Saturday, July 9, 2011

July Garden

July
A windy Month in the highlands

cloches help with the young plants.
http://www.veggiepatch.com.au/howto.html


Gardens and Gardening are art
A process of the soul
Forever changing like the seasons.
No static picture a thing on paper with nowhere to go
Design is process, Process by design
The garden designer is a part of their creation
The most beautiful things
have been worked and reworked many times over

July

A good time to service restore garden tools, sharpen oil secateurs saws spades etc
Put a sharpening stone on a small windmill

fruit trees - winter tree care
Never head a tree, remove dead wood and wayward branches.Trees are reactive and will replace the mass removed, the more removed the more work created the next year.
Cut to apical bud. Conscious and careful attention to growth, being prepaid to spend a number of years to obtain desired results.
Select appropriate sized trees and root stocks.

Spray -
Peaches - Leaf Curl
kocide, copper compound
at Leaf fall, Bud swell & One week later.
Winter oil - General Purpose spray
Roses – fungal diseases
Before bud break, lime Sulphur

Citrus Gall wasp - Remove & burn

Take hardwood cuttings

TRIM -
STAR JASMINE shape promote spring flowering
PHOTTNIA rim to shape promote bright red growth
HYDRANGEA cut back to two pairs of plump buds remove dead straggly wood
ROSE cold climates best left until august. Pruning is essential for the best blooms & compact bushes

Oxalis & Onion weed ,The Bane of the Garden Trowel it out, burn, Cover thickly with newspaper, mulch heavily, this may have to be repeated for a number of years in heavily infested soil. Control seeding. Replace soil. It’s sensitive to herbicides when flowering.
Divide chrysanthemums


Plant -
globe Artichoke, Asparagus crown, Lilium, Lily of the valley,Roses.
Mustard greens, Oats ,Onions, Onion - spring, Peas climbing, Peas Dwarf
Rhubarb crown, Shallots bulb Senpodia Swedes Turnip
Under cover - Cauliflower, Cress, Winter Lettuce

Feed -
Feed the bulbs before and as they die down.
Much better to make compost and incorporate the needed elements into it for desired situations.
mulch with organically bound substances, leaf matter chips straw.
liquid compost for the growing plants.
soil chemistry is slow now, N&C cycle weighted in damp cold directions processes, excess available N&C will not necessarily promote growth & be lost.

Build a hot compost as well as the kitchen Heap.
This is for the summer crop.
look to the worms,