Tasks for summer

Keith Mundy

Another year is underway and, as one season follows on from the last one, the tasks might change but there is always plenty to do in the garden.

Summer brings with it the usual tasks we can all relate to and, although these tasks can seem tiresome, they are most essential in the overall upkeep of our gardens. Luckily this year we have had ample rain but this has led to one major task that most of us are … Read more »

Summer hints

Keith Mundy

Summer is with us again and with it come many tasks required to keep our gardens looking their best and, if the weather forecasters are right, we might be in for a wet summer.

Even if we get the forecast rain it is important to remember that for those of us who garden in pots, watering of these is an important practice. Plants suffer a lot of stress in pots as they often miss out on watering, … Read more »

Perennial delights       

Keith Mundy

As we draw closer to summer, thought should be given to plants that will brighten up your summer garden with amazing flower colours, shape of flowers and size of plant for that special area. Two of the most popular groups of plants with these attributes are the salvia and lavender groups.

Salvia with their extraordinary diversity of colour and habit: with over 1800 species alone, without the new varieties added every year, Salvias are truly a gardener’s … Read more »

Berry delicious

Keith Mundy

Often overlooked when selecting food plants for the garden is the extensive range of berries that are available in the marketplace for the home gardener. Always available during the winter period as bare-root plants but more varieties are now being made available as plants in pots with well-established roots and can be planted, near enough, all year around.

Although some can take up a fair bit of room in the garden it is best to select a site where … Read more »

Spring – the time is right

Keith Mundy

With spring now with us, I thought it opportune to discuss some issues that are relevant to this period in the gardening calendar.

Plants expend an enormous amount of energy in spring doing what they do, like flowering and fruiting or extending their size through new growth and now is the time to help them along with some additional nutrients.

There are some fertilisers that can be applied to nearly all plants, like blood and bone, but these don’t have all the nutrients available that are specifically required by … Read more »

Preparing for spring

Keith Mundy

Well, here we are in the last month of winter and spring just around the corner and, with it, the start of the gardening year. New growth appears on deciduous plants, perennials wake after their enforced winter hibernation and bulbs pop up everywhere as new life begins.Well, here we are in the last month of winter and spring just around the corner and, with it, the start of the gardening year. New growth appears on deciduous plants, … Read more »