Stuff Digital Edition

Spring makeover

COMPILED BY BARBARA SMITH

Beat the hungry gap

There are slim pickings from my vege patch in mid-spring.

Summer crops of tomatoes, cucumbers and beans are still a long way ahead. In the meantime I’m relying on containers planted with cut-and-come-again greens such as spinach, mesclun, loose-leaf lettuces and beetroot.

I’ve grown mine from seed planted every couple of weeks, but if you’re lucky enough to have access to seedlings you can get a head start by planting goodsized seedlings closer together than you would in the garden.

Put the container in a warm place where you can give it maximum attention – weekly liquid feeds, regular watering and a cover or cloche for protection from birds, cats and the weather. Picking a few leaves off each plant daily makes room for more leaves to grow.

Remember the flowers, leaf tips and tendrils of broad beans and peas are edible – either in a salad or a stir-fry. You’ll help keep the plants compact but don’t overdo it, or you’ll miss out on peas and beans later.

Dig new garden beds

Get cracking while soil is soft and easy to work.

First, mow the grass so there’s less of it to deal with. Next, mark out your new garden using a string line if you want straight lines, or the hose if you want curves. Use a half-moon edger or a sharp spade to cut out the shape of your new bed, then slice off workable sized pieces of sod.

If your soil is soft and easy to lift break the sods up with a spade or fork into 2cm pieces, or hire a petrol-powered rotary hoe. Top your freshly tilled sods with as much organic material, such as compost, leaf litter and manure, as you can, and add gypsum if you have a heavy clay soil.

If grass grows through these layers, it should be relatively easy to pull out. You can also skim off the top layer of grass and compost it, or if you’re dealing with weeds such as couch or onion weed, chuck them in a black plastic bag with a little water and let them rot down for six months, before composting them.

If you can’t be bothered digging, make a lawn lasagne, which is the permaculture method of sheet mulching. Wet your mowed lawn thoroughly the day before (the organisms that convert the layers into soil won’t work without water), then the next day, lay down a weedsuppressing layer of cardboard or newspaper (eight sheets thick), hose that down, then add layers of mulch, manure, compost and straw. Allow the lasagne to break down for around six weeks before planting directly into it. Plant small plants directly into the top level of soil and dig down and make a planting hole in the cardboard or newspaper for larger plants.

Makeover for potted plants

Potted plants are mobile. When orchids, crocuses or auriculas are in bloom they take their place centre stage where I can see them every day. When they’ve done their dash, they’re replaced by whatever is coming into bloom next.

I grow a lot of veges in pots too. Pots allow me to practice crop rotation.

Potted plants need more maintenance and regular care. Spring is a good time to check if potted plants need any attention.

Do they need to move to a sunnier or shadier location? Are the drainage holes blocked? Lift pots off the ground on pot feet to improve drainage or use saucers to retain moisture in dry weather. Roots coming out the drainage hole are a sure sign the plant is root-bound and needs repotting. Plants with a flush of new growth and those with lacklustre yellow leaves need fertiliser – don’t overdo it. Potting mix does not last forever. Trees and shrubs that live in the same pot for many years need to have the mix refreshed every couple of years. If you can, scrape out some around the top and replace with fresh mix. Or get serious and knock the plant and mix out of the pot. Trim a couple of centimetres off all sides of the root ball then put back in the pot with fresh mix in the gap.

Repot hippeastrums

New leaves are sprouting in the pots of hippeastrum bulbs that spent the winter on their sides (to keep them dry) in a shady place. To keep them growing strongly I tidy up the pots and add fertiliser.

I scrape out as much of the surplus soil as possible from the top then sprinkle in some bulb food or Nitrophoska and sheep pellets before topping with a little fresh potting mix but don’t cover the bulb’s ‘‘shoulders’’.

I finish off with a layer of gravel or pumice. This does not deter snails, as commonly stated on the internet, but conserves water, reduces soil splashing up onto the leaves and gives the pots a neat, uniform look.

Hippeastrums flower best when they are rootbound, so if you are planting new bulbs don’t give them too big a pot. Keep the bulbs well-watered from when the leaves first appear and throughout summer. Put in a warm, bright place.

National Portrait

en-nz

2021-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282054805179957

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