By: Kate Breen
Roses: If you haven’t already pruned your roses then do so now. The single most important thing in pruning roses is that the secateurs must be sharp. Blunt ones won’t cut, they tear,and that will do more harm to the plant than any wrong pruning. To prevent disease spreading,sterilise pruning tools with 1% household bleach mixed with water.
STEP by STEP to pruning Roses. STEP 1: Shorten canes by half to two-thirds. Always cut just above an outward facing bud.
STEP 2: Remove old or dead wood entirely from the base using a sharp saw.
STEP 3: Open up the bush by removing weak, spindly and inward growing stems.Spray roses with lime sulphur in winter, immediately after pruning. This needs to be done whilst they are dormant to prevent black spot, mildew and white scale. Contact weedicides likeZero Glyphosate are useful in controlling weeds among rose bushes if they are grown alone without annual plants. They can be sprayed around plants, providing they do not contact leaves or green, sappy stems. With established plants, apply a rose food in late winter or early spring and again in late autumn. Always apply when the soil is wet and water it in.
Gladioli: Plant for Christmas now. 100 days to flower from planting.
Cymbidium Orchids: Re-pot after flowering if over three years old. Feed orchids from Spring to January with Orchid Food.
Camellias, Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Daphne: Top dress with Pea-straw,peat and leafmould. Fertilise after flowering with Yates Camellia and Azalea Food. (not potted plants) Any trimming should be done at this time.
Lawns: Continue to aerate lawns. Spray broad leaf weeds with M.C.P.A.
Natives: Prune back by 1/3 when finished flowering. Apply Osmocote for Natives in Spring only.
Ferns: Re-pot ferns after removing dead fronds and unhealthy roots. Transplant soft tree ferns, replant with 1/3 trunk in the ground.
Bare-rooted Trees, Ornamentals and Roses: Last month to plant these. If you are not ready to plant them in the garden, put them in a pot with a good quality potting mix. Plant them in a pot the same way you would in the garden. That is by making a mound in the centre of the pot so that the roots can drape over the mound. Make sure that the pot is big enough to do this and to allow for the roots to grow. The roots must be surrounded with potting mix. Water in with Seasol.
The Edible Garden: Prepare the vegetable garden for Springand Summer planting. Dig in well rotted manures, Blood and Bone and composted organic material. Plant your crops North to South to maximise the value of the sun. Apply organic liquid fertiliser at planting time to vegetables and strawberries and every two weeks thereafter. Top-dress stonefruit and pears with Sulphate of Ammonia and organic manure. Mature fruit trees need 1.5kg of organic manure each Spring. Apply Yates fungus fighter to stone-fruit trees at pink bud swell, apple, pear and quince trees at early green tip. Apply Mancozeb to stone-fruit trees at 10% open blossom and then at 100% open blossom. Apple, pear and quince trees at full leaf.For Codlin Moth apply Carbaryl to apples and pears. Read and follow the instructions carefully. Do not over use.Vegetables : Vegetables you can plant now as listed in the Yates Garden Guide for cold climates are, broad- beans, cabbages, carrots, Chinese cabbages, cress, herbs, kohlrabi ,leeks, mustard, okra, spring onions, parsnips, dwarf and climbing peas, potato tubers, rhubarb crowns, salsify, silverbeet, spinach, swedes and turnips.
PLANT STALL, Saturday November 29th in front of the General Store. Proceeds to S.V. Catholic Church.