A LITTLE PIECE OF ‘THYME OUT’ FOR YOU

Bi-Monthly Newsletter – September to October 2008

Well it’s that time again, are you ready?  Do you have your feet up, coffee at the ready (choc biscuit in hand) and taken some slow deep breaths?  Right then…

Jobs to do in your garden during September include:

• Dig in plenty of compost into your vege garden and sow seeds of carrots, parsnip, beetroot, silverbeet, peas into the soil.
• Sow lettuces, leeks, cabbage, tomato, capsicum, courgette and cucumber for transplanting later.
• Protect young seedlings from those unrelentless pests, slugs and snails with pellets (or a bath of beer!).
• Plant citrus and fruit trees. Now is the time to feed existing hungry ones with citrus fertiliser.
• Ensure frosts are over before you plant young perennials.
• For a summer display, plant dahlia tubers and gladioli corms.
• To prolong flowering of pansies, poppies and primulas don’t forget to deadhead them and feed with Phostrogen.
• Sow new lawns and spray existing lawns for that horrible onehunga weed with Prickle Weed Killer.
• Spray roses with Shield/ Super Shield.
• Mulch, mulch, mulch – or yep, call me.  I love the stuff!

Jobs to do in your garden during October include:

• Take a deep breath as you realise there’s only two months until Christmas.
• Now that the frosts should be well gone, it should be safe to plant delicate annuals.
• Before transplanting those vege seedlings, ensure you have added lots of compost, garden fertiliser and lime.
• Keep on top of those slugs and snails; they’ll be out in force looking for tender new seedlings!
• Spray potatoes, fruit trees, grape vines and vegetables with Champion Copper to prevent fungus diseases.
• Dust cabbages and caulis with derris dust to keep the white butterfly caterpillars at bay.
• Feed your roses, they’ll love you for it.
• Apply lawn fertiliser.
• Ensure your mulch is well down before the summer heat comes – yay!

Did you know:

• Bees love basil.  Aphids, fruit-fly, white-fly and the house-fly hate it!
• Camellias love tea-leaves.  Yep, slit your used bags and sit in a container of water.  When the water turns a nice brown, tip the lot around the roots.
• Fennel deters fleas.
• Good companions are roses with garlic, parsley, onions and marigolds.
• Bad companions are mint with parsley – who knew!

Especially for you:

• Would you like to feel like you’re walking on air?  I can help – no, not garden-wise, but by giving you the details of a wonderful person who can.  Her name is Jennifer (Jenny) Cunliffe and she is a massage therapist working at Silverstream Physiotherapy Tuesdays and Thursdays.  She can be contacted on (04) 527 4155 and is highly recommended (by me!).  Yes, I can personally vouch for Jenny, she keeps my shoulders from being permanently up around my ears!

More Before and After photos:

Before:

After:

My client had the plants, just wanted to know where to place them.

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.

Until next time – yes when I get the next newsletter out it’ll cover up to Christmas, take care and take ‘Thyme Out’.

Regards,

Jo