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GARDENING

Join Jenny on the Friday Mix when she talks to Landscape Designer, Shirley Wallington, about all things horticultural.

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GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 03 February 2012

A month gone in this year. Can you believe it?

This is the time of the year when our plants start to produce seeds or slow down growing in readiness for the ‘dormant period’. Otherwise known as “Harvest Time”.

So start harvesting seeds from so many plants. Get some plain envelopes and gather seeds from agapanthus, daylilies, St Joseph lilies, alstroemeria, arum lilies, clivia, aquilegia, amaryllis lilies, salvia, cleome, etc.

This is also a good time to take cuttings of certain roses, lavender, hydrangea, fuchsia, daisies, geraniums, salvia, etc.

If you have never taken cuttings before try to look for soft and hardwood cuttings because you might have success with one or the other. Some plants like Hydrangeas are better if you take hardwood but lavender is better if you take softwood cuttings.

You can make your own germination mix or buy a bag from the nursery.
To make your own you should use river sand, vermiculite, perlite and loam soil. The 'medium' should not be rich. If I have to make my own then I just mix some well washed river sand with a bit of vermiculite and the cuttings work well in this.

Lavender - cut the tip of the lavender (not a flowering tip) and strip all the little leaves off the stem except for about 3 at the tip. Cut these leaves right across the top so that you now have a flat line. Dip the cutting into a No 2
hormone powder. You could fit about 50 to 100 cuttings in a small tray. Put 10 in a line and make 10 lines. Always let the cutting lie at an angle. Never straight up.

Hydrangea - take a hardwood cutting and cut just above the 'eye' at an angle. Dip them into No 2 hormone powder or straight into the soil.

Remember to water every day until you see them shooting.

Get some late veggies now. Plant some bush beans (blanche and freeze for winter months), radishes, basil (make pesto for winter) and tomatoes. Lettuce, baby spinach, rocket, oriental veggies which are delicious harvested when they are young. You can start planting winter soup veg like carrots, turnips, onions, garlic. Leeks and celery.

CARAWAY seed is very easily grown and best sown outdoors in early autumn into full sun or light shade. Well drained soil. Caraway perpetuates itself by self-sowing and can, with a little control maintain the cycle.
Harvest by cutting the seed heads just before they fall. Fresh leaves are great in a salad.

You could do the same with CORIANDER.

If your ginger is pushing little shoots, plant them in the garden and by next spring you will have your own GINGER.

Take yourself off to the Nursery and get some winter seeds. This is a much cheaper way of having a pretty spring garden. Get some Stocks, Primula, Larkspur, Iceland Poppes, Pansies and more............

Think SWEETPEAS and get a place ready to plant later in the month. They really like a well nourished soil in a hot spot against a wall or over a fence that gets sun most of the day. Nothing nicer than the sweet perfume of sweetpeas. I can already smell them!

ROSES – this is a good time to summer prune roses, fertilse and give them a boost for the next few months. Epsom salts, 5:1:5, bonemeal – bounce back and mulch with manure and compost. Cut blind shoots back.

Fuchsias – Also good time to summer prune. Fuchsias will push out lush new growth and flowers. Foliar feed with nitrogen which would be nitrosol, seagrow, multifeed classic, then top-dress with compost NOT acid compost because fuchsias are not acid lovers.

Compost/manure – time now to order a nice big load of good quality manure or compost and get this into the garden before the winter annuals start going in. I see quite a few winter annuals already in Nurseries.
Pansies, etc. Don't plant Petunia's until the rains have gone as they cannot handle too much water but a good time to plant is in early autumn.

Valentines Day.

You know how I go on about the garden being the most romantic place to be on such a day. Create a secret place under the trees with a pretty table, surrounded by blinking candles and perfumed flowers/plants. Nice bottle of bubbly and watch the stars.

Have a happy day and have a happy gardening month.

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 06 January 2012

Welcome to 2012............... I believe an exciting year in the garden!!

People are so much busier and want a pretty but easier garden to maintain.
Water wise gardening and environmentally friendly gardens are in. We are all so much more aware of our surroundings, birds, trees, flowers and veggie gardening. All good stuff………….lets keep up the momentum until we have converted the country into being more considerate and concerned about our environment.

December/January has been a wet time here in Joburg so with all this rain comes all sorts of gardening issues.

Hopefully everyone has remembered to switch off the irrigation.

Watch out for the various bugs that pop up right now and control them. The biggest problem are snails and slugs as they love this weather and eat up all the special plants. There is an organic snail bait which works well but remember to collect all the snail shells afterwards. Otherwise put a large pipe in the garden about a foot long and able to take a small saucer inside. Then put some beer in this and the snails will go in and drink the beer and be no more. This is an easy way to collect the shells.

Kikuyu lawn hates too much water and starts to rot in certain areas so you need to let it dry out as much as you can and do not feed at this stage as it will only promote more growth and mowing is rather difficult with all the rain so just wait for the sun to come out and then give it a really good ‘low’ cut and then feed with 3:1:5

Make a few 'New Year's Resolutions' in your garden.

• Simplify the design
• have less lawn to maintain
• use less plant varieties
• plant more indigenous and even try 'endemic'
• use water cautiously and wisely
• mulch as much as possibly

Just a few guidelines for this time of the year……………….

- it is now time to start thinking about what plants and bulbs to be planted for the winter garden. If sowing from seed then these must be planted in trays now so that they will be ready for the winter planting around Easter.
Think of things like : primula, antirrhium, aquilegia, pansies, etc.

- still time to plant some veggie plants before the end of winter e.g. beans, spinach, beetroot, basil, coriander, and parsley. Try some Potatoes. They are easy to grow and you can still harvest before winter. Tomato plants will be OK and still enough time to ripen but not later than the end of this month.

- Take cuttings of fuchsias, daisies, lavender, geraniums, salvia and hydrangea.

- divide perennials like agapanthus, daylilies, altstroemeria,

- Collect seed of the agapanthus and daylilies. Aggies grow very easily from seed. Also Eucomis (Pineapple flower).

- Deadhead roses and feed with bonemeal, 5:1:5 and Epsom salts.

- Check roses for mildew and black spot. Spray if necessary.

- Prune shrubs but NOT spring flowering varieties such as Cape May

- Fertilise lawn.

Happy gardening!

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 16 December 2011

Just a few days from mid summer................. another year gone and how quick it has been.

Well we have done the garden related Christmas presents and by now most people have bought their presents.

If you are going away, don’t forget to make sure that the garden is being watered. Don’t panic about the lawn not being mowed because you can do this when you get back even if it is a bit long, the lawn will soon recover on your return. Don’t fertilise the lawn now otherwise it will be really very long and you will need to mow a few times to get it even again.

Watering is so important and because we have had quite a bit of rain lately, does not guarantee that this will be the case for the rest of the holiday.
Group your pots together under irrigation so that they will be watered easily.

To look after indoor plants, place some newspaper into the kitchen sink or the bath, put the plug in and wet the newspaper thoroughly and leave just a small amount of water in the bottom to keep the paper wet. Put all the pots in and water them well. This should stay damp until your return and the plants will stay moist. Don’t leave them standing in deep water otherwise they will just rot.

For those that are staying home..................... settle back and enjoy all the hard work and care that you have done to bring your garden this far. Gardens are so pretty at the moment because there is nothing like rain to clean and perk everything up.

Now, I am already planning and designing gardens for next year. I love to make each garden different but right now I am going through many of the international designers and I love so many of their ideas.

The contemporary look which can be so simple and elegant if you think about level changes and balance between flat lawn areas and organic shapes that will create a visually pleasing result. Explore the potential of your spaces and explore alternatives as even though this might seem to be a challenge, can be so rewarding. Obviously, do a bit of homework in advance to make sure you are on the right track. Homework would be to look at the spaces from all sides, look up and around. Let you imagination get carried away and then refine it as you let the ideas come true.

People often ask me “are you not afraid that your ideas will be copied?” and my reply is always “no” because no two gardens will ever be the same even though you copy the design or planting. Every space is different in that the soil, climate, contours all play a part in making it different. Also each one of us sees our spaces differently. This is the beauty of being an individual.
You do not need to be creative to let your imagination go. It is also a compliment to have someone think your idea good enough to copy. To share plants and knowledge is such a pleasure.

Don’t be in a rush to cut your Agapanthus, Clivia, Amaryllus seed heads off. Wait a while and let them ripen because they grow so easily from seed and you can start growing your own and then next Christmas you can plant them up in pretty pots and give to your gardening friends.

Take cuttings of Hydrangeas, Lavander, Roses and some shrubs and grow these because you will be amazed how successful you can be. Don’t expect 100% result but be happy with what you get and then try again at another time of the year. Get some ‘germination’ mix or make your own (half river sand, half soil) or even some vermiculite and then cut the stem just above a ‘bud’ with a good stem beneath. Use rooting hormone and dip the stem in. Place the cuttings at an angle and wait for about 6 weeks then check for roots and wait for about 5 leaves to form, then plant in small individual pots.

Check your veggies and get some more in now so that you prolong your crop into late summer.

If you have some spaces in the garden, get some seeds to throw in situ.
These could be Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums, Cleome, Marigolds, Candytuft and Allysum.

May all the 702 listeners have a special holiday time filled with much laughter and happiness.

Happy Gardening!!

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 02 December 2011

The end of another year and how quickly it has gone.

After all the rains we have had we are now enjoying the benefits but so are all the creatures out there enjoying our delicious foliage and flowers.

The humidity has been fairly high so with this will come Red Spider Mite.

Rose Beetles will be creating lacy patterns in juicy leaves.
They do not eat flowers but the leaves. The only natural way to handle this is to place a bright light over the plants that they are busy with and place a bucket half filled with water beneath the light. They will fly up to the light and then fall into the bucket of water and drown. I know there are toxic chemicals to make the leaves of the roses (or plants) unpalatable.
At least drowning will not affect the environment.

Mildew also comes with the rain and humidity.
To treat Mildew naturally you can use a mixture of Oleum and Bicarbonate of Soda or Skimmed milk and spray onto the plant.

To treat Red Spider mite you can spray the underside of leaves with plain water as they hate water or add a sugar solution to the water and this will get rid of the red spider. Remember to spray under the leaves as this is where they live.

An interesting book to buy (lovely Christmas gift) which is a guide to an environmentally responsible gardening and great ways to combat the ‘go-go’s’ in your garden is :
THE GARDEN GUARDIAN’S
by Johan Gerber ISBN : 0-9584785-5-4

There are some wonderful Christmas presents that can be given to Garden lovers.

• Gift voucher from a nursery will allow the recipient to choose their own gift.

• Book voucher from a good book shop

• Buy some pretty pots, put some potting soil in and plant up something from your own garden. I received a tomato plant from a client/friend that she had grown herself with a pretty Christmas card.

• I always suggest packets of mixed seeds, veggies and flowers, wrapped in pretty paper with ribbon. A fairly inexpensive gift which will encourage the recipient to plant directly.

• A pretty garden hat, gloves or apron.

• Garden lanterns (with perfumed candles)

• Wrought iron brackets to hang pots, filled with Geraniums.

• Old fashioned watering can with a fine rose spray.

• Rain gauge.

• Good pair of secateurs

• For a special friend – 3 lovely roses that you know would make your friend happy and remember you for years to come. I find this has always been a lovely gift which people enjoy.

• Of course, there are some wonderful Orchids.

• Take your friend for tea and cake and then give them a lovely hand made Christmas card with pressed flowers from your own garden.

Well at last I have my own website which I would love everyone to enjoy as I have shown quite a few gardens that I have done and also a garden that was finished a few months ago. This shows you how quickly you can achieve a lovely garden from scratch if you prepare your soil very well. I cannot emphasize enough how important preparation is for a new garden because this has to last for many years and it gives plants such a boost to get going from an early stage.

Website : www.wallington.co.za

Twitter : at Shirl Wallington

Go to facebook dot com forward slash Shirley Wallington and ‘like’ my page.

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 04 November 2011

Spring is behind us and we are heading into the wonderful summers we have on the Highveld. Afternoon showers have been somewhat dramatic but nevertheless beneficial to our gardens.

Be adventurous this summer and try some new ideas in the garden.

• Grow some fruit trees
• Try some different veggie varieties
• Look out for the unusual perennials and annuals that are available.

Firstly some suggestion on fruit trees. We always think they are going to be a hassle and yet you can have such fun and rewards from growing your own.
I use apples in many of my gardens and we espalier them down narrow passages alongside the house or in back courtyards where there is usually just hard paving. To be able to harvest your own apples and share them is extremely rewarding.

You can also espalier an unusual tree like a Persimmon or a lovely black Fig.

Maintaining these is also not difficult and you can treat them totally naturally and organically without having to use toxic pesticides like Lebaycid. The most important thing to remember when maintaining is to be consistent with your applications of ‘home made remedies’ and companion planting.

If you are looking for some interesting berry plants or even unusual fruit trees try Schafflers Nursery in Lyndhurst because if they don’t have the plant they will always find it for you and are extremely helpful in sourcing the rare and unusual. Anthony Schaffler – 011 786 0323

Grow some unusual veggies like Beefsteak Tomatoes, Strawberry Popcorn, Yard long beans, Inverted Radishes or white Bringals.
We have seed suppliers in South Africa that you can buy these directly from.
These websites are informative and inspirational.

www.livingseeds.co.za
www.soughtafterseedlings.co.za
Then watch out for some of the new varieties of perennials that come in each year.

The princess range of Alstroemeria which is a such a nice plant for smaller gardens. You can also have a variegated leaf variety and they are so rewarding.

Pensteman is an old fashioned plant which is so pretty in the garden.

Many new Day Lilies and if you are clever you can ask for a few different varieties so that you have flowering for much longer.

Salvia’s are ever popular and are wonderful fillers. They come in deep glorious blues, whites and the indigenous ones are reds or orange.

For the rest of the month :

• Watch the watering as some days are so hot. Don’t water in the middle of the day, rather later in the afternoon and put your automatic irrigation on to about 8 p.m so that you get good soaking during the night.
• Walk around the garden and look up into the trees. Check that they are happy and not too much ‘woody’ bits inside. Open them up and enhance the beauty of the canopy and let more light in under the trees so that the plants are much happier.
• Fertilise roses
• Fertilise lawns
• Plant another crop of veggies

GARDENS OF THE GOLDEN CITY

Gary Searle - 29a Coronation , Sandhurst

‘Tembani’ 42 – 8th Street, Lower Houghton.

Entance is R 15.00
Contact : Lynn 082 774 4440

LITTLE BRENTHURST

Four specialist talks on Japanese gardens are being held their from 3rd to 25th November. Contact : (011) 46 4122 if you would like to attend any of the workshops or lectures.

Enjoy the summer!!

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 07 October 2011

Well the rains have arrived a bit earlier this year and the chilly weather continues. Of course, this all means that the spring flowers last that much longer. The bright blue skies with fresh green leaves make this time of the year such a special time.

Climbers come into their own now and I have seen fabulous shows of Bouganvilles, Clematis, Jasmine, Petrea, Wisteria and any minute now the climbing roses will be at their best. When the Banksia rose has finished flowering, cut back harshly as it is a rather rampant climber. In fact, after all the climbers have finished flowering cut back well because they do not like to be pruned in winter.

Prune spring flowering shrubs like Cape May, Mackaya Bella, Duetzia, Philadelphus, etc.

Colour is all the rage and everyone seems to want lots of colour in the garden so this is the time to take out all the winter annuals and get some pretty summer annuals and perennials. Even with our economic situation, there is no reason why a few packets of seeds thrown directly into the garden will lift the spirit. Get some bright flowers like Sunflowers, Cosmos, Marigolds and Zinnias. These are ‘never fail’ seeds and come up quickly and will perform all summer. To have even more fun, plant some veggie seeds amongst the flowers. Coriander and Parsley loves to grow amongst roses and rocket looks pretty good amongst summer flowers.

Summer bulbs like Gladioli, Dahlias, Lilies, will be in the nursery and these bulbs will continue to give you pleasure in the garden for years to come so a good investment.

If leaves of Mackaya Bella, Hydrangea, Gardenia, etc, are looking yellow, give them a dose of Epsom Salts (Magnesium Sulphate) and repeat this in about 8 weeks.

Roses are now coming into the first flush which is just the best of all. Start summer pruning roses now. This is done by ‘nipping’ out about a quarter of the flowers on the bush so that the process of new flowers will start on these stems and you will have a continued flowering period. Otherwise at the end of this flush there will be a period of no flowers so by nipping makes sure you have roses right through. Works well! Fertilise roses again at the end of the month with 5:1:5 and mulch well.

Fertilise lawn with slow release fertiliser. Watch out for lawn crickets and use ‘soap’ to kill them. Dissolve some Omo in a bucket and pour over the holes that the crickets make. They come to the surface as the soap kills them. Continue to do this every 3 weeks to break the cycle.

Good time to make yourself a drum of ‘compost tea’. A 100lt drum is ideal for this. Make a hessian bag and fill with kraal manure. Tie this up at the top and drop it into the drum of water. The manure will go into the surrounding water and create fertiliser which you pour on to your plants. Take the tea a dilute it (half new water and half tea) then pour into your pot plants or special seedlings, etc. Super way to feed plants and costs next to nothing.

If you would like to see amazing Clematis then go along the Marie Lamberts nursery in Pretoria where she sells the most beautiful plants and you will be blown away by these special plants.

15th and 16th October
22nd and 23rd October

Entrance free – 166 Meerlust Streeet, Willow Glen, Pretoria
Marie Lambert – 082 682 1292

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 05 August 2011

One of the healthiest ways to gamble is with a spade and a package of garden seeds. – Dan Bennett 1960

The Jasmine is just beginning to pop through and what a welcome sight it is........ the smell of spring is evident!!

So many things are rapidly growing now as the days are getting longer and hopefully, warmer. Please let it last! It has been a bitter winter.

Pruning should be over and plants nourished with a ‘delicious’ selection of food, then covered with a thick blanket of mulch. Now just to water, watch and see how quickly they come into leaf. If you applied lime sulphur after pruning then do another application provided the bushes are not already in leaf. Watch out for scale on roses and a dose of lime sulphur will get rid of them. Repeat in 10 days.

Make sure your garden (especially the sunny areas) is getting enough water. The warmer weather will start to dry the soil out so check and make sure. It is still too early to change the irrigation times and I would still not water in the afternoons, just in case we get another cold spell. Wait till the end of this month.

Keep picking Poppies, Sweet Peas and Pansies. This will help to let them flower much longer.

Plant into seed trays : Asters, Ageratum, Alyssum, amaranthus, bedding dahlias, cleome, cosmos, lavatera, lobelia, marigolds, nicotiana, phlox, portulaca, salvia, verbena, verbascum, torenias and zinnias.

Californian Poppies, Nigella, Viscaria, Candytuft can be sown in situ.

Give Daffodils and other bulbs a high potassium content fertiliser if they have finished flowering and this will induce the development of next years embryo flower within the bulb. Never cut off the leaves of bulbs that have finished flowering – they need these to make food for the next years flower.

Buy summer bulbs – Eucomis, Liatris, Galtonia and Gladioli as soon as they are available and be ready to plant at the end of the month.

Lawns - This is a good time to scarify lawns to get the thick ‘thatch’ of grass down. You can almost take this down to the roots of the lawn and then you’ll have a lovely smooth texture when spring comes. Once you have taken the thatch off, fertilise with 2:3:2, 2:3:4 or 3:1:5 or an organic equivalent. Sometimes it is even better to apply a slow release fertiliser which will require less water. If the lawn is not very even, give it a layer of topdressing.

When spring growth starts towards the end of the month, apply a general fertiliser to all shrubs and trees. Sprinkle a few handfuls under each established tree or shrub and only a tablespoon to young ones. Water well.

There might still be some frost so be very cautious about cutting back frosted plants. I would wait until the end of the month before doing this.
There will be many dead leaves on Cannas and other perennials so you can begin to remove these gently and cover with a thick layer of compost or old manure.

Mealy bugs and aphids on succulent new growth of shrubs, roses, etc. I use neat Meths to get rid of them or some Olium. A white waxy coating covers the Mealy Bug so be sure to get inside to be effective.

Slugs and Snails will start on Clivias.

Mulch Fruit trees with compost and give a good long soak of water every 10 days until the rain arrives. Also feed fruit trees with 3:1:5 (100g for young trees and 200g for mature trees). There are organic equivalents.

Get some Asparagus crowns in now. Sow beans in situ and a row or two of carrots, leeks, beetroot, radish, parsnips and turnips. Sow seed in trays of lettuce, parsley, Swiss Chard and Aubergine. Enquire about seed potatoes and plant some. I often just plant the potatoes that have gone to seed in the veggie basket and they are always successful.

Feed Citrus trees with Epsom Salts .
Feed Strawberry plants with 2:3:2

Save the seed from Pawpaws, dry and store in some newspaper until December when they can be planted.
Alternatively wrap clusters of seed in pieces of pawpaw skin and bury just under the surface of the soil. Weed out male plants when they flower as you need only one male to six females. Plant on the west side of the house in a sheltered position and you’ll soon have your own bunch of pawpaws.
The Female flower sits close to the stem of the plant and the Male flower has a long stem before the flower.

Garden World Spring Festival ‘Miracles in Spring’ have 34 show gardens. The Gold award winning 2011 Kirstenbosch SA Chelsea Exhibit is also being exhibited. 10 Childrens gardens and so much more to see.

There is an entrance fee to see the of R20 pp – Senior citizens R10 pp and children under 12 yrs go in free.

Beyers Naude Drive, Muldersdrift – 011 957 2545

So pop over there and get some inspiration for your own garden.

Has anyone seen swallows yet? They must be getting close.

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 10 June 2011

Well the rain and wind has really been quite spectacular this week. Miserable and cold it has been and that is how the gardens are right now. Just doing nothing............... as it should be.

However, there will be light at the end of the tunnel because in about 10 days time we will be in the middle of winter and as much as I like to believe that it is all downhill from there and on into summer, that will not be the case. I think the worst is still to come!!

Back to gardening.

• Take the lawnmower in for servicing and sharpening. Best be ready when spring comes.

• Also take secateurs, hedge trimmers and loppers for sharpening.

• Keep the compost heap moist and warm to speed up decomposing.
To keep warm, place a large sheet of black plastic over the heap. Buy a compost activator and use every month.

• Paint trelliswork, picket fences, outside wooden chairs and gates.

• Clean up gravel areas and top up with fresh gravel.

• Keep tender plants warm with a ‘frost blanket’.

• Do not cut any plants that the frost might have damaged. These frosted leaves will protect the new and emerging leaves coming through. If you remove the old ones too early then the rest of the plant is going to be damaged.

• Make sure the irrigation is set for early morning and do not water after 1 p.m. Keep watering times to the minimum and water only when necessary.

• Feed spring flowers and bulbs.

• Dead head poppies, pansies, calendula and sweetpeas to encourage more flowers. They will continue for a long time if you do this.

• Mice love young poppies, primulas and pansies............. they eat all the new leaves and break off the poppy flowers which they eat. Some people blame the poor Hadeda’s but it is Mice/Rats.

• This is a good time for transplanting roses, shrubs or trees. You will have more success with the deciduous plants. As the garden grows and becomes more shady you will find some plants in the back of the border and in the shade. These plants would prefer the sun so find a new spot and move it. Prune about a third of the plant, water well and prepare the hole. The next day move your plant into its new home and remember to always keep the same ground level .

• Feed indoor container plants.

• Prune fruit trees – peaches, apples, pears, nectarines, almond and cherries. Don’t prune apricots and plums.

• Plan a new section of the garden that you can do before summer.

Have a quiet weekend in front of the fire with a good book or lots of garden magazines and be inspired. Maybe even find some soup veggies in your garden to keep warm.

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 03 June 2011

Cannot believe we are approaching the middle of winter and yet the lawns are so beautifully green, trees still have their leaves and I am again amazed at this beautiful city we live in. Yes, we have moaned about the cold but it is really not all that bad. Our gardens actually need to go through a dormant time and many plants perform better when there has been good cold winter. Especially fruit trees or flowering cherries and plums. Also the magnificent Acers (Japanese Maples) just put on their best ‘dresses’ when the weather conditions are favorable.
Crisp clear skies with such sparkle is what we experience during winter so enjoy these days.
Very little to do in the garden right now other than keep feeding the winter seedlings and veggie plants. Water well twice a week before lunch time. If you would like your lawn to remain green then keep this watered. Unfortunately if the lawn is exposed you will still get frost and that why it is important to water before midday and not too late otherwise there will be ice on the lawn the next day.
Watch out for the Italian Aphid in conifers and apply a systemic or relevant spray to keep them away from your plants. Also take a strong yet of water inside and under the leaves which will help get rid of them.
Prepare pruning equipment for next month’s pruning.

These are my comments on the book by Una Van der Spuy.
“HOW TO DESIGN YOUR GARDEN”
SHE OBSERVES THAT THERE WAS FAR GREATER INTEREST IN GARDENING 50 YEARS AGO AND DUE TO THIS DECLINING INTEREST THE GARDENS TODAY ARE LESS ATTRACTIVE THAN THOSE OF GENERATIONS AGO. CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES HAD HORTICULTURAL SHOWS AND COMPETITIONS WHICH NO LONGER HAPPEN AND PEOPLE WERE MORE CONCIOUS OF PLANT CHOICES THAN THEY ARE TODAY. IN FACT, CHOICES ARE VERY LIMITED TO YEARS AGO.
SHE SAYS GARDENS IN S.A. COULD BE SO MUCH BETTER IF PEOPLE TOOK MORE TIME OVER DESIGN AND PLANT CHOICES. THERE ARE TOO MANY BARE SPACES. A RUSH TO THE NURSERY AND A PURCHASE OF COLOURFUL PLANTS IS WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS AND THEN THERE IS A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE SO OFTEN THE PLANT CHOICE IS INCORRECT.
SO IN THIS BOOK SHE HAS TRIED TO ILLUSTRATE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD DESIGN WITH HER MANY SKETCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHS.
THERE ARE MANY DESIGN OPTIONS GIVEN WHICH I THINK ARE REALLY GOOD. FOR A YOUNG GARDENER, I THINK THIS BOOK WILL BE INVALUABLE BECAUSE UNA VAN DER SPUY HAS SO MANY EXPERIENCES TO SHARE WITH THE GARDENER.

GARDENING WITH SHIRLEY WALLINGTON for 27 May 2011

Great to receive our 31st Gold at the Chelsea Flower show. As always our design team excel themselves and make the display really stunning. This year they showcased the biodiversity of the Richtersveld and the enormous variety of plants on Table Mountain.

This garden will be re-created back here in SA for all of us to see.

Hopefully everyone has remembered to switch off the irrigation and don’t water the garden until the weather warms up again. Make sure you have put the frost cloths over sensitive plants. They really work.

You should have stopped feeding plants in the garden at the end of April and all you really feed now are your bulbs and seedlings that are in pots or in the garden. There are many foliar feeds to use like Multifeed P, Nitrosol or Seagrow. Alternate these to give the plants a variety of different nourishment. Granular feeding can also be done with 5:1:5.

How things have changed .........................

We're downsizing our lawns or removing totally. Good idea as we come to realise how much maintenance lawns need so we plant up in bigger spaces and leave smaller lawn areas and in some cases, no lawn at all.

We're hiring pros to assist us with our gardens today. More so than 10 years ago and find that at the end of the day, a good designer and landscaper will actually save you money and enhance your property tenfold.

We're drier and hopefully wiser. We consider our watering conditions more now than we did then and understand the needs of certain plants far better and we use plants that can withstand less water. Aloes, grasses and indigenous gardens are more popular.

We're considering foliage a lot more in our gardens. Interesting to see how people use foliage so successfully to compliment each other or décor or in hard landscaping areas.

We're using far more hard landscaping. Mainly because of our time constraints but people want gardens to be simpler and easier to manage so the balance between soft and hard landscaping is more evident.

We're so much “greener” today. We are becoming far more conscious of our environment and global warming so many people are thinking 'organic' and use less toxic pest control in the garden. Many more indigenous gardens being done today but don't confuse 'water-wise' gardening with indigenous gardening. Indigenous still needs water.

We're calming down on the 'lollipops'. Thank heavens as this is labour intensive and now we are into 'clouds' or 'waves' which is much simpler and allows the plant more freedom. Sure the shapes of hedges are still the rage but the rows of 'lollys' are moving along. Thank goodness!

'Faded romance'. Lastly, our gardens are not as romantic as they used to be. We used many more plants that were colourful, busy and charming. The cottage garden style with masses of flowers and romance is still found in the old fashioned gardens and I must say it is my favourite.