Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2017 i The Gardener Magazine

There are 365 growing days ahead of us, which makes every day a garden day and every month a peak season. In this concise, month-by-month action plan (which you should really cut out and keep), we will remind you what to plant and do, and also keep you in touch with global trends for 2017. Follow our plan and you’ll save time and money, and know how to maintain your garden perfectly. Resoluation to keep If we pledge our minds and hearts to saving water using modern technology and good old common sense, we’ll get maximum value out of what we commit to the soil with a clear conscience – not only in large gardens, but also in small spaces, and even in pots on a patio or balcony.…

The golden age Metallic colours like rose gold and copper are high fashion lately. This means that metallic decor and plants with golden foliage or bright variegation are very ‘in’ – they create light and bright accents in pots or in the garden. Plant lots of dwarf Coprosma hybrids, with their glowing foliage that will start intensifying now, and also Duranta‘Sheena’s Gold’and ‘Gold Mine’, Trachelospermum jasminoides‘Summer Sunset’ and the beautiful new cordyline varieties like Cordyline banksii ‘Electric Pink’ and ‘Electric Star’. Another fiery number to remember to plant is home-grown Leucadendron salignum‘Red Devil’. TOP ANNUAL For semi-shade (or morning sun) plant upright and trailing varieties of Lobelia erinus. Flowers (mostly blue) always cover the entire plant, which remains compact and mounded. Great for edging flowerbeds, in hanging baskets and as…

Reduce the lawn’s size Gazing at an emerald green, park-like expanse of perfectly groomed lawn is always first prize. But to maintain a well-kept lawn you have to pander to the whims of thousands of hungry and thirsty little plants demanding constant attention, and this takes time and money. Cut down on the size of your lawn by looking at areas that are a pain to maintain. If you have corners that are difficult to mow and which actually require you to pick up and carry the lawn mower, let it go! Replace the lawn with low-maintenance, ground-covering ‘lawn alternatives’ that give the same serene green effect and still handle a certain amount of foot traffic. (They are normally available in plug trays at most nurseries.) Here are some options:…

For your driest zone – vygies Smother your rock garden with different kinds of vygies – few other plants can beat our indigenous vygies for flower power and economical water usage. Delosperma – It is ever-pretty (even when not in flower), low on maintenance, and kind on the water bill. Lampranthus – Amongst the many species with upright or trailing growth habits there is a colour range that includes white, cream, pink, salmon, red, yellow, mauve and purple. Aptenia cordifolia – A very versatile vygie hailing from the Eastern Cape that can be used in retaining walls or to bind the soil against banks. The leaves are heart-formed and succulent, and masses of purple or cerise-red flowers appear in spring and summer. Drosanthemum – This large and interesting genus contains…

Patches of instant colour Use instant, cheap colour in the form of summer-flowering annuals like petunias, dianthuses, celosias, impatiens, marigolds, portulacas and begonias, which you can buy in flower, to brighten up the foreground of shrub beds, fill pots or add pizzazz to hanging baskets. Also plant lots of herbs, with their different textures and foliage colours, in pots and scatter them all over your home and garden. MIDSUMMER MARIGOLDS For a blaze of yellow and gold that will add a fresh and vigorous sparkle to the garden during the hottest months, plant marigolds from dwarf to as tall as 125cm high. To keep them stress free and in top flowering form, water them deeply once or twice a week, rather than giving them small amounts daily. Trending :…

Help… what’s stressing my veggies! Do you know why the leaves on the tomatoes are turning yellow, why cauliflowers won’t flower, and the eggfruit is dropping its flowers? When things go wrong, it is easy to be discouraged. Help is at hand. Email pictures of your problem veggies to us at alice@tci.co.za, with a short explanation, and we will answer with the best advice we can. It will help other food gardeners out there too. January is perfect for a mid-season clean up, in synch with the start of the new year. Remove tired vegetables, pull out weeds and trim overgrown herbs. It’s also time to start looking ahead to the sowing of autumn and winter veggies GARDEN TASKS • Water early in the morning or late afternoon to minimise…

1 GARDENING ONLINE WITH KEITH KIRSTEN The new Keith Kirsten Mobile App provides expert advice to answer all your gardening questions. The mobile app is unique and available to all gardeners free of charge. Any information on any plant is available instantaneously. While shopping at your favourite garden centre, simply identify the plant by scanning the Quick Response (QR) code on the plant label, using the app’s scanning facility, and all the information pops up. Download the app from http://keithkirsten.com/mobile-app.html. 2 MOULDABLE GLUE Sugru is the world’s first mouldable glue that sticks to almost anything and turns into a strong, flexible rubber overnight. The name is derived from the Irish word for ‘play’, and sugru is made to stick to as many materials as possible, forming a strong bond to…

Bougainvilleas are tough, drought-tolerant plants that literally thrive on neglect, bouncing back after extended dry periods with a magnificent display of colourful bracts. Not all of them are large, vigorous climbers that require volumes of space in the garden, either. Some are small, compact shrubs that are useful for hot, dry parts of frost-free gardens. Use dwarf bougainvilleas in pots, window boxes and even hanging baskets. Bougainvillea ‘Temple Fire’ This is a true low-growing shrub with few thorns and seldom exceeds 50cm in height. The leaves are comparatively small and the new growth is a dark purple-red shade. Rich cerise bracts surround the small, cream-coloured flowers during spring and then sporadically through the year when climatic conditions are conducive to bud formation. This is invariably after lengthy dry spells. The…

GET THE LOOK Come hither: There’s nothing more alluring than when a garden beckons from behind a gate, especially if the gateway is framed with roses. The terracotta pot on the one side of this entrance contains ‘Garden and Home’ as the main feature, with ‘Granny’s Delight’ spilling over the edge and blue lobelia tucked in for extra colour. Other roses that would work just as well are ‘Avril Elizabeth’, ‘Clocolan’, ‘Candice’, ‘Crimson Velvet Dress’, ‘Remember Me’, ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘Sunny Ayoba’, ‘Easy Does It’ and ‘Perfumery’. On the other side of the entrance, ‘Deloitte and Touche’ peeps shyly around the corner, while standard ‘Iceberg’ roses, with their abundance of blooms, entice one into the main garden and provide a dazzling contrast to the cerise bougainvillea and purple Solanum rantonnetii. Instead…

Mulching is a priority! Mulch around all plants and veggies using a light 5-10cm mulch (dried leaves, straw, bark, coarse compost) that allows water to penetrate easily. Advantage: Watering requirements can be cut down by 50% and weeds are smothered and discouraged. PRIME TIME If you choose modern hybrids and tough favourites, you’ll be rewarded with greater flower power for less hassle in a pretty summer border. Agapanthus ‘White Ice’ – Masses of blooms on short, sturdy stems. Salvia greggii hybrids – Constantly in bloom from summer into autumn. Hemerocallis hybrids – Every day a new flower, and edible too. Angelonia angustifolia hybrids – Relish the summer heat. Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ – Will supply you with flowers until autumn. Evolvulus ‘Blue My Mind’ – Born to flower, and as blue…

Hot tips for bulb planting • Because spring-flowering bulbs need to be cool, don’t plant them next to hard landscaping like driveways or paved pathways. • Avoid north-facing walls, and if planted in containers, keep them in morning sun and afternoon shade. • To get the best result out of bulbs, plant them in bold groups of the same type. BULBS TO PLANT OUTDOORS Alliums, anemones, babianas, chincherinchees, freesias, daffodils, ixias, Dutch irises, lachenalias, snowdrops, muscari, blue bells, ranunculi, sparaxis and tritonias. Remember! Water newly planted bulbs deeply every 4 days – they should never dry out completely. Those in pots will need more regular watering. To keeep the salads coming: Sow a few seeds at two-weekly intervals. BULBS TO GROW INDOORS Hyacinths and narcissi in flower are breathtaking in…

Hail the aloe Dwarf aloes are perfect for small gardens where they can be planted in groups, or grown as little specimen plants in pots. A good medium for contained aloes is well-draining potting soil with grit or river sand added for extra weight and porosity. Apart from dwarf aloe species, which are freely available, we are blessed with beautiful and exciting hybrids that flower profusely from autumn into late winter, and even beyond! Look out for the following beauties: ‘Bushwacker’ with pink to cream flowers, ‘Lemon Drops’ with speckled leaves and yellow flowers, ‘Little Joker’ with grey leaves and salmon-orange flowers, and ‘Porcupine’ with an abundance of bi-coloured flowers with orange buds that open to pale cream. TRUSTY FATTIES Shorter day lengths, cooler temperatures and drier growing conditions intensify…

Daisy inspiration No other country can lay claim to the same sensational indigenous spring colour that we can, with our fantastic Osteospermum hybrids sold under the collective name of Cape daisy. These ground-covering plants need full sun and are loved by butterflies. Good for: Rock gardens, window boxes, in mixed containers or in single patio pots. PINCUSHIONS IN BLOOM Pincushions (Leucospermum), which are members of the protea family, will be in magnificent flower now. Due to hybridisation we are lucky to be able to choose from a wide array of bright colours (although we are not forgetting the mother species either!). The blooms are outstanding cut flowers that last for weeks in the vase, while in the garden they are showy shrubs smothered in nectar-rich blooms that attract birds. Growth…

Paella Paella is the name for the many variations of a rice dish from Valencia, that traditionally is a mix of chicken, rabbit and snails, with green and white beans. A more popular version is seafood paella using prawn or mussels and a firm white fish, flavoured with flatleaf parsley and tarragon. Gazpacho The cold tomato-based soup of Andalucía is a summer staple, and you will find a jug on the counter of tapas bars. Traditionally a blend of fresh chopped tomato, red pepper, chilli, garlic, sherry vinegar and lime, creative Spanish cooks add a hint of mint to give it an edge, and make it even cooler. Tortilla Española This is almost the Spanish national dish, a form of omelette consisting of eggs, potatoes, chopped flatleaf parsley and onions…

Q: Why did my cauliflower produce this strange knobbly head? A: According to Alex Bronkhorst, the brassica specialist from Sakata-Mayford Seeds, “Cauliflower is actually a winter crop and this is what happens if it is planted late and then a sudden change in temperatures occurs, such as the high temperatures in September. Cauliflower doesn’t like the extreme temperatures, and what you can see from the picture is typical in these conditions. Also, cauliflowers are full-sun crops and shade might influence the growth of the plant. “ What to do: Don’t sow cauliflower seed after February or March in most areas, and don’t plant out seedlings later than May, even if you see seedlings in the garden centres later than that. The chances are the cauliflower won’t form good heads. Q:…

Do It Yourself for under R300 excluding paint What you need Wood cutting list 2 x 580mm x 93mm x 12mm 2 x 500mm x 93mm x 12mm 12 small brass cup hooks 12 x 40mm panel pins Wood glue Undercoat Black paint Thin binding wire A selection of air plants (Tillandsia) Tools Tape measure, straight edge or ruler, pencil, hammer, side cutters, sanding block, paint brush What you do 1 Assemble the frame using wood glue and the panel pins, as per the diagram. Attach the bottom cross-piece 40mm from the bottom of the sides, to form the two legs. 2 Sand the frame and paint with an undercoat. Once dry, apply two coats of black enamel paint, allowing it to dry between coats. 3 Screw three cup hooks…

The Moonlight Calendar is a visual timing guide to South African Lunar Phases, Lunar Zodiac and Gardening by the Moon. The Moonlight Calendar is the first reference work for being in tune with the moon’s cycles, either by phase, sign or fertility mode on any day of the year. Annual followers include gardeners, farmers, fishermen, planners, photographers and naturalists. Moonlight Calendar features: • A photograph of the daily moon; • The exact times of the four main moon phases; • The exact times the moon changes zodiac signs; • Colour coding showing the ‘fertility’ rating of every day; • Void-of-course times (the no-action periods) before Zodiac sign changes. The Moonlight 2017 Calendar poster is available to The Gardener/Die Tuinier readers for R130 or a special offer of three for R235,…

Romancing the rose Why settle for one short-lived, long-stemmed red rose (at a dear price!) when you can rather have a patio filled with potted roses at a much more reasonable price? Miniature rose varieties, collectively known as ‘patio roses’, are freely available in warm seasons. They flower profusely if kept in a sunny spot for a few hours a day and protected at root level by a layer of organic mulch to keep their roots cool and moist. Trending Intense, small-space gardening with lots of the same plants DESIGNER PLANTS Plants with architectural features, like some cacti and succulents, are definitely ‘in’, and definitely support the ‘finding the joy in less’ trend. The fact that they are heat loving and like dry conditions is another advantage. Agave attenuata (swan’s…

Callas in the house Growers have developed many different calla lily (Zantedeschia) hybrids with very exotic flower colours. Although outdoor plants by nature, they can be kept indoors while in full bloom and have become extremely popular houseplants. Quick facts Position: To keep them free of aphids, plant tansy and pyrethrum daisies nearby to encourage ladybirds to do pest control. Watering: These bulbous plants enjoy soil that is never allowed to dry out completely. Constantly soggy and unevenly moist soil will however cause the rhizomes to rot. CREEPING FLOWERS AND SCENT Plants known as climbers naturally produce many long, twining stems and tendrils that help a gardener to train them to a higher level, adding a soft cover of vegetation and blooms at a relatively fast pace. They need the…

Dwarf size, huge flower power! The new-age ranges of dwarf Inca lilies are magnificent and suitable to grow in containers too, as they reach a height of only 30-35cm. They flower profusely from spring to autumn and can be found in a wide range of bright colours. Just like their taller family members, these shorties can be picked as cut flowers, albeit with shorter stems. Inca lily growth in a nutshell • Plant in sun or light shade. • Provide loam soil enriched with organic material. • Add sharp river sand to aid with drainage. • Water regularly and feed with a potassium-rich plant food. RENOVATE LAWN IN THE SHADE It’s not uncommon for 25-40% of lawn to be covered in partial or deep shade – not ideal conditions for…