Judy Horton from Yates with advice for your garden on 2UE Saturday Afternoons.

May 2012

Week 1: May gardening

We celebrate Mother’s Day in May and, by the end of the month, say goodbye to autumn.  Make the most of remaining autumn colour – both leaves and flowers.    

Vegies to sow in May
Onions are funny things.  Start them off too early and the plants are finished before they form bulbs.  Plant them too late and they never reach bulbing stage.  But, in most areas, May’s a good month to sow Yates Hunter River White Onion.  Start seeds in pots of Yates Seed Raising Mix.  While you’re waiting for them to emerge, mix some Yates Garden Lime into the planting bed (skip this if you know your soil has a high pH).  Transplant when the seedlings are big enough to handle and thin out when they’re about 12cm tall.  Discarded seedlings can be used like chives to add flavour in the kitchen.

Flowers to sow in May
In warmer areas, sow the last of the sweet peas.  There’s still time to sow winter/spring pansies and violas early in the month, but, in cold areas, keep them in a sheltered spot until the seedlings have had time to establish.

Feed in May
It’s vital to get as much growth as possible on winter vegies – such as cauliflowers, spinach, Brussels sprouts and cabbages – before winter sets in, so regular liquid feeding is essential.  Use Yates Thrive or organic Uplift at least every two weeks or, even better, weekly at half the recommended strength.  
Prune in May
Remove dead fruit from summer fruit trees such as peaches and plums.  Remove dead twigs, too.  Prune out any other dead wood on shrubs and trees and spray with Lime Sulfur after leaves have fallen.  Tidy-up pruning of green, leafy material should be as light as possible because there’s no point in stimulating growth at this time of year.    

May pest watch
Check indoor plants for signs of pests and diseases.  Remove scale and mealy bugs by hand where possible.  If necessary, take the plant outside (in the shade) and spray with Confidor.  Allow the plant to dry off and make sure you bring it in before nightfall.  Scale insects on potted palms can be treated with the convenient Confidor Tablets.  

May job file
Prepare soil for winter plantings.  Mix in bulky organic matter (like compost) and some gentle, genuine Yates Blood & Bone or Dynamic Lifter pellets.  Sandy soil may need more organic matter.  Use Yates Gypsum to help make clay soils more workable.  

Plant of the month
Tree begonias fit beautifully into those semi-shaded difficult spots against a wall or beneath large trees.  Their upright, caney growth, coloured leaves and bunches of flowers ensure a long-lasting display.  Cut back at the end of winter and spray any powdery mildew (to which they are prone) with Yates Rose Gun Advanced.


Week 2: Chrysanthemum care

It’s fair to say that chrysanthemums have faded a little in popularity.  They used to be grown extensively in gardens but these days they’re most often seen as an indoor flowering plant.  One thing hasn’t changed, though.  Chrysanthemums (in this case, the potted varieties) are still invariably associated with Mother’s Day.  By happy chance, their long, nearly-unpronounceable name ends in ‘mum’ and their flowering coincides with Mother’s Day.

Chrysanthemums flower in autumn because their blooming is triggered by shortening days.  We’re all aware that flowering can be affected by temperature but it’s less well known that light levels play an important role, too.   This means that chrysanthemums in glasshouses can be manipulated to have their flowering occur on cue.  

For most of us, our initial experience with a chrysanthemum will be as a potted indoor plant.  Keep the pot in a well-lit position and regularly remove dead flowers and leaves.  Water at the base so that the leaves stay as dry as possible, and don’t overwater.  Remember, an indoor plant doesn’t require anything like as much water as the same plant would if grown outdoors.  

When the plant stops flowering, you have a choice.  Either take it out of the pot and add it to the compost, or plant it into a sunny garden bed.  Water in with some Yates Uplift Root Booster.  This helps the plant to settle in, and Uplift’s natural soil wetter component will ensure that moisture gets right through to the roots.

Chrysanthemum plants are very good value.  They require only the most basic of care and can last for years.  Feed every so often with some easy-to-apply Yates Acticote or Garden Gold.  Large parts of the plant will die back after flowering, leaving a low clump of new shoots emerging from the base.  These new shoots are much favoured by snails, so spread a light sprinkling of Blitzem or Baysol pellets to protect them.

At the end of winter, trim back any remaining dead stems and feed again.  In spring the plants will send up tall, upright shoots.  Pinch these back two or three times before the end of the year. This will encourage a bushier growth habit.  

Pests and diseases
As well as the snails and slugs already mentioned, watch out for aphids.  When they first appear and their numbers are small, they’re easily removed by squashing the pests between your finger and thumb but, if numbers increase, they’ll need to be sprayed.  The best thing to use is Yates Rose Gun Advanced, a combination of insecticide and fungicide that will control most of the common plant problems.

White rust is a particularly nasty disease that has arrived in Australia relatively recently.  With its persistent white pustules, white rust is very difficult to treat but the new Zaleton fungicide from Yates is registered to control this problem.  Zaleton comes in a dropper pack that evenly measures out drops of concentrate into the required amount of water.  Spray every couple of weeks when conditions favour disease or when the pustules are evident.  Zaleton will also help control powdery mildew, another fungal disease that often attacks chrysanthemums.  



Week 3 : Lilium season

Autumn’s renowned as the planting season for spring-flowering bulbs (e.g. daffodils, hyacinths and tulips) but, as winter approaches, later-flowering bulbs such as liliums start to become available.  Most people are familiar with liliums - they’re regularly seen in cut flower arrangements.  But, because they look so stately and perfect, many gardeners don’t realise how easy liliums are to grow.

Lilium bulbs don’t have the familiar protective ‘skin’ we see on daffodils, onions and other bulbs and, as a result, they’re vulnerable to drying out.  Lilium bulbs are available in packages or from specialist growers such as Golden Ray Liliums www.goldenray.com.au. Packaged lilium bulbs should be purchased as early as possible while the bulbs are still in good condition.  And, because the bulbs are relatively vulnerable, it’s best to plant them straight away.

Liliums can be grown in pots filled with good quality potting mix (such as Yates Professional) or in a pre-prepared garden bed.  Choose a spot with well-drained soil.  A small amount of old cow manure dug through the soil will improve its organic content, but never fresh manure, and not too much.  Drop a few Dynamic Lifter pellets into the base of the planting hole and cover with a small layer of soil.  Plant bulb, allowing at least 10cm of soil depth above the bulb.  Water in with Yates Uplift Root Booster.  

couple of weeks with Yates Rose Gun Advanced.  This combined insecticide, miticide and fungicide will keep the plants free of most of the common pests and diseases.  Watch out particularly for snails and slugs – they love the new growth.  Sprinkle Blitzem or Baysol pellets around the base and renew the pellets after heavy rain.  If you have pets, put the pellets inside a pet-proof, snail-accessible container.  Keep the soil moist, but not over-wet.     

While all lilium flowers are beautiful, the plants fall into a few distinct groups.  Trumpet liliums have graceful, bell-shaped flowers that hang from the top of upright stems.  Some of the best known are the wildflowers such as pure white Lilium longiflorum which, depending on your climate, is known either as November lily or Christmas lily.

Asiatic liliums are hardy growers that tend to bloom in late spring or early summer.  There are also some relatively new crosses between Asiatics and Christmas lilies that are known as LA lilies.  

The biggest, showiest and most flamboyant lilies are the later-flowering Orientals.  Their highly perfumed, large blooms can be so heavy that it’s best to plant them in a wind-protected spot and, if necessary, stake them to support the top-heavy stems.

Liliums make superb cut flowers (take care to avoid the staining pollen), but don’t forget to continue fertilising the plants after the flowers have been removed.  The remaining leaves will continue to feed goodness through to the bulb.  Re-pot bulbs after the plants have died down in autumn but, if possible, leave them undisturbed for a number of years.


Week 4 : ‘Ask the Experts’ at the garden show

For many years Yates has been conducting ‘Ask the Experts’ sessions at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show.  These sessions give gardeners the opportunity to ask about some of the problems they’re experiencing in their gardens.  Here are some examples of this year’s questions:

* Why didn’t my crepe myrtle flower well this year?  Crepe myrtles love heat and the cooler temperatures this year have reduced flowering.  Hopefully next summer will be warmer and will give you better results.  Crepe myrtles flower on new wood so winter pruning will encourage more blooming.  Feed in early spring and again in late spring with Yates Dynamic Lifter Advanced for Roses.  

* I have little white specks all over the stems of my roses.  What are they? These specks are caused by rose scale, a sap-sucking pest that attaches itself to the main stem of the rose.  Pest numbers build up over the years and the pests become more damaging.  While the roses have leaves, spray the stems with Yates Scale Gun. In winter after pruning, while the plants are still leafless, apply Yates Lime Sulfur.  Remove remnant scale by scrubbing gently with an old brush.

* I have a hedge of New Zealand pittosporums and, even though we’ve had lots of rain this year, some of them are dying.  I have clay soil.  Do you know what is wrong? These pittosporums are very prone to suffering from root rot disease, which is more likely to occur in periods of wet weather, especially in heavy, clay soils.  You may be better to replace them with inundation-tolerant plants such as bottlebrush.   Apply Yates Anti Rot to the plants a couple of times a year to help build up their resistance to root rot.

* I cut down a weedy tree and sprayed the base with glyphosate, but shoots keep appearing from below ground.  What can I do?  Re-cut into the stem or bark and re-apply some Zero Glyphosate 490 using a paint brush (make sure you keep the brush clean as dirt will break down the herbicide more quickly).  Or use Tree & Blackberry Killer according to instructions.  Cut shoots just above ground level and immediately apply herbicide.    

* My path is full of weeds and my husband is tired of spraying them.  Do you have any suggestions? Yates Once-A-Year Pathweeder leaves a residue in the soil between pavers that stops weed growth for up to twelve months.  It’s available as a concentrate or in a ready-to-use trigger pack.

* What are the yellow lumps on the back of my frangipani leaves?  This is a relatively new disease called frangipani rust.  While the tree is still in leaf, spray with Yates Rose Gun Advanced.  After leaf fall, use Lime Sulfur.  Try to pick up and bin the affected leaves as they drop.  This will be a big job (depending on the size of the tree) but is worth the effort. 

April 2012

Week 1: April gardening

April can be a changeable month in the garden.  Plants begin winding down for winter, but warmth lingers on sunny days.  

Vegies to sow in April – Dwarf peas
Dwarf peas grow easily from seed and this is a good time to sow them in temperate climates.  In cold areas, delay sowing until late winter or early spring.  It’s vital to time peas so that they flower when there’s little or no chance of frost.   Yates Earlicrop Massey is a quick grower that produces pods within twelve to fourteen weeks of sowing.

Flowers to sow in April – Foxglove Foxy
Foxgloves have very fine seeds that should be sown close to the surface of the soil.  If the seeds are buried too deeply, they’ll never emerge.  Although foxgloves are technically biennials – which means they flower in their second year – modern varieties have been bred to flower more quickly.   And if you cut off the main flower spike when it’s finished, smaller, flower-filled side shoots will develop.  

Feed in April
Lawn feeding is an important task for this month so that you get maximum growth before the winter slowdown.  This encourages a thicker lawn with fewer opportunities for weeds to invade.  Yates top quality Lawn Master has slow release particles that continue feeding for weeks. Start raising the mower height, as well, allowing grass leaves to grow a little taller.

Prune in April
Long, lanky, runaway growth on shrubs like abelias and abutilons can be shortened to re-shape and tidy the bushes.  Take care, though, to avoid cutting back shrubs that flower in winter or early spring, or you could ruin their incipient blooming.    

April pest watch – Thrips
At the moment tiny, sap-sucking thrips are spoiling leaves on all sorts of plants.  Although the damage can be extensive, thrips aren’t that easy to identify.  Look for leaves that are silvery and brown.  Turn discoloured leaves over and inspect their backs. The pests themselves are difficult to see but their black blobs of excrement are amazingly large for such small insects.  Viburnums are number one target of thrips attack, but also look for thrips-damaged leaves on camellias, natives, azaleas, fuchsias, rhododendrons and strappy-leafed plants.   Confidor will kill the pests but won’t repair the damage.  Only healthy new growth will disguise that.

April job file
Are you guilty – I often am – of purchasing a must-have plant and then leaving it languishing in a pot?  Well, April is the month to get all those neglected specimens planted out into the garden, well before the cold weather arrives.     

Plant of the month - Ceratostigma
The five-syllabled name is enough to put anyone off this plant.  But its ease of growth, deep blue flowers and autumn colours should ensure this shrub a place in many more gardens.




Week 2 : Autumn colour

Deciduous plants drop their leaves when conditions are unfavourable.  And the largest group of deciduous plants are those that lose their leaves for winter.  This is a survival mechanism that helps get the plant through the tough, cold part of the year.

Before the leaves fall, the chlorophyll, the greening substance in the plant, withdraws from the leaf and allows the other colours to show through.  This is why autumn leaves can be red, orange, yellow, brown, pink and all those other related shades.  The intensity of autumn colour will be even deeper if the plant is under some stress.  Cool, dry weather produces the best autumn colour.

If you want to have more autumn colour in your garden, take a walk around the neighbourhood in autumn and see which trees put on the best show.  The choice will be greatest in cold climates, but even in milder areas it’s possible to have an autumn show.  Japanese maples and crepe myrtles are suitable and reliable in smaller gardens.  Ash trees, ginkgo, liquidambar and tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), which all need a bit more space, will also produce some kind of display almost everywhere but the tropics.

Here are some autumn-colouring favourites:
* Ornamental pears - There are many cultivars that range from round-headed shade trees to upright-growing statement makers.    Pears are tolerant to varying conditions and mostly produce a spring show of blossom that rivals the autumn display.
* Chinese pistachio is related to the well known nut tree. Its divided leaflets are glossy green during summer and change to satisfying shades of red in autumn.
* Crabapples are usually grown for their spring flowers, but their ability to produce autumn colour shouldn’t be overlooked.  The leaves of the popular Bechtel crabapple, Malus ioensis ‘Plena’, turn shades of red and orange in autumn.
* Golden ash is a good-sized shade tree with yellow autumn foliage and fascinating yellow bark that is studded with dark buds in winter.  Once established, this tree has reasonable drought tolerance.
* Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’ is a fashionable favourite with heart-shaped leaves that stay a rich purple for most of the growing season, then turn orange and yellow as winter approaches.

And if you don’t have room for a tree, there’s still the opportunity to grow an autumn-colouring shrub or climber.

* Smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria) is a tree-shaped, large shrub that is named for its puffs of summer flowers.  The cultivar called ‘Grace’ is particularly gracious.   
* Enkianthus is an old-fashioned deciduous shrub with bell-shaped, waxy, cream-to-white spring flowers.  
* Virginia creeper and Boston ivy are clinging climbers that develop short-lived but stunning autumn colour, even in relatively warm areas.




Week 3 : Strawberry fields forever

If you can only grow one fruit in your garden, let it be a strawberry. Strawberries must be one of the most loved fruits in the world and, because they’ll grow in a small space, even a courtyard garden can feature a few strawberry plants.

They’re quick, too. If you plant strawberries in April, there’s a good chance that they’ll produce fruit before the end of the year.   And, as with any other plant, pre-preparing the soil will pay dividends in better plant health and production further down the track.  Do this by digging in good organic compost and some natural fertiliser (blood and bone or Dynamic Lifter).

There are some excellent modern strawberry varieties and it’s helpful to plant a few different types if you have the space.  This will maximise pollination of the flowers.

Strawberries are decorative enough to be used as a border along a garden bed – there are even some with bright pink flowers - but the plants can quickly become untidy.  If you want them to stay looking good, they’ll need regular feeding and trimming.   Tidying starts right at planting time when it’s recommended to remove tatty old leaves and trim straggly roots.

Packaged strawberries, which are certified free of virus disease, are usually available in winter.  Otherwise, you can cadge some healthy rooted runners off friends.  Runners are the sideway-growing shoots that the plants produce.  In the early years, remove runners as soon as they appear because they take a lot of energy away from the plant.   It’s only in about the third year that you should let them form and develop roots.  By this stage the mother plant will be getting tired and it’s best to replace her with these vigorous offspring.  Don’t bury the plants too deeply.  The crown of the plant – the junction of roots and leaves – should be at ground level.

Strawberries are named after the straw that was used as to mulch them in earlier times.  You don’t have to use straw these days (although there’s no reason why you shouldn’t) but they do appreciate some type of mulch.  You can also use other mulches like leaf mould, dry grass clippings or weed mat.  The idea is to stop weed competition but, better still, to keep the fruit off the ground so it’s less likely to rot.

Feed growing strawberries regularly with soluble Thrive.  When the first flowers appear, promote good production by switching to Thrive Flower & Fruit.  

Strawberries do very well in pots.  Use a good quality potting mix (like Yates Premium).  There are even special strawberry pots that have a number of planting sections.  If space is at a premium, strawberries can be grown in hanging baskets or the versatile Yates Vertical Garden Bags.  

Watch out for aphids and mites spoiling the leaves.  Yates Nature’s Way Natrasoap will help with their control.  Slugs often attack the ripe fruit, so sprinkle a few Blitzem pellets and pick fruit before it softens.

Birds are the number one strawberry pest.  It might even be necessary to construct a cage over the bed to protect the strawberries and keep birds at bay.  



Week 4: Sasanqua camellias

The autumn/early winter-flowering sasanqua camellia is also known as the tough camellia. It’s the one that will cope with sun, is faster growing and can be hedged or shaped to suit a wide variety of positions in the garden.  Sasanquas, too, belong to that valuable group of plants that will grow and flower in reasonably deep shade.

Sasanqua flowers come in traditional camellia shades of pink, white and cerise.  The fragile-looking blooms can be single, double or something in between.  Some are ‘self-grooming’ which means they shed their mature flowers.  Others hang onto the dead blooms for a while, giving the plants an unattractive, ‘dirty washing’ appearance.

Much recent breeding work has produced a selection of sasanquas in sizes that range from ground covers to tall, upright growers that make excellent screening hedges.   Other cultivars have flexible, somewhat pendulous growth that makes them ideal for espalier work.  Espalier is the term for training plants flat against a fence or wall and removing outward shoots so that the growth stays in a single plane.  This is a brilliant way to soften and decorate a blank wall in the garden.

Caring for sasanquas
Like all camellias, sasanquas prefer slightly acid soil that is rich in organic matter.  If your soil is alkaline you can adjust a small area with applications of Yates Acitone.  Dig some pulverised cow manure or pre-moistened peat moss into the soil before planting.  In dry areas (or in pots), it’s a good idea to also add some pre-swollen Yates Waterwise Water Storage Crystals.  For pots, choose a quality potting mix (such as Yates Professional) and a good-sized container.  Unless the plant is very small, the pot should be a minimum 40cm across.   

Keep a layer of organic mulch over the root area and top it up at least once a year.  Feed the plant with a suitable fertiliser.  Yates Acticote is good for feeding pots but, if you want an organic touch, Dynamic Lifter for Camellias, Azaleas & Rhododendrons is a specially blended combination of composted chicken manure and acidic nutrients.

In spite of their reputation for toughness, sasanquas dislike hot, dry positions.  In warmer climates, they’re best kept in a shady spot and given a protective spray with Yates DroughtShield whenever hot weather is predicted.  

All camellias can suffer from scale attack.  Keep an eye out for scale insects (they have a protective coating) and possibly the accompanying sooty mould.  Treat with Confidor or Yates Scale Gun.  Once the scale goes, the sooty mould will gradually disappear. Sap sucking thrips can discolour the foliage, especially in dry situations.  Water through the leaves regularly and spray new growth with Confidor a few times a year.  

Sasanquas can also be affected by a spring fungal problem that causes the new leaves to thicken and take on the appearance of cauliflower ears.  Remove and bin affected leaves.  

Prune sasanquas after flowering or at any other time that takes your fancy.  Remember, though, late summer/autumn pruning will reduce blooming.       

For more information contact Judy Horton (02) 97949481 judy.horton@yates.com.au  

www.yates.com.au

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