and a slow-release fertiliser. Watering with Root Gro after planting will stimulate the plant’s root development and help it to establish quickly.
Feed all plants in containers with a slow-release fertiliser to support and enhance new spring growth and flowering.
Roses will be showing their first shoots. Protect them from early aphid attack with SuperShield or a ready-to-use rose spray. Feed established roses with a handful of rose fertiliser.
To encourage bluer flowers on hydrangeas, dilute ¼ cup aluminium sulphate in 1L of water and water around the plant as soon as flower buds are evident on the new shoots – about 6 weeks before full flowering. Repeat for two more weeks for a deeper colour.
Feed camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons with acid fertiliser after they finish blooming. Any trimming should be done at this time. Remove any dead, diseased and damaged branches, then prune the bush to create enough light and air space for a bird to be able to flit through.
Spray the lawn for prickle(Onehunga) weed now before the plants flower and set their prickly seed. Use Prickle Weedkiller or Weed and Feed which will also control broadleaf weeds.
Moss can be a problem in poorly drained or shady areas of lawn. Improve lawn drainage by spiking the area thoroughly with a fork, and apply sulphate of iron (10g per square metre) to kill moss.
Feed the lawn with a proprietary lawn fertiliser for a lush deep green lawn.
