A sigh of relief after summer

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It’s not quite autumn, the leap year adding on an extra day of summer, but on Sunday gardeners can heave a sigh of relief and begin to repair the ravages of this summer. If the predicted rain arrives, fertilise the lawn and top dress any bare patches left by the army grub. Apply dolomite to the garden to sweeten the soil and throw around some slow release fertiliser such as Bounceback to stimulate growth whilst it is still warm.

March is ideal to fertilise citrus when the weather cools – this should be done carefully, do not use citrus food on potted plants as this can cause leaf drop. Use Flourish for Citrus regularly and apply Bounceback. Feed ground grown citrus with poultry manure, water out under the drip line before feeding, then water in. Two or three weeks later follow this with citrus fertiliser, again watering. Some citrus will have leaf damage from the leaf miner which curls the new growth, prune this back, the new growth may get infected, but hopefully as the weather cools the leaf miner will go to bed for winter.

House plants that need repotting should be done before the cold weather arrives. Apply a slow release fertiliser and top the soil level up with peat moss, which helps retain moisture while improving soil quality.

Spring annuals will soon become available in retail outlets but resist the temptation until well into autumn. There are other annuals which can be used now for colour such as marigolds and lobelia can be planted all year round. Prepare beds for winter by digging in poultry manure and an all-purpose plant food.

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