February and March in the Garden
With the extremely hot days we are having, regular watering is important for a healthy garden, the BEST time for this is before sunrise and after sunset, if you don’t have automatic irrigation, we suggest to avoid watering in the heat of the day.
Edible Garden
- February/March is the perfect time for sowing winter seedlings – beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, leeks, cabbages, cauli, silverbeet plus winter lettuces
- Dig up/dry out and bag up potatoes (store in a dark place), garlic and onions
- Keep harvesting tomatoes and remove any diseased fruit
- Harvest apples, pears, plums and peaches. Tip – Keep watered to encourage larger fruit
- Maintain a regular fruit tree spray programme
- Apply citrus fertiliser to Lemons, Grapefruit, Mandarins and water in
- Remove water shoots from grape vines and protect fruit from birds
- Prepare gardens for winter planting, dig in compost/pea straw
- March – Prune raspberry canes – remove dead canes and tie up the new ones, the fruit always appears on the 1 year old canes
Bulbs
- When planting bulbs use good compost soil and bulb fertiliser to encourage healthy looking flowers in spring and summer
- Start planting bulbs like anemones and rannuculus – you can even start planting daffodil bulbs from late February
- Planting bulbs in Wine Barrels are a colourful idea for Spring
Lawns
- Perfect conditions for sowing your new lawn from now on just remember to water daily to ensure a good grass strike
- Grass Grubs? Deal to these with Diazanon
- Fertilise lawns to keep green
Trees/shrubs
- Any potted plants – indoor/outdoor fertilise for autumn flush of growth
- Fertilise camellias, rhodos, azaleas, Daphne, buxus hedging to encourage good root growth
- Prune fruit trees once fruit is harvested, and seal cuts with Bacseal Pruning Paint
- Trim hedges/topiary to allow new growth to harden off before winter – Wait for an overcast day or prune early or later in the day
- Now is the time to prune Pittosporum, Wisteria, smoke bushes (Cotinus family) or Maples. Prune on a cool or overcast day. Tip – Never prune these in winter.
- If you are needing help with advice on what to plant where, please give our landscape architect a call to arrange a time for landscaping advice or a design.
