 Growing Gardens
with Julia Hancock
Look on the White Side
Welcome to a happy new year of gardening. I don't think we could have wished for a better Christmas present than the rain we had over the festive season. What a difference it made to the landscape at large, and our gardens in particular. And what a relief to have full tanks, a trickle in the creek and more than just a puddle at the bottom of our dams. It has made me look at my garden with fresh eyes and feel enthusiastic again about the possibility of planting and nurturing all things green and growing.
The new year offers the opportunity for beginning with a clean slate, and after the excesses of December it's nice to relax into a simpler routine during January. In gardening terms, this translates to less frill and fuss and more groundedness and wellbeing. Perhaps it's time to repair some of the ravages of the drought, and nothing does this job better than summer annuals planted in strategic positions where they can be used to brighten up the whole garden.
Don't waste energy thinking about colour coordination because if you want instant effect for minimum effort, white petunias are hard to beat. Seedlings will need a bit of water while they're young, but once established they require little maintenance and will flower from now until May. Their performance is enhanced with an occasional light prune when they get straggly and a fortnightly liquid feed.
Think about how your other plants would mix happily with white petunias - just about any summer annual you'd care to mention, plus perennials such as dahlias, daylilies, salvias and verbenas; shrubs such as ixoras, hibiscus, buddleja and oleander; and flowering trees like poinciana, frangipani, and cape chestnut.
White brings balance, hope and enlightenment. And these are exactly the elements I hope will govern all our lives in 2003.
Lismore Garden Club News
In this hot summer weather, it's best to get out in the garden very early and then quit as the morning heats up. But be a good neighbour - no lawn mowers or line trimmers before a reasonable hour. Early morning is great for physical stuff, like digging and weeding. This will keep you fit and healthy. If you want to live longer, plant a garden - it's better to plant daisies than push them up...
Jobs to do now
Remove spent flower heads from hydrangeas. Top up mulch on all gardens and around trees. Remove summer weeds from the lawn.
Tip of the week
Conventional garden-variety paw paws grown from seeds will be male or female. The female tree is the best for the home garden, as they are the best fruit bearer. When the tree reaches a height of about 120cm, you can tell which sex it is. The female produces short singular flowers at the leaf junction. The male produces long flower sprays.
Ron Burns
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