May
As Autumn draws to a close, remember it’s not too late to get any new plants safely bedded in before winter. The soil is still warm, and the milder days slow down top growth, giving the roots a chance to grow into their new home. It’s Mother Day too, and gardening is one of their favourite hobbies, so bring her along for lunch, treat her to a flowering plant, but her a new book or just get a gift card and let her decide…there are so many plants to choose from after all!
PREPARE
-Get out your bulbs from the fridge and plant them in pots, glass containers and vases.
Collect leaves and compost them. If you don’t have a compost, run over them with a mower, wet them down and bag them. In a few months you’ll have some nice leaf mould you can spread under established trees and garden beds to add organic matter.
-Perfect time to plant a tree.
-Order ahead for the best flowering Mother’s Day gifts and hampers
-Look out for bindii and spray with weedicide or hand weed as they appear
-Buy water lily crowns and pot them up for your water feature
ENJOY
-Harvest the last passionfruits, stone fruit and early apples and pears.
-Tropical impatiens
-Early Camellia japonicas
-Flowering natives like crowea, banksias and correas
-Persimmons and guavas, both of which are fabulous as preserves
-Fuchsias in flower in baskets
-Hibiscus
-Time with your Mother
HAVE ON HAND
-Glass jars and pebbles for hyacinths
-Sprouts for winter salads from you window shelf
-Shears to lightly prune you Camellia sasanquas as they finish flowering
-Water storing crystals, stakes and plant ties or webbing for tree planting
-Mulch for your trees and shrubs
