The lock down period has given us a new appreciation and passion for our gardens. Suddenly we could no longer hang out with friends and family or relax at a holiday resort. To keep us out of mischief, we cooked, baked and gardened. Those who chose the first two options, saw the effect on the waistline, but there was good advice for that – gardening!
Now that family and friends can visit again, your garden should look its best and to ensure this, there are a few tasks to be done.
LAWNS
No matter how much back-breaking work you put into your landscaping, your garden won’t look at its best if the grass is yellow, patchy or weed infested. A beautiful, lush, healthy lawn requires attention and with a little time and effort, you can have a lawn that will be your neighbours’ envy.
Water your lawn once a week (about 25 mm), preferably in the early morning during the coolest time of the day to limit water evaporation. You can also allow your lawn to grow a little longer to reduce evaporation. Water deeply to encourage a strong root system.
Mow your lawn regularly. Do not remove more than 1/3 of the blade, rather mow more frequently. For a neat, finished look, the lawn edges must be trimmed with an edge cutter.
- Nutrition:
To ensure a healthy lawn, fertilize your lawn every 4 weeks with Lawn & Foliage Fertilizer 7:1:3 or NutriGreen Gro Green.
- Protection against weeds:
A well-fed lawn will grow fast and smother weeds, but if they are present, control them with a selective herbicide. Versus, Pure Lawn and Scatterkill for Weeds are selective herbicides that control broadleaf weeds without killing your lawn.
Nutsedge can easily be controlled on your lawn with Servian. Do not attempt to remove it by hand as the bulbs remain behind which will encourage the further spread of nutsedge.
- Protection against insects:
There are a variety of insects that can damage your lawn if left unchecked. The biggest offenders are crickets, mole crickets, harvester termites and lawn caterpillars. You can quickly get rid of worms and mole crickets with Imidor 350 SC. Ordinary garden crickets can be controlled with Carbakil and Knox Worm, Kemprin or Cypermethrin make short work of caterpillars as well as a large variety of other garden insects. Termite Stop will put an end to destructive harvester termites.
- Protection against fungi:
Brown spot and dollar spot are fungi that thrive on moist lawns. Mycoguard offers preventative treatment and Tenzole offers preventive and corrective treatment.
COLOUR YOUR GARDEN ROSES
October is rose month and your roses should now be putting on a spectacular display of colour.
Roses should be planted in a sunny area as they require at least six hours of full sun a day. Avoid planting them near trees as their roots may invade the rose bushes and use up the fertiliser provided for the roses.
Traditionally, the soil around roses is simply covered with a mulch to conserve water, but in today’s rose garden, annual flowers, such as alyssum, are planted around the rose trees.
For roses to flourish, water them deeply at least once a week or more frequently when it is hot and dry.
Remove spent blooms, not only will your garden look tidier, but this will also encourage the production of new quality stems.
Do not pick more than 50 % of the blooms on any one plant at a time, rather pick again as more flowers are produced.
BULBS
Summer bulbs are the show-offs of the garden and gardeners adore them!
A large variety of summer bulbs are now available in the garden section of various retail shops and nurseries. Agapanthus, irises, clivias, begonias, cannas, dahlias, gladiola, nerines, lilies and many more will add splendour to your summer garden. And if you are looking to inject some summer cheer into your garden, you should be planting tulips.
The depth at which bulbs are planted is indicated on the packaging, but as a rule, bulbs are planted about three times as deep as their diameter, so if a bulb is about 2 cm in diameter, it should be planted 6 cm deep. Once the bulbs are in the ground, they should be well watered. Keep the area weed-free as weeds compete with the bulbs for nutrients.
FLOWER SEEDS
The cheapest way to inject colour in your garden is to sow or plant seeds. There is a large variety of flower seeds available at your favorite nursery or retailer. It comes in different pack sizes to accommodate small and large gardens. Complete sowing instructions are available on the back of the package.
The easiest flowers to grow from seed include alyssum, marigolds, portulaca, petunias, Californian poppies, etc. These can be sown directly into the soil. To obtain an even distribution, small seeds can first be mixed with a little soil and then sown. Larger seeds such as sunflowers, nasturtiums and sweet peas can be planted directly into the ground.
You no longer must buy only single flower variety seed. Look out for a wide variety of seed mixes which are all the rage right now. You can choose from tall mixes and short mixes, shade mixes and sun mixes, single colours and shades of a specific colour, autumn and winter mixes and spring and summer mixes and many, many more!
SEEDLINGS
The fastest way to get colour in your garden is by planting seedlings. You can pick and choose from petunias, gazania, impatiens, begonias, dianthus, salvias and barrow loads more. This will instantly transform your garden into a colourful display. The packaging will indicate whether the seedlings should be planted in sun, shade or partial shade.
- Nutrition for all flowering plants:
For healthy, colourful flowers, feed every 4 weeks with Rose & Flower Fertilizer 8:1:5 or NutriGreen Flower Power. For quick results, apply Guanoflo as a foliar application every 2 weeks.
- Protection against insects:
There is a variety of insects and pests that can destroy your flower beds and flower bearing plants. Be on the lookout for insects and other pests on your roses. Complete is a systemic insecticide that provides protection for 3 – 4 months against sucking insects such as aphids. Apply as a soil drench to the root area of your rose plants.
The most common pests that will attack your bulbs are aphids, snails and slugs. In addition, thrips, lily borers and leaf miners, among others, can attack plants. Complete controls a wide range of sucking and biting insects and can be applied as a seasonal soil drench. Snails and slugs can be treated with Scatterkill for Snails, a tasty bran bait with a unique pet repellent. To prevent rot and mold, bulbs should be treated with Insectidust before planting.
Watch out for snails and slugs that can destroy your seedlings and plants at night. Treat with Scatterkill for Snails. Seedlings are also very vulnerable to cutworms. They feed mainly on roots and leaves of young plants and will even cut the plant under the ground. Protect seedlings with Cutworm Bait, a ready-to-use bait packed in a convenient shaker. There are more than 7,000 species of sucking insects that can destroy your seedlings. These insects suck the sap from plants and spread viral diseases. There are a variety of insecticides that will protect your plants from these insects. Complete provides seasonal protection while Avi Gard, Kemprin, Knox Worm and Cypermethrin will eradicate insects with contact. Beetle populations also peak during the summer and can damage flowers and fruits. Protect your plants by treating them with Knox Worm or Kemprin every two weeks.
- Protection against fungi:
Tenazole is a systemic fungicide and will protect your roses against fungal diseases such as black spot and powdery mildew. Tenazole can be applied as preventative or corrective treatment. Copper-Flow-Plus and Mycoguard 720 SC are contact fungicides and will preventatively protect against black spot.
Bulb plants that develop stunted, yellow to reddish or purplish leaves, or fail to emerge in the spring may be suffering from bulb rot. Several different fungi and bacteria can infect bulb tissue and these bulbs usually are soft, discoloured and may emit an unpleasant smell. There may be a black or bluish mold on the bulbs. Diseased bulbs should be discarded, along with some of the surrounding soil. To prevent bulb rot, bulbs must be planted in well-drained soil.
Mid- to late summer is when most plant diseases start becoming noticeable in your flower beds. Powdery mildew, black spot, and gray mold (Botrytis) are three of the most common flower diseases. Protect with Tenazole, Copper-Flow-Plus and Mycoguard 720 SC.
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
VEGETABLE SEED
There are not many things that can beat harvesting fresh vegetables grown by your own hands. Lots of people from all walks of life have their own vegetable gardens as it can be an extremely rewarding activity. Vegetables are an important part of a healthy eating pattern and are excellent sources of nutrients. These nutrients are vital for your overall health and the maintenance of your body.
Carrots, radishes, beans, sweet corn, beets, sliced beets, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, etc. can be sown in situ every 2 weeks. Peppers, cauliflower, eggplant, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, etc. should preferably first be sown in seed trays and then transplanted into the vegetable patch, as per the instructions on the back of the seed packet.
HERB SEEDS
Herbs are usually grown for their aromatic, culinary and medicinal uses. Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow and they can grow profusely. Plus, dried herbs can last well past their harvesting.
Basil, parsley, dill and thyme can first be planted in seedling trays after which they can be transplanted into herb beds. Herb seeds such as coriander, fennel, rosemary and rocket can be sown directly in the herb bed.
And don’t forget your pets, they will appreciate herbs such as dog grass and catnip.
- Nutrition for your food garden:
Feed leafy vegetables and herbs every 4 weeks with Lawn & Foliage Fertilizer 7:1:3 or NutriGreen Gro Green and fruit bearing plants like tomatoes and peppers with Rose & Flower Fertilizer 8:1:5 or NutriGreen Flower Power. For quick results, apply Guanoflo as a foliar application every 2 weeks.
- Protection against insects:
There is a vast variety of insects that can destroy your vegetable and herb garden. Look out for whiteflies that can be found at the base of leaves. They occur in small colonies and suck the plant sap. Complete is ideal to get rid of them. Aphids, thrips and caterpillars on vegetables can be treated with Avi Gard or with Kemprin. Both are contact insecticides with a short withholding period. Cutworms hide in the soil by day and attack plants at night. They damage the stem of young seedlings at the base, causing the plant to collapse. Control them with Cutworm Bait. Snails and slugs can attack most crops and chew holes in leaves and kill seedlings. They are most active at night, especially in moist weather. Control them with Scatterkill for Snails.
- Protection against fungi:
Your veggies can also succumb to fungal diseases. Rust and Botrytis blight often threaten bean crops. Diseases such as Alternaria leaf spot and downy mildew afflict brassica crops such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower. Carrot tops are also affected by fungal disease like blights and if the tops are unhealthy the carrots do not develop properly. Cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and summer squash are attacked by diseases such as anthracnose, Cercospora leaf spot, downy mildew, gummy stem blight (black rot), leaf blight, powdery mildew, scab, and target spot. Potatoes suffer from the diseases like early blight, late blight and Botrytis vine rot. Even though potatoes grow below ground, diseases can harm their foliage which affect the edible tubers as well. Numerous diseases such as anthracnose, Alternaria fruit rot (black mold), Botrytis, gray mold, early blight, gray leaf spot, gray leaf mold, late blight, Rhizoctonia fruit rot, and Septoria leaf spot attack tomatoes.
Protect your vegetables against fungal attacks with Copper-Flow-Plus, a copper containing solution – contact bactericide and fungicide. Also use Mycoguard 720 SC contact fungicide which offers preventative protection and Tenazole 350 EW, a systemic fungicide which offers preventative and corrective control.
Top tips:
- Strictly follow the directions on the label when using any pesticides or fertilisers.
- For best results and to prevent resistance development, it is advised to frequently switch to a pesticide with an alternative mode of action.