Nov 8, 2010
What to do in the Garden in November
Written by Heather Tait and edited by Bridget Bryant
The Lawn
• Combination Lawn Weedkiller/Fertilizer products work really well on lawns right now, but follow the watering instructions strictly.
• At the very least, make sure you fertilize the lawn – this encourages strong growth and sets the grass up to cope with summer drought.
• Onehunga Weed (prickle-weed) needs spraying out now before it flowers and sets seed.
The Veggie Garden
• Sow corn, melons, beans and swede ( if you’re a Southlander) this month.
• Continue to ‘mound up’ spuds as it’s the soil around the stems that encourages heavy crops of potatoes.
• Stake Tomatoes at planting, over very soon thereafter with a support at least 1.8m high. It may not look like it, but those plants will head skywards very quickly.
• Blue flowers on lavenders, rosemarys and and catmint are great around vegetable gardens to get the bees visiting.
• Plant capsicum, chillies and zucchinis, but put a plastic cloche over them at night if your overnight temperatures are still down around 10 degrees.
The Rest of the Garden
• Mulching: Now’s good. After the rain clear off any weeds and spread our Black Mulch around your plants. You’ll love the new look and feel as though the whole garden has had a ‘makeover’!
• Sun-lovers can be planted now: plant daisies, lavenders, phlox and hebes now while the ground is still moist and they’ll do their stuff over the long hot summer we’re all hoping for.
• Deadhead camellias, rhododendrons and the spent blooms of the first roses, cleaning up beneath the bushes as well.
• It’s the perfect time to trim topiary and hedges – any later in summer and the exposed foliage will burn.
• Pretty Pots: Plant annuals such as petunias, impatiens and zinnias in pots – reds look wonderfully festive heading into Christmas. Water on Living Earth Liquid Compost after planting and every fortnight for best results.