Annuals:
Remove winter-flowering plants and prepare beds well for summer planting and sowing.
Annuals like Lobelia, Celosia and Gomphrena can be sowed in warmer areas and Cosmos and Cleome in situ.
Dead-head flowers and catch the seed of spring-flowering annuals like Namaqualand daisies, Nemesia and Ursinia.
Bulbs:
Feed and water until leaves yellow.
Plant summer-flowering bulbs, but make sure to plant gladiolus at different intervals for continuous flowering.
Plant dahlias late September, in full sun, and divide existing dahlias.
Amarylis, manipulated for Christmas: put bulbs in a brown paper bag and store them in the fridge (5° C over freezing point) until beginning of November and plant out in your Christmas pot (with good soil). Flowering starts roughly 6 weeks after planting.
Support tall-growing Lillium varieties.
Perennials:
Divide, or cut back, plants that need it and feed, mulch and water well.
Roses:
Feed plants and water every 4 days.
Pinch back strong growth on new roses by a third.
Spray against rose pests like aphids, thrips, powdery mildew and bollworm.
Irrigation:
Water more now.
Lawns:
Aerate compact lawns, water, feed and level with topsoil.
Fertilising:
Feed the spring garden, water well and mulch.
Feed and apply Epson salt to plants that need it - or acid (with a mulch cover of bark chips for example) where colour change is wanted.
Propagation:
Make cuttings of fuchsias and let them root in covered containers.
Pruning:
Prune winter-flowering shrubs, climbers and trees.
Cut wisterias back after flowering and leave only 1 - 2 flowers per stem.
Remove dead or scraggly wood of hibiscus.
Prune large shrubs back by a third and pinch back smaller shrubs, feed and mulch.
Herbs:
Make cuttings of rosemary and thyme.
Sow and divide perennial herbs and after the last frost, Lemon scented verbena can be cut back.
Vegetables:
Consider pot planting for your veggies, for convenience and space saving.
Harvest the last winter veggies.
Work the roots of peas into the soil instead of removing them all together.
Heap hills over protruding potatoes. Protect against frost and feed with ash (from wood).
Re-pot cold-sensitive seedlings like capsicum annuum and remember to plant tomatoes deeper, to the first pair of leaves. Well developed seedlings of peppers and eggplants can be planted in protected spot.
Pack small twigs snugly around young stems for protection against wind, sun and pests.
Fruit:
Thin apricot, pear and plum trees out when the fruits are 5mm.
Feed grapes and add Epson salt.
Mulch and feed bananas, figs, litchis, granadillas, avos and paw paws.
Feed strawberries.
Water citrus trees deeply, once a week.
Remove winter-flowering plants and prepare beds well for summer planting and sowing.
Annuals like Lobelia, Celosia and Gomphrena can be sowed in warmer areas and Cosmos and Cleome in situ.
Dead-head flowers and catch the seed of spring-flowering annuals like Namaqualand daisies, Nemesia and Ursinia.
Bulbs:
Feed and water until leaves yellow.
Plant summer-flowering bulbs, but make sure to plant gladiolus at different intervals for continuous flowering.
Plant dahlias late September, in full sun, and divide existing dahlias.
Amarylis, manipulated for Christmas: put bulbs in a brown paper bag and store them in the fridge (5° C over freezing point) until beginning of November and plant out in your Christmas pot (with good soil). Flowering starts roughly 6 weeks after planting.
Support tall-growing Lillium varieties.
Perennials:
Divide, or cut back, plants that need it and feed, mulch and water well.
Roses:
Feed plants and water every 4 days.
Pinch back strong growth on new roses by a third.
Spray against rose pests like aphids, thrips, powdery mildew and bollworm.
Irrigation:
Water more now.
Lawns:
Aerate compact lawns, water, feed and level with topsoil.
Fertilising:
Feed the spring garden, water well and mulch.
Feed and apply Epson salt to plants that need it - or acid (with a mulch cover of bark chips for example) where colour change is wanted.
Propagation:
Make cuttings of fuchsias and let them root in covered containers.
Pruning:
Prune winter-flowering shrubs, climbers and trees.
Cut wisterias back after flowering and leave only 1 - 2 flowers per stem.
Remove dead or scraggly wood of hibiscus.
Prune large shrubs back by a third and pinch back smaller shrubs, feed and mulch.
Herbs:
Make cuttings of rosemary and thyme.
Sow and divide perennial herbs and after the last frost, Lemon scented verbena can be cut back.
Vegetables:
Consider pot planting for your veggies, for convenience and space saving.
Harvest the last winter veggies.
Work the roots of peas into the soil instead of removing them all together.
Heap hills over protruding potatoes. Protect against frost and feed with ash (from wood).
Re-pot cold-sensitive seedlings like capsicum annuum and remember to plant tomatoes deeper, to the first pair of leaves. Well developed seedlings of peppers and eggplants can be planted in protected spot.
Pack small twigs snugly around young stems for protection against wind, sun and pests.
Fruit:
Thin apricot, pear and plum trees out when the fruits are 5mm.
Feed grapes and add Epson salt.
Mulch and feed bananas, figs, litchis, granadillas, avos and paw paws.
Feed strawberries.
Water citrus trees deeply, once a week.