Time to Winterise your own backyard

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With only one month until winter, and the weather changes, it’s time to prepare our plants and garden! These suggestions will ensure you get the best results from your vegetables, flowers and grass.

May is the perfect time to plant some winter wonders. Try leeks, beetroot, celery, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, turnips, onions, spinach and silverbeet. You can give peas a chance too but keep them away from onions and garlic. You can also herb it up with lemon grass, spring onions, chamomile, thyme, mint, rosemary and lemon balm.

Stick in some potatoes (including sweet potatoes, too!) as home grown potatoes can be quite easy, and equally as rewarding.

Plants feel the need for a ‘feed’ around this time of year. A seaweed tea, or any low environmental impact liquid fertiliser, is perfect for giving them a kick start as they establish. Apply to the soil early morning and in the concentrations recommended.

You can decorate your patch with flowers around vegetables such as – marigolds, pansies, cornflowers, violas, snapdragons, verbena and lavender, which will not only give some colour and interest, but act as beneficial insect attractors.

Water smarter at this time of year by watering first thing in the morning. A deep drink a couple of times a week is far more beneficial at this time of the year, but ensure to check soil moisture before watering – no need to water if Mother Nature has already done it for you!

Top up mulch on your veggie patches, herb gardens and ornamental beds. Mulch to a depth of about 7cm after watering the patch. Keep mulch clear of plant stems, especially young seedlings. Choose sustainable, low environmental impact mulch, one that will enrich your soil as it breaks down.

It’s a perfect time of year for weeding. Cut down the competition between your tasty treats, and tidy up your patch. It may sound tedious, but it will provide you and your garden with many benefits!