Gardening in the Wheatbelt

July is over! And as it is the middle month of winter it is always the month that some of the more cold-blooded gardeners amongst us start dreaming of the warmer months and start wishing the sun will hurry up and move south. Not this little duck. I love winter! The warm fires, the green paddocks, the flowering native shrubs brightening up the bush, the early bulbs flowering almost as if they want to surprise the passerby, the rain that fills tanks and dams and forces everyone to stop and enjoy some time indoors and finally the ease with which outdoor chores can be done so that you forget being cold because you’ve warmed up from the inside. What’s not to like about winter? August is now upon us and with the long-range weather forecast for spring indicating it will be very short with some early hot days, let’s try to enjoy this last month of winter. The QGLG is visiting the Bruce Rock Garden Club Tuesday 29th August if anyone is interested in coming along, please call Lyn Whyte 0447 450170. The August meeting of the QGLG is on Wednesday 30th at 9:30, at the CRC. Please join us, we’re a very friendly group who love sharing are garden experiences.

Plant of the Month – When you have had success with all the fruit trees that are more suited to our climate you start to hanker for the trees that are a little outside our climate zone and then you wonder just how far can you stray. It’s in the nature of gardeners to push the boundaries of possibilities and to want that which is just beyond reach. I will confess that in this area my greed or perhaps my wondering eye has led to many failures. Firstly, the successes. After one or two failures we now have three thriving Avocado trees one of which is fruiting. I like to call the Avocado as the Goldilocks tree. Everything has to be just right for it to grow well. It can’t be too hot, so must have shade in our summers; can’t be too windy; so, put up wind breaks, can’t be too cold when they are young; so, put up frost protection in our winters, soils need to be free draining so, in clay soils the trees need to be planted on a mound and finally their roots are not very good at replacing the moisture they lose on hot days so they need lots of water in our summers. Again, after one or two failures we have one rather scrawny Mango tree which has produced up to 15 Mangoes in one year but it is a poor example of a

Mango tree which one might see in Queensland. Last winter we covered it and it certainly approved so we have covered it again this winter hopefully we will have fruit next summer. I’ve had Chocolate Sapote fruit from another scrawny tree and the white Sapote is doing quite well but is only a young tree. The Strawberry Guava does very well without protection and produces an enormous amount of fruit, however, they are not very tasty so one of these days it may have to be replaced with another tastier tropical fruit. The Yellow Guava is only a small tree so I’m waiting to see what it will do in the future. Now for the disasters: frosts killed more than one Pawpaw and the Babaco which fruited one year but was totally destroyed the following year led me to decide not to try again with them. I don’t grow bananas because I don’t have enough water for them although I have thought of trying one in a bath tub with very rich soil and where the water supply could be controlled. I do grow pineapples in a glass house, they are very successful and just take a little longer to bear fruit than they would if we had warmer winters. Pineapples are certainly worth growing mainly because the home-grown ones have an altogether superior taste. Finger limes grow and fruit very well in our garden as does the Japanese Raisin tree although it is very hesitant to flower. The Jujube from China grows extremely well in the Wheatbelt where more than one plantation can be found. Finally, is it all worth it? Is all the extra work and attention that is necessary worth the small amount of fruit? Only you can answer that. I think it is but that’s just me!

This Month in the Garden

It’s time to – prepare the soil for all the summer crops, fill trenches with compost and manure and cover over until ready to plant young seedlings, this trench system is good for sweet potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, eggplants, pumpkins, melons and cucumbers; pinch out the tops of broad beans to encourage more flowers; fertilize all bulbs as they finish flowering and do not cut back foliage until it has died back completely; prune grape vines and take the opportunity to increase your vine collection by planting some of the cuttings into free draining potting mix; if have

Chrysanthemums now is the time to divide clumps and take cuttings; towards the end of August feed roses with a slow release fertilizer, organic is best, evergreen non flowering hedges can be clipped and fertilized, start to feed your lawn with a pelletized manure and water it in with a seaweed solution, trim back any native shrubs which may have finished flowering; cut back grasses like Lomandra, Dianella and Purple Fountain Grass; check on pot plants and hanging baskets which may be missing out on the rain because they are undercover and finally check on dormant perennials and citrus which may be being attacked by mealy bugs or soft shelled scale it’s a good time to spray with eco oil while the weather is cool.

Sow – by mid August sow seeds of summer vegetables and summer flowering annuals

Plant – potatoes, asparagus and rhubarb crowns

Harvest – snow peas, peas, silver beet, English spinach, celery, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choi, kale, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, beetroot, turnips, swedes, parsnips, carrots, Florence fennel, coriander, radicchio, roquette, potatoes Mandarins, Oranges, Lemons and Grapefruit.

The last word –“In gardening, as in life, I think there is no such thing as a ‘reasonable number’. If you love it, go for it, with delight and in complete fullness of heart.” Jackie French