The Zimbabwean Gardener Issue 1 Winter 2012 | Page 16

What to do - June | July What to do in the garden this winter • There is still time to plant petunias, if you do, make sure you plant them in a sunny spot. Deadhead petunias regularly to encourage new growth. • Water the garden in the morning to allow plants to dry out and the soil to warm up before nightfall. • Water the lawn once a month. • Cut down on watering the roses. You should stop watering by the end of the month, as roses need to go through a period of 4 to 6 weeks without water before pruning towards the end of July or beginning of August. June June is all about getting into good habits in order to protect your plants. Don’t shirk the winter chores and make sure the hessian covers are at hand to throw over the tender shrubs on chilly nights. • Don’t fertilise or spray your roses this month. • Provide winter protection for tender shrubs and young trees at night until they have grown above frost height (approx 2 m). • Protect roots of tender plants from frost and cold winds with thick mulch; use fallen leaves, hay, wellrotted manure or compost to act as mulch. Make sure your mulch is 5 to 10 cm thick and replenish the layer regularly as it decomposes with time. • Feed winter flowering annuals twice a month with a liquid fertiliser or ZFC Best Bloom and water them once a week. • Continue to water the lawn once a month. • Mulch your garden beds to prevent them from drying out and to protect them from the frost. • Start pruning roses towards the end of July. • Don’t fertilise or spray your roses this month. JuLY 16 As the cold sets in, the growth in the garden starts to slow down and there is less to do. Use this time wisely by clearing out your garden shed and doing a general tidy up. • Once your bougainvilleas have finished flowering, cut them back to reshape them and fertilise. • Start pruning shrubs at the end of the month, however in very cold gardens, wait until the beginning of August to prevent damage to new growth. Do not prune spring flowering shrubs, as you will cut off developing flower buds. • Water your winter and spring flowering bulbs once a week. Feed them every two weeks.