Gardening in January

Once again our favourite garden guru’s from Starke Ayres give some helpful and handy tips for gardening in January.

• Continue planting small batches of vegetables to ensure a continued and manageable supply. Suited for pots are –tomato, lettuce, peppers, chilli, beans, spinach, kale and brinjal. Select from our wide range of organic seedlings grown especially for you. Products such as Vermiculite, Perlite, Greenscapes Urban Cubes and Palm Peat will help with improving your soil structure and retain that vary rare commodity water in your soil /root zone.

• Slimmers summer lettuce. The good news is that we can grow loose leaf varieties such as Starke Ayres Baby leaf lettuce, Filly Red and Green Oak, Cos and Butter lettuce throughout the summer where head forming lettuce like Ice Berg and Crisp Head is more suitable for winter. Plant in partial shade in well drained light soil. A touch of Magnesium sulphate will give lettuce a better taste and colour. Feed weekly with a balanced organic fertiliser with micro elements such as Seagro or Gorganic, Talborne 6.3.4.

• Plant waterwise indigenous or mediterranean plants such as Aloes, Gazanias, Pelargonium spp, Agapanthus, Hebe’s, Myrtus communis, Cuphea and Rhaphiolepis.

• During dry spells ant and cockroach activities increase. Use Kombat Ants, Kombat Roach or Kombat TAG bait stations to control infestations. For an organic safe option use Diatomaceous earth 100 % Food Grade Quality and safe for pets and humans. Simply dry sprinkle or mix with water and spray the areas where you nd the highest activity. The more you use the more they will feel unwelcome.

• With people spending a significant portion of their day indoors – studies reveal that the modern city dweller can spend between 80 and 90% of their time inside. It is becoming increasingly important to ‘green’ interior space. Varieties that will liven up that corner in your office or home include – Scheffiera arboricola, Ficus benjamina, Ficus lyrate, Chrysalidocarpus lutescens (Bamboo palm), Sanseveria spp. (Snake Plant), Spathiphylum spp and Draceana spp.

• Reduce oversized unmanageable lawn areas. Make sure that your water resources can maintain what you retain. Further improve the aesthetics of your lawn by giving it the Lawn Coat treatment. It instantly colours your lawn a lush green colour and simultaneously offering it UV protection. It feeds and nourishes the roots and significantly reduce water usage. (Spray now before your lawn dies down completely)

Starke Ayres, West Coast Village
Tel: 021 554 8450