Our top tips for Autumn gardening
Ahh! The noise made by all gardeners as the temperature drops and we can get out into our gardens. Autumn is our favourite time of the year, the days are still warm, the nights are cool and the soil temperature is just right for planting.
This is the perfect time to plant and you are spoilt for choice as this is when all the new plants are available. For colour in your garden all year round visit us regularly to check out what’s in flower each season.
Get out the fertiliser and give your plants and lawn a good feed (looking for top quality fertiliser? Click here or pop in store today). The constant heat has meant that we have to water our plants more than normal and these flushes out a lot of the fertiliser that was in the soil or pot plants. You should fertilise any pot plants as well.
Here are some of our tips to get you started:
Give your indoor pot plants some fertiliser according to the directions on the pack. Wipe down the leaves of your plants to remove any dust so they can catch as much light as possible.
Pest and disease control
- Once the leaves of your peach, nectarine and cherry trees fall spray with copper oxychloride to control shot hole and leaf curl fungal diseases.
- Watch for petal blight on your azaleas, spray with mancozeb fortnightly
- Cabbage moth caterpillars will destroy your cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower and other leafy vegetables, dust with derris dust, follow the withholding instructions and repeat after rain.
- Snails and slugs are on the move in autumn and winter, protect your seedlings with pet safe snail bait or use a snail trap filled with beer.
Seasonal plants
- Plant pansy, viola, cineraria, primula, snapdragon and sweet peas for winter and spring colour
- Plant cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, silverbeet, peas
- Get your spring flowering bulbs in as soon as possible
- Plant perennials and shrubs while it’s warm enough for the plant to establish before winter
