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For those who love their gardens the recent stormy weather couldn’t be better — it almost feels like were having a real winter in Perth for the first time in many years — and while more boisterous and showy denizens of the garden spend this time of the year hibernating there are more subtle charms to be had for those who were busy burying bulbs at the end of summer. I’ve had jonquils flowering since the beginning of July which are just now being joined by a few early daffodils, and though now it’s too late to put in these particular bulbs there are others, including freesias, sparaxis, ixias and gladiolus which can be planted now for a spring showing. When bulbs finish flowering you should pick off the flower heads so that the plants don’t waste energy producing seeds, but let the leaves remain ’til they wither so that the bulb (corm or rhisome) is strengthened for next year.
Some other options for early colour over the next few months include larkspur, delphinium, cineraria, primula, pansy and violas, but you will need to put in advanced seedlings if you want flowers for late winter/early spring.
Another, and perhaps better, option is to spend time preparing new beds or rejuvenating existing areas in your garden. Mulching now is great way of cutting down on spring weeds. If you spread a liberal layer of sheep manure over the bed and a handful of blood and bone before the mulch goes down you can avoid any pong and ensure the manure is well rotted by the time you start planting your spring and summer garden. If you are preparing new garden beds, for either flowering plants or vegetables, then sheep manure is good for most cases and especially great when the soil is very sandy — which includes most areas on the Perth coastal plain. The more you prepare your soil the better the results will be, so it’s worth taking the time and making the effort to first put down a good layer of manure then digging or forking it through the soil, before proceeding as above. You should wait a month or so before you start putting in smaller plants or flower and vegetable seedlings but bigger/sturdier plants can go in after just a week or so with good rains or a bit of soaking using a hose every couple of days.
Now is also good time to prune back most plants but especially deciduous shrubs and trees, including fruit trees, hydrangeas (cut to two-thirds size, just above a pair of buds, leaving about ten canes), fuchsias (cut to two-thirds size) and any untidy geraniums. It is also a perfect time to put in these types of plants, because while they are dormant there’s less risk of damaging their roots during the planting process and they will be well settled in the ground when they ‘come to life again’ in spring. If you haven’t pruned your roses yet, well, tch, tch, naughty! You should get on to it immediately, then fertilize them with a dressing of special rose food or manure. August is the perfect month for planting new roses or moving existing ones too – prepare a bed full of sheep poop for them they’ll love you for it.
Basic rules of rose pruning: pick 4 or 5 main healthy stems to keep (include a couple of strong green water shoots from above the bulge (the budding union) and aim to open up the centre of the plant. Use sharp, clean secateurs to cut back green stems to 3-4 buds with the top one pointing outwards, and make the cut on an angle about 1cm from the bud. (Completely remove any suckers growing up from below the bulge and make sure all the prunings go in the rubbish bin to prevent disease spread, not-to-mention being pricked down the track if you try to mulch or compost them.)
Camellias and azaleas should be deadheaded once they stop flowering and dahlia tubers should be lifted and stored in sawdust so they don’t dry out or rot.
Most herbs can be planted from seed at this time of the year (except basil which needs warmer weather) and clumps of chives and shallots can be split to improve their reproduction.
Next issue we’ll be rooting around in the veggie patch, but for those who want a head start you can put in seed for beetroot, capsicum, carrot, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, parsnip, pea, pumpkin, radish, spinach, sweetcorn and tomato or plant seedlings of cabbage, capsicum, eggplant, late onion, silver beet and spinach.
