Garden Club
Last meeting notes
Members advised of their garden activities over the past month which was followed by an auction of plants/bulbs etc contributed by members.
Amanda Reynolds from Green Platypus Gardens was our Guest Speaker. Amanda has a wealth of experience in the designing and planning of gardens. She advised that to get the best results you have to feel confident and comfortable about where you are heading with your garden; you also need to think about saving your energy and also money. You need to garden with forethought and to view the garden as an end result in 10 years' time.
Prepare for challenges in advance, e.g. your soil, composting and worm farming, weeds (get rid of them before you start intensive gardening - don't use glyphosphate, but use cardboard as a base), and then think about water. Add organic matter, whatever your soil problem. Don't use Forever Red or Forever Black, little stones or weed mat (couch and kikuyu grow though it). Amanda has successfully put paper and old cloth(es) into a worm farm.
For weeds: identify your weeds and the best method of control; eradicate what you can at the start, put a maintenance plan into action, always be alert and remember - one year's seeds = 7 years of weeds.
For a No-Dig Garden, first lay down cardboard, then straw, manure, fertiliser, and finally put on compost. It breaks down as it all disintegrates and you just need to pull out the few weeds that might appear.
The next meeting was held on 8th October in the hall of the Uniting Church at 7.30 pm. This night was the Rose Challenge. It was also "freebies" night where each member brought an item (preferably to do with the garden) for a raffle. Everyone went home with one of these items.
GEORGE’S GARDENING SUGGESTIONS FOR NOVEMBER 2018
• When planting out, avoid transplant shock by planting early morning or evening and use a liquid seaweed tonic to reduce transplant shock.
• Keep plants healthy in the hotter weather with adequate water and fertiliser.
• Harvest leafy greens on a regular basis to maintain quality.
• Propagate cuttings of quick growing shrubs such as geranium, salvia, and artemisia - select stems 100 - 150mm long with at lest 2 nodes and place in a 140mm pot of potting mix, keep moist and in 4wks pot on and plant out when roots have developed.
• Compost worms can 'cook' in hot weather so keep them in the shade and cover with damp hessian to keep them cool.
• Feed rhubarb with decomposed manure and water deeply.
• Pick strawberries on a regular basis and trap earwigs and millipedes to increase your harvest.
• Plant dahlias, marigolds, petunias, phlox, and portulacas.
• In the veggie patch you can plant bush and climbing beans, carrots cabbage, pumpkin, sweet corn, tomato, and zucchini.
Next Meetings
Monday 12th November - Roger Argent will talk on growing and caring for Pelargoniums
Our Christmas Lunch will be held in December - date and venue to be decided - please contact our Secretary for details later this month.
