down to earth: Time to contemplate
Midwinter is upon us, as are the frosts, although they’re late this season. Winter is a great time to sit back and contemplate what happened in your garden over the past year, what worked and what didn’t.
What elements are missing that you’d like to add to improve the function of the garden for all users, young and old? Take a walk around and dream about what you can do differently. Chill out over a cup of tea or glass of wine with some gardening magazines or books, and consider:
Design vs function: Does the overall garden meet all your needs for food, children’s space, accessibility and efficiency? Maybe you need to change accessways to make it flow better and create space for kids to play.
Food needs: Does the garden grow enough of the crops you want? Do you need more beds and less lawn? Maybe you could integrate potatoes in the mulch under the pipfruit trees instead. Or use containers on the deck for heat-loving crops in summer and salads in the winter. Extend the shed with some plastic and you have a mini-hothouse. Use walls or climbing frames (eg 665 mesh) for climbing crops. Do you want more fruits but live on a small section? Then try Ballerina varieties that fit in pots, or train fruits onto fences in espalier or fan shapes. That way you get fruit but don’t lose much space.
Healthy crops: Are all crops healthy and high yielding? Did they show signs of deficiencies? Maybe you need to feed them more with compost. Or do a soil test to understand what nutrients they lack and then make corrections. Maybe your crops weren’t in the best position: prune trees for more light, protect them with shadecloth or integrate a frost-sensitive citrus in the edge of your native area.
Improved access: So important for defining the garden space. Ensure pathways are wide enough and that they flow, so it’s easy to bring in materials (for composting, etc). Paths also define the shape of the garden beds. Are the beds easy to access?
Space for kids: Raised beds or trellis fencing may be enough to protect the garden spaces from flying balls. A playhouse nestled between two fruit trees or a sandpit under the big plum trees perform multiple functions.
Efficiency: Did you run out of water last season? Maybe you need several strategically placed 200-litre drums to collect rainwater off various roofs? Grow your own fertility with comfrey, and ferment in a drum. Add nasty weeds to the brew, too, and keep your nutrients on site. Integrate chickens in the bush block or orchard and recycle their manure into the compost. That way you don’t need to buy as much manure or fertiliser. Sell a few eggs to pay for the chook food, too.
Aesthetics: Want more colour? Explore what flowers would make your garden look good and attract insects.
Fruit care
Plant fruit trees/shrubs.
Prune pipfruit (apples, pears etc) and berryfruits.
Remove diseased or insect-infested fruits and leaves from around trees.
Cut understorey down and mulch around trees.
Mulch fruits with woody compost.
Feed orchard with dolomite lime, rock phosphate, manure and woody compost.
Prepare new strawberry beds. Add compost, leaf mould and mulch with pine needles. Plant runners out now or wait till spring.
Prune citrus when harvesting. Frost-protect young plants.
Divide rhubarb.
Spray everything with diluted seaweed solution. Copper spray on stonefruit vs brown rot, or pipfruit vs black spot. Use dormant spray (lime sulphur and oil) vs scale, woolly apple aphid, mites, scabs and powdery mildew.
Herb care:
Transplant rooted cuttings from last year. Take cuttings of rosemary, sage, lavender, etc.
Sow seed: rosemary, thyme and chives.
Vegetable care
Walk around the garden reflecting on what worked and what didn’t. Use a garden map to plan next year’s crops. Check out seed catalogues.
Plant garlic (soft neck) and shallots into prepared beds.
Prepare your asparagus bed: dig a deep trench (up to 60cm deep). Add lots of rich organic material and make sure there are no weeds like couch. Add sand if your soil is heavy. Plant when crowns are available.
Keep weeding and make lots of compost. Turn to aid decomposition.
Keep developing fertile beds for brassica planting. Sow/plant salads and winter greens for ongoing supply, eg corn salad, miner’s lettuce, mizuna, rocket.
Sow/plant beneficial flowers, eg alyssum.
Hothouse: Clean for better light. Plant with winter salads or green crops.
For transplanting: All seeds 25 June. Leafy greens (winter spinach, spinach beet, lettuce, endive, Chinese cabbage, cabbages), red onions, broccoli, cauliflower. Flowers, eg statice.
Sow direct: All seeds 25 June. Salads etc, radish, spring onions. Broad beans (best 18 June). Flowers, eg sweet pea.
Plant: Salad greens, silverbeet/chard, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages. Flowers, eg bulbs.
General garden care
Lime the lawn.
Take a soil test for garden and orchard areas (try www.hillslaboratories).
Prune trees and shrubs after flowering, including roses.
Keep adding leaves to a compost ring.
Collect seaweed/seagrass and mulch.
Mulch citrus and ornamentals with grass clippings, leaves and woody compost.
Sol Morgan, GroWise Consultancy
