Happy New Year, the summer storms have encouraged beautiful growth and life in the garden. We believe that 2024 is going to be the best year in the garden yet!
Summer is a great time of year to stop and enjoy the fruits of the previous labour we have put into our gardens. However, there is still a lot to be done this month to keep our gardens looking great.
Garden jobs for January:
Now is the time to focus on protecting your garden from the severity of summer.
Consider setting up some shade cloths to cover garden beds. It’s a great way to protect your veggies and flowers from that harsh summer sun.
Be water smart! It’s best to water your garden first thing in the morning. This will give your soil a chance to absorb the moisture before the day gets too hot. Also treat your entire garden with a plant and soil conditioner like Seasol, this will promote healthy growth, and increase your plants resistance to heat.
With the summer storms there is beautiful growth in the garden, unfortunately this includes weeds. Make sure to add a layer of mulch to help suppress weeds. You can pull the remaining weeds by hand or you can come in-store and we can help choose the safest option for your garden and pets.
Watch out for unwanted pests such as aphids, they will still be about and wanting to feast upon your flowers.
The Flower Garden
January is a great time to get out in the garden. It may be a lot hotter than any of us would like, but there are still plenty of flowers in bloom and thriving. This month’s ideal plantings consist of:
- Alyssum
- Calendula
- Dwarf Marigold
- Nasturtium
- Pansy
- Stock
- Sweet Pea
- Poppies
- Violas
- Forget Me Not
Cut back and feed all annual flowers. Deadhead and fertilise flowering plants such as fuchsias and geranium to encourage a new flush of blooms.
Spray roses to control black spot and pick up any fallen leaves around your roses.
Be sure to weed, and keep your garden tidy, to deter snakes and other creepy crawlies that come with the hot summer days.
Lawns
Keep lawns mowed back, but be sure to raise the mower blades, to avoid scalping your lawn. Scalping your lawn will encourage weeds to take hold and reduce the foliage protection to soil. This effectively results in shallow lawn roots and grass with poor disease resistance. Scalped grass is also at risk of drying out and becoming unsightly.
We suggest adding a water retention granule such as Searles Penetraide or Garden Mate to your soil or lawn. This can reduce water usage by up to 50% and will save money on your water bill by making efficient use of summer rains.
Lawn Grubs are about!
With all the rain we’ve had recently it’s going to be important to keep your eye out for lawn grubs in your grass.
Lawn grubs can be identified by their white C-shaped bodies with an orange coloured head. Here are a few tips to help identify if you may have lawn grubs in your lawn.
– The simplest way to identify whether you have lawn grubs is to look for irregular brown patches in your lawn.
– As lawn grubs like to eat the roots of the grass you will easily be able to pull the lawn away from the ground as there will be no roots attached.
– Thirdly, you will see an increase of other wildlife species around your garden. Birds and rodents feed on lawn grubs.
The Edible Garden:
Harvest beans and other summer veggies regularly so they’ll continue to produce more crops.
Crops such as sweetcorn and tomatoes are likely to be looking top-heavy, so make sure you have adequate support for your plants. Offering a trellis for your tomatoes to climb and a stake to keep your sweetcorn standing tall.
Add a layer of Rocky Point Pea Straw or Lucerne Mulch. They will add nutrients including Nitrogen to the soil as they naturally decompose.
