Durban - After the short days of mid-winter, everything in nature’s garden starts to wake up about the middle of July on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
We nurserymen have always maintained that spring starts on July 15 in Durban, so get out into your garden now as there is lots to do.
It shouldn’t be too much of a chore as we have glorious gardening weather at this time of year in these eastern parts.
Nothing beats an early show of winter and spring-flowering seedlings – or bedding plants, as they are now called. This is my favourite time of the year for these bright gems, especially all the Ps: pansies, poppies, petunias and primulas. There is a huge variety of “P” seedlings which are easy to grow, are colourful, and will last for months.
Remember, they have to grow, flower and die all in one season, so give them an uninterrupted growing time – regular watering, feeding and “dead heading” (the more you pick, the more they will flower).
Bedding plants can be used in many places – beds, borders, rockeries, pots and hanging baskets.
Also abundant and beautiful are bougainvilleas, which are coming in to full flower now.
Easy to grow, drought-tolerant, free of disease and pests, colourful and versatile, they are suitable for pots and tubs, screens, fences, pergolas, banks and shrubberies. They have been on nursery bestseller lists for decades – and rightfully so.
Tropical Rainbow is a variegated yellow and green-leafed variety that is compact growing and keeps its leaf colour all year. It is fantastic in a tub and has bright cherry-red bracts (all bougainvillea flowers are tiny and creamy-white). They flower up to three times a year.
Some varieties have double bracts and are spectacular in flower. Bougainvillea Bridal Bouquet, for example, has double pink and white bracts and is possibly the prettiest.
Durban is famous worldwide for the Natalia variety, with dusty pink bracts which fade on the plant to a parchment pink. It drops its leaves before flowering and is covered in colour – quite breathtaking.
Bougainvilleas require full sun, regular feeding and drought-stress to flower best – so go easy on the water.
July is also the time to start pruning. Roses must be pared down, and it is a good time to cut hedges and topiaries, if you have any.
There is a lot written about the dos and don’ts of pruning, and this sometimes scares gardeners.
Pruning roses is not difficult – just remember you are shaping the plant for future growth and flowering. Remove twiggy, spindly growth first, and thin out and shape the plant. leaving an open shape that allows in the sunlight.
Roses (and most other plants) possess apical dominance, which means they will send sap to the furthestmost growing point first. This means the plant will make a new shoot just below the point where you cut the stem.
Bear this in mind when you prune and you will be able to determine the future growth of the plant. Always prune to an out-facing “eye” to encourage an open shape. Pruning to a downward facing “eye” will encourage a weeping or cascading shape. It takes about 40 to 45 days for newly pruned roses to flower.
After pruning roses it is a good idea to spray them against pests, such as scale and aphids. I do not recommend spraying with a winter spray of lime sulphur as it does not really get cold enough in Durban for the roses to be sufficiently dormant. The lime sulphur will burn any soft growth and set the plant back.
I suggest you rather use a mixture of mineral oil and a general insecticide – ask your nurseryman for advice.
There is now an all-season-long insecticide for roses and other plants which will keep them insect-free for almost a year. It can be applied as a soil drench and is systemic so it travels to all parts of the plant.
It is also effective against white ants. Once you have pruned, give the plant a good feed to encourage maximum growth and performance. Use a 3:1:5 or 5:1:5 fertiliser for flowering plants and roses.
These formulations are deliberately low in the middle number which is for the phosphate content, as it is presumed you have applied the phosphate separately.
Phosphate is important for roots and flower formation. It is slow-acting in the soil, so it is best to apply it separately, once a season.
Bone phosphate or bone meal is the best form of phosphate and is organic, but superphosphate is just as acceptable.
If you need to transplant any shrubs, now is the time to do so. The plants are just beginning to wake up for spring, so will start to grow easily in their new position.
Cut back enough top growth to compensate for the roots that will get left behind when you dig up the plant. Try not to damage the root system, and take as much root as you can.
Dig and prepare a big enough hole to take the plant without cramping the roots, adding compost and bone meal.
Flood the plant into the new hole by using lots of water to wash soil right into the root ball and to expel any air pockets. Stake and support the plant well until you are sure it has established itself.
For excellent advice on planting a shrub, visit the Life is a Garden page on Facebook and follow the link to a YouTube video.
We have had good rains for this time of year, so your lawn will now start to wake up and grow – and, unfortunately, so will the weeds. If it is a bit patchy and sparse, give it a feed of 2:3:2 fertiliser to encourage root formation. Water well.
If your lawn is looking satisfactory, start feeding it with any lawn feed such as 4:1:1 or 3:2:1 or 5:1:5. I prefer to use a slow-release fertiliser that will not leach out of the soil, and does not need watering in.
Grass is shallow-rooted, so the fertiliser mustn’t leach too far down.
There are organic pelleted fertilisers available which are also good as they contain trace elements.
Note, though, that they have a farm smell to them for a day or two after application, so do not apply just before a party.
Mow your lawn long as it is the leaves that are the food factory, and you want your grass to get growing at the same rate as the weeds.
I do not subscribe to the idea of scarifying or decapitating your grass by deliberately mowing as low as possible in spring to encourage growth – it seems self-defeating, and is not required in Durban for the usual grass varieties of Berea, Buffalo or Kearsney.
Kikuyu grass is another story, though, but is not a typical Durban lawn as it grows too vigorously and needs constant mowing. Life is far too short to spend it mowing (or weeding for that matter). - The Mercury