 Growing Gardens
with Julia Hancock
A New Beginning
We're now in one of those in-between times of the year when spring annuals need to be pulled out and replaced with summer flowering species.
Many gardeners will have already done this, I know, but some of us can't bear to rip out pansies and calendulas when they are still producing beautiful blooms. But if you want your garden to be looking nice for Christmas it's time to bite the bullet and be ruthless.
If you're appalled at the gaps which have appeared following your spring-cleaning efforts, don't worry because you'll be surprised at how quickly your new annuals will spread to fill the vacuum. If you buy semi-established cell-pack punnets of petunas, dianthus, verbena, etc. they'll romp away in the next few weeks if you feed and water them diligently.
I'm usually reluctant to prune my grevilleas because they are always flowering but the only way to enjoy a fresh new crop of flowers and foliage is to clip them, and this really is the last opportunity to do that before the weather gets too hot for heavy pruning work. It's heartening that grevilleas start reshooting almost immediately and next winter the birds and I can look forward to more and better flowers.
Some spring shrubs look downright sad once they've peaked - brunsfelsia, poinsettia streptosolen and strobilanthes could all do with a good haircut right now. Take a moment to check under each bush to see if there are any self-layered new plants or seedlings that have sprung up, and put them in pots for replanting in autumn.
If you've persisted with a lawn in an area where it just isn't flourishing, now's the time to consider alternatives such as paving, gravel and grass substitutes such as fescue, dichondra and native violet. A new approach will always freshen up a problem area.
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