Get your hands dirty over the long Easter weekend and turn your garden into an autumnal happy place
Finale
The last of summer’s flowers are putting on their final show, a glorious blast of colour. Stop and admire the blooms, which from hibiscus to helenium, from bougainvillea to rudbeckia
are bathing in the light of the ever-shortening days.
Hole in one
The falling air temperatures have yet to affect the soil, which will be still warm, creating great conditions for planting ornamental and fruit trees, shrubs and perennials. If planted now they can settle in before the cold inhibits growth.
Be over-generous with the planting hole. Dig half as big again as the root ball. Add slow-release fertiliser to the bottom of the hole. Staking trees, preferably with two stakes and a stretchy band, will give them a head start in wind-prone sites. In warmer regions and clement microclimates, pawpaw, persimmon, cherimoya, pineapple, banana and tropical guava may be planted. Most need a long growing period, shelter from harsh winds, full sun and good drainage.
Get it in…
Plant seedlings of ornamental annuals and perennials for winter colour. In warmer areas, try lobelia, snapdragons, cornflowers and calendula. In frost-prone colder zones bellis (English daisies), violas, pansies and polyanthus are safe bets.
Broad beans, coriander, lettuce, rocket, spinach, pak choy and silver beet may be sown direct. Seedlings of brassicas, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale, may be planted in soil preferably after lots of compost has been added.
…and out
Harvest kūmara when the leaves turn yellow. Dig up and leave in a warm but shady spot for a couple of days to harden the skins a little, then store in a cool, not cold, airy place, Green machine Sow a green manure once summer crops are removed to grow over winter. Cut it down in early spring and let dry on the soil before being dug in, where it will add vital nutrients.
Steal this look
This classical pond and patio is a masterclass in sophisticated elegance. Restrained and considered, the palate is also muted, with the cream hard landscaping and green foliage offset by splashes of maroon – darker in the leaves and lightening to pink in the blooms. Prudent dashes of violet flowers imbue a tiniest frisson of the unexpected. The forget-me-not flowers are a pretty addition and gently recalls the more ephemeral side of nature. Curves are to the fore, in the orb, the rocks and pebble beach. Their shape is echoed in the rotund leaves of the water lily and other pondside plants; and most prominently in the pond, a circle cut into the rectangular, rough-hewn paving slabs. A smattering of erect plants pierces the softness with a subtlety matched by the metal furniture.
Knives out
Prune back hydrangeas and hebes once flowering is finished, and dead-head roses.
Consider this
Cordless hedge-trimmers make the task such a joy you’ll be looking for evermore subjects to trim, shape and sculpt. Lighter and quieter than petrol ones, they are also more mobile than electric versions. Those with dual-edged blades are smooth to use, up and down, swooping, especially great for curves and in confined spaces. However, the comparative lightness of single-sided blades means they can be longer without upsetting the balance of the trimmer. And a longer blade is more efficient for longer or higher hedges.
How to garden by the moon
Scientific bases for it may be scant – if not non-existent – but for thousands of years gardeners and farmers around the globe have used the moon as a cultivation guide. Many believe the gravitational pull of the moon on the Earth’s oceans and tides may also influence the movement of sap and other nutrient-bearing fluids in plants. In a nutshell, the advice is: plant root crops when the moon is waning (from full moon to new moon) and other crops, such as leafy or fruit-producing ones when it is waxing (from new moon to full moon). This is believed to be when more vigorous growth occurs. Herbs and annuals are best planted at new moon, while pruning and harvesting should take place during a waning moon when there is less lunar pull on the sap and thus less internal movement. In a more dormant state the plant will suffer less.
Landscape 101: sub-tropical gardens
Warmer, wetter, humid northern areas – where roses succumb to fungal diseases in a blink and perennials peak and perish in half the time of those in cooler climes – are ideal
for sub-tropical gardens. While those in slightly cooler or drier spots may struggle to achieve this particular look of paradise, it is possible with perseverance and some flexibility in plant choice.
Sub-tropical gardens can be as much a feel, a mood and a look as they are a distinct and discrete collection of plants that grow in the sub-tropics. A sub-tropical garden is defined by its lushness, its rich fragrance and by its abundance and diversity of plants and foliage, which tends to the big and bold. The look demands the full gamut of plants jostling with each other. The largest plants are chiefly palms. Any number fit the bill, from nīkau to those found in the jungles of South America. Next come the creepers and vines. Looping their way across the garden, tangling themselves with mad abandon come the likes of bougainvillea, mandevilla and tecomanthe. Of the smaller plants, many will have large, striking foliage, such as taro, canna, bromeliad, puka and tractor-seat plant. Add some flowers – vireya rhododendrons, birds of paradise, frangipani, gardenia, hibiscus – and the look is complete. Of course, sub-tropical fruits such as passionfruit and banana never go astray.
The above list may have to be fine-tuned according to your locale. Make note of the aspect, how much frost or cold or hot winds it gets. What is the rainfall? Is the ground free-draining? How much sun does it get?
Usually it pays to add plenty of compost to the soil and to always plant the bigger plants first. Groups of three (or other odd numbers) will avoid a bitty look. Then fill in with the smaller ones. And presto, in this fast-growing habitat, the tropics is yours in a flash.
Words by: Mary Lovell Smith
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