It’s time to protect against the frosts
Easter is usually a signal that the end of the golden weather is nigh. So when autumn progresses, it’s time to think about the winter garden and any damage the cooler weather may bring.
It is easier to sort out frost and rain protection before it’s needed. It’s no fun wrestling with cloches and making frames to support frost cloth in pelting rain.
Frames should be big enough to hold frost cloth above foliage without touching it so a layer of air acts as insulation. For young citrus trees, it’s worth building a wood or wire frame to cover the whole tree if your garden sits in a frost pocket.
Tidy away anything that is likely to blow around, get filled with water during heavy rain or damaged by frost – plastic pots and trays, unused plant supports, hoses, sprinklers and garden furniture. Cover the wood pile and compost heaps too.
REPOT PERENNIAL HERBS
Look beneath sprawling perennial herb for stems that have formed roots where they have touched the ground. Cut these stems off the mother plant and pot up or replant elsewhere in the garden. These baby plants are ideal for replacing old ones that have become scraggly.
DIVIDE OVERGROWN LEMONGRASS
Dig up tatty clumps, divide and replant, or move them under cover for winter. First, cut back the leaves for easier access. Chop leaves into mulch with hedge clippers rather than putting them through a shredder – the aromatherapy benefits are outweighed by the frustration of a stalled motor as the leaves wrap around the blades. Dig up the clump (this takes some determination), harvest the thickest, juiciest stems (they keep for weeks in the fridge and freeze well, too), then chop up the root ball. Replant divisions in the ground or in pots, which can be kept in a warm place until spring.
RAKE UP LEAVES FOR HUMUS
The fertility, drainage and moisture retention of both heavy clay soils and light sandy ones can be improved by adding more humus, and autumn leaves are ideal for this. Scatter autumn leaves over garden beds and cover with compost to build a new fertility layer.
Or use the leaves as weed-suppressing mulch around fruit trees or winter-dormant perennials. Layer them between grass clippings and vege scraps in the compost, or bag up leaves, tie off and let them rot to make leaf mould (six to nine months).
WHAT TO SOW AND PLANT NOW
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Seeds to sow in the north/frost-free areas: beetroot, broad beans, carrots,
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■ chervil, Chinese cabbages, coriander, lettuces, peas, radishes and silverbeet.
Seeds to sow in the south/cold inland areas: broad beans, Chinese cabbages, onions, peas, silverbeet, sugarsnaps, spring swedes and turnips.
Punnets/seedlings to plant in the north: broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, lettuces, rocket and silverbeet.
Punnets/seedlings to plant in the south: broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, lettuces, silverbeet and spinach.