Gardening – Spring has sprung, so hop to it!

Spring is officially upon us, and although it’s not my favourite season, being characterised by blustery conditions alternating between warm and freezing, it does herald the start of planting, and for that I’m grateful. This week I’ve been busy sowing seed, starting with cooler climate crops – carrots, peas, snow peas, lettuce, spring onions, bok choy, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, radishes, coriander, dill, parsley and spinach. I’ll keep sowing all these at three to four week intervals to get a continuous harvest. These have gone into the greenhouse on a heat pad to get the best germination, but really, they only need a little extra warmth at this time of year, so a sunny windowsill would be fine.

I’ve also sown several varieties of beans. These definitely need the greenhouse and heat pad at this time of year. I like to get them away early, then hold them in the greenhouse till the soil warms more outside. If I’ve timed it well, the first flowers will be popping out when they go in the ground, ready for the bees to work them. Other subtropical crops such as zucchini, corn, tomatoes, chillies, basil and capsicums will get sown in a couple of weeks, again on the heat pad.

The key to getting good early crops is to keep potting them up as they grow in the greenhouse, then planting them out no earlier than Labour Weekend. By that stage they will be decent sized plants, with flowers not far off and the soil should have warmed enough to not shock them too much. The melons, squash, eggplants and pumpkins are the last to be sown near the end of September, as these are the most cold sensitive. Planting out in November is the best time for these.

Potatoes can be planted now. Indeed, early potato crops tend to be the best in our area, as they can be harvested before Christmas and before the dreaded tomato/potato psyllid gets active. Any old kumara tubers that are lying around are ideal to place in a warm area with damp conditions to get the slips (new shoots) started. These can be removed off the tuber and are planted out ideally in November.

In the flower garden, summer bulbs such as dahlia, gladioli, lilies and callas can all be planted out. More cold sensitive bulbs such as tuberose and gloriosa are best planted around Labour Weekend. Most of the annual flowering plants can be sown from now on, too.

In the veggie garden, go through and clean out any weeds, old plants from last season and prepare the soil for the new plants by adding fertiliser (now is a good time to add lime or gypsum) and compost. Spring is also a good time to sow new lawns, spread fertiliser around the ornamental garden and refresh the soil in any potted plants. There’s a lot to do, so spring into action and hop to it!