What to do

• Feed and water: Feed your pruned hedges with liquid fertiliser such as Seagro or Nitrosol. Keep your pot plants lush with foliar feed such as Nitrosol or Supranure Plus. Water sweet peas thoroughly and feed bulbs with Wonder’s organic granules. In summer-rainfall regions lawns have to be watered once a month, fruit trees and shrubs should be watered once every three weeks and japonicas, azaleas, proteas, pincushions and ericas must be watered regularly.

• Eliminate pests and plagues: Continue treating your cypresses against the cypress louse with Metasystox, Aphicide or Efekto’s Insecticide granules.

• General care: Continue pruning hedges and shaped trees until the new growth becomes less. Continue making new beds, and planting shrubs and trees. Plant seedlings of winter flowering annuals. Support sweet peas and cover the roots of plants with a good layer of mulch to protect them against the coming cold. Mow your lawn when necessary in subtropical and winter-rainfall regions.

• Sow vegetables: Sow broad beans, lettuce and peas countrywide.
Sow the following in the winter-rainfall and subtropical regions: cabbage, carrots, dwarf spinach, beetroot, parsley and parsnip. Sow turnips in the dry and Highveld regions. In the subtropical regions you can sow cucumber, brinjal, pumpkin, runner beans, spinach beet, tomatoes and baby marrows. Sows radishes and turnips everywhere except in the moderate summer-rainfall regions.

• Sow flowering annuals: The following flowering annuals can be sown in all regions: Bokbaai vygies (Dorotheanthus) and foxgloves (Digitalis).
In the interior you can sow calendulas (Calendula officinalis), verbena and pansies.
Sow the following in the Lowveld and on the east coast: Ageratum, snapdragons (Antirrhinum), African daisies, cornflowers (Centaurea), wallflowers (Cheiranthus), satin flowers (Clarkia), Cleome, larkspurs (Consolida ambigua), sweet williams (Dianthus barbatus), sweet peas, Felicia bergeriana, blanket flowers (Gaillardia), Gypsophila, impatiens, tree pelargoniums (Lavatera), paper flowers (Limonium latifolium), toad flax (Linaria), lobelias, stocks (Matthiola), Cape jewels (Nemesia), tobacco flowers (Nicotiana), Iceland poppies (Papaver nudicaule), petunias, trumpet flowers (Salpiglossus), red sage (Salvia) and nasturtiums (Tropaeolum).
Sow everywhere – except in the Lowveld regions and on the east coast – Namaqualand daisies (Dimorphotheca).
Sow Phlox and Ursinia everywhere except in the interior.

• Bulbs/rootstocks/tubers: Treated tulips can now be planted countrywide, as well as lilium varieties. In the summer-rainfall regions spring bulbs need a lot of water. In the winter-rainfall and Highveld regions Ranunculus and anemones can still be planted. In subtropical regions all spring bulbs can still be planted. If you still want to divide and transplant your day lilies (Hemerocallis aurantiaca), you need to do that before winter. Cut dahlias off, remove the bulbs from the soil and store them in a cool, dry place.

Text and image: Home Magazine