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Its Been a long hot dry summer and the rain is coming so its time to prepare the garden for Autumn planting. Gardening never stops and during the drought is no exception. This is a great opportunity and a great reason to clear out old shrubs, dead branches and excessive debris build up from forgotton parts of the garden. Bushy trees and shrubs overhanging and touching the house could be trimmed back and lower branches pruned to expose often interesting trunks. This will reduce their flammable potential. Although many of these areas are great wildlife havens they are also great fire hazards. It is important to reduce the fire fuelling loads close to your home for both peace of mind and protection of wildlife and property. When the drought finally breaks and we have soil moisture back again it will be a real pleasure to plant a fresh lot of bird attracting shrubs and enjoy the diversity of wildlife that it brings.
Vegetable and flower gardens can benefit by spending time now adding compost or manure and perhaps some lime. A thick 3 to 4 cm layer of rich organic matter can be raked over th top of your garden with a handful of lime per square metre. Top this with a mulch of sugarcane and let the worms do the hard work of turning the soil. Your garden will be ready to plant as soon as it rains. Winter flowers and vegetables can be planted up to the end of April in many areas, but lets hope rain comes before then.
Soil Wetting Agents- It cant be stressed enough that soil wetters can save litres of water per plant. A sprinkle around each shrub will allow every drop of water to penetrate dry soil and be utilised by the plant. With water restrictions this will allow plants to be watered less often and more efficiently. Wetting agents break up the negative forces between the soil particles which naturally repel water once soil becomes dry. This allows water to attach to the soil molecules and pass through where thirsty roots can use it.
20% of all Glazed and Terracotta Pots
Happy Gardening
Alf And Joanne
The Rain Has Fallen 417mm since 1st January
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