Sow under covers, dream of new beds
Ornamentals
Plant trees and shrubs. Cold, wet days are great for researching what would go best where, new ideas and where to source plants.
Tidying edges, where flower beds, lawns and paths meet, will smarten up the garden throughout the gloomy months. Use an edger or weed-eater to cleanly cut the edge of lawns. And reclaim your paths from any lawn that may have crept onto them. A build-up of garden debris such as leaves, repeated mulches of bark and so on can raise the level of the beds above paths and make spillage easy. While all this extra organic material is great for the soil, your best bet is to dig it in a little and respread it over the whole bed and away from the edges.
If you can’t be bothered removing frost cloth daily so as to let sunlight on the plants, or the angst of wondering whether there will be a frost and should you or should you not throw the frost cloth over susceptible plants, then a slightly more expensive solution is Mikroclima, a cloth which can be left on the plants continuously.
Don’t fret if you spot roses being pruned now. There really is no hurry. Rosarian Barbara Lea Taylor from Akaroa says she never tackles hers until well into July. ‘‘As long as it is done before bud burst in spring,’’ she says. And, the longer you leave them the longer their brilliant hips will bring cheer, both inside and out.
Edibles
Sow under cover artichoke, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, kale, onions, peas, radishes, silverbeet, spinach, and winter lettuce.
Plant out seedlings of broccoli, cauliflower, cavolo nero, celery, kale, silverbeet, and spinach.
With action slowing down in the garden, it might be time to consider any changes – landscaping or otherwise – you might like or need to make, such as new raised beds.
These, if put in now and filled with a layer of cardboard (ask at your local supermarket or large ticket-item store) at the bottom to block weeds, pea straw (or other straw), manure (horse is generally the easiest to source) and any other organic material you like, will be ready for planting come spring.
Potato beds may be prepared by digging them deeply and applying compost.
Never apply lime to where potatoes are to grow as this can encourage potato scab; nor nitrogen-rich fertilisers nor compost, which will encourage much leaf growth and little action below the surface.
– Mary Lovell-Smith