Your Garden Questions Answered: Spring Projects

 

Presenter: Melissa King
Episode: 21 (15 September 2007)

If you go out into the garden at this time of year you can almost see plants growing and forming flower buds virtually overnight. Spring is the growth month which means one thing food, food, food. If you’ve got some special plants that need pampering then it pays to get specific.

Established roses love Thrive Rose Fertiliser. It’s a granular fertilizer but fast acting and specially formulated to promote flowering. It has everything your rose needs for a star performance –including nitrogen for healthy foliage and potassium for big showy blooms, plus all the essential trace elements. Use it in spring once the new growth has started and then again in mid summer to promote a second autumn flush.

Citrus really do need to be fed regularly to sustain growth and good fruiting. Most citrus dislike the cold and it’s not uncommon for leaves, particularly those on lemons and grapefruits, to yellow in winter. Feeding at the first sign of growth in spring will fix it. Apply a complete citrus food like Thrive Citrus Fertiliser around the drip line of the tree each month from spring through to December.

Give Camellias and Azaleas a treat with an acid loving plant food like Thrive Camellia and Azalea Fertiliser. It’s a terrific blend of nitrogen for healthy foliage growth and phosphorus and potassium for lots of flowers. But it is also enriched with iron to take care of any yellowing leaves. Apply now in early spring and again in early autumn – about 100 grams per square metre – just over a handful - around the dripline.

Home-grown strawberries ooze flavour and sweetness. You don’t need a lot of space to grow them because they do really well in containers and if you get plants in now you’ll be harvesting fresh berries all summer long. Red Gauntlet is a traditional favourite with large, sweet fruit. It comes from Scotland so it fruits well in Melbourne’s conditions.

Strawberry Delight is a newer variety with great tasting fruit and pretty pink flowers so it makes an attractive border as well. Give your strawberries plenty of sun and don’t let the young seedlings dry out.

Sprucing up your entertaining areas for summer has never been easier with brightly coloured annuals. Popcorn petunia is a spreading variety, with little flowers but lots of them the flowers are creamy with a yellow centre just like popcorn. Cut back after first flower, feed and water and off it goes again. It makes a good weed suppressant groundcover and looks great in a hanging basket.

Geraniums are very Tuscan. Piccolo geraniums are nice and compact – grow to 25 to 30 cm and flower from summer into autumn. This is a new one to the series called piccolo red. They have big flowers for a small plant and because they are compact growers they look great in pots and window boxes.

Plants
Oasis Strawberry Delight

Products
Thrive Rose Fertiliser

Specially developed granular fertiliser for feeding established garden rose bushes. Balanced blend of nitrogen for healthy foliage growth and potassium for quality rose blooms and pest & disease resistance. Also contains trace elements for all round rose health. A fast acting granular rose food. Formulated to boost flowering and large healthy blooms.


Thrive Citrus Fertiliser

Specially developed granular fertiliser for feeding garden planted citrus. Balanced blend of nitrogen for healthy foliage growth and phosphorus and potassium for large juicy fruit. Also contains trace elements for all round citrus health. A fast acting granular plant food. Specifically formulated for all types of citrus.

Thrive Camellia and Azalea Fertiliser

Specially developed fertiliser for feeding acid loving plants such as azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons and blue hydrangeas. Balanced blend of nitrogen for healthy foliage growth and phosphorus and potassium for lots of flowers. Also contains trace elements for all round plant health. A fast acting granular plant food. Ideal for acid loving plants. Enriched with iron to prevent yellowing of leaves.

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