We can all feel the cold, crisp weather setting in, which means it is now time to prepare your garden for the winter months ahead.
Following our guide on which vegetables, annuals and bulbs are suitable for May, and what plant varieties to look at now will give you that vibrant, winter and planning for spring garden.
Maintaining a healthy winter lawn
- Look at watering your lawn twice a week to keep it healthy and maintain its green colour. It is ideal to water after sunrise this will avoid frost.
- If you have Buffalo lawn remember it goes dormant as winter arrives, so you can mow it less frequently. Kikuyu lawn should be mowed every two weeks.
- Using a fertiliser that is high in phosphate, such as 3:2:1 or 3:1:5, will encourage healthy root development.
YOUR TO-DO LIST FOR MAY
Plant & Sow
- Try something new and attract the birds into your garden by planting Strelitzia reginae, salvia, succulents such as echeveria and Crassula varieties, grass varieties such as carex, pincushions, ericas and aloe varieties. These plants will be going into flower soon, giving color to your garden, and a food supply to our feathered friends.
- When planting seedlings or seeds, prepare the beds by working some Wonder Plant Starter All Purpose into the soil.
- For pops of color in your garden, Plant Iceland poppies, foxglove, dianthus, delphiniums, primulas, violas, pansies, tulips and cyclamens.
- Help saplings survive by feeding them weekly with Wonder Kelp. They’ll appreciate the love!
Tip: Plant tulips 10–15cm apart and 8cm deep.
- Also look at planting bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinth and snowdrops.
- For the veg garden carry on planting spinach, peas, broad beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage varieties, kale and lettuce seedlings.
- You can also start sowing rows of carrot, leeks and beetroot seeds.
- Plant self-sufficient perennials such as agapanthus, Agyranthemum, yellow wild iris.
- Purchase seasonal roses early for the best selection. Prepare the soil with Dolomitic Lime and an Organic Vita-Boost and feed with Kelp for the first few weeks.
Prune
- Be sure to keep your conifers in shape by pruning gently.
- To regulate fruit production and encourage rejuvenation of evergreen fruit trees, look at pruning the branches and young tips this will encourage dense growth.
- Prune summer-flowering shrubs, trees, perennials, and bulbs that have finished flowering.
Tip: Invest in a pair of elbow-length gloves if you are looking at pruning thorny and spiky shrubs.
Neaten up
- Tidy up your flowerbeds and perennials such as cannas.
- Look at staking trees and shrubs if you are situated in wind-prone areas.
- Clean up under hedges and loosen the soil to get rid of pests that may be sheltering underneath.
- Collect any rotting fruit from under fruit trees and compost.
- Rot can spread throughout a whole harvest within a week or two. Check harvested fruit to make sure nothing is rotting and remove fruit as soon as it starts to decay.
Feed
- Feed existing plants with a high-nitrogen fertiliser like Atlantic All-Purpose Fertiliser.
- Keep an eye on the weather and if you are to receive some rainfall, Feed your lawn before with a handful of 3:2:1 or 3:1:5 per square metre.
- Water and feed your indoor plants such as cinerarias, cyclamen and daffodils every two weeks with a liquid fertiliser like Multifeed Classic.
- As soon as the first leaves emerge from your bulbs, you can start to feed them each week with an All Purpose fertiliser which encourages healthy growth and future flower production. Continue feeding into late spring until most of the leaves have died down.
- Feed winter bearing trees with Flower power & Gwano pellets, for a bumper and delicious crop.
OTHER FRESH IDEAS
Prepare your garden for winter frosts
- Our first frosts are usually expected around the third week of May. Protect your plants by covering them with a frost guard, protect roots with a thick layer of mulch and move pots into a sheltered spot.
- Collect fallen autumn leaves as they’re ideal for composting, use a Compost Activator to get your compost heap going.
- Protect emerging orchid flower spikes with a sprinkling of sluggem pellets.
- Winter is probably the easiest time of year to kill a houseplant. Gruelling growing conditions like lower light levels, dry air, shorter days, and chilly temperatures put houseplants through the paces. The secret to helping your plants survive winter is to adjust their care routines to suit seasonal growing conditions, and feed them with an All Purpose liquid fertiliser every watering, but remember only when the soil is dry.
- Expert tip: Indoor plants can be affected by red spider mites – tiny sap-feeding pests that create spidery webbing when in colonies and can cause leaves to yellow and mottle. Control them by spraying plants each week with Efekto Garden Gun or Oleum.
Buy a gardening gift for Mother’s Day
Spoil your mom this Mother’s Day with a thoughtful green gift to let her know how much she means to you. Here are a few gardening gift ideas:
- Look at creating a trendy terrarium for her living room
- You can’t go wrong with the popular Scindapsus aureus for her bookshelf
- If you’re struggling to decide on the perfect gift, indulge her with a visit to Tuingenoot spoiling her with a tasty breakfast and let her choose her favourite plant.
