What to do in your garden in December

“You carry so much love in your heart. Give some to yourself.” - R.Z. It’s time to rest, relax and rejuvenate. Slow down and invest in yourself and mother Gaia this berry merry season. Thanks to the rain, everything is budding fresh beauty and life with reindiant colours everywhere. Protect your flora babies this season with our tips, if you’re planning on going away; otherwise emerge into your garden sanctuary of magical bliss.

Lawns – Water, Feed and Mow

1. Green up the lawns by feeding with a high nitrogen fertiliser. Hold off on fertilizing if you will be away for the festive season to retard growth.
2. Keep mowing the lawn regularly but take care not to cut it too short. If mowed too short and the roots are exposed to the sun the lawn will dry out very easily and be more susceptible to lawn burn.
3. Water lawn deeply at least once a week if the weather is hot and dry.
4. Continue feeding once a month with a special lawn fertiliser. Remember to water before and after applying the fertilizer.
5. Check for lawn caterpillars when you notice patchy areas on your lawn. Cover the patches with a damp sack overnight - they will gather under the sack. Treat with an an organic remedy.
6. Neaten the flower beds by edging materials such as wooden poles.

Flowering Plants

If you’re away for the Santa Season it’s always good to plan and prepare properly so that you have a manageable paradise when your return.

1. Water all plants well if the weather is dry. Place your indoor plants in a tub filled with a few centimetres of water.
2. Deadhead summer flowering annuals and continue feeding to prolong flowering period.
3. Hydrangeas are best now to pick flowers for the vase. Treat them with special hydrangea food every two weeks, iron chelate as per directions and 20g Epsom salts for yellow leaves.
4. Follow up on sowing seeds of winter flowering annuals, biennials and perennials.
5. Trim evergreens, hedges and topiary.
6. Spray your garden regularly with organic insecticides to keep the garden free from pests.
7. Prepare the flower bed by digging in compost and 3:1:5 fertiliser at a rate of 50g / square metre. Rake and level the soil until you have a fine seedbed. If the soil is dry water it with a fine spray and leave it for a day two to dry off before sowing.
8. Continue planting Gladioli corms in small groups to ensure successful flowering.
9. Lift and divide spring flowering Irises.
10. Weed flower beds regularly.
11. Feed annuals with a liquid fertiliser once every fortnight and perennials with a fertiliser for flowering plants e.g 3:1:5 or 2:3:2 fertilisers. Follow this up by watering atleast once a week during hot, dry weather.
12. Spray Gladioli once a week against thrips to prevent flower buds from dying before opening.
13. Watch out for Amaryllis caterpillars on Nerines, Clivias and Amaryllis and spray if necessary.
14. Feed Camellias.
15. Feed and mulch groundcovers and climbers. Mulch using bark chips, peach pips macadamia shells as they also improve the soil fertility).
16. Plant some Impatients in shallow troughs and window-boxes for bright colour on semi-shaded patios. It will attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden. It will be a hive of activity!

Vegetable Garden

Nourish your nourishment...

1. Feed citrus trees with a high potassium fertiliser like 3.1.5
2. Feed strawberries to encourage new growth and flowers
3. Pick beans regularly to ensure a constant supply. Mulch and feed with fertilizer 3:1:5