After an unpredictable summer, it\u2019s a pleasure to get\nout in the garden on a warm but not hot day, and to have Mother Nature\nproviding the watering system. The work and planning you do now will provide\nthe groundwork for the coming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perennial plants are the gardener\u2019s friend as they\nprovide lovely displays for years on end with little work required to keep them\nat their best. There are two kinds, those that lose their leaves every year and\nthose that are evergreen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main thing they have in common is that they keep\nmultiplying and getting bigger. They need attention at this time of the year\nand by dividing them you get more plants for either your garden or to give to\nother happy gardeners. Who can resist a freebie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By digging and dividing the plants you keep them at\nmanageable sizes and ensure that they will keep flowering. Prune all the\nvisible foliage to just above ground level and make sure that the soil is moist\nbefore digging them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plan to dig them out either early in the morning or\nlate in the day so they don\u2019t dry out; this reduces stress on the plant. Cut\nthem into sections (or some can be pulled apart by hand) before replanting them\nin the garden. If you\u2019re not sure where they are to go, put them in pots to\nplant at a later date or to give away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your roses need to be dead-headed, which will\nencourage the plants to flower more freely. \nShrubs such as lavender and buddleia need to be trimmed and shaped, and\nnew trees and shrubs are best planted during the coming months when there is\nless likelihood of stress to the plants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bulbs for your spring display should be planted over\nthe coming months, with a staggered planting to ensure a continuous flowering\nperiod. Check your local nursery to see what seedlings are available and choose\nyour colour scheme for the coming spring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the vegetable garden <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now you need to dig the vegetable garden over prior to\nplanting the new season\u2019s crops, but there is a problem. What on earth do you\ndo with those green tomatoes left on the plants that never seem to ripen? <\/p>\n\n\n\n One answer is to place them in a paper bag or\ncardboard box and store in a warm, dark spot. The trapped ethylene gas they\ngive off will turn them red. To speed up the process, include a ripening\nbanana. Just don\u2019t forget to check on them every couple of days or you may get\na nasty surprise instead of the lovely red tomatoes you expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This season is a vegetable planting bonanza with seeds\nfor beetroot, carrots, parsnips, radishes, turnips and swede due to go in and\nseedlings for broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choi\/pak choi,<\/p>\n\n\n\n cabbage, cauliflower, celery, coriander, fennel, herbs\n(all except basil), kale, lettuce, peas, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, spring\nonions and strawberries. Garlic bulbs may also be planted now \u2013 just plant them\nin a drier spot so they don\u2019t get them too wet and go mouldy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After an unpredictable summer, it\u2019s a pleasure to get out in the garden on a warm but not hot day, and to have Mother Nature providing the watering system. The work and planning you do now will provide the groundwork for the coming year. Perennial plants are the gardener\u2019s friend as they provide lovely displays […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerlyaspects.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}