Sprays, routines
Morning everyone! What beautiful weather we have had lately. I went to the Waikanae garden trail last weekend and had a heck of a time. It was great. Pictures this week are from the show!
Oh my goodness I just love this pond.
What I’m obsessing over this week
Spraying. Spraying everything. All of the spraying.
When it is sunny and hot, you can use the ‘killing’ sprays, on condition that it has not rained for 3 days prior, and will not rain for the next 3 days, so that the poison has time to work (in our case, we use a vinegar based spray, so at least we owuldn’t just be washing poison down drains/into gardens.
But when it is too sunny you cannot use the foliar sprays, for bugs and fungus, because they burn the leaves (the water heats up in the sun and the leaf can’t cope).
When it is cool and wet, you cannot use the ‘killing’ sprays, because they rely on the plant wanting to absorb the water in them, and plants that don’t need more water will not absorb much, if any, spray.
But when it is cool and wet, you can use the foliar sprays, because they are treating things on the outside of the leaf, and do not need to be absorbed (usually).
When it is raining every 5 minutes, and blisteringly sunny every alternate 5 minutes, when do you use each spray?
You use the killing spray when the plants are obviously thirsty and a bit wiltey in the sun.
You use the foliar spray when the heat or sun is slow and calm, and the water will slowly evaporate- so I have been doing it when the plants are shaded or early morning/last thing in the arvo (3pm or later). I have also, in a pinch, just used the spray on the underside of the leaves so it won’t get too much sun- but the value in this tactic depends entirely on what spray I am using (does it need to physically touch the bug- usually yes; is it systemic and absorbed by the plant- usually fine to do the underside; is it a fungal spray- just the underside is fine).
I have been toying with this balance all week!
I thought this was an english ivy- Hedera Helix in latin- but it turns out it is an x Fatshedera lizei, which apparently is easier to control…. in Waikanae, at least!
What staff learnt about this week
Our weekly focus was getting into the routine, which sounds dull, but someone pointed out that if you tackle a garden in the exact same order every time, you are much faster. At the same time, if you tackle a garden in the same order of tasks each time, won’t the last jobs drop off the end when the first jobs take too long? So won’t you end up rarely doing some tasks, and always doing others?
It’s not how I want to garden but they have made a good point- we know how long our gardens take, so the end jobs won’t drop off unless we are asked to drop them off, and we can adjust on the fly. This weekend I am going to watch myself in the garden and think about how I tackle my personal gardening- which I always do in the same order- but my place is easy- the same place is always messy!
I find begonias quite difficult to use in Wellington gardens, but this one is exceptional as a ground cover below an Acer tree
Some garden tasks for this week
Get tolerant of mess and weird browning. Autumn appears to be knocking at the door, and a lot of plants are struggling from the weird weather. Cut back any dead on your plants, shrubs and trees.
If your bush/tree should be more bushy, now is the time of year to trim it :) if it is structurally a poor shape in the larger branches, and you don’t want it to be dense, don’t trim it right now.
Do you want to collect seeds from this plant, or have the seeds scatter everywhere?
Leave the flowers be.
Do you want more flowers, or no baby plants of that type?
Deadhead, or in the case of weeds or annuals, pull them out.
And add some mulch to your garden!
Have a great week, everyone!