This will unfortunately be my final editorial for Narromine News. I really wanted to impart the most important message or information that I could this week so I am just going to talk about the absolute basic fundamentals that every gardener needs to know to ensure success.
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The first and perhaps the most important message of all is, make friends with your local garden centre owner and staff.
Why, I hear you asking? Because they are the experts, the people who understand your climate, your soil, the issues you face, what plants suit you best. They are the ones who care about your garden (almost as much as you do) and only want to sell you the plants once. Because that indicates that you are having success.
They will also sell you plants that are acclimatised and hardened to the current conditions so there is a good chance they won’t die as soon as you plant them out. They might even remember your name.
The next most important thing I have to say is ‘It really is all about the soil’. There is nothing more important to gardening success than great soil preparation. In western NSW there are many different soil types and PH levels, they can even vary dramatically in your own garden. So know what you have in your garden before you plant anything. If it is very sandy or clay or very alkaline or acidic, then it will need some work before anything can be planted.
So you have done the soil and ground preparation on your new garden project and you are ready for the most exciting part, selecting the plants. When you get to the nursery you need to make sure you are purchasing healthy, strong plants. Hopefully you are planting in autumn or winter because this is the best time in order to give your new garden preparation for the summer. Spring is an OK time to plant but these plants will take a bit more TLC to survive the summer.
A question that is asked regularly is which is best, tubestock or larger plants? Well, let’s face it, tubestock is cheaper but naturally will take much longer to give you the result that you are looking for.
Whereas a larger specimen will give you an almost instant result, but will be more pricey and could suffer from a bit of transplant shock.
Lastly, mulch, mulch and mulch some more. Nothing in your garden should go into the warmer months without a thick layer of mulch tucked around it. Mulch insulates your plants from the moisture sapping heat and you don’t have to water so often.
