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Your garden during lockdown
In the past few weeks the world has become unrecognizable. With the concerns and uncertainties facing all of us, I hope that you have found some solace and peace in your garden. Although always changing, nature is at peace with itself and the garden is always the best place to find a sense of tranquillity. I normally leave Kommetjie for work at 06:30 and return around 18:00 so the past two weeks have been the first time in a long while that I have taken the time to appreciate my own garden, and the myriad of birds, insects, spiders and lizards that call it home.
As gardening is not deemed an essential service I can only get back to work in May (hopefully) so here are a few tips that can give you something better to do than to watch the news.
In April, the soil starts to cool down at night so plant and lawn growth slows and stops almost completely as we approach winter. In autumn we need to prepare the garden so that when spring arrives, bringing better times, the garden is ready to burst into bloom once again.
Since garden centres are closed, here are a few common household items to use in the garden:
Coffee grounds and tea leaves add nitrogen, potassium, and magnesium to the soil. They also add organic material that improve drainage and aeration. Unwashed coffee grounds help plants that enjoy a slightly acid soil (e.g. azaleas, roses and most veggies). Benefits also include slug and snail repellent properties, keeping cats out of the veggie garden. Coffee grounds are also worm food for your earthworms that play a vital role in plant growth… apparently worms love coffee too.
Egg shells are a good calcium source especially for tomatoes. Wash out the shells, let them dry and break them into small pieces. Then place them around seedlings and veggies. They are apparently also good for repelling slugs and snails as they act as shards of glass.
Wood ash, for those who have a fireplace, is a free source of fertiliser, adding potassium and calcium carbonate to the soil. Ash is also known for keeping slugs away from your plants.
Banana peels are also useful! Place them under shrubs to give the soil a quick potassium boost. Peels degrade fairly quickly, and they don’t produce a nasty odour. Of course they are unsightly so this is not my favourite idea. Rather place them in the compost pile.
Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is a great product to use in the garden. It is a non toxic, organic pesticide and fungicide that treats snails, slugs, aphids and mildew to name a few. To spray, use in the ratio: 1 tsp soda: 1Lt water: 1 tsp Olive oil: 1 tsp sunlight dishwashing liquid. To sprinkle on leaves especially for snails and slugs, mix soda with wheat flour in equal proportion. To clean decks, patios, garden furniture use 2 tsp baking soda: 2 tsp sunlight: 1lt water.
Epsom salt (interestingly named after the English town where it was first discovered) improves flowering and enhances the plant’s green colour. It contains magnesium sulfate which is important for healthy plant growth, especially plants that are prone to yellowing (such as indoor plants, lemon trees and gardenias). It also assists the plant in the uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus. Add a tablespoon of Epsom salt to 5 lt water and pour into the soil or sprinkle it around the base of the plant, keeping it away from the stem, and then water the plant.
Vinegar neutralises odour on Astroturf. If you did not stock up on Turfdeo, simply spray a mixture of equal parts white vinegar and water on the area that is smelly. Then hose it down. If it is particularly smelly, add a capful of lavender softener to the rinsing water.
Aside from these alternatives, here are a few other tips for the autumn garden:
For those of you who still have a lawn, it is a good idea to aerate it before the winter rains arrive. Simply pierce holes, about 15 cm deep at regular intervals with a garden fork. You can also go deeper but beware of irrigation, electrical pipes and cables.
Cut off old flowers, dead foliage and prune overgrown plants and hedges to allow light to penetrate all areas of the garden during the winter. It is too early to prune roses so even though they look a bit tired just remove the dead flowers for now and wait for late July.
It is time to reduce the irrigation system run times now that we have had some good rains. Remember to turn it off completely once the winter arrives, especially if you have recently planted drought resistant succulents. If you struggle to reset the controller please give me a call and I will guide you through it.
If you use a grey water system and find that the soil is becoming saturated, you can divert the water to waste. Call me if you need help with this.
Myself and my team are hopeful that we will be back at work soon, so please let me know if we can assist you with landscape designs, garden clean ups, tree felling, decking, gazebos, screens, paving, Astroturf installation and grey water systems. See our website: https://soulgarden.wixsite.com/website or contact Paul Paarman on 0845153374