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Planting Calendar

Friday, May 22, 2009

May in your garden

It's Winter preparation time. Prepare the soils before it gets boggy by cultivating mulch now, or get the chickens over the beds, in order to be ready for winter planting in a few weeks.

Raised bed gardens are good over winter especially for heavy, wet soils. The soil remains warmer and looser than flat open-ground gardens.

Mulch fruit trees after leaf fall to compost down all the old leaves and help break disease cycles. Remove mummified fruits from stone-fruit trees for same reason. Prune back kiwifruit, boysenberries, raspberries. Prune grapes right back to a few buds on each spur.

Over-crowded perennials or those which have lacked vigour during the past season should be divided and replanted. Take lots of cuttings.

Tree planting – get the hardy trees in, providing it has rained and the soil is moist. July is best for planting deciduous trees and October better for frost tender trees. Prepare any trees for relocating over winter. Only move trees that have only been in a for a year or so otherwise it’s a really big job.

Harvesting Feijoas, persimmons, late apples and pears, olives, tamarillos. raspberries, lemon balm, garlic chives, ginger, strawberries, marjoram, red yams, parsnips, kumara.

Planting
Warmer areas: (if the soils are reasonable warm) cabbage, cauliflower, onion, peas, radish, silver beet, spinach, turnip.

Cooler areas: leave planting until spring

For more of what to plant in your climatic zone, click here

Your comments:

by doris 11 Aug 11, 5 replies : Last Post

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doris 1 posts	carrots and beetroot Posted 11 Aug 11 2:38 PM every year I plant y seeds for carrots and beetroot, I have very poor crops. every thing else I grow is good but not these. Can anyone help me with this.

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Orchidmaniac 53 posts	Re: carrots and beetroot Posted 27 Oct 11 8:11 PM How do you prepare the soil for them? They like to have fairly free draining soil, so maybe next year, dig a bit of sand into it. Also, try digging down about 20/30cm, and make it nice and friable. Good luck!

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sustainablebackyard 1 posts	Re: carrots and beetroot Posted 13 Jan 12 4:09 PM I sow carrots into a depressed rows, but as they need light to germinate, I dont cover them with soil, rather lightly water them.

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Jane 10 posts	Re: carrots and beetroot Posted 14 Jan 12 10:37 AM Hi Doris, When you say poor crop......do you mean poor in terms of germination rate or size of roots?

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Anonymous 177 posts	Re: carrots and beetroot Posted 22 Jan 12 2:41 PM I didn't know they need light to germinate?? I sow carrots and radish together in the same row and get good results from both. The radish mature earlier and by harvesting them, they leave plenty of room for the carrots. I still have to thin the carrots.

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Orchidmaniac 53 posts	Re: carrots and beetroot Posted 23 Jan 12 4:06 PM I havnt had any trouble either. I have never heard of carrots needing light to germinate in all the years i have been gardening. Although, most packs recommend a sowing depth of around 6-7mm

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