Your Garden Questions Answered
Episode: #1 10/03/07
Presenter: Sue McDougall
The number one question from garden club members this month is regarding lawns. Dead patches start appearing and no amount of water makes any difference at all. This could be any number of things and usually lawn beetle gets the blame when in fact 99% of the time it isn’t lawn beetle. It is what we call dry patch, where basically the water beads and runs off the soil surface.
The easiest way to check to see if this is happening to your lawn is to grab the shovel and dig a square of lawn out, a spades width and depth is ideal to see what is happening under the surface. Feel the soil, is it damp or powdery dry? This layer of organic matter creates a water repellent barrier and if this is happening to your lawn there is no way around it but to apply a wetting agent to make the water soak in.
Brad from Mt Lawley contacted the Garden Club wanting some advice on his Liriopes. He planted them years ago and they have established themselves quickly. For a few years they looked really good, but now they are starting to look tattered on the ends, as is contemplating pulling out.
After a while they become home to slugs and snails, there is an easy way to rejuvenate them to ensure they look gorgeous for many more years. Speaking from experience Sue says sheep love them, but if you do not happen to have access to a sheep you will have to resort to pruning them the old fashioned way with a sharp pair of secateurs. Do not be scared to prune them off at ground level and within about 4 weeks they will be looking stunning again.
We are in between seasons for growing veggies and very soon it will be time to pull out the tomatoes and capsicums and plant vegies like broccoli, cabbages, peas and cauliflowers. One of our young garden club members wanted to know how to grow potatoes in her backyard. Sue’s got the easy way anyone can do it and it just happens to be the perfect time to plant the first crop of the season.
Find a sunny position and put a layer of sheep manure on the ground and then a layer of pea hay. Place the seed potatoes on the straw. These are available from your local garden centre and are certified from potato scab and other diseases that can cause a problem. Throw a little all purpose fertiliser on the straw and potatoes and then cover with straw to a depth of about 30cm.
The trick with potatoes is as they grow and start to poke their little leaves through you cover with more straw. Potatoes are actually swollen stems and you need to cover the stems to get them to develop. In about 4 months you can uncover the straw and the potatoes will be sitting there clean and ready to cook. Its as easy as that.
For more easy gardening ideas on growing your own fresh organic vegies join our online garden club.
Presenter: Sue McDougall
The number one question from garden club members this month is regarding lawns. Dead patches start appearing and no amount of water makes any difference at all. This could be any number of things and usually lawn beetle gets the blame when in fact 99% of the time it isn’t lawn beetle. It is what we call dry patch, where basically the water beads and runs off the soil surface.
The easiest way to check to see if this is happening to your lawn is to grab the shovel and dig a square of lawn out, a spades width and depth is ideal to see what is happening under the surface. Feel the soil, is it damp or powdery dry? This layer of organic matter creates a water repellent barrier and if this is happening to your lawn there is no way around it but to apply a wetting agent to make the water soak in.
Brad from Mt Lawley contacted the Garden Club wanting some advice on his Liriopes. He planted them years ago and they have established themselves quickly. For a few years they looked really good, but now they are starting to look tattered on the ends, as is contemplating pulling out.
After a while they become home to slugs and snails, there is an easy way to rejuvenate them to ensure they look gorgeous for many more years. Speaking from experience Sue says sheep love them, but if you do not happen to have access to a sheep you will have to resort to pruning them the old fashioned way with a sharp pair of secateurs. Do not be scared to prune them off at ground level and within about 4 weeks they will be looking stunning again.
We are in between seasons for growing veggies and very soon it will be time to pull out the tomatoes and capsicums and plant vegies like broccoli, cabbages, peas and cauliflowers. One of our young garden club members wanted to know how to grow potatoes in her backyard. Sue’s got the easy way anyone can do it and it just happens to be the perfect time to plant the first crop of the season.
Find a sunny position and put a layer of sheep manure on the ground and then a layer of pea hay. Place the seed potatoes on the straw. These are available from your local garden centre and are certified from potato scab and other diseases that can cause a problem. Throw a little all purpose fertiliser on the straw and potatoes and then cover with straw to a depth of about 30cm.
The trick with potatoes is as they grow and start to poke their little leaves through you cover with more straw. Potatoes are actually swollen stems and you need to cover the stems to get them to develop. In about 4 months you can uncover the straw and the potatoes will be sitting there clean and ready to cook. Its as easy as that.
For more easy gardening ideas on growing your own fresh organic vegies join our online garden club.
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