Did you Know that a Better Garden Starts with a Better Plant?

Spring Colour

Don't be left behind when it comes to ensuring a colourful spring display in your garden, be it in pots or in garden beds. It's not too late to plant Namaqualand daisies, Virginian stocks, Iceland Poppies, Primulas, Pansies and Violas.

Raking Leaves

Who rakes leaves? That is an old fashioned way of doing things and completely out of date leaves should be left on the lawn until you next mow, when they will simply be cut up and mulched into the soil. The autumn leaves herald the arrival of winter and can look extremely attractive, especially with the frost and light glistening on them in the early morning. Whilst scattered on the lawn the leaves are protecting the roots of the lawn from cold and frost, and take note how the birds appreciate the fallen leaves as they discover the worms and bugs hidden underneath them thrushes in particular love foraging amongst them.

Areas immediately adjacent to the house and pathways and patios can be swept free of leaves, simply to keep these areas tidy but otherwise rather spend your labours on more appropriate winter chores such as mulching shrubs, cultivating beds, feeding annuals and bulbs, laying a pathway, painting or varnishing benches and other garden furniture.

New Plants

Choose hardy perennials and shrubs to brighten up your winter and spring garden. The European trend of planting a mixed container makes for a more interesting show with foliage, colour contrast, upright and trailing growth and flowers.

The following plants could be used:

  • Ajuga Chocolate Chip

  • Ajuga Snowfrost

  • Sutera Giant Snowflake

  • Sutera Golden Pearls

  • Sutera Bermuda Sky

  • Acorus Graminus Variegata

  • Hedena Glacier (Ivy)

  • Shadowdancer Fuchsias

  • Argyranthemum Primrose Petite (Daisies)

  • Coleus Dipt in Wine

  • Coleus Religious Radish

  • Coleus Dappled Apple

  • Coleus Sedona

  • Scaevola Sunfan

  • Chlorophytum Bonnie

Rhododendrons Azalea Encore

These are the latest repeat-flowering Rhododendrons to hit SA. They flower in summer and autumn with single to semi-double blooms. Evergreen and brightly coloured to recreate the beauty of spring-flowering Azaleas at other times of the year, they are both cold and heat hardy.

They can be planted in autumn and winter but not fertilised until the last frost of spring. Now is the time to mulch around them to prevent moisture loss, as they become 'stressed' if the soil around their roots dries out. The butterflies love the deep hot pinks, orange-reds, pink to almost red, deep purples and white with purple stripes.

Winter Watering

Outdoors: Reduce the frequency of watering to once or twice per week. Water deeply in most parts of the country and less in areas receiving seasonal or unseasonal rain.

Irrigation systems: Adjust these to winter frequency (less number of times per week) and turn off in the rainy season.

Indoors: Use tepid water when watering indoor plants as they will resent being watered with ice cold water.

Published with permission of Chris Wilkinson Graemark