A big welcome to all the gardeners who live and garden in the Hills and Hawkesbury Districts.
I would like to introduce ourselves to you all – some of you may know the Secret Garden already, and are regulars to our little patch of paradise nestled within the University of Western Sydney, Richmond on beautiful Dharug land.
We are a disability workspace with a full retail nursery and gorgeous cafe, set up as an initiative of North West Disability Service. Our clients often join the nursery programme, participating in garden maintenance and also hospitality service in the cafe alongside our other amazing volunteers.
Watching our participants sow seeds or plant cuttings is truly an uplifting process, the joy on their faces is wonderful! The plants we grow from the nursery are then sold, injecting funding back into the programmes.
Each month I will fill you in on what we are up to plant-wise, or more importantly what you should be doing in your own gardens! What to do now… The depths of winter is a great time to assess the ‘bones’ of your garden, look at what’s working and what isn’t.
If you’ve got a tree developing low branches that snag at your mower when you pass by, it’s time to ‘lift the canopy’ by removing them. This will enable more light to get to ground level while still giving you important summer shade. Winter is also the time to prune your roses, taking out the older thicker wood and encouraging new healthy growth.
Always cut them at an angle just above an outward sloping bud. Most roses will love a cleanup spray. Use a pest oil and liberally coat the stems, trunk and leaf litter. Not all deciduous plants need a prune in winter – if they are spring flowering like May bush, Weigela or Viburnums you will actually cut off the flowering wood, leaving you no spring show! So before you get out the chainsaw, have a think (or Google) as to when the flowers are due.
If you are building a new bed, winter is the best time to add all the good stuff to your soil. No matter where you live you can improve your soil so easily by compost. I’m a ‘pile it in a heap’ kind of gardener, waiting for the heat of summer to do the work.
However Managerif you’re starting a new bed, you can easily dig a trench, tip your kitchen scraps directly into the soil and backfill. Add your mulch (like straw, chicken pen scrapings, dead leaves, newspaper strips and cardboard) and keep it watered until it’s time to plant. You’ll be amazed at the difference!Hope to see you at the SG soon – Happy Gardening to you all!
