March 2006

My Backyard is quite a hive of activity at the moment. We are building an ark! This one, however is not for endangered animals, but endangered gardeners. Last month I sent out a stop press to invite all my subscribers to join the Gardeningedens online forum and to date, there are two of us participating. Come on guys! Join the forum and contribute to a really good site. You will be able to get help with some of your gardening problems and just general gardening advice.

Enough about that. The weather has been really English lately. Some of my English clients have been really homesick over the last few weeks and have been threatening to go back to better weather! Again, I want to say, enjoy the water. It may not be with us for terribly much longer...

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Things to look out for this month:

Gardenex at the CocaCola dome in Northgate.
23rd to 26th of March 2006
Lifestyle garden centre in Honeydew is having a designer's expo where they showcase some of their Landscaping student's work. This is on now till the middle of March. There are some really novel gardens.
Also at the Education centre at Lifestyle, is a Garden Worker's Training course presented by Joanne Hilliar. A very worthwile course for those of you who are wanting to invest in your gardeners.
Flora farm in Boksburg is having a container expo at the end of March running for about two months. Come and check out some really good ideas here.

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Bulbs

This month sees the introduction of winter/spring flowered bulbs into the garden centres.

Last month I warned that you should start considering your colour palette for your bulb show. This month you will be able to buy those bulbs. Remember not to plant your bulbs too far apart, because this dilutes the effect of their display. Rather concentrate your plantings in large groups and even consider planting them in containers near your entrances.

A fun thing to do is to plant your Daffodils (if there are any available this year) in layers in a container. If you plant them in about 3-4 layers you extend their blooming time.

The latest Home magazine has a very good article on planning for that spring garden and has some good ideas.

Dark corners of your garden

You may be sitting with passage way or dark areas of your garden where the Kikuyu has long since died, or perhaps you are tired of the old paving which currently is there.

Consider some of the following ideas:

Remove the paving, and replace with some flagstones which can be interplanted with some of the shade loving ornamental grasses
Create a "dry river bed" using pebbles
Brighten up the area using containers with topiarised shade loving shrubs and shade loving annuals

Some plant suggestions:

Ivy Violets

Pleactranthus Box tree

Coleus Hen and chicks

Fuchsia Duranta 'Sheena's Gold'

Japanese Mondo grass Gardenia

Impatiens Azalea

Try and vary the heights of the plants that you use in this area. Don't place plants of the same height in here.
Grow a tree up against the wall and train the branches to grow horizontally along it thus creating an espalier. Fruit trees can be grown in this way and will even bear fruit if treated correctly.

Use your garden

So many gardens are not being utilised to their full extent.
There are so many things that we can do to use our gardens fully:

Plant species whose blooms can be used in the home.
Attractive foliage in the home is a great asset. Plant trees and shrubs with coloured or textured foliage for the vase.
Plant a vegetable garden. You don't need to have an area which has been set aside specifically for this. You can use your existing garden and create a potager.
Integrate some herbs in your garden. Most herbs are really attractive and can be used in your existing landscape.
Create a special corner where you can meditate or pray or just simply relax. A garden bench placed under a tree can be a wonderful escape from the noise and rat race of the day.
Put in a water feature which can be pleasant for both the human and animal inhabitants of your garden.
Create a feeding area in the garden for your birds or if you are lucky some smaller mammals.

Things to do this month

Plant sweetpeas this month as well as the indigenous Namaqualand daisies. Try the Bokbaai vygies or Mysembrianthemum between some paving stones.
Clean out your water features this month if that is possible.
Plant root crops in your vegetable gardens: Carrots, beets and onions from seeds.
Other veggies which can be planted are beans and peas.
Our lawns are nearing the end of their season, and a good feeding of 2:3:2 would be good for them and stand them in good stead for the winter.

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We have been quite busy this season, and we would like to thank our clients and friends for their support this year. We are looking at starting a maintenance division later this year so times are quite exciting for us.