Spring is sweeping in so get your garden ready to bloom
We’re planting … Lavender Meerlo
(Lavandula x allardii) which has variegated green and creamy yellow leaves that are unlike the usual silvery green lavenders. The glowing leaves stand out from afar, making it a superb foliage plant for the garden all year round. It grows into a compact bush that also looks good in a container. Like all lavenders, its leaves are very aromatic and it produces light blue flowers in Spring. Plant in sun or semi-shade and in soil that drains well. Once established Meerlo is heat and drought tolerant. Details: ballstraathof.co.za
Indoor plant of the month:
Brighten the home with pink flowering anthurium for an early Spring feeling in the home. Flower colours include soft pastel pink, warm salmon, bright lipstick pink and showy candy stripe pink and white flowers. Place plants in a warm, bright room and water when the topsoil feels dry. For ongoing flowering, make sure plants receive bright light, remove dead flowers and feed with a liquid fertiliser once a month in Spring and Summer.
Details: lvgplant.co.za
Veggie of the month
New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia tetragonioides) is an easy-to-grow leafy green that’s hardy and prolific, even during midsummer. Although this tetragonia spinach is not a member of the spinach (beet) family, its tender young succulent-like leaves taste like spinach and can be cooked like spinach. Like spinach, its leaves are full of fibre, antioxidants and Vitamins A and C as well as calcium.
For Spring sowing, start the seed in seed trays as the soil is still too cool for in-situ germination. Keep the soil moist during germination and plant out seedlings towards end September. Plant seedlings in soil that drains well and in a position that receives plenty of sun, with some afternoon shade. Regular watering and fertilising with produce tasty green leaves. Plants grow about 30cm high and wide. To harvest, snip young leaves or side shoots off the main stem. Regular harvesting encourages plant growth and bushier plants. If left to go to seed, plants will reseed the following Spring. Details: www.kirchhoffs.co.za
Garden tasks for August
• Start preparing the beds for sowing Summer annuals like alyssum, lobelia, dianthus and marigolds from the end of August.
• Water once a week and even twice a week for Spring flowering bulbs.
• Fertilise shrubs, perennials and creepers followed by a thorough watering. Enrich the soil by digging in compost as deeply as possible.
• Lawns are ready for their Spring treatment. Use a steel rake to remove thatchy, brown undergrowth from Kikuyu, LM or Kweek lawns. Then, cut it down as low as the lawn mower will go. Apply a lawn fertiliser (5:1:5) and water it well.
• Check for compacted areas in the lawn and concentrate on aerating those areas. Its best to use a garden fork, dig in the length of the tine, wiggle it and pull it out to loosen up the ground.
• Watch out for aphids among the cabbages, broccoli and Brussels sprouts and spray with an organic insecticide or soapy water.
Text: ALICE COETZEE
