A LITTLE PIECE OF ‘THYME OUT’ FOR YOU

Bi-Monthly Newsletter – January to February 2009

Well, that was a whirlwind Christmas and New Year period! Welcome to 2009. I trust you all had a great break with some well-deserved ‘Thyme Out’.

Jobs to do in your garden during January include:

Ring me if your garden has gotten away from you during the holidays!
Take time to walk around your gardens and enjoy the colours, textures and fragrances.
There are lots of bright annuals you can plant to fill garden gaps.
Feed your roses, there are plenty of fertiliser options.
Keep spraying roses fortnightly with Shield/ Super Shield remembering to alternate sprays.
Deadhead flowers to encourage more blossoms.
You can give your grasses a haircut if they are too big.
Remove seed heads if you don’t want plants to set seed.
Lift potatoes after they’ve finished flowering.
Liquid feed veges and tomatoes weekly.
When the weather is calm and the ground is dry, spray paths to kill persistent weeds.
Best time to water your garden is early morning or late afternoon. Water the soil well to encourage roots to go down to the moisture. A quick water will only make them come to the surface and vulnerable to drying out.
Never water during midday as plants can burn in the hot sun.
Yep, my old favourite – mulch, mulch, mulch.

Jobs to do in your garden during February include:

Start thinking about getting your garden ready for Autumn/Winter – yep, sorry.
Time to look at planting spring flowering bulbs – Anemones, Ranunculus and fragrant Freesias.
Keep deadheading flowers.
To keep your climbers tidy, trim the straggly tendrils that are waving in the wind.
Prune roses lightly and keep well watered. Peastraw mulch is a great way to retain moisture and it’s good for the soil too!
Remove weeds in your lawn to prepare for laying lawn seed.

Did you know:

Aphids are out and eating your plants!!! Mavrik spray (bee friendly) or natural alternatives include pyrethrum, cold soapy water, squishing and ladybirds will soon sort them out.
To kill ‘Wandering Jew’ you need to remove all trace of it and ‘cook’ it in black plastic bags or under polythene.

Especially for you:

Getting out in your garden is a great way to use up some calories that have (if you’re like me!) accumulated over the holidays.
Don’t forget to apply lots of sunscreen about 30mins before you venture out.
After a day in the garden, sit back, enjoy a cold drink and look at what you have accomplished. It’s very rewarding!
This is a great time to think about what you would like to change in your garden, be creative and let your imagination go wild!

More Before and After photos:

Before:

After:

This is the garden I created for Plateau School using donated plants and materials. I enjoyed every single minute of it!

Remember, do nothing and you’ll keep receiving my newsletters. However, if you do not wish to receive them, please by all means let me know.

Take care and I wish you well for 2009.

Regards,

Jan to Feb 2009