If you have any plants in the garden that you need to move, right now, while everything is having a bit of a rest, is the time to move them.   Start by really hydrating the soil around the plant(s) you are going to move, as trying to dig plants out of dry soil will tear and break the roots. In wet soil they should just slide out. Maybe even water each day for a week before you are going to transplant – especially if you are moving bigger trees or shrubs   Loosen the soil as you go with a pitchfork, so punch holes with the fork, water, punch holes, water, punch water, punch wate ..read more

Well, it maybe mid-winter, cold and wet here, but that does not mean things have stopped moving and spinning, and in its inevitable way, spring will soon be springing so there is plenty to get ready for.   Veg and flowers – see some planting suggestions for July below   Trees – unless you are a robot, or your livelihood depends on it, no one ever gets everything right all the time, and although trimming trees is best done a few weeks after the last fruit has been picked, that does not always happen, and you can look up mid-winter and see long straggly unproductive growth shooting up ..read more

The start of June, the middle of the year, and the beginning of winter, already! WOW, how it all turns over and around so fast. As always there is plenty to do in the garden and if you are looking for some inspiration, see the sowing guide below. It is also a good time to start to construct any new beds you may be needing for spring. A one square metre bed is a very good option, a good height, and it can be put almost anywhere, even in small areas like courtyards. It is also easy to work with and put netting over when needed. Once the bed is built, going from the bottom, you -    ..read more

Is garlic a miracle crop? Certainly, it can be used in the kitchen in many ways, and it does have medicinal properties – inhibits and destroys bacteria, fungus and parasites, lowers blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels, prevents blood clotting, protects the liver, and has anti-cancer properties, which does all sound pretty miraculous. If that sparks your interest, here are some tips on how to get them growing in your garden, while you still can – warmer climates should have got them in the ground by now, but still have a few weeks to plant them. Cooler climates still have a bit more ti ..read more

If you are looking for something good and easy to grow, think spring onions. They flourish in a variety of climates and can be grown in the ground, raised beds or pots. You can grow lots of them, or just a few in a small space and they prefer cool temperatures so you can grow them across a number of seasons, and most importantly they can produce multiple harvests from a single planting. Even after harvesting, they can rejuvenate new shoots as the energy stored in the base allows them to sprout fresh greens and even more growth. You can use ones you get from your local grocer (probably not the ..read more

I know that May Day in this part of the world is not as it is in the other hemisphere, and going into the darker colder months is not as appealing or encourages all that singing and dancing. However, it should not put you off the planting and gardening, as there is still plenty to do this time of the year. Please see below a guide to what you can saw this month. It is certainly not a full list, and micro climates need to be considered, but there is enough choice to ensure we are all kept busy.  Enjoy Peter ..read more

Well, the short answer is that it is never too late and sometimes doing it right now is better than leaving the job until later, as branches can become woodier and thicker making the job significantly harder. In general, with citrus, pruning them a little bit over the entire year, except when full of fruit, is best. If there are branches you want to remove that have fruit on them, wait until you have harvested the fruit before cutting off the branch. Lightly prune areas that have become a little full and congested or where there has been a spurt of growth upward, as too much energy in that dir ..read more

Saving seeds is the cornerstone of an environmentally friendly and sustainable garden. Saving your own seeds helps to ensure a wide variety of plants endure, genetic diversity is maintained, and gives you the ability to grow plants suited to the local environment. It also means you do not need to buy (another cost) hybrid or genetically engineered seeds. If you save hybrid seeds they are unlikely to grow into exactly the same plant they came from, so it is best to save seeds from heirlooms, and old fashioned varieties. The other benefit is that you will get thousands of seeds from one plant, s ..read more

Although we had a pretty wet summer, which meant a lot more mowing than is normal for that time of the year, Autumn looks as if it is going to be dry. Because it is not as hot, many forget that the plants still need to be hydrated to function at their peak. So now is a very important time to keep an eye on the garden to see if the plants need any assistance, as a dehydrated plant is a stressed plant that will struggle to photosynthesize properly, and take in the nutrients it needs to provide you with a healthy, prolific crop. If the plant is wilting, or the leaves are curling and drying out, i ..read more

If you have a tree or shrub that has been in a pot a long time, you may see that the leaves are starting to yellow and fall off. This may be due to overwatering, which can 1) wash all the nutrients out of the soil and 2) leave the roots sitting in water so they can’t breathe. To check out the status of your potted tree, carefully tilt the pot back. If that is hard to do, it could be because the roots have gone through the base and suckered to the ground. The issue here is that those roots will have clogged the drainage hole in the centre of the base of the pot. If possible, lie the pot on its ..read more