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If you’re finding it difficult to garden in the heat try getting up an hour earlier in the morning to garden. It’s light at 6.00.am, much cooler and so calm and quiet.

Top up any mulch that has broken down/ blown away as it is one of the most important months for moisture retention and to keep plant roots as cool as possible.
 
Grubs and caterpillars are everywhere at this time of year, use a natural spray like ‘Dipel’ or ‘Success’ both of which are caterpillar specific and there is almost no withholding period.

At this hot and humid time of the year watch out for fungal problems like powdery mildew and black spot on roses, try using potassium based preparations - they are very effective and ecologically sensitive.

Feed citrus and roses, you should be doing this 2 or 3 times/ year. Use fertiliser boosted with potash to increase flowering, fruiting and help strengthen against disease. There are some organic ones available now or buy some Sulphate of Potash and add it when fertilising.

Keep fruit trees consistently moist or they will drop fruit, again mulching helps here and use the mulch right out to the drip tip of the tree.

Dead head plants regularly especially annuals, perennials, roses, agapanthus and any scorched Hydrangea flowers.

Give NSW Christmas Bush a trim to tidy up after flowering and dead head spent Kangaroo Paw flowers. It’s a good time to lift and divide Kangaroo Paws if necessary.

You can start to prepare veggie beds for autumn planting now by digging in plenty of well composted organic matter and or animal manure - water in well.

Keep an eye on plants like basil and lettuce as they are inclined to go to seed in hot weather. Harvest them regularly.

It’s time to start looking at spring bulb catalogues now in preparation for autumn planting. Buy them soon so that you get the pick of the new season’s se More

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The warmer weather has certainly had a noticeable effect on the veggies and herbs in the garden resulting in a huge spurt of new growth especially on all the leafy greens which make up most of the plants. So much so in fact that we will have to harvest a considerable amount and offload some veggies to the teaching staff.

The Cavello Nero is showing signs of caterpillar damage so we will have to be vigilant and perhaps make up a low toxic garlic spray to use. Something had taken a shine to the cos lettuce recently and caused quite a bit of damage chewing the young plants back by two thirds at least. When I visited today however the cos had almost completely recovered so the unknown culprit has either moved on or become tired of cos.

We planted some giant garlic last time I was there and it will be interesting to see how big the plants get and also to see the lovely pink, rounded flower heads when they appear later as they can be quite spectacular on their long stems.

When I first began work on the garden there were many requests for tomatoes so now the weather has warmed up I think we will have a tomato planting day. As some of the students are in wheel chairs and the garden is already raised I will be looking at some of the lower growing varieties like Pot Tom, Tumbling Tom and I believe there is a lower growing Roma variety.

We have been able to get away with the plentiful rainfall we've been experiencing lately and some hand-watering but now with the approach of warm weather it will be time to install some irrigation

The head teacher of the Support Unit, Rob Riley, has been organising to have the garden included in a book to be published on veggie gardens in Sydney schools so it is now a much photographed garden with plenty of before, during and after shots.  More

As a result of threat from onion weeds and a couple of monster Strelitzia clumps in the way the veggie garden at the Support Unit is now considerably larger than originally planned.
In view of the ever increasing size and population of onion weed in the veggie garden it seemed the only choice we had was to excavate the soil to a depth that would remove all the onion weed bulbs. After consulting with the school we agreed to excavate to a depth of approximately 150mm and we thought I may as well keep digging and take out some large clumps of Strelitzia as well. This would give us two long beds the whole length of the retaining wall and with one running alongside the retaining wall enabling students in wheel chairs better viewing and access to the garden.
1.5 cubic metres of 'Recarb Ultra' garden mix was delivered and the new veggie garden with two long rows was created. Cow manure was added, some lime and then lucerne mulch to finish off. The cow manure will add slow releasing nutrients to the soil and break down to be an excellent soil conditioner. The lucerne mulch will act as a green manure and add  nutrients to the soil and also insulate and retain moisture.
The herbs from the original garden were able to be saved but we had to plant new veggies.
The following were chosen:
Rocket
Perpetual Lettuce
Perpetual Spinach
English Spinach
Silverbeet
Rainbow Chard
Carrots
Red Onions
Celery
Cavallo Nero
Rhubarb More

The bed for the veggies is now ready for planting and the children are back so I collected all the herbs and veggies requested by the teachers and headed to Rozelle for a planting morning.
The children would be using some or all of the herbs and veggies for use in other classes and the following were chosen for these purposes form the varieties suitable for growing in Sydney in winter:

Chives
Garlic Chives
Rhubarb
Sage variegated
Garlic
Oregano
Thyme
Lettuce - mixed varieties
Kale ‘Tuscan’
Continental Parsley
Silverbeet ‘Rainbow’
Carrots
Rocket

The children helped dig in some of the plants where possible and I had a very keen watering helper. Hopefully with hands on interaction with the garden the children will develop a sense of contribution and ownership of the garden.
We followed planting and watering with an application of Seasol and liquid fertiliser to get the new plants off to a good start.
Our next project will be another bed behind the first one with peas or beans.
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There is still work to be done in the garden to ensure that by the time spring comes
around, all the ‘jobs to do’ are completed! I know that we can keep cosy indoors on
chilly winter days, but the garden does still need some attention. Here are a few things
to work on over the next few weeks.

• Winter weeds in lawns can become a problem. One of the worst is small leaf clover.
This has a very fine root system and spreads in amongst the grass. Tiny yellow
flowers identify this plant pest. The best way to eradicate it is by hand. Hard work,
but effective. Use an old dinner knife to dig down and ease the roots out

• Another weed to eradicate from the lawn is the Bindii which can be effectively
controlled with sprays. Ask your garden centre to identify this plant and what control
sprays to use on your grass type.

• Liquid fertilise all the spring flowering bulbs and annuals every fortnight. Yates
Flower & Fruit fertiliser is excellent for this purpose

• Onion weed will be sending up new growth in flower beds. A wipe with a brush or
cloth dipped in glyphosate can work, but needs to be repeated several times. Digging
deeply when the soil is damp and carefully removing ALL the bulblets is another way.
Either way, patience is essential!

• Perennials such as Day Lilies and perennial Asters can be lifted and divided.
Remember to treat newly transplanted shrubs, perennials and annuals with diluted
Seasol

• You can still plant vegetables such as Spinach, Silverbeet and Tuscan Kale. A few
lettuce seedlings planted out every couple of weeks will keep the family in salads
through late winter and early spring

• Camellia Sasanquas that have finished flowering can have a tidy up if necessary, if
you are in a frost-free area, otherwise wait until danger of frost is past

• Camellia Japonicas are a mainstay of colour in winter gardens. Local garden centres
will have a good supply of these easy-to-grow shrubs

• Similarly, there should be good stocks of new season’s ornamental deciduous trees
in garden centres over the next few weeks. Now is the time to buy and plant these –
don’t wait until spring when the choice of selection will be more limited

• New season’s Roses will be available. When selecting, check that there is no sign of
die-back on the stems – yellow to brown ends of the pruned branches. These often
indicate that the limb will die back which is not a good sign. * Rose pruning tips will
follow in the next media release. Rose pruning is generally done in late July

• Check for any mealy bug on indoor plants (white cotton wool-like little creatures)
and spray accordingly

Courtesy NGINA (Nursery & Garden Industry NSW & ACT)  More