We hope this will help gardeners work with their gardens during the different seasonal changes.
December – January (Birak Season)
Gardening in Perth’s summer is extra challenging. Preparation before the summer heat is essential to prepare our gardens for the hot months ahead. You need to take care in the heat too – slip, slop, slap, working only in the cool of the day, early mornings and later in the evenings. Small amounts is better than over doing it in the heat. Keep hydrated and take regular breaks.
Here are some jobs around the garden to get you started:
Watering:
- Run your reticulation making sure it’s running on the correct days and is in good working order. Replace any broken parts, flush out runs to prevent blockages in sprinkler heads. Is it reaching all the areas in the garden?
- Hand water pots and vegetable gardens regularly.
- Move potted plants to a cooler, shady spot in the garden.
Fertilise:
- Apply seaweed extract fortnightly. It will help to thicken the cell walls of the plants so they can withstand the extreme heat more effectively.
- Apply a wetting agent to all garden beds, pots and lawn and water in well.
- Fertilise native plants with blood and bone or a native-specific fertiliser.
- Keep compost heaps moist.
Ponds:
- Check pond water regularly during the heat to make sure the levels don’t drop and that algae doesn’t take over.
- Remove floating vegetation and excess pond weed.
Clean Up and Reduce:
- Keep weeds under control to prevent spreading.
- Tidy, weed and feed the vegetables.
- Harvest to keep herbs compact.
Mulching:
- Mulch citrus trees and don’t allow them to dry out to help them hold their crop. Fertilise with a citrus fertiliser.
- Mulch throughout the garden and on top of pots to help retain moistuer. Use chunky mulch for the garden and Lucern hay for vegetables.
Lawns:
- Feed lawns with slow release lawn fertiliser to prevent it being burnt if the weather is hot.
February – March (Bunuru Season)
Be careful if you are going out in the heat of the day. Stay out of the sun as much as possible. Garden in the early mornings or late afternoons when temperatures are lower and don’t forget to – slip, slop, slap. If you do need to work when it’s hot avoid over-doing it, stay hydrated and take regular breaks.
The scorching weather makes gardening very challenging at this time of the year. If possible, cover sensitive plants with shade cloth during very high temperatures. Check your pot plants regularly and move into a more sheltered spot if need be. Some pots may be more exposed to the hot dry winds. Those in terracotta pots may overheat or dry out quicker than others due to the scorching weather.
Watering: Soils are often Hydrophobic at this time of the year and need a wetter-soil agent to help water absorption or better still prevent through good ground covers and mulching.
Mulch: over bare earth where no plants are growing; this will help protect soil biology and aid with water repellent problems.
Pruning:
- Do not do any hard pruning during the heat of summer as even the burnt dried leaves provide shade for younger growth which if exposed may also burn.
- Removing dead flowers will help produce more flowers on most summer bloomers. Wear long sleeves to protect your arms if you have sensitive skin.
- Deadhead roses and apply fertiliser to encourage another flush of flowers.
- Roses can be cut back quite hard then followed with a good feed to encourage new growth for a full bloom in Autumn.
- Remove flower heads from agapanthus before they seed.
Repotting:
- Repot plants that have outgrown their pots over summer. Use a premium potting mix and apply a seaweed solution as well. Transfer plants to a slightly larger pot or remove some of the root ball, add fresh potting mix and return it to the old pot.
Indoor Plants
- Check indoor plants are not in direct sun or dried out from air conditioning.
April – May (Djeran Season)
Although it is autumn we may still have some very hot days. Please continue to remember to slip, slop, slap and keep hydrated during this time of the year. In fact keep out of the garden during the heat of the day. Our days are getting shorter so take advantage of the cooler mornings and evenings as this is the best time for gardening.
Pot Plants: Cluster outdoor pots together so that they can protect each other and help prevent them drying out. Check regularly by sticking your finger into the top 50cm of soil and if your finger comes out clean, your pots will probably need watering. It is also a good idea to make sure the top layer is covered with mulch to help retain the moisture and prevent evaporation.
When the weather has cooled and native shrubs have stopped flowering, trim by about one third. Rosemary and lavender hedges can also be pruned at this time.
Soil health:
Applying a wetting agent and good quality, slow release fertiliser in April will help soil health and the absorption of the coming Winter rains. When rains do come turn off or reduce irrigation.
Scorching Days: On days when temperatures are reaching high 30’s, protect your more sensitive plants with a shade cloth where possible. Beach umbrellas and make-shift covers can easily be dismantled during windy days. Hand watering may be necessary during long periods of hot dry conditions. As weather becomes cooler, prune and repot plants that have overgrown their pots.
Continue to check that soil both in the garden and in pots is not hydrophobic; if it is, a wetting agent should be applied. Those with lawns, now is also a good time to aerate with a garden fork.
Prune Fruit Trees:If you have fruit trees, remove any dead or diseased fruit from on and under the trees to prevent the spread of fruit flies. Bag and dispose of them; do not add them to compost bins. Prune summer fruiting trees after cropping; this reduces the risk of fungal disease and gives the trees a chance to put on some growth before winter.
Compost Bins: Empty your compost bins before filling them again with fallen leaves. Do not put diseased leaves or plants into the bin as this will only spread the problem. This is a good time to use your compost to prepare your vegetable gardens ready for autumn planting.
June – July (Makuru Season)
Spring Clean: Make good use of the wet weather to clean out the shed. Also check tools; clean, sharpen and lubricate and apply linseed oil to wooden handles. Check handles are secure on shovels, spades, rakes etc. Check, clean and neatly store PPE (personal protective equipment). Wash gardening gloves.
Check all your chemicals and remove any unlabelled, out of date or damaged packaging. Do not pour down the drain or throw into bins; contact your local council to know how to dispose of safely.
Put you lawnmower in to be serviced and blades sharpened.
As the weather permits, this is the best time of the year to get into our gardens to reassess and tidy up. After being cooped up inside on those very cold or rainy days it’s a joy to make the most of the sunny weather when we can.
Prune: Cut back and tidy up the old and twiggy foliage of herbaceous perennials like chrysanthemums, leaving any new growth.
This is also the time of the year to start pruning:
- Deciduous trees and shrubs – compost leaves and mulch smaller branches.
- Roses can be pruned from late June to August.
- Don’t prune frost damaged shrubs and trees until the danger of frosts has passed.
Winter Jobs: If you haven’t already done so it’s a good time to check and clean your gutters. Leaf litter from deciduous trees may block the water flow potentially causing damage to ceilings and walls.
Hand watering is still permitted during the winter months but all reticulation and bores should now be turned off from 1st June to 31st August.
If you have a pond, cover it with a net to prevent falling leaves in and turning it murky.
Keep indoor plants away from heaters, reduce water to all pots inside and out.
Move sensitive outdoor potted plants into a more sheltered spot under the veranda or eves, this also prevents them from getting waterlogged.
Compost: Now is the time to check your compost heap. Make sure it is not getting to wet, if necessary place an old canvas over it to help keep the rain off.
Winter is not the time to fertilise lawns as they are dormant. Wait for warmer weather during spring.
This is a great time to install a rainwater tank in preparation for the drier summer days.
And you thought winter was a time to snuggle up indoors with a hot cuppa! Plenty of time to do that when the rain is pelting down.
August – September (Djilba Season)
Weeding, Mulching and Soil Preparation: This is a great time to get on top of any weeds before they spread their seed or before accidently digging them in to your new beds. Removing them at this time is easier as the roots are still shallow.
Dry weather is on its way; now is the time to add wetting agents, lots of organic matting such as well rotted manures and compost. Turn/mix into the sandy soils before applying a layer of mulch. This improves soil water-holding capacity, helping spring rains and watering penetrate your soil, providing more nutrients to your plants and protecting the soil against the drying heat to come.
Prep your garden beds both for vegetables and flowers. Fertilise strawberries to encourage a bumper crop.
Fertilise & Feed Plants: Coming out of winter, plants can look a bit stunted or yellow. This is a good time to give them a quick kick-start with some liquid fertiliser. As plants produce their new spring growth, they will be hungry for nutrients. By applying manure, fertiliser and compost this will not only improve soil nutrition but also increase of microbial activity which assists the plants’ ability to take up these nutrients.
As plants begin to blossom, avoid fertilisers rich in nitrogen as nitrogen encourages plants to produce new foliage, making them vulnerable to insects and fungi.
Fruit trees will need a feed of liquid potash along with a general fertiliser to help bring optimal growth of fruits. Sulphate added to alkaline soils will also help with fruiting trees.
Lawns: Lawns also need attention. Using a metal rake, remove any build-up of thatch and reseed the bare areas. Top dress with compost and loamy sand-based soil blend. Mowing it short will encourage the roots to grow deep. Apply a slow release lawn food to all grassed areas. Don’t over fertilise as this will cause excess growth, which will need more mowing.
Keep on top of weeds such as clover and bindii which can easily taking over and restrict the use of lawns over summer because of the prickles. Now is the time to put in a new lawn, whether by seed or rolls, so the roots will have time to establish before the heat of summer.
October – November (Kambarang Season)
Weeding and Pests– Keep on top of the weeds by removing them before they go to seed. In heavily weeded areas, smother existing weeds and prevent seeds from germinating by placing a thick layer of newspaper or old non synthetic carpet over the weeds before the mulch or pea straw. Both the newspaper and old carpet will eventually disintegrate and become part of the mulch. Black plastic can be used if trying to remove an area of lawn such as couch. Keep on top of the pests at this time of the year such as sucking, munching insects as well as fungal diseases like black spot.
Soil Preparation – before the dry weather sets, wetting agents and rotted manures and compost can be added to sandy soils, which also helps with alkaline soils. Replace old mulch which is less than 5cm before the hotter days of November. Mulching improves water penetration and soil’s holding capacity. Fertiliser containing rock minerals, which also feed the soil, can be applied to the whole garden. Before sowing your new season vegies, pull out the old winter crop and rejuvenate your patch with new compost before mulching.
Preparing for Summer – With extra moisture in the air from spring, plants have a few months to establish themselves before the summer heat. This is the time of the year to plant up your garden beds, hedges, perennials and trees while the cooler weather and spring rains last. Keep them well watered especially over the dryer summer months till their roots are better established. Prepare the beds and holes with lots of organic matter, slow release fertiliser and wetting agent as you water in new plants. Keep the plants well watered for several months until they’ve had time to settle in.
Potted Plants – Now is a great time to repot your potted plants with new potting mix or refresh by adding compost to the top layer. If repotting: pre-soak the plant, giving it a light trim of the stems before gently removing from the pot, soak or shake off most of the old soil, trim off dead or old roots, replace soil with fresh potting mix with added compost and worm castings. Increase watering as the weather gets hotter and dryer. Apply slow release fertiliser to all potted plants.
Divide and repot over-crowded plants such as: heliconia, canna, gingers and cymbidium orchids after flowering.
Once cyclamen have finished flowering take them outside for a spell of fresh air in a sheltered, dry position.