Happy second month of autumn, gardeners! Although it’s getting colder, the landscape is truly warmed up by the rich colour pallet around us. With many plants going into hibernation, cool-season flowers are only just waking up and getting ready to treat us to their colourful charm. It’s time to sort out some pre-winter maintenance and prep the veggie patch for soups and stews.  

Awesome flowers to plant

• April is the perfect time to plant striking indigenous bulbs like watsonia, freesia, ixia, chincherinchee and Sparaxis. For non-indigenous bulbs, try daffodils, irises, tulips and hyacinths.
• For colour and charm, go for primula, poppy, pansy and gazania seedlings, as well as perennials such as lupins, Shasta daisies, and aquilegias.
• Planting new roses now will allow them to ‘settle in’ during winter and gain a head start in spring. Continue to spray your roses against fungal diseases such as mildew and black spot.

Awesome plants to sow

• Flowers that can still be sown are osteospermum, mesembryanthemums, winter scatter packs and the indigenous scatter pack mix. Individual varieties include Virginian stocks, calendula, and Felicia.
• Veggies to be sown now include peas, parsnips, carrots, onion Texas Grano (short day variety), beetroot Bulls Blood, and broccoli.
• For a winter production of healthy herbs, start sowing seeds in windowsill containers. High light is all that’s needed for a good crop with a reasonable indoor temperature.

Top tip: Guard against leaving containers on windowsills overnight as cold glass may harm plants.

Awesome to spray

• Aphids will still be around this time of the year, although their numbers will be less than in spring. Give your flowers a close inspection and if there are still a few around control with Plant Protector.

Snails and slugs devastate leaves on plants and ruin their appearance. Snailban and Snailflo are just two of the products which you can purchase from your GCA Garden Centre as a solution.

• Scale is a sap-sucking insect that can cause severe damage to many types of plants in the garden. They can be eradicated by spraying with Malasol or Oleum in the cooler months.
• Autumn is the peak season for leaf miners, causing twisting and curling on new leaves. Control with regular applications of Eco Insect Control SC.

Top tip: Watch out for ant movement – the main culprits for transferring disease around the garden. Sprinkle Ant Dust around their holes and along their trails.

Awesome feeding

• Feed your winter-flowering plants such as hellebores to encourage a dramatic winter show later in the season when little else is brave enough to flower.
• When cyclamen buds start to appear on last year’s plants, start feeding them every second week.
• Add fertiliser to aloes and flowering succulents
• Help your lawn along by feeding with 2.3.2
• Give sweet peas a boost with liquid fertiliser and train them up onto a net or lattice.
• Feed citrus trees with a general fertiliser and a handful of Epsom salts per tree.

Awesome maintenance

• In frost-prone areas, remember to grab some protection from your GCA Garden Centre and be ready to cover up before you’re caught off guard.
• Mulch up to the max with living groundcovers and plant materials.
• Containers are ready for a new layer of potting soil. Remove about one third from the top and replace it with the new soil.
• Any container plants that need repotting can also be done now. Help them adapt with a liquid fertiliser after transplanting.

If you’re unsure about which fertilisers or sprays to use, remember to ask your knowledgeable garden centre advisors for help. Any other plants that need transplanting can also be done now, giving them a chance to adjust so that come springtime, they are blooming with life.

Source:  Life is a Garden

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