You’ve done the hard yards. It’s time to enjoy the garden in full swing.
Midsummer is the time when much of the garden slows its growth under the heat of the sun. It’s a good time of year to take a well-deserved siesta, breathe in the summer blooms, and dream about autumn plantings.
Veggie patch
Yes, tomato planting season is over, despite the season’s struggles. It’s now a little too late to put in new plantings for an autumn harvest. If your tomatoes are looking worse for wear, supplement their care with seaweed-based tonics such as Seasol or Seamungus. If growth is slow, consider using products like Tomato Food, which provide a dose of quick-acting liquid fertiliser to spur fresh growth.
While tomatoes may be languishing and zucchinis succumbing to powdery mildew, there is a silver lining. Cooler, overcast summers are what garden guru Steve Solomon calls ‘cabbage years’. Sow or plant brassicas —such as kale, swede, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy and wombok cabbage — now. Brassicas require airy and consistently moist soil to grow well. Water deeply and close to the ground, and fertilise seedlings at least three times during the growing period to ensure a healthy, nutrient-dense harvest.
General maintenance
Off with their heads! For continuous blooms, keep deadheading flowers such as roses and gardenias. Pay attention to the garden and take note of areas receiving hot afternoon sun. If plants in these spots aren’t thriving, it’s a good indication they can’t tolerate intense heat, and you may need to consider relocating them to a more suitable position come autumn.
Take a walk around the garden and look for empty spaces that could use a pop of colour. Perennials such as dahlias, salvias, penstemons, delphiniums and agastache are all excellent additions to the summer garden. Spruce up outdoor social areas with mixed plantings in pots, or opt for hanging baskets of Rozanne geraniums, lobelias or fuchsias. Check out our article on hanging baskets for inspiration.
Deterring grazing wildlife
There’s nothing worse than going away for a few days only to return to a crop decimated by local wildlife. If you don’t water your lawn religiously, you may have noticed brown patches becoming more prominent. While this is harmless to the lawn, it’s a good indication that the bush is beginning to dry out too, and our wildlife pals will soon venture beyond the wild and into your flower beds.
Installing exclusion fencing or netting now will save you from heartache later on in the season. Using rabbit wire, with the addition of rabbit netting buried up to 150mm into the ground, has been shown to be an effective control against rabbits, wallabies and possums.
Tasmanian garden designer Susan McKinnon has installed cat netting, which she says is quite rigid and bird- and possum-proof.
Pests
Cabbage moth, cabbage white butterflies, whitefly, pear and cherry slugs, aphids, and scale are some of the cheeky pests that are rampant this time of year. We’ve also been getting a lot more calls this season for advice on getting rid of earwigs. For strategies on eradicating garden pests, check out our article on integrated pest management.
|
What to plant now |
|
|---|---|
|
Sow direct |
Beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, chard, climbing beans, coriander, dill, dwarf beans, endive, fennel, garlic chives, kang kong, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard greens, oregano, potato, radish, rocket, salsify, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, swede, tarragon, thyme, turnip, wombok cabbage |
|
Plant |
Basil, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chard, climbing beans, dwarf beans, endive, fennel, garlic chives, okra, parsley, rock melon, rosemary, sage, spinach, sunflower, tarragon, thyme, warrigal greens, wombok cabbage, zucchini |
