Gardening with Margaret Matthews
Prelude to Spring
by Margaret Matthews
Looking out of my window at the bare branches and sombre grey sky, I decide that this has been a particularly bleak winter. August is an introduction or a prelude to spring, when the orchestra is not yet in full flight. Some very early blossom, jonquils, and primroses are appearing, but the rest of the garden is holding its breath waiting for September and the main show.
This is a good time to take a close look at the garden, especially if you have recently ‘inherited’ an established garden or perhaps you have retired and now have time to take up gardening again. Perhaps you have never taken an interest in gardening before. Well, now is a good time to start.
Look at the ‘bare bones’ of the garden, before the skeletons of deciduous trees and shrubs are clothed in their fresh green leaves. It is time to take up the challenge before we become seduced by the froth and frenzy of spring.
Rug up in an old jacket, put on your ‘wellies’ and a hat to keep your ears warm. Take a notebook and a waterproof pen to note the jobs to be done. Any deciduous trees or shrubs which need cutting back hard or careful pruning should really have been done by now. It is very late for roses (excepting climbers, which should be pruned immediately after flowering), so get to it! Check fences, pergolas, trellises, and any structures supporting climbing plants.
There is still time to move plants if they are in need of more sun or better drainage. Choose a new position before removing the plant. Pruning should be done after replanting as some damage may occur during the move. A copper spray should be applied to fruit trees before the buds open. Deciduous plants will suffer less disruption than evergreens — the latter should be cut back hard, even if this causes loss of flowers for a season. After replanting, water with some liquid seaweed preparation; otherwise apply no fertiliser until the plants are growing strongly.
Australian native plants are generally more difficult to transplant than exotics. Also, when choosing natives, remember that small plants from the nursery, even in tubes, make more rapid progress than larger plants.
Having assessed the garden carefully and decided that winter is really a very dull affair, it is to native plants that we turn again. There are so many indigenous plants, from groundcovers to trees, which bloom through winter that there is no excuse for a lack of colour in the dark, cold months of the year. Natives not only bring colour to the garden, but also birds in their wake. If you visit a native nursery now, you will find that there are many plants in flower. The colours include scarlet, crimson, warm and pale pinks, translucent orange, pale and vivid yellows, cream and white. Never underestimate the ‘lift’ white flowers can provide on a dull day during the winter. There are native species for every situation. If you plan and plant now your garden could be filled with colour and bird-song this time next year.
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