Durban - Gardening guru Tanya Visser was in Durban recently. She provided these winter gardening tips…
While winter is a time of contemplation and rest in the garden, there is always the promise of spring to get you through the long wait and get you excited about your outdoor space.
Plant winter colour. Look in your garden centre for all the fanastic colour you can add to your garden with annuals. Primula acaulis (primrose) is always a favourite in the cool winter temperature.
Plant shrubs that will perform at their best during the cooler season, such as Camellia japonica (known as the rose of winter) or Bergenia cordifolia. Don’t forget all the types of aloes which attract copious numbers of sunbirds to their nectar-rich flowers.
For a breathtaking display of spring-flowering bulbs, get them in the ground in winter and take care of them throughout the cold season for the best results.
Grow your own soup by planting cold-hardy vegetables. In your planning, remember to leave space in your vegetable patch for such ingredients because a bowl of hot soup made with home-grown fodder seems just that much tastier. Ingredients such as onions, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, Swiss chard and turnips can be grown in most parts of the country.
Plant a winter pharmacy to have a stress-free and/or illness-free winter. Grow herbs to preven colds and runny noses, such as lemon thyme, calendula, parsley, chervil, hyssop, yarrow, viola “heartsease”.
Pruning is a year-round task and should be an ongoing priority in every garden. However, the paring of roses and fruit trees is almost always done in winter.
In very cold climates it is time to get out the frost cover and protect those special plants that need it. Add a layer of mulch all over the garden to protect the roots of plants from cold damage.
There is more time during this season to maintain and clean tools and send the lawnmower for a service while the plants are dormant.
Add a coat of paint to the patio furniture or treat wooden decks and fencing with a wood sealant while there is time before the growing season begins again.
Also fix anything that is broken; clean out ponds and swimming pools and install some ambient lighting. - The Mercury