AAAHHHHHHHHHH
Fun story: this Monday we were doing up the gardens for a client, a job I both loved and loathed, because she has a food forest but is moving house- I finally got all of the hours I wanted to really make the place nice- but we had to do things like rip out her raspberry patch because it is unsightly- that did not feel good.
Managed to keep some of the strawberries, although I probably should have just covered the area in carex ‘frosted curls’
Anyway- this was on Monday, I had to come back on Tuesday first thing in order to tidy up. It had been a beautiful, sunny day on Monday; rain in the morning on Tuesday; I arrived 9:30am to find that weeds in the concrete that had been completely removed had already been replaced by tiny new weeds! 18hrs in between! How am I going to keep this place immaculate for open homes in this weather. Much screaming. (Please purchase 32 Mandalay Tce in Khandallah when it goes on the market in a few weeks, mature fruit trees, &c &c)
New obsession for the week
Jesse (staff member) and I have realised that we do not know what sort of clay Wellington is full of. Because there are types of clay. What’s the orange, under house foundations clay? What is the dense, grey stuff that a lot of gardeners loathe?
Jesse found out for us. Well, we know now that the dense, grey stuff is Kaolinite. And NZ exports it! From the Te Ara website-
Kaolinite, New Zealand’s most common clay mineral, is formed by the deep weathering of many different rocks such as granite, schist and greywacke. It is widely quarried and manufactured into domestic brick, tile, pipe, ceramics and pottery. It is also used as a filler in rubber, bitumen and adhesives, and highly pure kaolinite is used for paper coating.
So, that’s a bit exciting. Although the idea that we export literally the ground we walk on is a bit scary.
What we are focussing on this week
Usually by this time in Summer the weeds are settling down, it is too hot and dry- but that is not the case this year. So, aside from weeding, we are (and you should)-
Deadheading, especially roses
Removing fungus-damaged leaves (eg black spot on roses, rust on lilies)
Spraying aphid-infected plants with molasses, to attract predatory insects
Cutting back camellias, overactive vines and anything which needs to be cut back hard
Continuing to trim hedges so they keep a nice, sharp shape.
Cutting new flowers and new shoots off tomatoes, so they can focus their energy into the fruit that is already there.
Bigger picture things in the garden
I’m definitely looking ahead now. Poppies are seeding, so planting those seeds wherever we would like poppies. A few gardens have big, obvious gaps- and this is the ‘biggest’ part of the season, where plants are at their biggest- so we are tentatively planting in places where the plants will be watered regularly and deeply by clients.
I am continuing to sow basil seeds- soak the potting mix, put in the seeds, put a thin layer of wet potting mix on top and don’t water. I have managed to have basil all season this season by concurrent sowing!
I’m also evaluating which trees need trimming, although I will wait until Winter. You don’t have to wait till Winter, I’m just too busy and will be doing it myself!
Some plants have just not done well. Where I can’t make excuses for them, they will be whipped out and given away.
What brought you joy this season? Do you want more of it next season? What did you like about it?
Enjoy this final picture of the most adorable dahlias! Have a great week everyone.
