Living Earth December Newsletter
The Veggie Bed
The last month of the year is invariably a fight to keep the garden alive, but the first real opportunity to reap what you’ve sown….
• Warmer temperatures (hopefully) assist growth, but watch out for aphids and whitefly infestations. Yates’ Confidor controls these bugs, whilst leaving their natural predators unharmed.
• Watch the watering of tomatoes in higher temperatures – leaves yellowing from the base are the sign that you need to increase moisture – in the coller parts of the day.
• It’s not too late to have some fun sowing seeds of summer veggies and flowers with the children or grandchildren – they’ll germinate quickly and need some regular water.
• Bird netting placed over all the berries will ensure you get to harvest them first!
• Now it’s summer try planting lettuces in areas that do not ‘bake’ in the sun all day – morning sun is best.
The Rest of the Garden
Get some pre-Christmas planting in for summer:
• The Garden Centres are full of attractive perennials such as gauras, salvias, rudbeckias and lavenders that will give long summer flowering displays.
• Give puss a nice Christmas present by planting catgrass or catnip!
• Spread More than Mulch around new plants once they’ve had a decent soak, so you can go on holiday, knowing they’ve got a ‘blanket’ to keep their roots cool.
• Caterpillars start to get the ‘munchies’ at this time of the year, so you can protect vulnerable plants with the gen Yates’ Success, (it can be mixed together with Confidor for a general garden spray. (Good control for young kowhai trees, cabbage trees and kaka beaks.
• If you’re planning a living Christmas tree indoors this year, keep it well watered and out of direct sunlight. Remember, when you place it outside again, put it in a lightly shaded area initially, otherwise it will burn the foliage.
The Lawn
• Watering remains crucial for newly sown lawns, as the current drifting showers aren’t dampening the soils.
• If the lawn is looking starved, then use a dilute liquid lawn food, such as Living Earth Lawn Food.
• If your lawn is growing strongly, mow each week, with the blades set at 2.5cm off the ground.