A plant with freckles - Feb 05, 2015
Dear Gardening Friends,
I turned up today wondering what I was going to write about but then I saw how beautiful our front garden looked and I got inspiration.
Karyn's petunias are still looking fantastic but in the next couple of weeks she will cut them back by 20% and then feed them with Tim's Fast Food Fertiliser. This will make them sprout fresh new growth and heaps more flowers will follow. This is a great way to extend the life of your petunias. So don't pull them out!
As I walked into our shade house this morning I was amazed to see a bench full of the most amazing Coleus plants.
These fast growing shade loving plants have spectacular foliage. Karyn grows them in our garden near the Moore Oxley bypass.
They get morning sun and they grow beautifully. Check them out. We have them on the instant colour bench 4 for $12.00. These newer varieties are more expensive.
While I'm talking about foliage plants you can't beat one called Hypoestes. Commonly called Freckle face. This likes the same conditions as Coleus.
If you have a shady garden, plant some of these for some instant colour. You will find them in our shade house.
Ryan has cut back all our potted Rose Bushes and they are sprouting fresh new growth and new flower buds are forming. If your rose bushes are looking tired cut them back now.
Gardeners often get frightened about pruning roses. You can't go wrong. Just do it!
Talk to Ryan about what to fertilise your roses with.
He is always trying new products.
He often sprays the foliage with a mixture of Harvest and water.
Citrus leaf miner is doing serious damage to Citrus trees now. The rain washes off any oil products you might be using to protect your plants.
You need to reapply every time it rains for best results. I am using Pestoil on my trees.
If you have planted trees in your lawn it is very easy to damage them with your lawn mower or wiper sniper.
The cambium layer is just under the bark so you can ring bark a tree and sentence it to a slow death very easily if you are not careful.
Some lawn mower contractors have no horticultural training so they have no idea.
The best way to protect your trees is to mulch around the base with Tim's Termite Resistant mulch.
This stops the grass growing around the base. It also keeps the water in the soil so your tree grows faster!
I mulched around the trees we planted at Campbelltown Hospital this morning.
We planted these guerrilla style about 5 years ago and they are starting to look sensational.
We have a big weekend planned for March 7 and 8. It is called ' Garden Re-Leaf' We are raising money for beyondblue.
We have some exciting events planned for that weekend, Including a gardeners mega raffle chock full of goodies to give your garden some 'Re-Leaf'. More details as the weekend draws closer.
Beyondblue is a great cause and all of us would have a friend who suffers from depression.
Prepare your garden for Autumn planting now. Pull out spent vegetable plants then dig in Tim's Cow Manure. You need one bag for every 2 square metres of garden.
Cover the soil with fresh sugarcane and water well. Let this rest for a couple of weeks. Don't plant Autumn seedling until it turns cold at night!
Poor Pig got squashed during the week when the garden gnomes heard we had won The Asian Cup!
Never turn your back on a garden gnome.
Happy Gardening
Tim