This is a month of rapid growth. Keep your garden well watered. Water before wilting to minimise stress on plants. Application of a compost mulch will help retain soil moisture. Also pay particular attention to weeding, feeding and spraying.

Gardening Tasks for December:   Vegetable Garden
	Sow seeds directly into the soil: Beans, beetroot, carrots, parsnip, swedes, turnips, radish, spinach, lettuce, silverbeet and sweetcorn. Make successive sowings every two weeks.
	Plant seedlings of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, tomato, sweetcorn, beetroot, pumpkin, courgette, capsicum, eggplant, melon, cucumber and gherkin.
	Protect plants from caterpillars with Derris Dust.
	Courgettes and cucumbers can be protected from powdery mildew by spraying with Copper Spray.
	Feed tomatoes at least once a week with a fast acting liquid feed such as Phostrogen Tomato Food. Pinch out laterals (side growths) on tall tomato varieties as they grow and ensure they are firmly staked.
	Apply a mulch of compost around vegetable plants to conserve soil moisture.

Fruit Trees
	Feed fruit trees for bumper crops later and water well to prevent fruit drop.
	Spray pip and stone fruit with Copper Spray to prevent fungus diseases.
	Spray citrus with Copper Spray to prevent verrucosis and leaf curl.
	Summer prune peach and nectarine trees as soon as fruiting is complete. This will help prevent the spread of silver leaf blight and leaf curl.

Flower Garden
	Sow seeds of ageratum, alyssum, aster, celosia, cosmos, cyclamen, gerbera, nasturtium, petunia, phlox, portulaca, rudbeckia, salpiglossis, sunflowers, verbena, viscaria and zinnia.
	Plant seedlings of alyssum, aster, chrysanthemum, cosmos, dahlia, dianthus, gypsophila, nasturtium, impatiens, marigolds, petunia, phlox, portulaca, salvia, verbena, viscaria and zinnia.
	Roses and perennials can still be planted. Keep new plantings well watered.
	Prune roses lightly and water well in preparation for autumn flowering. Feed with Rose Fertiliser and spray with Super Shield to prevent pests and diseases.
	Lift spring flowering bulbs once the leaves have died down completely and store in a cool dry place.
	Mulch garden shrubs with compost to conserve moisture and so protect roots from hot sun, especially rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias.
	Water each evening or early morning, especially plants in containers which will dry out quickly in hot or windy weather.

Houseplants and Outdoor Containers
	Fill pots with flowering annuals such as petunias, marigolds, phlox or impatiens.
	Keep up watering in warm weather. Installation of a Buyright in-ground irrigation system saves time and makes watering easy.
	Use SaturAid to help plants survive infrequent watering while you`re away on holiday. This can be added without necessarily repotting the plants.

Lawns
	Raise the lawn mower up a level for summer season. The longer lawn will aid in moisture conservation and helps to keep the lawn green.
	Water in dry weather and apply fast acting lawn food such as Scotts Lawn Builder.