Ralph’s Things to do this month-November

In the vegetable garden – Sow seeds of Beans, Snow peas, Zucchini, Squash, Pumpkin, Radish, Turnips, Carrots, Sweetcorn and Beetroot. Plant seedlings of Spring Onions, Shallots, Tomatoes, Egg Plant, Chillies, Peppers, Watermelon, Rock Melon, and Silver Beet. Plant more potatoes and spray earlier crop with copper to prevent Blight, which can also seriously affect Tomatoes. It is sensible not to grow Tomatoes near Potatoes. Apply Slug bait. Apply Mulch. Provide water and support for peas and climbing Beans. Harvest Broad Beans and blanch and store any surplus in the freezer.

In the flower garden – Plant seeds or seedlings of Petunias, Lobelia, Marigolds, Poppies, Alyssum, Dianthus, Lupins, Bedding Begonias, Candytuft and Cleome. Apply acid type fertiliser (No Lime!, Kahuna is ideal) to Camellias, Azaleas, Daphne plus Rhododendrons and carry out any pruning now to generate flowers for next winter. For Natives, ‘Bush Tucker’ from Neutrog is very good.

Dead-head roses regularly to obtain repeat blooms and also spray for Blackspot and aphids. Apply ‘Sudden Impact for Roses’ at the end of the month after the first flush has been dead headed. atives, such as Bottlebrush and Grevilleas are best pruned immediately after flowering to gain good flowering next year. This is a good policy for all flowering shrubs.

Lawns – Control weeds with a broad leaf lawn weeder. Mow regularly but not too low now that warmer days are here. Any “Old Man” plants of Capeweed, still remaining, should be dealt with now, dig them out and sow a little lawn seed if gaps are left behind in the lawn.

Fruit trees – Keep the base of all fruit trees free of grass and weeds. Apply Citrus & Fruit Tree fertiliser (Giganic) to all fruit trees. Watch for aphids on plums, peaches & nectarines. Thin the fruit, where necessary, and treat any Scale insects that appear on citrus with White Oil. Ants running up and down the trunks of the trees are a sure sign there are Scale insects somewhere on the tree. The ants ‘farm’ them to obtain the sticky substance exuded by the Scale, which also allows the growth of black mould. Two sprays at a month’s interval may be needed for complete control.

Quote: The cost of living is always the same; “Everything you’ve got”.
Cheers

– Ralph

Did you know?

Deadheading is the process of removing flowers from shrubs or perennial plants that have finished flowering and have died. A simple deadhead involves pinching off the flower, if you can do this with your fingers; or snipping off the flower head and a little bit of stem. For shrubs with thicker stems, cut back to just above what is called a node – the point whe e the leaves come out of the stem. Then the plant knows where to place its growing energy. Why do we deadhead?

To improve the overall look
To improve plant health
To stop the plant wasting energy
To encourage fresh new growth
To contain a vigorous plant and re-energise a bulb