Water, feed and weed before you go away. Ask a neighbour to water while you are away. Put a timer on the tap to make it easy for them.
Check over your plants regularly. Pests love the heat so remove bugs by hand then instal sticky traps.
If pests have become a problem use an environmentally friendly spray around your vegetables and remember to spray late in the day when the bees have gone home.
Sow seeds: In most areas seeds can be planted directly in to the garden: cabbage, beans, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, and silverbeet. Keep them well watered and thin when necessary.
Plant seedlings: Beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, spinach, radish, leeks and silverbeet.
Plant another round of salad crops: lettuce, mizuna and mesclun.
Continue to feed vegetables with liquid fertiliser every two weeks.
Keep your seedlings protected with slug and snail bait.
Harvest garlic when tops have flowered, turned yellow and the lower leaves have started to turn brown.
Harvest vegetables as soon as they become ready. If you are not sure when this is, taste and size are good indicators. Most vegetables don’t improve when left to grow too big.
Corn is ready to harvest when it is still at the milky stage and the silk will be brown and dry. Check by pulling back the leaves and pushing your fingernail in the cob. Don’t leave them on the plant too long after this as they become doughy.
Harvest potatoes as they become ready. Use any damaged ones first and store the rest.
Beans need checking regularly. They become stringy if left too long on the bush.
Tomatoes are ready to harvest when they are fully coloured and firm to the touch. The plants can get very heavy now so make sure they are well staked.
Early plums can be harvested. Check other fruit trees for overly heavy branches. Remove some fruit early if necessary to protect the branch.
GARDEN COLOUR
Water your pots more in the warmer weather and consider using a water retention product.
Sow seeds: In most areas seeds can be planted directly into the garden — cosmos, impatiens, lobelia, calendula, pansies, poppies and salvia. Stay on top of the watering or else they will dry out quickly.
Plant seedlings: Petunias, impatiens, calendula, dahlias, verbena, alyssum, cosmos, marigolds, nemesia and dahlias.
Plant for bees: alyssum, pineapple sage, bergamot, echinops, eryngium, lemon balm, blue salvia, coreopsis, gaillardia, alyssum, rosemary and lavender.
Prepare the ground for spring bulbs by digging compost through the soil.
Dead-head roses: Remove all fallen leaves from around the base of the plant to reduce the spread of disease.
Water roses well and replace or refresh mulch if necessary.
Protect your roses from blackspot with the appropriate fungicide.
Trees and Shrubs: Keep all plants well watered.
Remove weeds as they will harbour pests and diseases.
Continue to mulch your shrubs and trees. Keep mulch away from the trunk.
Watch out for insects. Spray in the evening when the bees have gone home.
In humid areas watch for mildew, blackspot and other diseases that thrive in this environment.
LAWN
The summer heat will slow growth. Water if necessary.
Cut the grass dry and remove the catcher on your lawnmower to let the clippings fall on the lawn. They will act as mulch, conserving water and will prevent scorching.
Water well to keep the lawn green. Use an oscillating sprinkler for maximum coverage.
