HAPPY New Year… and hasn’t it been an interesting one so far?
Heat, sun, humidity, rain the plants don’t know what is happening to them, never mind us.
The cool weather has been great for gardening recently and being in the grips of La Nina means we aren’t really going to have a summer, just cool, wet conditions with the odd spike of hot weather meaning ideal weather for planting though.
Unfortunately the prolonged humidity and rain spells have escalated a lot of fungal diseases among plants in the garden and pests and diseases we don’t normally attribute to the limestone coast.
Some pests on Apple trees have been Apple scab, sounds terrible but mainly affects young leaves in spring and if left untreated can affect the fruit skin.
Wooly aphids are also common on apple trees this year where a white fluffy coating on the branches appears, down in the root system that’s often above ground in apples where they overwinter and whilst easily rubbed off can make wart like blisters on the branches.
Powdery mildew on grapes, Hydrangeas and roses are exacerbated by humid weather and showery conditions where the spores are washed from plant to plant.
A good copper or Sulphur spray is important or better still we use the one that has two in one and this can be a miticide as well so handy on plants like rose that are prone to the two at once.
This brings to mind where in the garden needs shade from that summer sun and evaluate those areas with the high summer sun and allow you to get an idea of what maximum size of trees and shrubs you will need to allow you to filter the sun and that wonderful rain, it has certainly restored the planting spirit.
We always used to think to winter to plant trees, especially deciduous trees, but that’s very old school, and the opportunity is not there to see exactly what part of the garden and home requires shading. I know I have just contemplated planting some more trees on the west side to cut the summer sun on the windows and help cool the rooms on that side.
Trees have an amazing ability to be our own air conditioning and studies have shown the cooling effects of lawns and plants in so many ways and trees are amazing at reducing the temperatures and cutting out the harsh rays of the sun.
Now is a good time to have a look around and even plant a mature or advanced shade tree.
These come in many forms from evergreen, giving all year round shading, to deciduous, where the leaves will drop in winter to give added light.
Deciduous trees again, come in many forms, from mop tops, where the size is governed by the grafting and variety, so are good for courtyard shade and smaller spaces right throughout, to lightly foliaged trees, such as silver birch, then to larger, heavily foliaged shade trees such as maples and planes that can give fantastic shading to large and small areas.
We currently grow more than 30 varieties of mop top trees at Limestone Coast Advanced Trees.
Remember, too, that many of the older varieties of larger trees you may have been used to are now available in (dwarf) smaller or narrower versions, allowing you to have your old favourites in smaller situations such as the Mini Capital and the New dwarf ornamental pear and the Limestone Coast bred “Wintergreen” Evergreen ornamental Pear that was discovered by Limestone Coast Advanced Trees in Mount Gambier .
Our 2022 Summer Shade Sale is on now ,so, if you are looking for a bargain and some instant sized trees, now is the time to get in as they are selling fast. We have 50 per cent off selected advanced fruit trees laden with fruit for that “instant orchard” and $15 semi mature fruit trees in full fruit.
This year’s dwarf fruit trees have been released and very sought after for their compact growth but abundance of fruit.
Many people realise that these new breeds of dwarf tree produce as much fruit as a full sized tree but can be netted more easily and pruned from the ground. All are ideal for pots.
