Great Gardens start Now

Default  •  Fri 23 Sep 2022

Planning for a beautiful, healthy and happy late spring and summer garden?  A little effort now will see you rewarded with a fuss free, resilient garden this summer.  Here are our top tips to help get your garden sorted this year.

 

• Seamungus is an excellent soil improver which will help your soil better hold water this summer.  It's a granular pellet produced right here in SA.  I like to apply it annually either in winter or early spring.  
• Compost is also a stand out soil improver.  Adding compost to your soil either on top of the soil, or dug through, will go a long way to improving soil health.  In parts of the garden where you grow annuals or vegetables  applying or digging through Compost in autumn and in spring is good practice.
• Its time to start thinking about mulch.  I like to use Who Flung Dung in my garden beds, except for the veggie bed where I use pea straw.  You will find both in our drivethrough.
• Tending to your weeds while they are young will reduce the competition they give to your garden plants.  Young weeds are, of course, also easier to hand pull.  If you are not a hand weeder, you will find weedicides in store (organic and chemical).  Weedicides need to be applied on a calm, dry day, and be careful not to allow overspray onto your garden plants.  
• Soil Wetters can be applied to pots now before the weather dries, and in the garden once the soil moisture dries out.  Soil wetters are available in granular and liquid form.  Both are effective.  I recommend using the wetter which best suits your style of gardening and your time constraints.
• Apply new wonder product Popul8 to any plants showing signs of stress.  I equate Popul8, produced by our friends at Neutrog, as a little bottle of magic.  Best applied twice each season Popul8 can be used across the entire garden, including on natives, with plants generally showing improvement within a couple of weeks.   
• Fertilise trees, shrubs and flowering plants.      With a young, and ever hungry dog in the family, I have switched from using aromatic chicken poo based products (Rapid Raiser or Dynamic Lifter), to the smell free, and fabulous Troforte range of fertilisers.  If you too have an enthusiastic dog in the family look out for the Troforte range - they are excellent, slow release fertilisers with the added benefit of improving good soil microbia in your garden.
• If you've not already done so apply a slow release lawn fertiliser.  
• Check your watering system, taps and timers are all working and replace any washers or sprinklers as necessary.