January in the garden

Press, 4 January 1980, Page 9

January in the garden

GARDENING

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M. Lusty

At this stage of the season, gardens should be well-established from earlier sowings and plantings of a wide variety of productive plants, whether of the edible or the ornamental type. Sound initial management always pays dividends in the long run for good development of such plants, but prevailing climatic conditions can of course be a major factor in how successful this turns out to be.

However, it is not unusual to find a certain amount of disinterest or lack of attention creep into the garden scene at this time of the year as preoccupations tend to centre more on leisure and possibly holidays away from home.- Unless some precautionary steps are taken prior to this break in activity many crops and plants, particularly those confined to pot or tub, will suffer.

Before going" away, do a thorough job of watering, weeding and general maintenance; better still, arrange for a friend to keep an eye on things on a reciprocal basis, a procedure which has very mutual benefits.

r VEGETABLE GARDEN The sowing and planting of winter vegetables i should be well to the forefront of activity in this sector of the garden. All the Brassica family vegetables — cabbages, cauliflower, curly kale, broc- ' coli. Brussels sprouts, swedes and turnips — should be sown or planted out this month so as to give them every opportunity to become fully established during the most favourable months for growth and development. Wilting is not uncommon amongst newly set >•; out plants, during, the warm and sunny summer months. Under very strong sun and. heat some trans- ! plants can become cbmpletety frizzled up, a state f from which they rarely recover; this applies particularly to the softer leafed ■’ ones such as lettuce. To - avoid such problems, planting should be confined to the evening and followed up with good watering in. Careless handling can also have adverse effects and every effort should be made to avoid root damage; planting should be such that this structure is evenly spread in the soil, not bunched in any way and the plants well firmed afterwards. Wilting of , . leafy plants,, with the exception of lettuce, can also be greatly reduced by reducing the leaf surface area by about one-third. Salad crops will make rapid progress, especially ; if moisture is kept up to them. Continuation of bi- ; monthly : sowings and plantings in short rows should continue. Regular harvesting is the objective,. so as to maintain v quality arid make, room for additional' development. Cucurbits- 1 , should be making steady growth and’ encouraged ‘to' produce as many. stems as possible. Regular pinching out of the terminal bud On each ; vine as it attains 0.5 m in length will induce this additional growth and thereby, both. keep the plant within bounds ■ and

also encourage more flowers to appear. Watch . for aphids and powdery mildew and apply immediate remedial controls as soon as any signs of either are noticed — maldison and benlate, respectively, are suggested. Mention of pests reminds me that from, now on caterpillars of various sorts, some’ with exceedingly voracious apetites, will become more prevalent. Again, the thing to do is tq apply a timely control such as carbaryl or D.D.T. before real damage has been done. Tomatoes will require regular attention in the form of side shoot removal, tying, moisture, possibly a Tittle feeding and the control of problems. Grafted plants in particular, need supervision. This fruit is very susceptible to irregular watering and a prominent physiological complaint associated with this aspect is blossom end rot. Symptomatic of this complaint is the blackening of the basal portion of the fruit which can' lead to its entire collapse. Weeds will continue to grow and in fact the rapidity of their development even after a short absence from home is often amazing. Many will be forming seeds which in turn will lead to more unwanted and competitive vegetation. Regular manipulation of the hoe makes light arid quick work" of disposing of annuals. Perennial weeds require.a more, diligent approach if they are to be checked or better still, eradicated. There are now some exceptionally effective materials available which will deal effectively even with such tenacious problems as oxalis. Before spraying any

chemicals in the garden, for whatever purpose, read the instructions fully. Treat them all with respect — it is not much good being the wiser after mis-application. Sowings for January include beetroot, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, endive, lettuce, kohlrabi, parsley, peas, radish, swede, spring onions, spinach and turnips. Plantings can be made of beetroot, borecole, broc-

coli (including sprouting forms), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, celeriac, endive, lettuce, leek and silver beet. FRUIT The main tasks confronting most forms of fruit growing over the next month or two concern maintenance of sound pest control, summer pruning as and where applicable, and picking. In the last year or two the problem of good control of damaging insects and diseases in fruit, particularly top fruit has become quite vexatious, in the home garden especially where the availability of suitable - materials is limited and the cost factor plays no small part. . But let’s face. it, if quality and quantity are desired then there is no alternative to spraying.

Black spot, brown rot, blast, powdery mildew, leaf roller and codling moth are some of the most devastating troublemakers to contend with. Complete proprietary fruit'

tree sprays, containing most of the necessary materials to combat prefvailing problems are avail-' able and should be applied how at no more than fortnightly intervals. Individual preparations can be purchased to make up desired controls and these include benomyl, carbaryl, maldison, zineb, captan, colloidal sulphur and universal oil. Calcium nitrate should continue to be added to each spray where bitter? pit has been a problem in apples. Apples and pears are the main top fruit which benefit from summer pruning, particularly if they have been trained as cordon or espaliers. The.-" Chief advantage in this procedure, providing that it is done right away, is to stimulate fruit spur development and initiate flower bud formation.' It does not dispense' with the need for-winter pruning. Grapes and kiwi fruit are also in need of attention now, pruning being done in order to assist in the development of fruit, air circulation and regulation of growth which can become very unmanageable if left unchecked. Care is needed not to reduce the total leaf coverage too much as this otherwise removes a vital source of energy from the plant. Leave one of two leaves beyond each bunch of fruit which, on heavy bearing vines, should be restricted to one per spur. Picking should be on a progressive basis rather than strip picking to get the very best of the fruit. All fruit-producing plants, whether tree, bush or vine, will benefit from a constant supply of moisture which will improve both size and quality of the fruit. ORNAMENTAL While on the topic of moisture, many plants in the garden respond markedly to the presence or otherwise of water,? and none .more so than lawns and roses. Don’t wait for the lawn to brown or the rose bush to wilt before deciding to act — timeliness once again will pay dividends. Watering should be penetrative in its application rather than superficial and often. Don’t forget that roses, too. are susceptible to a number of diseases and pests — the same spray applied to fruit will do for roses. Continue to remove spent blooms as soon as the flower is past its best. Rambling roses have but one burst of bloom and then • rarely flower again until next year. For this reason they can be pruned now. Spent wood should be cut off at ground level and current season’s growth tied in. Budding can be carried out soon on numerous trees and shrubs, on roses and fruiting stock of both ornamental and edible form. It is important to water well those • plants which are to be used as: root, stocks and to utilise, only the healthiest material for buds.

Propagation of many plants can be made from semi-ripe wood. Some of the plants which can be struck include azaleas, abutilons, ericas, fuchsias arid manukas. Carnations can be increased by .means of layering or from cuttings.