Spring Has Sprung!
Isn’t the current weather interesting? The long weekend was fine and sunny, beautiful gardening weather, then Tuesday I'm back to wearing a jacket and beanie because it’s been pouring, cold and blowing a gale!! You have to love a South Australian spring.
Sunny days are good news
The good news is that the sunny days we’ve had are gradually warming the soil for planting out summer veg, although we really do need a few more degrees of soil temperature before tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber and the like should be planted out. This will push back the vegetable season but it is already running close to four weeks late based on recent years and we will need to be patient.
Delayed availability...
The colder spring has delayed the availability of a wide range of plants that could normally be in garden centres by now. Fruit trees, both stone fruit and citrus, hibiscus, bougainvillea and more sun lovers are not growing as quickly as normal and some will not arrive in store for another four weeks or so. Strange as it may seem indoor plants from Queensland are in the same situation, one of our suppliers told me today that their nighttime temperatures are in the low single figures and as a consequence, their plants are barely putting on much growth. That’s not to say it isn’t worth coming to the garden centres, there is still a wide choice of beautiful plants to choose from, lots of spring colours to look at. One of the advantages of the slower start to warmer weather is that we have more time to get trees and shrubs established in the garden before the onset of the really hot days.
Beware of the Black Spots!!
I’ve had quite a few customers in the last week with bad cases of black spot on their roses, the warm and moist weather is perfect for fungal diseases to develop. Treat with a rose spray when the damage starts to appear, and the rose spray will also deal with infestations of aphids which are starting to show up on roses too. Leaf curl on peaches and nectarines is showing up now too but it’s too late to spray, this needs to be done with a copper spray in autumn and then again next spring at the pink bud stage.
The “buzz” word for October gardening is “feed”
Pretty much everything in our gardens will be looking for a feed this month if you didn’t get to it in September. I probably should have said there are two words because the other is “weed”. Even if nothing else grows weeds will, so be vigilant and try to control them while they’re small, it’s much easier and quicker. Pop them into your compost bin and in six to eight weeks you’ll have your own beautiful compost to use in the garden.
If you had areas of your lawn that stayed wet and became mossy over winter now is the time to improve these. Aerate the patches, a digging fork works well for this, and apply a good dressing of gypsum. As this works through the soil after rain or watering, it will help to open up heavy soils improving the drainage and over time with repeated treatments the problem should go away.
Hydrangeas should make an appearance on the shelves this month too. Pink, blue and white flowering these are magnificent in the ground or pots in a spot that gets maybe a little morning sun on the eastern side of the house. They generally sell quickly so keep an eye out when you’re in stores.
Final notes
There’s plenty to occupy us in the garden in October, so when the weather allows get out and enjoy our delayed spring. Stay sun smart too, I forgot to use sunscreen on the weekend and got a bit “pink”!
Ask one of our knowledgeable garden staff members for advice if you have any questions regarding anything having to do with your garden, indoors or out. We would be pleased to lead you on the correct path. Call us on 1300 165 165 or visit your local store.