Summer is fast approaching and now is the time to prepare and plant for Christmas and the coming warmer months. Summer is a great time of the year for entertaining so by putting in some effort now you will ensure that your garden and living areas are looking bright, colorful and healthy for summer!
The Flower Garden
Pots, containers and hanging baskets should be planted now. There are great plants available such as geraniums, cape daisies, impatiens, petunias, and calibrachoa that will reward you with bright, colourful summer displays.
The Edible Garden
November is a month that food almost seems to jump out of the earth. There is a lot to achieve this month to ensure you have a supply of tasty freshness for your summer entertainment events.
Now that the Hobart Show day has passed it is a great time to get your tomato plants cranking. As the sun's embrace lengthens days and warms the soil, tomatoes flourish. Supplement with dolomite lime or crushed eggshells, rich in essential calcium, warding off blossom end rot. Yet, in this dance of elements, let's not forget the humble hero - water. Consistent, mindful watering, just enough to keep the soil evenly moist, ensures a thriving tomato crop. With these simple yet vital steps, you're on your way to a bountiful harvest of delicious, sun-ripened tomatoes, connecting with the rhythms of nature along the way.
This is probably the most important month for planting vegetables. Now is the time for asian greens, beans, beetroot, capsicum, chilli, celery, cress, cucumber, eggplant, kohlrabi, herbs, leek, lettuce, okra, onions, pumpkins ,squash, radish, spinach, swede, seed potato, strawberries, tomato, turnip, zucchini and sweet potato runners. Sow sweetcorn, carrot, parsnip and peas. Plant brassica seedlings in a sunny position, which benefit from afternoon shade as this will help stop them bolting to seed as the summer months approach.
Lawns
Now is the last opportunity to sow or mend lawns in Tasmania before the warmer weather sets in. It is crucial to take the right steps for a resilient, vibrant lawn. First and foremost, adjust your mower blades to leave the grass a tad longer.
This extra length will act as a natural shade, cooling the soil and retaining essential moisture. These measures promote the development of a robust root system, ensuring a lush, enduring green lawn. Additionally, consider applying water retention granules. This strategic move will bolster the lawn's ability to hold onto moisture during the impending warmer months, safeguarding its health and vitality.
Tips:
- Water pots and hanging baskets regularly. Feed weekly with a liquid food such as powerfeed or maxicrop, or a soluble plant food such as bloom booster or flourish.
- Plant annual summer flowers such as Alyssum, Celosia, Cosmos, Impatiens, Lobelia, Nasturtium, Marigold, Petunias, Phlox, Portulaca and Zinnias
- Fertilise roses with Sudden Impact for roses and watch out for aphids and thrips.
- New season’s hydrangeas are beginning to flower and are an excellent spring/summer colour for both pots and shady parts of the garden
- Mulch garden beds. This will have the gardens looking great for Christmas and help with water retention and weed control.
- For areas with dry summers – check watering systems and complete any maintenance needed before the summer arrives
- Feed citrus and spray with scale gun to control sooty mould.
- Feed tomatoes with potash as fruit develops.
- Start a herb garden, a great selection now available
- Now's the time to either spray your apple trees with Yates Success and think about placing out traps to control coddling moth.
- Prune old flowers off proteas.
- Mulch fruit trees with sugar cane mulch or pea straw.
- Stake tomato plants and remove lower leaves as they establish
- Control cabbage white butterfly in the veggie garden, In the veggie garden, Diatomaceous Earth provides organic defense against cabbage white butterflies. Its gentle yet potent formula safeguards plant leaves, preserving the delicate ecosystem. This union of nature and care yields vibrant, healthy crops.
- Remove spent flowers on azalea, camellia and rhododendron, then feed with an acidic plant food (once finished flowering)
- Control 'white curl grubs' or lawn grubs in the lawn by flushing them out with soapy water and letting birds feed on them or consider using an insecticide in severe infestation
