Where did March Go?

Well, I’m not sure exactly what happened to March, 2019, it was a funny month here in Perth with still warm days which were actually quite humid. Let’s blame it on the moon.

While the other half of the country is still suffering the effects of the terrible drought, things have been pretty mild over here. It is a great time to get out into the garden in Perth …almost like a second spring.

Here are 5 things that might have happened in your garden in March that you may want to take a look at.

Fungal Disease

Have you noticed some weird things happening to the leaves of your plants? Humid weather = Fungal disease. Furry white powder on hydrangeas, roses or tomatoes, say? Then that’s powdery mildew which is a fungal disease and can be treated with Eco Fungicide by OCP. It’s organic so is safe to use on edibles. You could also use a copper spray.

Lawn Woes?

If your lawn has some dead patches after the summer, never fear you can get it back. It is not too late to fertilize it and give it a deep watering to get it lovely and green before Easter celebrations. I love using Baileys Brilliance which also contains a wetting agent. This will ensure that any rain we get hangs around at the root zone of the lawn and doesn’t drain straight through if you have sandy soil like I do If you have a Buffalo lawn, be extra careful not to feed it with Weed and Feed that is not suitable for Buffalo…in a couple of days you will be wondering why you have killed your lawn instead of it looking nice and green.

Dead Head-What’s that?

Roses looking a little sad? It’s not too late to keep deadheading your roses to keep them blooming right through until say July, yes you heard me, July. Roses in Perth can keep flowering almost until you prune them. If the leaves of your roses are showing signs of white powdery mildew treat them with a fungicide too. After a long summer of blooming, they will appreciate some food so why notgive them some liquid fertilizer like say Seasol and Powerfeed and a bit of a trim and you will have the joy of blooms in no time again.

Orchids looking spent?

If yours are like mine then your indoor Phaleonopsis orchids will have bloomed their little heads off all summer long and might be looking a little tired by now, trim back the flower heads, not completely to the base of the leaves, just to a lump in the stem that you want a new one to grow from and give them some water and some orchid food. Before you know it, in about 8 weeks, you will have new leaves and some new flower spikes too.

Hanging baskets and pots looking sad?

Mine have looked gorgeous all summer but now they have had it and its time to refresh. It’s a great time now to pull out your summer annuals in pots and hanging baskets and buy yourself some new ones. You will have blooms all Autumn through winter if you plant now.

…and now for April…and the cooler mornings, warm days, Autumn leaves and balmy nights.

Happy Gardening!