Tips for a great autumn garden
Plant bulbs in containers
If space is lacking, plant your spring bulbs in containers. And pack ‘em in. Bulbs in pots can be planted much closer than those in the ground (say 1-2cm) to achieve a full display when flowering.
‘‘Forget the normal rules for bulb spacing,’’ says Paul Hoek from NZ Bulbs. ‘‘Pots are open to light all around the edges so with a good mixture and adequate fertiliser, there is not the competition for either light or nutrients that necessitates greater spacing in a garden situation.’’
Extend the bloom period by planting separate containers with varieties that have different bloom dates. A selection of early, mid and late season tulips, for example, will give you a longer flowering period than if planting, say, early season varieties only. Packets and catalogues should indicate blooming times.
Or mix and match your bulbs. ‘‘Make up mixed containers with large bulbs such as daffodils in the lowest layer half way down, tulips in a layer above and finally a top layer of smaller bulbs such as muscari (grape hyacinths) or crocuses,’’ says Hoek. ‘‘Each bulb type flowers at a different time, making your container a long lasting spring display.’’
Rake up leaves
Fallen leaves literally smother lawns, preventing light and oxygen from penetrating. If you don’t want patchy lawns this spring, collect the leaves and pop them in your compost bin (only small amounts or they’ll form a mat and again suppress oxygen), or in a separate bag or bin to make leaf mould. Leaf mould is an excellent soil improver and addition to potting mix, and certain plants, like rhododendrons, love it.
Place the leaves in a black plastic bag, poke holes in the bag, wet the leaves, then tie the top of the bag loosely. Set it aside for several months to rot down.
Alternatively, you can build a cylindrical bin out of chicken wire.
Use stakes to support it, then add your leaves, watering them in as you do.
Sprinkle them with a little blood and bone, which is high in nitrogen, or grass clippings, to kick-start decomposition.
Generate free heat for seeds
Sowing seeds during these cooler months? Harness the heat of nature to double your success of germination.
Seeds often germinate at a faster rate if trays are placed on top of heating pads. But unless you’re a commercial grower, this process can be a chore – and expensive. Instead, harness the power of nature to generate free heat. As compost generates heat in the initial stages of breaking down, it can be used to provide warmth to seedlings. Place fresh grass clippings into a low-rimmed polystyrene box to about threequarters full. Add your seedraising mix on top of the clippings
Dig in your marigolds
French marigolds ( Tagetes patula) have a reputation for repelling nematodes – those tiny roundworms that feed on plant roots. But that only works if you use them properly. If you plant just a smattering of marigolds for a short period, or intersperse them in among your veges, not a lot will happen. Your best bet is to grow a solid block of them, just like a cover crop, for an entire season, then dig them into the soil. After that, your soil should remain nematode free for two to three years.
Harvest your citrus fruit correctly
Mandarins and lemons will be fruiting soon – but make sure you harvest them correctly to ensure better growth from your trees. Citrus trees fruit on the ends of shoots. When fruit is hand-picked, the side buds of the shoots form several new twigs. This makes the outside foliage of the canopy very dense, preventing light penetrating into the middle, to ripen next year’s crop.
You can get around this by harvesting your citrus with secateurs. Instead of pulling the fruit off with your hands, snip a few centimetres into the twig bearing the fruit, cutting just above a side bud.
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1. Sow, grow and eat lots of cabbage!
I’m not ashamed to admit that I love cabbage, especially when it’s chopped up finely and sauteed with plenty of butter and even more salt and pepper. (Mind you, that is true of most vegetables.)
Cabbages have everything – bar popularity – going for them. One cabbage keeps an average family supplied with a nutritious side dish for almost a full week, whether stir-fried, boiled or raw in coleslaw salads. We chop ours into curries, soups, stews and that marvellous breakfast mish-mash of leftovers known as bubble and squeak.
Unless you have a glasshouse, cabbages sown now won’t amount to much until mid-spring. Ditto seedlings transplanted into cold soils. Having said that, there’s no harm in putting them in now either, given that the white cabbage butterfly is on its last legs (or wings) for the season. Do, however, watch out for slugs and snails.
Cabbages take at least four months to mature, but once they’ve reached a good size in autumn, they hold well in the garden, sitting patiently for several weeks. At least that means there’s no rush to eat them all at once.
3. Roll out bird netting to protect citrus
Birds might be a little colour-blind when it comes to salad greens (ever noticed how they slaughter standard green lettuces but leave red-leafed lettuces alone?), but they’re no fools when it comes to citrus fruit. No sooner do early seedless mandarins start to show hints of orange than the waxeyes and fantails descend to peck them to bits. Loosely drape layers of netting over the trees now, making sure that birds can’t reach the fruit from above or below.