• Labour Weekend is traditionally the time to sow and plant out summer vegetables. Sowing outdoors too early and in cold soil can result in poor germination and sickly plants.
• Beans, cucumbers, pumpkins and melons need minimum temperatures of 15C to 24C for even germination. Hold off early planting of these until well into November. However, cucumbers and melons can be started off indoors for an early start.
• Look out for signs of downy mildew on young seedlings. Symptoms include yellowing leaves, pale brown patching with surface pitting and poor growth. Spray with Yates Greenguard or Champion Copper.
• Regularly water seedlings with Yates Black Magic Seedling Fertiliser to stimulate vigorous root, stem and leaf growth.
• If chocolate spot or rust appear on broad beans, spray with Bravo.
• Make a list of the vegetables that you need and plant only them. What is the point of lots of silverbeet if you and your family don’t like it!
• Plant out lettuce every couple of weeks for a steady supply. For small gardens try Tom Thumb or Freckles. Keep regularly watered to prevent them becoming bitter and tough and be generous with a highly nitrogenous fertilizer such as blood and bone to ensure rapid growth.
• Herbs such as sage, oregano and rosemary need regular trimming to form denser, healthier bushes. Don’t waste the offcuts. Take cuttings to propagate more plants or use liberally in your cooking.
• Plant coriander, dill, marjoram, parsley, French tarragon and thyme.
• Do not attempt basil outdoors yet. Raise seed inside under glass ready for planting out with your tomatoes.
• Nasturtium will protect lettuces and carrots from caterpillars and the peppery leaves can be added to salads.
• The blue flowers of borage will ward off aphids and other sucking insects. They are also valuable in attracting bees for pollination of fruit trees.
• Comfrey is a great plant in the garden as it is very deep rooted which enables it to pump deep-set nutrients out of the soil into its broad leaves. These leaves can then be turned into a nutrient-rich fertilizer, added to compost to speed up the decomposition process or can be used as a mulch around potatoes and other edibles.

Fruit

• Spring blossom is finished on stonefruit trees. Spray with Bravo and Mavrik and again in 3 weeks to prevent brown rot.
• Pip fruit are coming into blossom. Spray with Fungus Fighter just prior to flowering and again when in full bloom. At petal fall spray again with Fungus Fighter and Success. Continue this every 3 weeks until harvest.
• Do not spray Success over bees or spray over plants in flower.
• Side dress strawberries with Tui Strawberry Food at a rate of 75gms per square meter, monthly until fruit are ripe. Spray with Bravo to control fungal diseases.
• Magnesium deficiency, common in citrus trees, shows up as a yellowing or browning around the outer part of the leaf, especially in older leaves. It is common in acidic soils and can be corrected with Epsom Salts.
• Plant borage around your fruit trees to attract bees, essential for pollination.
  

ORNAMENTAL GARDEN

• Plant out dahlia tubers if the soil is not heavy.
• Sunflower seeds should be planted in situ. Easy to grow all they need is plenty of sun and to be protected from the wind – so plant next to a fence or wall.
• Woodland and shade loving perennials are available to plant in those dark areas in the shade of buildings or fences. This makes them ideal for small city gardens and there quiet beauty will help make your garden unique.
• Pot plants and seedlings in pots and trays will benefit from foliar feeding with liquid fertilizer.
• Black Magic Seedling Fertiliser will encourage vigorous growth on newly planted out seedlings.
• Dig soil to aerate and add compost or Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food generally around the garden. The organic ingredients release nutrients slowly, feeding up to 10 sq m per kg.
• Native plants and gardens will benefit from feeding with Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food, Omsocote for Natives or Burnet’s General All Purpose Plant Food.
• The first roses will be starting to flower and bushes will be making rapid growth. Keep a constant watch for any sign of pests and diseases and combat with appropriate sprays.
• Charming Banksia roses will be flowering this month. Thornless and evergreen, they only require a light trim directly after flowering just to keep is shape.
• Aphids are effectively controlled by spraying with Confidor.
• Sooty mould is a black fungus that lives on the sticky waste produced by sucking insects such as scale and aphids. Use Confidor, Conqueror Oil or Bug Oil to control the pests and the black fungus will gradually disappear.
• Sprinkle snail bait around the emerging young foliage especially delphinium and hosta plants.
• Some hebes, especially the large-leaved speciosa varieties, can suffer from downy mildew during wet weather in spring. The leaves develop yellow patches and turn black. Spray with Bravo or Greenguard.
• Increase the blue colour of hydrangeas by watering on a solution of Aluminium Sulphate. A dressing of lime will enhance the colour of red and pink hydrangeas.
• The native bronze beetle feeds on the foliage of many garden plants and orchard plants. The adults feed at night, leaving holes in leaves and can damage developing fruit and flower buds. Spray with Nature’s Way Pyrethrum after sunset. To be effective the spray must be wet when the insects make contact.
• Prune spring-flowering shrubs after blooming. Weigela, buddleia, spirea, philadelphus and the like can be cut back quite hard, removing tired canes completely.
• Trim evergreen hedges (except box). Take cuttings from the off cuts as they will strike well now. Large-leafed types like Portuguese laurel or griselinea should be cut with secateurs or carefully with hedge clippers. Electric trimmers will leave unsightly ragged leaves.
• Feed hedges as above.
• Don’t be in a too much of a hurry to plant out tender summer annuals such as impatiens, marigolds, begonias or cosmos in areas prone to frost.
• Let the foliage of spring bulbs die down naturally – this enables the bulbs to store food for the next year.
  

LAWNS

• Lawns will need regular mowing as they will begin to grow more rapidly as temperatures rise.
• Aerate the lawn by pushing a fork into the subsoil to help with drainage.
• Sow grass seed on any bald patches that are left from winter.
• If the leaves and crown of grass is being eaten and worm-like casts are present, the culprit will be Porina caterpillar. Control with Soil Insect Killer but as they feed on the surface do not apply this before heavy rain as it needs to sit on the grass itself and not be washed into the soil as is the way when treating grass grub.
• The presence of large quantities of worm casts can cause a muddy surface. If this worries you, sweep away with a light broom, or collect them for giving to pot plants as a bonus food.