​              Winter Maintenance and Preparing for Spring
​                                              (July 2016)

​Winter isn’t over just yet, but none the less, it’s time to start preparing ourselves and our gardens for spring. I tend to go for a slow and steady warm up phase to avoid mental and physical overload. The following are a few tasks to be done over the following weeks:

• Plan the what, when, where and how for the upcoming ornamental and productive growing season
• Direct sow early season annual crops such as beetroot, peas and snow peas, spring onions, and radish – check online resources such as Canberra Organic Growers Society (COGS), Green Harvest, and Yates for more ideas
• Get a head start on summer veggies and herbs if you have a warm, frost free niche where you can maintain higher soil and air temperatures and a good dose of sunlight. There are also a wide range of purpose-made mini-propagation houses available on the market which work well, or you can easily make your own out of recycled materials such as Styrofoam boxes and sheets of glass
• Carefully weed your garlic crop as they perform poorly with unnecessary competition
• Top dress perennial edible crops such as rhubarb, asparagus and citrus with quality compost – homegrown is ideal but if purchasing externally, ask your supplier for breakdown of the product including pH level, and avoid buying products which appear immature and are still generating heat
• Top dress and aerate your lawn but hold off on applying more conventional fast-acting fertilisers until it is actively growing in spring
• Ideal time to prepare and rejuvenate tired soils in readiness for the upcoming growing season, especially when winter tends to coincide with many pruning maintenance jobs and raking up deciduous leaves;
• Winter is generally the most suitable time to prune deciduous plants as they aren’t actively growing, and bare branches make it much easier to see what you are doing. Ensure tools are clean and sharp and that any diseased material is removed from site or thoroughly composted before being reintegrated elsewhere into the garden.  On the other hand, as tempting as it is to do otherwise, leave frost damaged foliage on sensitive evergreen plants as it provides protection to vulnerable growth beneath
• When out on the forage trail, keep an eye out for escapee garden plants such as rosemary and lavender, both of which have many household and culinary uses. I harvested a year’s supply of rosemary from local parkland recently while out walking – plants, food and fresh air – bliss. And don’t forget to check idle garden beds and grassed areas in your backyard for the cool season edible green chick weed
• Monitor soil moisture levels (particularly in pots) as watering plants appropriately during winter can be challenging to say the least: on the one hand, cold frosty soils and foliage can appear hydrated when they are actually dry, and on the other, plants you assume require watering because it hasn’t rained for so long, can in fact be sopping wet

 
The solution? A balance of observation and getting your hands dirty: monitor rainfall received (rain gauges are invaluable addition to every garden), wind, and severity/incidence of frost, as all directly affect soil moisture; and physically check soil moisture on a regular basis by noting how the soil reacts and feels when you rub it between your fingers. Make sure and take samples from multiple locations and from a minimum depth of 3cm (not including mulch). Soil by Design sells a handy tool for the job known as the Soil Sleuth moisture probe (soilbydesign.com.au).
 
 
 
 
 

Building up compost reserves for the following growing season.

Getting a head start on the spring gardening season by germinating veggie seeds in a warm and sunny spot indoors.