Week 2: The autumn garden

Early autumn's often regarded as the best
season for gardening in New Zealand. The
days are long and warm, the nights are
pleasantly cool, the soil stays moist and there's
colour everywhere. It can also be the best
season for planting, because new plants have
time to settle in before they're faced with their
first summer.

Here are some suggestions for seasonal
gardening activities:

Fertilising
Spread organic pellets such as Biogold or
Dynamic Lifter around shrubs and flowerbeds.

Feed citrus and other fruit trees with Thrive
Citrus Food. Clear away weeds and grass at
the base and spread a layer of organic mulch
over the root area (keeping well clear of the
trunk).

Remember, feeding with high potash fertilisers
(e.g. Thrive Flower & Fruit) encourages
blooming and, even more importantly, builds
plants' resistance to disease (essential at this
time of year when fungal problems are rife).

Lawn care
Give lawns a feed with a long-lasting fertiliser
(e.g. Lush Lawn Master). Early autumn's the
ideal time to rejuvenate tired lawns. Spike with
a fork or a purpose-designed lawn aerator and
oversow with a Yates Lush lawn seed blend.
Look for the mix called Tough & Hardy.

Pest control
Watch out for the autumn influx of caterpillars.
White moths and butterflies attack cabbages,
cauliflowers, rocket and their relatives, vine
moth caterpillars are demolishing grape leaves,
flax caterpillar is stripping leaf sections of
leaves, leaf rollers are knitting leaves and
emerging to graze on apples, feijoas and other
fruit. Naturally-derived Success or Mavrik are
good low toxic options for controlling most
caterpillars.

Grass grubs and porina, too, can destroy lawns.
Apply Soil Insect Killer Granules and water to
carry the granules down through the soil.

Treat weeds
Many annual weeds are approaching maturity
and should be removed before they have the
chance to spread their seeds. Spray with
Roundup Fast Action. With this relatively new
formulation of Roundup you'll see results in two
days, but the best thing about Roundup is that it
doesn't hang around in the soil. This means
you can replant as soon as the weeds have
died.

Other autumn tasks:
? Prune the hydrangea stems that
flowered last summer.
? Reduce clusters of camellia buds to one
per stem.
? Divide perennial plants and spread to
other parts of the garden.
? After their leaves have fallen, spray
deciduous fruit trees (e.g. peaches) with
a copper fungicide (such as easy-to-
dissolve Champ DP). Good coverage
will clean up the remains of summer
pests and diseases.
? Move cold-sensitive container plants
into more sheltered positions.