Welcome to March and the beginning of Autumn! As we hope to soak up some Autumn rain, the warmth of the baking summer sun is retained in the soil, thanks to the natural mulch of the falling Autumn leaves. Milder temperatures and more reliable rainfall makes Autumn gardening a joy. Autumn is a wonderful time to get busy in the veggie garden.
Now is the perfect time to plant, beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, leeks, lettuce, cabbage, wombok, silverbeet, winter spinach and refresh the herb garden. Its time to sow carrots, broad beans, radish, parsnip and keep an eye out for our locally grown Dunganski garlic seed which has just arrived for planting throughout autumn.
If you are growing leeks be sure to put them in a sunny spot in soil that is fertile and well drained. Leeks thrive in traditional garden beds and especially in raised beds. Spacing of your leeks will determine the size of the stems; if you would like nice thick stems then thin your leeks allowing more room for them to grow. For thinner scallion-size leeks, follow tighter spacing, setting seedlings 100mm apart. White-stemmed leeks are the most prized so, when transplanting be sure to plant seedlings at least 10cm deep.
If resting a garden bed over the winter, we have green manure crops now available in store which, is the perfect crop to sow in veggie beds being rested as it will help to enrich the soil ready for Spring planting.
- Spring flowering bulbs will arrive this month and can be planted over the next 6 weeks
- Apply an application of dolomite lime to lawns and apple trees
- Feed citrus and keep an eye for sooty mould & scale which can be treated with Yates scale gun or Eco-oil
- Watch for caterpillars attacking leafy crops in the veggie garden.
- Fertilise lawns with Sudden impact for lawns, this will help them rejuvenate over the coming weeks
- Prune back roses for an abundant Autumn show.
- Feed cymbidium orchids now to encourage flower spikes and larger flowers.
- New season’s Cyclamen, Primulas, Polyanthus, Violas, Dianthus and Pansies are beginning to arrive ready for autumn planting
- Autumn is the perfect time for planting natives and advanced trees.
- Sweet peas are very colourful and very popular. Sow sweet pea now; with St Patricks day often the general rule of thumb for sowing seed. Tall, medium and/or dwarf sweet peas all share the same desire for a sunny location with good drainage and appreciate an application of dolomite lime in acidic soils.
