Summer is fast approaching. Days are getting hotter, and the sun is out for longer, so now is the time to prepare. It’s time to plant for Christmas and the coming warmer months.
This is a great time of the year for entertaining friends and family, so you want your garden to be inviting and looking its absolute best. With the holidays on the way, some effort now, will ensure that your garden and living areas are looking bright, colourful and healthy for the festive season. That way you can focus on what’s truly important… your loved ones.
The Flower Garden
This is a good time to plant annual summer flowers such as alyssum, celosia, cosmos, gerbera, impatiens, lobelia, nasturtium, marigold, petunia, phlox, portulaca and zinnia.
You’ll also want to plant up your pots, containers and hanging baskets. When you do, ensure you always use a premium quality potting mix and be sure to water pots and hanging baskets regularly. As they tend to dry out quicker this time of the year.
Ideal plants for baskets and pots in summer include geraniums, cape daisies, impatiens, petunias, and calibrachoas. These beautiful flowers will reward you with bright and colourful summer displays. Feed your plants weekly with a liquid food such as Powerfeed, or a soluble plant food such as Flourish. These are sure to have your flowers blooming all summer long.
Roses are looking fantastic right now. Be sure to fertilise yours with a formulated rose food and watch out for aphids and thrips.
New season’s Hydrangeas are beginning to flower and are excellent spring/summer colour for pots and those shady parts of the garden or entertainment areas where we spend our summer days.
Repot your orchids that have finished flowering.
Remember to mulch your 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. You might even want to use quality water retention granules or solutions to make the most of every summer drop.
Lawns
With the summer heat, comes our slithering friends, so mowing your lawn is a must, but be carefully not to cut it too short as the summer heat will fry it.
Lift the mower blades. A longer lawn will help to shade the roots, cool the earth, and hold onto water. This will encourage a deep root system for longer lasting green lawn. To give it that extra oomph, treat your lawn areas with a soil conditioner such as Seasol and apply a water retention granule to help to hold summer moisture.
The Edible Garden
Homegrown food is the best food, filled with goodness, freshness, and flavour. This month, your very own ‘food forest’ will be bursting with edibles that almost seem ready to jump out of the earth.
Regular watering and fertilising are a given for the abundant harvest ahead.
Watch out for bugs – control the ones that will cause problems and leave the rest.
- Asian Greens
- Basil
- French & Climbing Beans
- Beans
- Beetroot
- Capsicum
- Chilli
- Carrot
- Chives
- Coriander
- Cucumber
- Dill
- Eggplant
- Fennel
- Kale
- Leek
- Lettuce
- Mediterranean Herbs
- Melon
- Mint
- Parsley
- Parsnip
- Pumpkins
- Radish
- Rocket
- Silverbeet
- Spring Onion
- Sweet Corn
- Sweet Potato
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
