October in your garden

The soil is warming, and plants are galloping away. Enjoy the spring with its delightful blossoms and go out and get your hands dirty! The nursery is now fully stocked with plants for every situation, including drought hardy, indigenous plants and flora that attract birds, helpful insects and other wildlife. So come in and ask our friendly staff at Bulleen Art and Garden to help you select the best plant choices for your situation. If you need further help, why not browse through our bookshop for a large range of authoritative and inspiring books on topics ranging from composting to landscaping, design and art.

Edible Gardening

October is the month to plant many of those summer vegetable crops that require warmth. Make sure you replenish the soil fertility by digging in plenty of organic matter such as well-rotted mushroom compost, cow manure (which is gentle enough not to burn seedling roots) or best of all your own homemade compost.

Vegies are gross feeders and the flavour and yield of your crop will depend upon the quality of your soil to provide nutrients and water freely as the plants grow.

Liming is also something to consider as the calcium within lime is often required by fast-growing plants in their leaf margins and is useful for preventing blossom end rot in tomatoes.

So, when is the absolute best time? Warm season crops need soil temperatures to be at around 20^oC to take off properly and this won't happen until day temperatures are consistently above 20^oC and night-time temperatures are no lower than 10^oC, so there's no chance of a late frost. Jackie French, of lots of gardening fame, uses a bare buttocks test i.e. if you can sit comfortably on your bare soil with your bare behind, then the soil is warm enough. Putting them in too early in Melbourne and its surrounds doesn't guarantee you an earlier crop, unless you are an experienced gardener with a greenhouse.

Seedlings which can go in now include: Beans, Beetroot, Capsicum, Chillies, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Lettuce, Pumpkin, Spring Onions, Silverbeet, Corn, Tomatoes, Zucchini.

If you are sowing seeds, they can be direct sown if the soil temperature is consistently around 20 degrees. If not, they are best raised in a tray or punnet, in a warm window or greenhouse, then hardened off in pots before transferring to the garden bed, once the soil has warmed up. Seeds require constant access to air, moisture, warmth and sunlight to germinate. This is best achieved by sowing them into seed raising mixture, then transplanting the seedlings into potting mixture containing food once they have 2 or 3 true leaves. Peas, corn, sunflowers, carrots are better direct sown.

Don't forget to mulch the beds after planting to help suppress weeds and conserve water. Pea straw is ideal.

Now is also the ideal time to establish a herb garden. Decide which herbs you are likely to use so that you have them on hand. Group them together so that they enjoy similar conditions eg rosemary and thyme prefer hot, dry spots. Basil needs the heat but will need some watering.

Companion planting amongst vegetables can help to reduce pest problems later on in summer by attracting pest predetors and pollinators and by simply confusing pests by the different shapes and smells. Include plants of Alyssum, Daisies, Lavender, Borage, Bergamot, Marigold, Calendula, Phacelia, Coriander, Parsnip, Dill gone to flower, Sage, Thyme, Mints (careful, they spread easily). Refer to our companion planting fact sheet or the detailed chart now available in store.

Every Drop Counts

Now is a great time before the summer onslaught, to get into some useful water saving habits. Gardens can be big water users, but there are ways to help.

Consider installing a water tank. Although the initial cost and installation may seem high, think of all the useful water that you are harvesting every time it rains. This is water that you can use as you please! Click here for more information on utilising rainwater in your garden.

Greywater from your showers or washing machine can be used, especially around ornamental plants. Issues may arise from the detergents you use, so go for a No Phosphorus type, preferably as a liquid (powders contain salt as a filler). Click here for more information on utilising greywater in your garden.

Spring clean your compost bin. Spread finished compost around plants and cover with mulch, or dig into vegie beds to prepare for summer crops. Even poor compost helps improve soil structure by introducing organic matter, which improves water retention. If your compost is smelly and slimy, you need some helpful tips to get it working effectively. Talk to one of our staff or click here for more information.

Perhaps the most important revolution in gardening over the past decade has been the practice of mulching garden beds. Not only does it help reduce the weed population, it keeps valuable water where needed. Recent research has shown that mulch containing mainly large pieces is much better at reducing evaporation from the soil, allowing water to penetrate and preventing weeds from germinating. Mulch should be laid thickly over moistened beds, so this is a good job to do on days following some good rain.

Gardening to Enjoy

This is the ideal month to plant many perennials, annuals and summer flowering shrubs. Gladioli, Dahlias and other bare root summer flowering perennials may still be planted this month. Divide existing Dahlia clumps. You can also plant seedlings of old favourites such as Asters, Delphiniums, Foxgloves, Impatiens, Snapdragons, Marigolds, Cosmos, Dianthus and Petunias.

For those who must have a traditional lawn, make sure you plant a drought tolerant species such as Buffalo or Microlaena. Alternatively, turn some areas of lawn into garden beds, and plant them up now. Don't forget to check out our Lawn Alternatives fact sheet, you'd be amazed how much more interesting you can make your open space.

If you already have a lawn, resist the temptation to cut it too low. It won't reduce the number of times the lawn has to be cut! Consider leaving the clippings to decompose on the lawn itself, if they can be spread thinly. This provides a slow-release natural fertiliser, to make up for the growth you have taken away from the grass. Spread a soil wetting agent across the lawn to ensure any rain will be soaked into the soil.

Divide and re-pot cymbidium orchids if needed. Re-pot other indoor plants if needed.

Waterlilies are always a delight in ponds and now is the time to divide and re-pot them, especially if this has not been done for a few years.

Prune spring-flowering shrubs after they finish, including natives such as Eriostemon.

Feed spring flowering bulbs after they have finished flowering with a complete bulb fertiliser or some blood'n'bone. If you leave spring bulbs in the ground during summer, mark where they are now that they are in full bloom. This will prevent you putting a spade through the bulbs in summer when there is no foliage to remind you of their location.

Feeding Your Garden

If you haven't already done so, now is a good time to feed your whole garden with All Purpose organic fertiliser. The granular forms last longer than the powder forms, so you only have to apply this once or twice during the growing season. The powder form is taken up more quickly and needs replenishing every 6-8 weeks or so. Always follow the directions on the fertiliser packet for each plant to ensure you are not overfeeding, which results in nitrate runoff into stormwater drains that empty into natural waterways, polluting and killing the existing plants and animals.

Fertilise citrus and fruit trees and passionfruit vines with an organic Fruit & Citrus food. Give your Roses, Fuschias and Hydrangeas a boost with an all purpose plant food. Feed your Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Camellias with Azalea & Camellia food once they have finished flowering. Don't forget to mulch after feeding. Liquid feed spring flowering annuals every two weeks.

Make a liquid manure to use in your ornamental and vegie garden. Fill a sack or an old stocking with sheep or cow manure. You can even use finished compost. Hang the manure bag in a large bucket or drum of water for a few weeks. It is ready to use when it is a rich brown colour. Dilute to the colour of tea and feed your seedlings.

Aphids

Now that spring is here keep a close eye out for aphids on soft, young growth. Numbers can increase rapidly if left undetected. Remove and squash them by hand or spray with Garlic and Chilli, Pyrethrum or Confidor.

Citrus

Citrus trees can be affected by citrus gall wasp at this time of year. This small wasp lays its eggs in soft stems in spring. The larvae then tunnel through the stem forming a lumpy looking growth. Cut off any stems with galls and burn them immediately. There is no chemical control. Try using sticky traps to trap adult wasps as they fly about the tree. Scale and Citrus Leaf Miner are also commonly found on citrus in spring. Scale look like smooth lumps on stems and leaves, usually congregating around the mid vein and may be of various colours including black, brown and pale yellow. Citrus Leaf Miner leave squiggly silvery trails on the leaf surface and the leaves will often curl up on the edges. Both these pest problems may be controlled by spraying with White Oil. This smothers the insects, so be sure to cover both sides of the leaf.

Gardening for Kids

Lots of containers make quirky and interesting pots to grow plants in. Make sure they have some holes, enough space for a couple of handfuls of potting mix and many small plants will be quite happy. Use containers such as old, chipped teacups or cut a punctured basketball in half. You could even use a pair of old sneakers that leak through the bottom! Fill the shoe with potting mix and plant some seedlings. Or take a cutting of an easy-to-grow plant such as pelargonium and grow it in the shoe.

Christmas is coming...

Forward plan for Christmas. It may seem like months away, but many will appreciate a thoughtful gift from the garden. Pot up a planter with some seedlings that will look great by December 25th. Herbs are always appreciated and some vegies also do well in pots.