Keep your flower garden blooming with beautiful stock flowers. Photo / Supplied
Keep your flower garden blooming with beautiful stock flowers. Photo / Supplied
While plenty of vegetables are still producing and harvest is still ongoing, there is certainly a noticeable chill in the air.
As the leaves turn golden, gardeners prepare for the transition. It is time to preserve the excess produce and prepare garden beds for the cooler months.
• Clean up continues: trim hedges, mow lawns, keep the weeds out.
• Lift and divide clumps of perennials.
Edible Garden
Brassicas thrive this season; broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower. If you would like some variety, try adding beetroot. You may also want to consider planting onions, carrots or leeks where you had brassicas last year.
The March planting guide for home gardens. Photo / Supplied
Move the brassicas into a new bed with good quality soil. Brassicas are heavy feeders and they need well-draining soil. Space brassica varieties about 50cm apart.
If you have limited garden space, growing cabbages in about 30-35L containers could be your option. You may plant about five cabbages in a 35L container. Try planting spring onions in the same container as a great companion plant for cabbages.
If you have an abundance of tomatoes or zucchinis, it's now a good time to start preserving them (eg tomato or zucchini relish).
Flower Garden
Keep your flower garden blooming with beautiful stock flowers. They have stunning displays, a perfect choice for cut flowers, and indoor floral arrangements.
It's also a great time to plant pansies. Awapuni Nurseries has more than 20 varieties of beautiful pansies coming very soon on our website.
Juncus is a common New Zealand indigenous species. Photo / Supplied
Herb Garden
Consider growing strong-smelling herbs like thyme and sage. They are useful companion plants to brassicas as they help repel pests.
Natives
Autumn is the time to plant a wider range of natives. Natives love the cooler breeze and they appreciate wet weather.
If you are located in the warmer regions of New Zealand and you are considering planting natives now, put them in a sheltered area and water them regularly until more rain comes and the days are shorter.
Ornamental grasses like black mondo grass and carex are popular choices for newly-built homes and sections. Photo / Supplied
Landscaping options
Ornamental grasses like black mondo grass and carex are popular choices for newly-built homes and sections because of their sleek, stylish, minimalist look.
