MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Gardening with Gael - Early bird catches the wormA small miracle has occurred today. I have run early.
“It’s going to rain in the afternoon,” said Box last night, “so if you want to get something done in the garden you need to get to the Block in the morning. One contributing factor was I didn’t turn on my computer first thing and instead packed the car and raced straight to the Block. I accomplished a lot. Almost like a children’s story. I transplanted one penstemon, two camellias (they are in flower so it’s the right time to transplant), planted three vile smelling plants I got from Ces at the market which are supposed to deter possums and four geraniums. I moved five daylilies so that I could transplant six dahlias. I planted out seven of the clivias I have grown from seed (20 to go) and found places for eight alstromeria (3 Rosie Frost and 5 purple ones). I planted nine pale pink and white hydrangeas on a terrace below the beautiful hedge of camellia Beatrice Emily, a strongly scented sasanqua camellia I had already planted along the top of the wall at the back of the house. I have ten pineapple plants to move but I had only dug out two of them when the rain started. This meant I was early back home and ready early for everything I planned for the afternoon. I constantly checked the time with Box who I heard mutter to Rick, “The people who most need watches are the people who don’t have one.” It was a relief to accomplish it all. The hydrangeas had been languishing in plastic bags waiting for the ground to dry out a bit. The dahlias had been waiting in a pile under the deck. I had heeled in the penstomen while I worked out a position for it. This really is the time to plant, and next month is the time to feed and mulch. The transplanting is occurring because Box and Rick are building the structure on the front of the deck which will hold the solar panels. A three metre wide garden has had to shrink to just under a metre or one plant wide. Some plants are also much happier in a new spot. It’s a way of restructuring a garden if the plant budget has been reached. The camellias have been moved to make way for the pineapple plants. Originally I had planted the pineapple plants on a lower terrace. This year one of the plants has seven pineapples on it. I thought being up against a rock wall the heat would be radiated out to the plants. The idea was so successful that the pineapples have totally outgrown their position. I can’t get under any of them to feed them. I can’t get behind or beside them either. They have completely filled every space. In this way although the position has been a success I realise I need to be able to access them. The difficulty has been thinking of spaces where they can spread, get a bit of shade, be accessible from all sides and be in a frost free location. Between us we have come up with several positions. We recently ate some of the pineapples and they were delicious. I hope they do as well in their new sites. TRANSPLANT: Box contemplates moving a couple of outgrown pineapple plants. |