 Growing Gardens
with Anita Morton
Grape Expectations
Our climate is not the best for grape growing, but with careful selection and
plant positioning it's easy to produce these sweet delights at home. Now is the
time to plant new vines and to prune the old ones - or combine the two by turning
your prunings into cuttings. Grape vines strike very easily from pieces about
20cm long and as thick as your finger. Put them in a pot containing a fifty-fifty
mixture of coconut fibre and coarse sand and keep them moist. They will be ready
to plant out in spring.
The varieties that do best on the North Coast all have some genes from the
American grape (Vitis labrusca) mixed with the European grape (Vitis vinifera).
Popular varieties include Isabella and Carolina Black Rose, which are both black
fruiting. They are more resistant to powdery mildew than European grapes, but
will still do best if they are protected from heavy rain in summer. A north-facing
wall of the house suits them very well, as they love the sun and the eaves will
keep the rain off the foliage. Once they are established, you won't need to worry
about watering them except in a very dry spring, as their root systems that will
travel many metres to find water.
Established grape vines need pruning every year as soon as the leaves have
dropped. Leave the main stem intact, but take every long cane back to two buds
only. Yes, every winter you need to cut off basically all the growth that the
vine has made in that year. It seems drastic, but is the only way to keep the
monster under control and get a good crop. Don't waste the prunings - either strike
them or burn them on the (wood-fired) barbeque - they produce an aromatic smoke
that gives a delicious flavour to chicken or fish.
Lismore Garden Club News
The next Lismore Garden Club meeting will be held on Thursday, July 7, at the
Lismore Workers Club from 1.30pm. Visitors are most welcome. For further information
phone Ron on 6624 7422 or 0421 021 451.
June and July are two months to do your deciduous tree planting and your existing
overgrown deciduous tree pruning. There is a good selection of flowering and ornamental
trees available from the local nurseries at present. The successful establishment
and growth of any tree will depend on how it is planted. Be sure to make the hole
around one metre wide by a little deeper than the pot that the tree is in. Dig
in some rotted manure or compost. If you have clay soil add a little gypsum also.
Put the tree in the hole and drive a stake in next to it. Backfill half of the
soil and then water with tepid water and 'Seasol'. Fill in the rest of the soil
and water again and mulch.
When planting trees be sure to not plant them too close to a neighbour's boundary
or over cables or pipes or under powerlines. Pruning of overgrown deciduous trees
should be done now while they are leafless. It is easier and safer to work on
them now. Pruning in summer would expose the trees branches to sunburn, which
lets in fungal diseases. When pruning keep watch for signs of borer.
Finally: 'Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that
you plant' - Robert Louis Stevenson.
Happy gardening
Ron Burns
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