December Gardening Check List

As holiday mode take hold, enjoy relaxing evenings in the garden with a hose in one hand and a drink in the other! Show off all your hard work to friends and family while having Christmas lunch in the beautiful surroundings of your garden!

Flower Garden

• Sow your favourite seeds such as Ageratum, Cosmos, Cyclamen, Rudbeckia, Marigolds and Zinna.

• Plant seedlings such as Chrysanthemum, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Portularca and Salvia.

• Roses and perennials can still be planted, ensure the new plantings are well watered.

• Lift spring flowering bulbs once the they leaves have died down completely and store in a cool dry place.

• A layer of mulch around the base of garden shrubs will conserve moisture and protect roots from the hot sun - especially Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camellias.

• Remove dead flowers from Roses to encourage new blooms.

• Feed Roses with fertilizer and spray with Super Shield to control pests and diseases.

• Water gardens in the evening or early mornings, especially plants in containers which will dry out quickly in hot or windy weather.

Container Gardening

• Fill pots with flowering annuals such as Petunias, Marigolds, Phlox or Impatiens for a bright Christmas and summer display.

• Keep up watering in warm weather. Installation of an in ground watering system with a digital timer saves water and making watering easy.

• Use Waterwise Water Storage Crystals in potted plants to help them survive in frequent watering while you're away on holiday. This can be added without necessarily re-potting the plants.

Kitchen Garden

• This is the month of rapid growth so ensure you pay attention to watering, weeding, feeding and spraying.

• You can still sow seeds directly into the soil like beans, beetroot, parsnip, swedes, radish, lettuce, spinach and sweetcorn. Sow seeds every two weeks to ensure you have a continuous harvest.

• Plant seedlings of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, tomato, sweetcorn, beetroot, pumpkin, courgette, capsicum, eggplant, melon, cucumber and gherkin.

• Protect plants from caterpillars with Derris Dust or Organic Caterpillar control.

• If Whitefly is a problem, spray with Confidor.

• Courgettes and cucumbers can be protected from powdery mildew with Champ DP or Organic Copper Oxychloride.

• Feed tomatoes at least once a week with fast acting liquid feed such as Seasol or Thrive. Remove laterals (side growths) on tall tomato varieties as they grow and ensure they are firmly staked. Water regularly.

• Feed fruit trees for bumper crops later and water well to prevent fruit drop.

• Protect pip and stone fruit trees with Champ DP or Fungus Figther to prevent fungus diseases.

• Protect citrus trees with Champ DP to prevent verrucosis and leaf curl.

• Apply a layer of mulch around vegetable plants to conserve soil moisture, compodt works well.

Lawns

• Raise the lawn mower up a level for the summer season. If you cut too short, lawns will dry out more quickly.

• Water in dry weather and apply fast acting lawn food such as Plamers Lawn Fertilizer or Scott's Lawn Builder to keep lawns fresh and green. Water in well after application.