Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2020 i The Gardener Magazine

Now that the lockdown rules have been eased slightly, yesterday we embarked on a BIG DAY OUT to, wait for it, Pietermaritzburg! Yes, OK – some of you will say that PMB is just up the road from where we live, and you’re right, it is. But for me it was a massive adventure! It was fantastic to get out, to sit at a restaurant and have a warm, silky cappuccino in a cup and saucer (well, you know at home it’s just mugs). We used the opportunity to hunt for a few gardening heirlooms at the many hidden second-hand shops in PMB, and of course we visited a garden centre or two. Would you believe it: we came back with a boot full of plants! The main reason for…

GARDENING FOR THE PLANTS, THE PETS AND THE PLANET We may not like to admit it, but gardening is an inherently selfish activity. There are some good side-effects, but the main motivation is mostly a good looking garden for ourselves and others to admire. What if we turned that idea around and gardened for the garden itself, rather than our own enjoyment? Selfless gardening is about just that – focusing on the plants, animals and the environment as a whole before imposing your own vision. Your garden is not just a home for you, it’s a habitat for all the living neighbours you may not always notice, and letting them have a say in their space can create a garden even more beautiful than one we could design on our…

Most compact varieties are available as patio vegetables or as seed ordered online from https://gropak.co.za, while seed packet varieties of traditional garden and heirloom tomatoes are available from Kirchhoffs, RAW, Garden Master, MayFord, Starke Ayres and Livingseeds. When heirloom tomatoes came into fashion, adding flavour, variety and colour, they made growing tomatoes a lot more fun. Now there is a new generation of tomatoes that are as tasty as the heirlooms but easier to grow successfully. They are more disease resistant and very productive, and the variety is huge. In the category of cherry tomatoes alone there is a rainbow mix, tiny currant tomatoes, tumblers for hanging baskets, neat container varieties and even minis for window boxes. Space savers Because of the pressure on space, the biggest development has been…

How, what, when and how often • It is best to use a water-soluble fertiliser for your orchids. It does not have to be orchid-specific fertiliser – we use a general fertiliser at the nursery. • Use fertiliser with a high nitrogen content during spring and summer to ensure lots of strong healthy growth. Fertiliser with a high potassium content will strengthen your plants during autumn and winter, enabling them to better endure the cooler, drier weather. • Water-soluble fertiliser should be applied as per the dose on the packaging (never make it stronger than recommended). We spray the whole plant and allow some of the fertiliser to run down to the roots. In this way the fertiliser may be absorbed through the leaves and roots. • As long as…

The stately sword lily For just a small investment (the corms are cheap and available in single and mixed colours), you can plant gladioli in batches to enjoy their tall flower stalks from early summer to the onset of next winter. Plant them in bold groups of about 25 corms, in the centre and towards the back of a perennial border. They require loosened, well-draining sandy loam in a sunny position and the corms should be planted 10cm deep and 15cm apart. The underside of the corm is the flat side with the slight indentation. Cutting for the vase To cut gladioli for the vase, simply pull up the corm, cut off the stem and foliage, and immediately discard the corm. Coloured arum lilies They have flowers in shades of…

Monstera deliciosa The delicious monster, a giant-leaved vining plant normally grown outdoors against a sturdy tree, has become one of the hottest indoor plants on the market lately! It has deeply cut bright green leaves on thick green stems and needs plenty of room to grow indoors in bright light. This is a hungry beast that needs liquid fertiliser monthly in spring and summer, and regular repotting in a pot just one size up as soon as it becomes root bound. Basic care is water only when the top soil layer feels dry, and clean the leaves regularly with a wet cloth to keep them dust-free and shiny. Philodendron bipinnatifidum ‘Hope’ ‘Hope’ is a non-vining variety of the tree philodendron with an upright and more compact growth habit. It has…

Native to the clammy coastal climes of Brazil, bougainvilleas do their best in similar climates but can actually thrive in most areas where the temperatures don’t drop below freezing in winter, and where the summers are hot. In areas where the temperatures do drop below zero, cover your bougainvilleas with frost cover or plant them against a wall for protection – or both. It is during the dry season that bougainvilleas are at their most stunning, showing off with displays of cascading colour. It is not the flowers that provide the colour, but papery leaf-like bracts that surround small and fairly insignificant flowers in cream or white. The bracts themselves come in a range of colours from lilac to orange, pink, purple, red, violet, white and yellow, so whatever your…

Herbs are the food gardener’s best partner in the quest to grow veggies organically. The partnership goes far beyond planting herbs as insect repellents or for use in sprays. Herbs can be used to make a nutrient-rich liquid fertiliser that saves on costs by feeding the plants for free. Added to the compost heap, herbs break it down faster and add microelements for a well-balanced compost. Other herbs improve the soil, acting as green manures. Flowering herbs attract pollinators, which improves the productivity of fruiting vegetables. They also improve the flavour of vegetables when interplanted amongst them. Although it is hard to prove, veggies planted together with their ‘companion’ herbs seem to be more disease resistant. Many herbs are edibles in their own right, and not just for adding flavour,…

If you have a balcony or patio that is warm and protected from wind, with sun or dappled shade, and want to fill it with one of the best flowering perennial plants ever bred for containers, hanging baskets or for climbing up dainty trellises, pick one or all of the exquisite ‘Diamantina’ range of mandevillas (dipladenias). Even though they are either rambling or vining, these plants are compact and bushy with immense flower power. Colours include white, different pinks and bright to deep reds. These plants are not water guzzlers, and their bright flower colours don’t bleach in the sun. Growing tips Position: Morning sun and afternoon shade is perfect. Mandevillas do not like a dry atmosphere, poor air circulation around them, or growing against a baking wall. Soil: Well-draining…

Summer, shade and coleus all go together. If you have a favourite variety growing in your garden already and want more of the same, or if you are given some cutting material, root cuttings fast in water on a bright windowsill. You need Good quality cutting material A glass jar A piece of tinfoil Scissors • Use tip cuttings of 8 – 15cm long, and remove two thirds of the bottom leaves. • Fill a jar with water and fold the tinfoil over its mouth. Pierce some holes in the foil with the tip of some scissors. • Insert the cuttings through the holes, making sure that the remaining leaves are above the foil. • Top up the jar with water, if needed.…

Anyone who has ever sown an entire packet of red onion seed will know that this will provide you with onions for at least six months (and that’s after giving half of them away to the neighbours!). Once the top leaves have wilted and fallen over, onions are ready to come out of the ground after a long 220 days or so. Store in a cool place in singles or tie into bundles if space is limited. For those more intent on saving onions for a rainy day, or even the next decade, you must try dehydrating onions and packing them for storage. This type of preserving can make onions last for 10 – 15 years! Dehydrating onions • The easiest way to do this is in a dehydrator. Peel…

Creeping vines that grow vertically are a useful tool in the garden for hiding unsightly vertical structures, turning them from an eyesore into a soothing green wall that often produces flowers with a glorious scent. They are also very useful for covering pergolas, arches and trellises in front of storage and maintenance areas. For smaller spaces this type of vertical gardening requires very little effort for maximum reward. The best time to plant creepers is when the soil starts to heat up as we head for summer. Do this • Outline where you want the creeper to go: it should be planted a maximum of 10cm from the trailing structure or fence, and the hole should be double the width of the nursery bag. • Dig the hole to double…

Garden tools are expensive and need to be looked after to make them last longer. Use these tips to keep your tools in good working order and rust free: • Wash the dirt off your tools with warm soapy water. Dry off. Fill a container with clean coarse sand. Spray Q20 or WD-40 oil into the sand and on the tools. Dip your tools into the sand and store like this until you use them next. • Clean the blades of cutting tools after each use with an oily rag or wire wool to remove any sap that has dried on the blades, and then lightly oil them. • Periodically tighten the blade tension of garden shears to make them cut more efficiently. • Good quality pruning tools can be…

Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, capsicums (chillies and sweet peppers), carrots, celery, cucumbers, melons and watermelons, parsnips, pumpkins, radishes, spinach and Swiss chard, sweetcorn/mealies, bush and trailing squashes, tomatoes Middleveld (Tshwane and other less frosty areas) Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, capsicums (chillies and sweet peppers), carrots, cucumbers, melons and watermelons, parsnips, pumpkins, radishes, bush and trailing squashes, sweetcorn/mealies, spinach and Swiss chard, tomatoes Eastern Cape and Little Karoo Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, cabbage, capsicums (chillies and sweet peppers), carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, melons and watermelons, pumpkins, radishes, spinach, sweetcorn/mealies, bush and trailing squashes, Swiss chard, tomatoes Western Cape (and southern coast) Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, carrots, capsicums (chillies and sweet peppers), cucumbers, lettuce, melons and watermelons,…

This fragrant summer annual adds its spicy perfume and flavour to a host of light summer meals. Plant in fertile, well-drained soil in beds that receive morning sun and afternoon shade. Water regularly and fertilise monthly with a liquid fertiliser to promote lush leaves. Remove the flowering tops otherwise the plant will go to seed. Basil also grows well in pots. Other basil varieties include purple basil, basil ‘Genovese’ (suitable for pesto), basil ‘Red Ruffle’ (interesting in salad), lemon basil, ‘Greek Columnar’ basil (small leaves, intense flavour) and cinnamon basil (warm cinnamon flavour). Preserve fresh basil leaves by freezing them in ice cubes filled with water. We found… A new vertical gardening system for growing salad and leafy greens, herbs and strawberries. It is simple and affordable, making it ideal…

As spring gardens start to bloom and flourish, dry-region gardeners should note the 'irrigate' days for deep watering. It's especially important to regularly irrigate autumn planted flowering bulbs and newly transplanted perennial shrubs. Tackle two jobs in one and add liquid fertiliser to the watering can. As summer approaches watch out for snails and other pests that ruinedibles and flower annuals. Note the barren/very barren days, waning from Full to New Moon, to apply organic treat ments or morning snail patrol.…

You’ll need 20mm PAR pine cut to: 6 x 190mm x 70mm (box ends) 6 x 1230mm x 70mm (box front and back) 4 x 190mm x 70mm (box base) 4 x 1000mm x 70mm (legs) 2 x 1030mm x 70mm (shelf support) 13 x 214mm x 70mm (shelf slats) 5mm dowel 35mm wood screws 20mm wood screws Wood glue Wood filler 2 x 60cm window boxes Woodoc 50 Marine Sealer (Clear, Gloss or Matt) Woodoc Colours (Brights: Blue) Mineral turpentine Do this 1. The first thing to do is to make three identical rectangles. To do this, glue and screw (35mm screws) a box front and back to two box ends, using pilot holes so that the wood doesn’t split. Repeat until you have three rectangles. 2. Now to…

Dear Mother Nature (and the President), Like two meek mice escaping from their hole in the wall, we slipped out of town after a long period of being cooped up at home to go and check out your wild and ever-open gardens. Although we intended to head up the West Coast in search of Namaqualand daisies and vygies, we decided to take a long detour via some Western Cape towns on our way to Lambert’s Bay, just because we suddenly smelled freedom! Since we are two geriatrics with very limited technical skills, we completely misread the GPS thing on a tablet with a very cracked screen, and got terribly lost, missing our intended turnoffs. In fact, we ended up on a stony gravel road through a high mountain pass (the…

One of the most satisfying aspects of growing bonsai is that of propagating bonsai from cuttings. This process is also known as cloning, and although it is used extensively for crop propagation it is also very effective for bonsai. Essentially the process is a fairly simple one: cut a small branch off a parent tree, plant it in soil and in a few months it will have developed roots. Voila – another small tree! I wish everything worked like that! Imagine cutting a R10 note up into ten little pieces, shoving them in soil, and in a few months you have R100! It may sound a bit ridiculous, but in a way that is what we are doing with cuttings. Be realistic The trick with cuttings is to be realistic…

The pretty pinks Double-flowered Dianthus caryophyllus, also called pot carnations, are synonymous with spring, as the cool weather produces masses of spice-scented flowers in all shades of pink. Plant those from the latest ‘Oscar’ series as border plants, in pots or window boxes. 25 x 25cm. The sweet William ‘Dash’ This has long, straight and strong stems that hold balls of tightly packed blooms. It is a basal brancher that needs no staking to support its height of 50cm and spread of 35cm. ‘Rockin’ This biennial produces vivid, slightly scented flowers, and even has good overwintering skills. You have to give ‘Rockin Red’ a go! 60 x 30cm. ‘Jolt’ Good heat tolerance with strong, dark green foliage and shockingly bright flower colours in ‘Cherry’, ‘Pink’ and ‘Pink Magic’. 50 x…

If you like to collect unusual succulents producing weird flowers, try laying your hands on a carrion flower (Stapelia). The members of this vast genus, indigenous to South Africa and other parts of the continent, are known for their foul smelling flowers so attractive to pollinating ants and flies. These plants are low growing with upright, four-angled stems that are green or reddish, depending on exposure to the sun. The star-shaped flowers, which appear low on the plants in mid-summer to autumn, are very furry, some of them resembling and smelling like rotting meat (although this is not the case in all species). They are followed by long seed pods filled with tufted seeds. These extremely low-maintenance plants prefer a very well-draining succulent soil mix, some protection from baking sun,…

Decorating your garden for Halloween is a hassle. Few people have the time to carefully place plastic pumpkins and paper skeletons, only to take them down a week later and stuff them back in the garage until next year. Why not use your garden to do the spooking for you? This planter can be dressed up for Halloween night, but unlike cheap décor it will spend the rest of the year comfortably on your patio. Steps: • Find a large black pot or paint a terracotta pot black using acrylic paint. • Place stones or pieces of a broken pot in the bottom of the pot to prevent the soil from falling through the drainage holes. • Fill the bottom half of the pot with a mixture of 3 parts…

The bachelor button or globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) is a long-flowering annual for a cutting or prairie garden. While it is truly a blast from the past, there are cheery new hybrids that have given it an update. These summer-flowering plants, which thrive in heat, humidity and poor soil, produce pink, white and purple gumball inflorescences consisting of stiff, papery bracts supporting minute trumpet-shaped white or yellow flowers. The whole package retains its shape and colour after drying, which makes these annuals a favourite in dried arrangements. You can either buy seedlings or sow them yourself. If you choose the latter option, soak the seeds for a day or two and sow them directly in well-tilled soil in a sunny spot in the garden. The first blooms should be pinched…

Convolvulus sabatius (bindweed) is a groundcover that is perfect for two uses: retaining walls and as a floral carpet around tall roses in a large rose bed. It is fast growing with a flat, spreading growth habit and dense, mint-green leaves below masses of sky-blue, open-trumpet-shaped flowers. For a spectacular spring and summer display, include it as a spilling filler in mixed hanging baskets and containers combined with trailing pelargoniums. Convolvulus will grow in full sun or morning sun and afternoon shade, as long as it has well-draining soil. Water needs are medium to high in hot spots like sun-baked retaining walls.…

• Most vegetables and annual herbs can be sown this month. • Mulch beds and increase the frequency of watering. • Keep up with succession planting • Thin out or transplant seedlings, especially carrots and beetroot. • Earth up potatoes and mound soil around other veggies that need support, like green beans and sweetcorn. • Feed young seedlings with a diluted liquid manure. • Plant sweet potato slips. • Pinch out the growing tips of eggplant once five or six leaves have formed to increase the yield. • Weed regularly. • Check all plants for pests, diseases and die-back. Spray pests with natural products as soon as they are noticed and repeat until the pests are no longer active. Strange veggie Acorn squash ‘Sweet Dumpling’ from MayFord Seeds can be…