Water
shrubs deeply
to encourage downward root growth. They will become stronger and more
drought-tolerant. Shallow watering encourages roots to turn upwards,
and so weakens the plant.
Hydrangeas
and fuchsias
need lots of water. Try to group your water-loving plants together.
It saves water and makes watering much easier.
Pinch
back fuchsias
regularly to encourage more branches. This ultimately leads to more
flowers.
Feed
camellias and gardenias
with ammonium sulphate, 30g (two tablespoons) per bush. Mix in 5
litres of water. Water the bushes well before feeding. Fertiliser
should never be applied to dry soil.
Perennials
will be growing strongly - make sure they get enough water. Feed with
a high potassium fertiliser such as 3:1:5(26)(SR).
Weeds
will be flourishing. Cut annual weeds before they set seed.
Pinch
back the growing tips of argyranthemums
(you may know them as chrysanthemums) and pelargoniums to encourage
bushy growth.
In the Western
Cape,
water regularly, particularly plants that are native to
summer-rainfall regions. And remember to mulch well. If your bunches
of grapes
are over-crowded, cut out some of the berries. Guavas
should be fed with 2:3:2(22) fertiliser.
Start
fertlising your container plants,
and do so regularly throughout the summer. Use a liquid fertiliser
such as Nitrosol. Always wet the soil before applying the
fertiliser.
Summer
bulbs
can be planted now, up to late November.
It's a good time to
plant
hedges
in summer rainfall regions, or any other region if water is
plentiful.
Final sowing of in-situ seeds of summer-flowering
annuals
by the middle of October.
Plant
out summer-flowering seedlings.
See what's available at your local nursery.
Rotate
annuals
- don't sow the same species in the same place every
year.
FRUIT
Fruit
fly and coddling moth
larvae will be after your ripening fruit now. Try using a herbal
insecticide before resorting to the chemicals.
LAWNS
Mow
your lawn regularly. The more often you cut a kikiyu lawn, the more
it will spread and thicken. Feed every 4 to 6 weeks with
3:2:1(28)(SR), a slow-release fertiliser that wont burn the lawn. Or
use L.A.N. for quick results, but always apply it to a dry lawn (if
it's damp, it'll burn the lawn badly), then water very well. If you
can apply it just before a storm, all the better.
Keep a
lookout for lawn caterpillars. If you suspect you may have them, try
putting a wet towel on the lawn at night, and check under it in the
morning. If you see a few, you have them in the lawn. Try watering
with a good squirt of dishwashing liquid diluted in a 10 litre
watering can. It should make them come to the surface.
If you
have a lot of weeds in your lawn, try feeding with a lawn fertiliser
- L.A.N. or 3:2:1(28)(SR) - and watering well. The weeds will grow
quickly. Mow them off. Keep watering and mowing, and feed again after
a few weeks. You'll notice less and less weeds come up each time you
mow. Eventually they will disappear and the lawn will close up and
grow strong and healthy.
ROSES
Look
out for aphids. Give the ladybirds a chance to do their work before
spraying. If you must spray, try using a herbal insecticide.
Look
out for shoots on the roots stock of roses, particularly standards.
Remove them by cutting close to the stem.
When picking roses
for the vase, take short stems, and not too many flowers at one time.
Take out crossing branches on rose bushes, as well as dead or
weak growth. Dead-head to a healthy, outward-pointing
bud.
VEGETABLES
In
Summer
Rainfall, Dry Continental and Winter Rainfall regions,
these vegetable seeds can be planted
now:
Beans
Carrots
Cauliflower
Capsicum
Celery
Cucumber
Eggplant
Garlic chives
Parsley
Pumpkin
Radish
Squash
Tomato
Turnip
In sub-tropical
regions,
vegetable grow best in the winter months. For now
try:
Capsicum
Cauliflower
