January in the Garden

January is party time! Time to catch up with family and friends, and there’s no better spot to entertain in than your own garden.

If you’ve been following our advice and planned correctly then your garden will be spic & span, filled with colourful plants and laden with fresh vegetables. There’s still time however to spruce up your garden and turn it into a ‘party place’ for summer entertaining.

You can still plant a host of colourful plants from seedlings but if you need instant effect then buy ‘potted colour’ from your nursery, and perhaps even established vegetables growing in pots.

January Planting guide:

Plant seed or seedlings of:

Vegetables – Basil, Beetroot, Cabbage, Capsicum, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, Egg Plant, Lettuce, Onions, Parsley, Silver Beet, Tomatoes, Zucchini and more.

Flowers – Ageratum, Alyssum, Begonia, Carnation, Dahlia, Delphinium, Dianthus, Gazania, Impatiens, Lobelia, Marigold, Nasturtium, Petunia, Phlox, Portulaca, Salvia, Snapdragon, Verbena, Zinnia and more.

Verbena ‘Madrid’ from United loves the sun

Impatiens ‘Angel’ from United likes a shady spot

While you are at your nursery do see the wondrous range of goodies available to delight your palette for gift ideas for Valentine’s Day, February 14, and do ask about the range of summer flowering plants to give your garden a lift; perhaps a hanging basket laden with flowers, a novelty cacti, a shade tree, a watering system or even a bag of Potting Mix. Your Grow Master centre will have them all.

Toughen your plants for summer: Plants are surprisingly resilient but they need a little help. When you water, do it well, not a little each day but a good, deep soaking. This encourages the roots to search further down for water rather than stay near the soil surface and risk being burnt by the heat. Once a week is generally sufficient for most plants except during extreme heat. There are exceptions of course, including pots and baskets, but do ask your nursery for advice.

Plants signal their distress due to lack of water in many ways; some such as hydrangeas, fuchsias and ferns may wilt whilst tomatoes will show symptoms like blossom end rot and lettuce may lose its flavour.

Water is important but it’s a precious resource so use it wisely.

Most of the ‘water saving products’ are excellent and do work. We recommend the Waterwise products from Yates.

Mulch it instead: If you’re really water saving conscious then there’s no better way of conserving water in the garden than by judicious mulching, and it helps your plants grow too.

Potted plants from Floriana are great

Control those pests and help your plants grow: Prevention is the best control and you should regularly spend some pleasant time in your garden inspecting, and enjoying the plants. You’ll soon get to find any insects or disease and early control will stop it spreading. You’ll also learn about your plants water needs and really enjoy the flowers. You might have fragrant flowers or foliage and this will add to the pleasure.

Check out the problem spots first, roses for aphids ( mind the thorns ) and vegetables for insect or fungal problems. They’re usually easily controlled with the correct, safe spray and the right advice.

Do look at our web site for our gardening tips. Click onto ‘Plant Care (Fact Sheets)’ and print out the information.

Weeds: Treat your weeding as exercise rather than a chore, but do it regularly to make it easy. If you need a little help the Glyphosate (Zero) based weedkillers are relatively safe and easy to use. Regular, light hoeing of garden beds helps here and a simple, three prong hoe is invaluable.

Other hints: Raise the mower blades so as to not scalp the lawn and risk burning the roots, use a beach umbrella or shadecloth to protect very tender plants e.g. hydrangea, on very hot days, and if baskets or pots do dry out revive them by dunking in a deep bowl of water. Let them sit there for a few hours to soak up a welcome drink. Add a little Grow Master Plant Starter too, it will help them revive.

General jobs: Cut back straggly herbs, plant more seedlings, feed most plants if needed, plant dahlia tubers and gladioli corms.

Importantly, do enjoy your Summer gardening.

Insect Repellent Herbs

Now that the warm weather is here and it is time to fire up the barbecue, we will once again have to face those annoying pests buzzing around and landing on the food. Rather than spray a chemical concoction, you might consider growing a few insect repellent herbs. You can plant them in the garden near your entertaining area or you can grow them in pots. Potted specimens are ideal as they can readily be moved. Try growing them on a sunny windowsill and moving them to use as a table decoration for a party. They will smell heavenly (mostly) and also deter flying pests.

Pennyroyal (Fleabane) – The oil from this herb is used commercially in some natural insect repellents. It helps to repel flies, mosquitoes and fleas. You can bruise a few leaves and rub them on exposed arms and legs quite safely but keep it away from the face as it is always unwise to rub anything on your face.

Grow Pennyroyal in full sun in rich, well-watered soil. It will spread by underground runners to form a good, big clump.

Basil – Fragrant Basil helps to repel white fly so it is often grown amongst tomatoes for this very purpose. In the kitchen, Basil and tomatoes are perfect together also – they seem to be inseparable friends!

Basil needs constant warmth to grow well. Plant seedlings out from November and you’ll have a crop all summer long. Choose a sunny site and keep picking the top leaves to prevent the plants going to seed prematurely.

Fennel – The fine, feathery foliage of Fennel is most attractive in the garden and, in summer, it bears clusters of small yellow flowers. It repels fleas so is an ideal choice for growing near the dog’s kennel. Grow plants in a sunny spot where the soil is well drained.

Garlic – Grow Garlic amongst your roses and you’ll deter aphids. A safe, simple spray can be made from crushed garlic cloves and water to spray the garden with. This will safely deter many flying pests. Garlic should be grown in a sunny area.

Spearmint – This member of the mint family is not liked by fleas, ants or cabbage butterflies. It spreads readily in the garden so you may prefer to g row it in pots. Unlike most herbs, it prefers to grow in a shady area with damp soil.

Mint helps repel insects

Sage – This strongly aromatic herb also helps to repel cabbage butterfly. Grow it in an open, sunny position where it will tolerate quite dry conditions once established. It is one of the most useful herbs to grow as it is widely used in the kitchen.

Valentine’s Day – Tuesday February 14

The cynical amongst us may say that Valentine’s Day is just another day which is promoted to sell cards and flowers. But, isn’t it fun! In our society we really have very few festivals and celebrated days to just simply enjoy. To make or buy a small present for someone we love (or simply for a friend) makes us all feel good – the giver and the recipient. A plant especially makes a fine, small gift as it is long lasting and a constant reminder of your thoughtfulness.

Fragrant Bouvardia in flower and gift wrapped will make an excellent gift

African Violets

These small indoor plants with their clusters of flowers are a perfect choice for just about anyone. They will grow well in an office or a room at home. All they need is a light spot, such as a windowsill, but keep them out of direct sun which will burn the leaves. Water only when they become fairly dry and give them a little food during the warmer months.

Gerberas

What could be more cheerful than a bold, potted Gerbera with its large, daisy flowers in various colours including bold yellow, red and orange. You can keep inside for a few days but it then needs to be outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine. Your plants should flower for weeks.

Roses

A potted rose makes a really romantic present particularly if you choose a perfumed variety or one with a name which has some special meaning for you. It may share its name with the recipient e.g. Miss Alice, Sophy’s Rose, Grace or just a relevant name such as First Love.

Grace, from David Austin Roses, is quite lovely

Cyclamen

It is just the start of the Cyclamen season but they always make an excellent gift for indoors or outdoors. They will flower for months if you keep them fairly cool and away from heating. Pop them out at night onto a cool, shady porch or verandah for best results. There is a good choice in flower colour – white, many shades of pink, mauve, purple and bi-colours e.g. white edged with purple/cyclamen. Some have flowers which are ruffled.

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Fuchsia ‘Little Cracker’

Decorative appeal in a plant is always a valuable, almost vital, characteristic but when that’s combined with versatility, the plant is likely to score well in my book.

The purpose of this story is to introduce you to one of our new releases that certainly possesses both these qualities and its name is Fuchsia ‘Little Cracker’, a great little hybrid from the UK.

Now most of us when we think fuchsia, think semi-shade, moist, protected position in the garden….. well, think again!

Fuchsia ‘Little Cracker’

This ‘Little Cracker’ can take a full sun location and doesn’t need any “slip, slap, slop” because it revels in the sunshine without suffering any leaf scorch.

Alternatively, ‘Little Cracker’ is versatile enough to cope quite well with the usual semi-shaded spots where fuchsias are traditionally placed.

It’s also versatile when it comes to soil types and it will grow well in clays and loams provided the drainage is always good.

Fuchsia ‘Little Cracker’ is an easily grown perennial and its ornamental value is as equally impressive as its versatility.

In early spring the first flower buds appear looking almost like slender hot pink fire crackers before they open to reveal the typical fuchsia “skirt” of blue mauve petals and projecting white stamens.

Flowering continues right through to autumn and because ‘Little Cracker’ is a compact, bushy plant, just 40cm high and wide, the profusion of the flared flowers against the green foliage is eye catching and appealing.

Fuchsia ‘Little Cracker’ becomes quite dry tolerant once established but the odd big drink when it’s really hot is appreciated, but, when it’s really cold, it doesn’t like hard frost.

With no cutting back necessary and just a feed in early spring with Grow Master Patio Magic, Fuchsia ‘Little Cracker’ is easily grown and will set off any garden bed, basket or container with its own particular flash and flair.

Grow Master Patio Magic

Hedges for beauty and privacy.

As our housing blocks become smaller and houses are built closer together there would seem to be a need to replace the ubiquitous side and back fences with living hedges. Many people already do this and although there are a number of challenges facing this idea it is worthy of consideration in your own area. Just imagine the beauty of a camellia hedge flowering profusely through winter/spring and the challenges pale into insignificance.

We have written about a few plants below that are suitable and hope they may inspire you to think about living hedges.

Pittosporum – not so humble

You might think that pittosporums are a bit common, and some of them are, but they’re hardy, versatile and the newer varieties are particularly good. Most pittosporums make excellent hedges and really respond well to trimming.

Pittosporum eugenoides variegated is a tall shrub or small tree that will make a wonderful large hedge. It’s soft coloured, variegated leaves will brighten a dark fenceline and it grows quite quickly. This plant is a good choice but do keep the water up to it during dry summers.

Pittosporum ‘James Sterling’ is a beautiful plant with tiny, glossy leaves and is also a fast grower. It makes a wonderful hedge but does need careful clipping in its early days to ensure bushy growth. It is best in a sunny spot as it grows a bit straggly in the shade.

There are many other pittosporums our staff can recommend and some only grow to around one metre high making them very suitable for a low hedge.

Use a box as a hedge

Of course we mean the box plant not the other. Box plants, or buxus as they are correctly named, have graced formal gardens for years and are ideal for a low or a taller hedge.

The buxus is immensely hardy and can be trimmed to almost any shape. They seem to grow well in sun or shade and are so versatile. There are several varieties with the dark green leafed variety being the most popular but the lightly coloured, variegated form is useful too. The different varieties grow to different heights and we suggest you query this when buying.

Fragrant lavenders

Lavenders make wonderful, low hedges and what treasures they are. You not only get foliage to shelter but flowers to pick and fragrance too.

Plant fairly closely together and prune regularly to keep them growing nicely. The best lavender hedge we have seen was in a church garden at Sorrento and it really graced the surroundings.

Fragrant Lavender

Ligustrum and Myrtus

These plants have been used extensively in recent years as clipped specimens and their dainty leaves really look wonderful as they form a dense mass of foliage on a clipped plant. They seems to grow equally as well if planted closely together as a hedge and you are able to keep them trimmed quite low or let them grow into a tall hedge. They are both very hardy but do prefer good drainage.

Train a climber

There are a number of climbing plants that can be attractively trained and trimmed to form a hedge. The advantage of a climber could be its flowers as many shrubby plants suitable for hedges are not grown for their flowers but their foliage.

One excellent climber that springs to mind is the plumbago. You can buy blue or white forms and both can be trained into attractive low, or quite tall, hedges.

Plumbago makes an excellent hedging plant

Hedging plants are a good idea and our staff can advise you on many other suitable plants. Do think about replacing, or at least complementing, your fence with living plants – but discuss it with your neighbour first.