HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 460, 3 November 1992, Page 6

HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

by

Bea

Barnes

We all have made the most of the recent fine weather and the great clearing up process has begun in earnest. The two sharp frosts together with the cold Southerly winds have proved a problem, some of the newly emerging growth having been quite badly burned. Some trimming back of the damaged growth will need to be done after the cold snap has passed. Despite this the g arden has really responded to the spring and is bright with colour. Haven't the tulips been beautiful this year. The lovely tall daffodils have never ceased to amaze me. Despite being flattened several times by wind and rain they have stood up tall and straight again time after time. Must be a moral in this somewhere. Over the holiday weekend I trimmed up the lavender bushes which had grown a bit straggly and took over a hundred cuttings of the blue 'Hidcote' lavender and 'Rosea' the pink one. Spring and early summer

is the best time to take away the base leaves and either push firmly into the garden soil or plant up in pots in a sandy mix. Dipping the end of the stems into a rooting hormone will help to develop healthy roots but most lavenders will root fairly easily. If a lavender hedge is what you aspire to take plenty of cuttings and plant them out about three inches apart. As the hedge grows keep it lightly trimmed back to encourage it to thicken. Time to take a look at the border carnations which may have become overgrown with woody stems. Pull away the new growths from the woody stem and plant out the cuttings about three inches apart. These should root fairly easily and the new plants will show improved flowering. Left on the woody stems too long the flowers become smaller and the growth sparse and for a well furnished border new cuttings need to be taken each spring. We usually leave the original plant in site until being sure that some of the cut-

tings have taken when it can be pulled out and discarded. Boronia megastigma the strongly perfumed boronia is now coming into flower. Boronia's enjoy a semi-shaded position in a free draining soil to which plenty of humus has been added to ensure the soil does not dry out. After flowering all boronias should be pruned by cutting away the spent flowers. This will encourage longer life of the bush. The Leptospernums or flowering manukas need to be pruned after flowering in the same way as, left to themselves they will grow Teggy' and the

growth will only form on the top of the plant. The perennial wallflowers which give such a good display in early spring with bright yellow or purple flowers over a long period can also become very woody and develop a straggly habit after the first year or so and cuttings of these can be taken in spring or early summer. When rooted the cuttings can be planted out and the old plant discarded, but make sure you have well rooted cuttings before discarding the parent plant as these can sometimes be very slow to root.