Claire's Monthly Gardening Notes Page 1

Claire’s Gardening Notes January, 2012

Christmas celebrations and cheer are over for another year and New Year parties are just beginning. Best wishes to all for a healthy and happy 2012. It is a bit hard to believe the amount of rain and rainy days that were seen during December. Let’s hope we continue to get some good falls during January to keep the grass green and the plants happy. With almost everyone’s focus on Christmas holidays and shopping, the garden has probably been neglected, so there will be plenty of work to keep us gardeners busy over the next month.

WEEDS. These are the unwanted plants that can quickly take over the garden, especially in the warm wetter conditions we have seen lately. Weeds will occupy any bare patch of soil found in the garden and can out-compete other plants for space, water and nutrients. Most will grow quickly to the seed stage and disperse the seed ready for another onslaught on the garden at a later time. Weeds can also be the starting point for insects and disease which can hop onto your other garden plants to cause problems. Most weeds can easily be removed by hand before their roots get too well established. If you have a large area to control then glyphosate can be sprayed but thus chemical will kill most plants it contacts. For lawns being infested with weeds a selective broad leaf weed spray can be used but it will also kill any clover in the lawn. If unsure what would be best in your situation please enquire in the shop. Another important point is – only use your sprayer with weed poison for poisoning weeds. DO NOT USE FOR INSECTICIDES OR FUNGICIDES.

FEEDING. Most plants will need regular feeding as the rain can help to leach any fertiliser from the soil. Vegetables will need weekly to fortnightly feeds so that they keep growing at a regular rate. Use the appropriate fertiliser for the appropriate crop or a good general purpose fertiliser. Annuals and Perennials need a regular feed as well to keep flowers coming. Roses are plants that really love to be fed. One of the best fertilisers for roses is Sudden Impact. This is applied 3 times through the growing season to keep roses healthy and happy.

PEST AND DISEASE. With the warm wetter conditions some problems can be caused by pests and diseases to many of the plants in the garden

PEAR AND CHERRY SLUG. These will cause the leaf surface to be stripped off and then the leaf turns brown, crisp and falls off. The pest is the larvae of a sawfly and has two hatchings per season. They will be found on cherries, pears (both ornamental and fruiting), hawthorns, plums and ornamental plums. To control this pest use Yates Success or Dipel, Pyrethum or Pest Oil. Each of these need to be sprayed directly onto the pest to be effective.

WOOLLY APHIDS. This aphid is found on apple, pears and crabapples and covers itself in a white fluffy covering that resembles cotton wool. They will be mainly found on stems and the trunks of the target plants and will suck sap causing gall type lumps where they feed. If not controlled they weaken the plant. Control by using Confidor.