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Vegetable Garden
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An important month for planting winter vege gardens.
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Vege gardens should be prepared prior to planting with compost, general garden fertiliser and lime if necessary.
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Plant seedlings of beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, and silverbeet.
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Watch for white butterfly caterpillar (use Derris Dust)
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Sow seeds of carrots, parsnips, radish, lettuce, spinach, silverbeet, beetroot, (mild climates only), swede, and turnip directly into the garden. These will need thinning later. Seeds of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprouts are best sown in trays for planting out later.
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Potatoes, onions and kumaras can be lifted and stored in a cool, dry place.
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Any areas of the vege garden which are not to be used for vegetables this winter can be planted with a green manure cover crop. This will be dug in later to enrich the soil for spring and summer crops. Blue lupin, mustard or oats are good options. Make sure the mature crops will not shade vegetable plantings.
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Herbs
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Plant herbs in pots or the garden. Parsley can be grown from seed sown now. |
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Perennial herbs such as chives, mint, thyme, rosemary, sage, and marjoram can be divided and replanted. Basil, a summer annual should be harvested before the cold weather. It can be dried or frozen.
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Fruit Trees
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March is the main month for harvest of pip and stone fruit.
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Feed Citrus trees with Butlers Citrus Fertiliser.
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Summer prune peach and nectarine trees.
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Spray citrus with Champion Copper to control curly leaf and with Mavrik to control mites, aphids and caterpillars. Add Conqueror Oil if scale insect is present.
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Flower Garden
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Its Bulb Time! Plant daffodils, tulips, ranunculus, anemone, grape hyacinth, iris, hyacinths, freesias, spring flowering gladioli and other spring flowering bulbs.
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Bulbs can be planted, in the garden or in containers and must be planted before the end of autumn!
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Sow seeds of alyssum, aquilegia, calendula, candytuft, carnation, cornflower, cyclamen, dianthus, delphinium, forget-me-not, godetia, gypsophila, hollyhock, honesty, linaria, lobelia, nigella, pansies, poppies, polyanthus, primula, scabiosa, snapdragon, sweet pea, sweet william, and tulips.
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Protect all seedlings with Slug Slam.
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Encourage earlier and better flowers by feeding seedlings with Thrive Flower and Fruit or Nitrosol.
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Dead-head plants to prolong flowering and spray with Yates Super Shield to control fungus diseases, insects and mites.
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Plan winter rose planting and place your orders for June delivery.
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Lawns
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Complete preparation for re-sowing lawns.
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Spray undesirable weeds with RoundUp. Leave 3 weeks before sowing grass seed.
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Re-sow with Mow-it-Less lawn seed (most mixes are sown at 30 grams per square metre.)
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Water daily until fully germinated.
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Mow carefully on a high cut to encourage a thick strong turf.
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