March Jobfile from the February 2002 Newsletter
- Thanks to the rain, our lawns are starting to grow again. Keep them neat for the rest of the season. Best days to mow grass in March’s lunar cycle are 11th, 21st and 25th
- Best day to sow fruiting annuals is 23rd – try peas, beans and snowpeas.
- Scale is making an unwelcome appearance on gardenias and roses. If you notice ants running up and down the stems of your shrubs look closer and you’ll see the scale colonising the plant. Spray with PestOil and watch for the next generation to hatch before repeat spraying.
- Harvest pumpkins (leave 5cm of stem on them to prolong storage), tamarillos, pawpaws and maNgoes.
- Check out the mail order bulb catalogues. Jonquils do well in our climate, especially the large, creamy double “Erlicheer”.
- Start raking up leaves, mowings and prunings to make a compost heap and encourage the male members of the household to relieve themselves on it to hasten decomposition.
- Prepare your strawberry beds for planting up in April Remove any weeds and dig in lots of compost, animal manure, Dynamic Lifter and diatomite. If you’ve got any ash left over from last winter’s fires or potbelly stoves dig that in too – the strawberries will love it. Water it well and cover with damp newspaper and cane tops to allow the microbes and manures to mingle moistly.
- Buy sweet pea seeds and plant on 23rd Match. Apologies to St Pat but the 17th is not the right day for us this year.
- Take cuttings of abutilon, hibiscus, ixora, gardenia, strobilanthes, buddleia, dracaenas, cordylines, pentas, geraniums (pelargoniums), salvias, justicias, hypoestes, acalyphas, lillpillies, barleras, lavender, sage, rosemary, azalas and camellias and any other bushes or perennials which are showing healthy semi-hard wood stems.
- Floral artists should plant lots of sweet peas for arrangements, plus calendulas, carnations, cornflowers, Iarkspur, marigolds, pansies, primulas, snapdragons, stock and violas. All these are easy to grow and are good for picking.
- Now that the weather is becoming a bit more benign, do something in the garden that you’ve really wanted to do for ages but haven’t had the energy or the wherewithal. Perhaps you’ve wanted a water feature, or a new path, or a really beautiful autumn tree like a Chinese tallowwood or maple. A small investment now will bring you years of joy and satisfaction, and after all, isn’t that what gardening is all about?