THIS WEEK'S TIP FROM GARDEN GURU SUE BOTH

Dress your garden for winter

Join us this week Friday for our FREE online workshop on Winter Gardening and learn how you can exercise your green thumb during the coming cooler months. This week’s prize will be sponsored by RJE Distributors.

Please use the following login details to join us at 11am sharp over Zoom:
Meeting ID: 841 6825 3932 | Passcode: 301871
or use the following direct link: https://bit.ly/3ucMwE1

Dress your garden for winter

Winter is coming on strong but that doesn’t mean you should hang up your gardening tools. Most of South Africa is fortunate to have clear and sunny days during the coldest season of the year, making winter gardening perfectly possible. Wouldn’t you like to continue exercising your green thumb during the coming cooler months? Today I will share my top tips for winter gardening in South Africa.

· To protect your sensitive plants from winter cold, cover them with frost cover for those chilly winter nights. Feed your whole garden with an organic fertiliser to strengthen the cell walls in the plants, which will help protect them from winter chill.

· Winter is the time to make any planned changes in your garden, especially if you’re looking to plant a few new fruit trees.

· Winter is also a good time to move trees and larger shrubs in your garden.

· There are still many busy bugs in your garden. Italian Cypress aphids flourish in the cold, so if you have not yet treated your Cypress trees it’s time to do so with an appropriate systemic insecticide. Remember that the damage caused by these critters is only visible in the spring. Aphids and Scale are still rife when it comes to our succulents, which should be treated with a recommended aphid and scale insecticide that will sort out the issue systemically. Product like Protek Complete and Efekto Insecticide Granules can be used for this purpose.

· When it comes to pruning, you are allowed to start sharpening and cleaning your secateurs but please refrain from going cut-crazy. A warm spell during winter can encourage plants to sprout, and new growth can still be damaged by the cold.

· Pot plants must not be placed too close to windows, especially in the shade. Rather move them to a nice sunny spot and fertilise them with an organic, slow-release fertiliser. Remember that heaters in the home will dry out the air, so pot plants will need more watering.