Cercis Forest Pansy. Photo / Supplied
The pastimes of gardening and walking have taken a substantial increase during the first week of lockdown at home.
As I have been outside in my yard I have never seen so many people walking the streets.
And when I too have been out on my walks, I have observed many in their own yards gardening.
Walking around your local streets is a great way to observe what others are growing in their garden.
What you see in the gardens of others in your area is a good indicator of what you can likely grow in your own patch of paradise.
A couple of my favourite observations in the past week have been of two smaller growing deciduous trees.
READ MORE:
• Gareth Carter: Stay home and relax in the garden!
• Premium - Gareth Carter: Prickles, moss, weeds - how to keep your lawn pristine this summer
• Gareth Carter: Want winter veges? Don't delay, plant now
• Premium - Gareth Carter: Growing your own avocados is rewarding
Both are dark foliage Cercis trees – Forest Pansy which has an upright form and then a much newer release is Ruby Falls which has a weeping growth habit.
Cercis Ruby Falls has a wonderful elegant weeping habit with foliage of ruby red through the summer months.
In the early spring before the foliage appears the stems become covered in rose purple blooms. It forms a height of about 2m spreading to 1.5m wide.
Forest Pansy shares the same foliage colours buts its early spring flowers are a bright pink colour and the tree will reach a height of about 3m with its upright growth habit.
Autumn is well and truly here.
The generally mild weather makes it a great time of the year for gardening. The days are shortening with increasing speed. (A reminder daylight saving ends this weekend) The leaves of deciduous trees are only just starting to show signs of changing colour.
Some of the spectacular ones to watch for are liquidambar, claret ash, maples and the ginkgo. This will be something to look out for on your daily walks in the coming weeks!
At home in your own patch there is plenty to do, here are some of the must dos in the garden for April:
Soil Maintenance: "The answer lies in the soil" is a well known phrase which is true to the success (or not) we have in the garden. With this in mind it is time to reinvigorate the soil in the vegetable garden. Summer vegetables can often pillage the soil of fertility and break down the structure. Therefore the addition of sheep pellets, compost and fertiliser is highly recommended and will help ensure continued good production from your plot.
Green Crops - Natural Soil Maintenance: For areas of the vegetable garden that have been heavily cropped over summer, such as where corn has been growing, it is often advantageous to plant a green crop. A green crop is the growing of a crop that will be dug back into the soil. It is a natural method of soil maintenance, when dug into the soil and it will boost and replace lost nutrients. This will also encourage earthworms and other beneficial micro organisms to your garden. There are three main varieties of seed commonly used as green manure crops; blue lupins, barley and oats and mustard.
Winter Vegetables: With a bit of forward planning you could have a nice crop of winter vegetables to harvest during the cold months. Planting these vegetables now will get the vegetables as close to maturity as possible before winter really sets in.
Plant out silverbeet, spinach, cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, broccoflower, spring onions, brussels sprouts, beetroot, celery, lettuce and pak-choi. At this stage of the year with the lead up to winter shortening, seedlings are the best planting choice. However sugar snap peas, carrots, swede, turnip, raddish and broad bean seeds are best sown as seeds. Plant these seeds directly in the garden.
Fertilise Winter and Spring flowers: Time to fertilise winter and spring flowering and fruiting plants such as citrus, rhododendrons, camellias, daphne, azaleas and others to aid flower developments for spring.
Lawn Maintenance: As talked about last week it is the ideal time to sow a new lawn and renovate and fertilise existing lawns in need of a spruce up. Get onto this asap as once we get towards mid to late May soil temperatures start to decrease which then slows seed germination and will result in a patchy lawn.
Best time to plant a tree: Autumn is the best time of year to be making plantings of tree and shrubs so that they can establish good root systems before the dry of next summer. They often make far bigger, better and stronger plants, more quickly than those planted in the spring. Why not plant some fruit trees? Home grown fruit tastes better and is alot fresher.
Spring Bulbs: It is time to plant spring bulbs. When the lockdown is lifted I recommend a visit to the store to check out the range of daffodils, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, gladioli nanas, crocus, iris reticulata and more available – I predict big discounts on these as they will need to be planted by early May.
I hope everyone's week goes well. Stay home and save lives, as our PM keeps reminding us.
Stay Safe!
•Gareth Carter is general manager of Springvale Garden Centre.
An inspiring, astonishing adventure, including being mistaken for missing Marokopa family.
