Gardening in February

admin February 3, 2017February 10, 2017 garden, Gardening, Gardening in Feb, Starke Ayres

Our favourite garden experts from Starke Ayres, West Coast Village give some advice on gardening in the month of February.

Mulch, mulch, mulch! The benefits of mulching include that it reduces weed growth, it’s quick, easy and long lasting, plus it is a cost effective solution to reduce moisture evaporation and at the same time adds goodness to the soil. For more options, visit Starke Ayres Garden Centres, we have a variety of mulching solutions.

NEW!!! Penetrate and Hydrate, both products will help with utilising our water more effectively. Hydrate is a biodegradable soil wetting agent and improves soil retention for lawns, trees and plants in garden beds and pots. It gets applied either by means of a sprayer or by drenching the soil. Penetrate improves water infiltration. It promotes deep uniform root zone hydration in gardens,lawns and pot plants.

Gypsum otherwise known as Gardeners Gold Dust, breaks down compacted heavy clay soil, improves water retention in sandy soils, prolongs the wilting point of plants in summer, assist in better seed emergence, reduces excess salinity in coastal soils deposited by well point or borehole water, prevents water runoff and erosion, helps to remove excess boron from soils and assists plants in absorbing more nutrients.

If your lemon tree leaves are turning yellow, feed with Magnesium Sulphate and Starke Ayres Organic 3:1:5. A dose of Trelmix or Starke Ayres Nutrifeed with all the essential micro elements will also improve the general condition of your lemon tree.

Continue planting small batches of vegetables to ensure a continued and manageable supply. Planting suitable varieties in pots,such as Tomato, Lettuce, Peppers, Chilli, Beans, Spinach, Kale and Brinjal, will make watering easier and therefore be more economical. Select from our wide range of organic seedlings grown especially for you.

Reduce your lawn area by making use of pavers, stone or drought tolerant plants. If you still prefer some greenery amongst the pavers use indigenous waterwise groundcovers such as Dymondia.  Protect fruiting crops from caterpillars by spraying with caterpillar insecticide in the early evening when the caterpillars start feeding. Use Kombat Fruit Fly or an organic option such as Margaret Roberts Biological Caterpillar Insecticide or Ludwig’s Organic Insect Spray.

Harvest rainwater to help reduce your requirement for fresh water. If you utilise all the principles of water wise gardening, rainwater can provide nearly all the water needed by your garden. When the rainy season ends, and the rain tanks finally run empty, then greywater can be used to water areas such as lawns, trees and shrubs.