Garden Life Archives - Page 6 of 14 - Canterbury Horticultural Society

Monthly Tips & Tasks – June

Fruit & Vegetables, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Winter Gardening

Winter has arrived and the weather is much cooler but we are still below average for rain fall and the soil is noticeably drier below the top by a few millimetres.

We are now thinking about the tasks that we will need to do in the Winter. Pruning, planting new trees and the final clean up of the leaves and weeds in the flower and vegetable gardens. Dahlias and chrysanthemums will benefit from lifting out of the ground and stored in a cool dry place protected from the frosts and wet (chrysanthemums are put into trays of potting mix or compost and put into a greenhouse or a sheltered spot).

Monthly Tips & Tasks – May

Autumn Gardening, Fruit & Vegetables, Garden Life, Monthly Tips & Tasks, News & Events, This Month in the Garden

May is the month that we see the days getting much shorter and cooler so we need to get the gardens ready for the coming winter.

There is not much to do in the way of seed sowing and seedling transplanting but we can plant trees and shrubs so that they can make new roots and get established before the colder wetter ground of the late winter. Once the leaves have finished falling we can think about pruning fruit trees and getting the sprays on for pest and disease control in the coming growing season.

The last of the spring bulbs should now be planted; be careful to mark were they are so that you do not damage them when weeding near the time that they will be emerging. read more

Monthly Tips & Tasks – April

Autumn Gardening, Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Plant Forum, The Flower Garden

The corona virus has made much of what we do very uncertain in our every day lives but our gardens go on following the change of season into Autumn unaffected by this pandemic. This may be a good opportunity to spend more time in our gardens and catch up with projects we have wanted to do but other activities have not allowed us the time. Autumn is a busy time in the garden as harvesting fruit and Summer vegetables will be finished by the end of the month and preparations from the Winter must be well under way.

Monthly Tips & Tasks – March

Autumn Gardening, Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, The Flower Garden, Uncategorized

As I write this we are still experiencing changeable Spring weather, but in spite of this there has been plenty of good plant growth. Although we have had some rain it has been intermittent and the warmer temperatures have meant that some watering is still required. The planting of Summer vegetables and bedding plants should be completed by Christmas to give the plants time to grow to maturity. read more…

Monthly Tips & Tasks – February

Fruit & Vegetables, Garden Life, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Summer Gardening

As I write this we are still experiencing changeable Spring weather, but in spite of this there has been plenty of good plant growth. Although we have had some rain it has been intermittent and the warmer temperatures have meant that some watering is still required. The planting of Summer vegetables and bedding plants should be completed by Christmas to give the plants time to grow to maturity. read more…

Monthly Tips & Tasks – December

Fruit & Vegetables, Garden Life, Homepage, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Summer Gardening, This Month in the Garden

As I write this we are still experiencing changeable Spring weather, but in spite of this there has been plenty of good plant growth. Although we have had some rain it has been intermittent and the warmer temperatures have meant that some watering is still required. The planting of Summer vegetables and bedding plants should be completed by Christmas to give the plants time to grow to maturity. read more…

Monthly Tips & Tasks – November

Fruit & Vegetables, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Spring Gardening

The very changeable Spring weather of the last month will hopefully change to the more settled warmer weather that we expect this month. We are now in the month which we do most of our planting and sowing. In the vegetable garden it is time to plant and sowing of all the warmer loving plants. Many of the earlier planted crops will begin to grow faster and be ready for harvesting. Weeding and watering will be needed as the temperatures increase and the days are longer. Fruit trees will be getting to end of their flowering so the time for treatment for codling moth, caterpillars and aphids will be here. Soft fruits will be starting ripen so will need to be covered to protect them from the birds.

Monthly Tips & Tasks – October

Fruit & Vegetables, Garden Life, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Spring Gardening

This Spring is bringing the usual mixture of warm and cold weather – potentially a problem for the garden as we start to get ready for the planting and sowing time. To get the most from our plants we should really wait until conditions are consistent for the soil and the weather settles down. The Spring bulbs are in full bloom and will benefit from a fertiliser to build up the bulb for next season; removing spent flowers will also help. Spring flowering trees and shrubs should be pruned straight after flowering to ensure good growth for the next season’s flowers. Read more

Monthly Tips & Tasks – September

Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Spring Gardening, The Flower Garden, This Month in the Garden

September is the month in which Spring growth really gets going. The Spring bulbs are in full bloom and deciduous plants come into life.

The weather is still very changeable and there is always the danger of frosts that can damage new growth; this makes for a very busy time in the garden.

Ground preparation for sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings should be completed, old Winter crops removed to make way for Summer plantings and the last of Winter pruning completed.

Monthly Tips & Tasks – August

Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Winter Gardening

We have now had some good frosts that have cut back many plants in the garden so it is a good idea to lift some of them to overwinter. Plants that benefit are dahlias, begonias (tuberous and fibrous types) and some perennials.The pruning of fruit trees and roses may now be completed and they can also be given their Winter sprays. These tasks are best done on a fine sunny day.Green houses should be washed, disinfected and any repairs completed in readiness for the start of Spring.All crop residue should now be removed from the garden or green house and either composted or disposed of.Prunings from the garden I shred up and add to the compost heap. My heap is protected from the wet and cold and turned over two or three times to ensure good quality compost is available for digging in later.New season fruit trees are now arriving in the garden centres. Make sure you get in early for the best trees.Strawberries and cane fruits can be planted now. It’s a good idea to try and get cultivars that will fruit at different times to achieve a longer harvest time ( ie. early, mid season and late types).Spring bulbs will be starting to emerge through the ground so be careful when weeding not to damage the shoots.If you have a heat bench or pad you can start sowing some early seeds to be ready for early plantings. Do remember the days are still short though and even with additional heat plants will take longer to grow now than in the Springtime.Early potatoes can now be sprouted (chitted) ready to plant in a few weeks in a well protected part of the garden.New season roses are also becoming available, make sure you get in early as some of the new introductions sell out very fast.