For Australia -Garden Advice from Yates  for March

Week 1 
Autumn is a great season for planting and transplanting almost anything. There’s still enough warmth for plant growth, but the worst of summer’s heat is nearly spent – making March an ideal time for gardeners. 

Flowers to sow in March 
Pink Paper Daisy Rhodanthe chlorocephala
Known as paper daisy, everlastings or sunrays, these pretty native daisies are splendid for massed displays of spring colour. Sow seeds directly into the garden, lightly cover with Yates Seed Raising Mix and keep moist.  Seedlings will grow steadily over the cooler months, apply liquid fertiliser as flower buds appear, and enjoy the glorious display in September .They’ll last well as dried flowers, so cut bunches and hang them upside down in a cool place until stems dry. 

Vegies to sow in March 

Yates Chinese Cabbage Wombok 
Quicker to mature than large headed traditional cabbage, Wombok or Chinese cabbage has a pointed, compact head of tightly packed leaves. It’s tasty in salads or stir fries, and during autumn’s milder weather it’s less likely to bolt to seed. Matures in around 8 – 10 weeks from sowing. 


March Pest watch 
Looper and cabbage white butterfly caterpillars just love brassicas (like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower) so keep a close watch for these and control them before they damage young plants. Yates Success Ultra is low toxic, but very effective on caterpillars. 
Destructive lily caterpillar can ruin Clivia, Crinum lily and other strappy leaf plants, clustering under the leaves and feeding voraciously - plants can disappear almost overnight!  Keep checking, especially under the tips of the leaves and control using a thorough spray of Yates Success Ultra. 




Planting time
Autumn is a top time for planting almost anything. Cooler weather means new plants require less water, yet there’s still enough warmth for root growth and plant establishment before the really cool winter weather arrives. It’s the optimum time to establish plants, especially in hot dry inland, cool or Mediterranean climates. Add plenty of well rotted compost and Yates Dynamic Lifter to improve soil structure and gently feed your new plants. In cool zones bulbs can go in towards the end of March, but wait till April or May in other areas.    

Pretty in betweeners

Sow seeds of Calendula ‘Pacific Beauty’ and Nasturtium ‘Jewel Mixed’ in bare patches in gardens and among vegies, they’ll attract bees, pollinators and other beneficial insects and add bursts of warming winter colour. As an added bonus, they’re also edible in salads!   

Compost

Now is a good time to turn, activate (sprinkle on a little garden lime, or add a handful of Yates Blood and Bone to help activate compost) or start a new compost heap whilst it’s still warm enough for it to break down.  After you remove the spent summer vegie plants from the garden, add them to the compost too (chopping into smaller pieces helps it break down faster) and add autumn leaves as they fall. 

Plant of the Month – Roses 
Autumn roses are glorious, cooler nights slow their opening and they’ll hold longer in the garden or in a vase too. Flower colours are intensified by cool temperatures, and the foliage is lush. Sap sucking aphids which also enjoy rose buds can be controlled using Yates Natures Way Natrasoap.  
It’s time to order new season’s roses from specialist rose nurseries, so hop on line to see what’s available for winter planting. Visitors to Melbourne’s International Flower and Garden Show (March 25th to 29th 2015) can see rose blooms on display from many of Australia’s best rose growers and introducers. 



Sunny Cymbidiums 
Bring Cymbidium orchids out from their summer shade positions into a spot with more sunlight to allow flower spikes to develop.  Yates Flower & Fruit Booster Liquid Potash is packed with potassium to encourage plentiful blooms. Apply fortnightly to foliage or as a soil drench.  



What’s on in the first week of March

Garden Releaf – Independent garden centres around Australia are hosting Garden Releaf events on March 7th & 8th. Garden Releaf focuses on encouraging people to get out into the garden, with gardening being great for physical and mental wellbeing. The weekend will support Beyondblue. For more information and lists of which garden centres are involved, visit gardenreleaf.com.au 


Week 2

Autumn Vegie Garden 
Autumn is a great season to grow many vegies. There’s plenty which can go in now. 
After a long productive summer, or if you are starting a new vegie patch, the key to success is to refresh and improve the soil before planting new crops. Dig in plenty of organics, like well rotted compost, sprinkle over some Yates Dynamic lifter then mix it all in well, forking it over till it’s fine and crumbly. Rake over the surface, water well and it’s ready for planting. 

Vegies to sow in March: 

• Winter brassicas: kale, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli can be sown now. Brussels sprout seedlings sown earlier from seed can be transplanted into the vegie patch. Most brassicas take a while to mature, but are well worth the wait. The fastest maturing brassicas include Cabbage Sugarloaf, which can be harvested in 8- 12 weeks and baby leaves of kale will be ready for picking in around 7 weeks. 
• Asian Greens: quicker to mature than traditional cabbages and cauliflower,   there’s Wombok or Chinese cabbage, white stem Buk Choy and quick growing Kailaan Chinese Broccoli .  Try Yates Asian Stir Fry Mix, a blend of tasty Asian greens including Tatsoi, Chinese Broccoli and Chinese cabbage varieties, delicious in stir fries and young leaves can be harvested for salads.
• Peas: sow peas directly into damp soil in the garden, then withhold water until you see green seedlings popping up. Peas like an alkaline soil, so apply some Yates Hydrangea Pinking Liquid Lime & Dolomite prior to sowing. Dwarf Greenfeast is a heavy cropper which doesn’t need staking.  Sugar snap and Snow peas are delicious pod and all and will require a tripod of stakes to climb on. 
• Broad beans: sow these directly in the garden in rows or clumps, and keep them moist but not overly wet.  Coles Prolific  is an abundant producer, and needs support for the tall stems.  
• Winter salads:  some crisp, dark green slightly bitter salad leaves partner well with warming winter casseroles and pasta. Try tasty  serrated leafed  Mizuna and narrow dark green  Mibuna which can be ready to harvest in just a few weeks from sowing.  Repeat harvest regularly, the leaves have a mustardy flavor and taste best when young and tender.  
• Spinach:  this delicious and nutritious leafy green enjoys the cooler weather. Winter Queen features large dark green leaves which mature in 8-10 weeks, but can be harvested when young for salads. Sow spinach seeds directly into the garden in clumps around 30- 40 cm apart, then thin to the strongest seedlings in each group. 
• Leeks and Spring Onion perfect for warming winter soups, Welsh Wonder leeks can be sown directly into the garden in drills or raised in trays and transplanted when 10 cm high. They take around 12-20 weeks to mature, so sow some versatile Spring Onions in between which will be ready around 8 weeks.   

Growing tips:  Feed vegies regularly during the growing season using Yates Thrive All Purpose Liquid Plant Food. It feeds through both the roots and the leaves as you water and encourages healthy green foliage and a strong root system. So start fertilising early to ensure you have a great crop and improved yields. 



Week 3  

Herbs  and Winter charmers 
Many tasty herbs thrive in autumns’ gentle warmth. The intense heat of summer makes it tricky to grow fast crops like coriander and rocket. So if these disappointed and bolted to seed during summer, try them again now, they’ll do much better in autumn and even winter.  Displays of summer Petunias may have faded, so it’s time to sow pretty Violas and impish Pansy for cheery winter colour.  

Cool Customers: 

• Rocket and Coriander  Rocket ‘Large Leaf’ or salad rocket is a rapid grower and its peppery leaves add zest to salads, Coriander or ‘Chinese Parsley’ is an essential  flavor in many Asian dishes . It’s best to harvest when the leaves are young and tender. Sow directly into the garden or pots and cover lightly with Yates seed raising mix. They’ll germinate in 10 days and you can begin snipping off small leaves when seedlings reach just 10 cm high. Water over Yates Thrive All Purpose Liquid Plant Food every two weeks to encourage quick growth. 
  
  
•  Basil - in temperate or cool zones it’s time to harvest the last of the summer crop of basil and make pesto or store frozen in ice cube trays ready to add to pasta or soups. Stick to perennial basil outdoors through the cooler months, or try a pot full of basil on a sunny windowsill indoors. In warm or subtropical zones removing the flower stems and liquid feeding will promote further leafy growth.  
  
  
• Chives and garlic chives - a clump or row of chives is very handy close to the kitchen door. Snip off a few stems to flavor salads, soups, omelettes and sandwiches. Chives display pretty purple heads of flowers and garlic chives have white flowers.  Continuous harvest promotes new growth from the base, and although the clumps may die down in late winter usually they’ll reappear  in  spring. 

• Tidy trims: Sage, thyme, rosemary,  marjoram and oregano  will benefit from a trim back now. Bunch and tie the trimmings and hang them upside down in a cool dry place to use later in the kitchen or as natural room fresheners. Feed the plants with Yates Dynamic Lifter to promote new growth ready to harvest fresh to add to warming winter meals.   

Cheery winter colour:  replace spent petunias with pretty Viola Toyland and impish Pansy Joker Mix. Their cheery faces will charm and delight, blossoming right through autumn and winter and last until the warm spring weather arrives. Whether you mass plant them in rows, dot them through borders, or use their dark green foliage to disguise fading spring bulb foliage, pansies and violas are versatile in sun and semi shaded spots in the garden or in pots. The flowers of viola are edible too – so sprinkle some on salads, or garnish dessert plates with their delicate blooms.  


Tip: Sow seeds into trays filled with Yates Seed Raising Mix and transplant seedlings when 5cm high. The seedlings resent being buried, so don’t plant too deeply. An easy and quick way to feed flowering annuals is with Yates Thrive Easy Pods.  Add one pod to a 9L watering can every week. Once they begin flowering pinch off spent blooms to prolong flowering. 


Week 4 

Autumn lawn Care Tips 
Strengthen the lawn for winter by feeding lawns now. In warm areas it boosts growth keeping the lawn greener for longer during winter and cool seasons grass varieties are just beginning their growing season. 

Aerate: Why?  to encourage air , water and fertilizer down to the grass roots. Weedy lawns are often a sign of compaction. Go over the lawn with the garden fork, using the tines as spikes. For larger lawns mechanical lawn aerators are available to hire. If your soil is heavy or clay an application of Yates Gypsum Clay Breaker can help improve water penetration and aeration by improving the soil structure.  

Weeds:  control broadleaf weeds using Yates Buffalo Pro Weed’n’Feed, which is safe to use on most lawn types, including Buffalo. It controls bindii, clover and other common lawn weeds and is boosted with nitrogen and iron to encourage healthy green growth. The handy hose on 2.4 litre pack treats 120m2 of lawn.  

Feed: Autumn is an ideal time to feed lawns as the weather is mild and the soil is still warm enough to keep grass growing. An organic based fertilized both nurtures the soil and feeds the lawn.  Dynamic Lifter Super Concentrate Lawn Food contains a blend of composted manure and additional nitrogen and potassium, which improves soil and promotes deep, lush green healthy lawn growth.
Raise the cutting height of the mower a notch or two and allow the grass to grow a little higher over autumn.

Spot weeding: if you have a small lawn with just a few weeds to control, keep Yates Weedkiller for Lawns Spot Spray handy. It’s an easy to use trigger pack to control bindii, clover, oxalis, and many broadleaf weeds in lawns (not suitable for buffalo lawns).




Autumn is an ideal time to start a new lawn from seed or in warm areas to lay turf. 
In all areas it’s a good time to sow lawn seed. Whether you are starting a new lawn or over-sowing to repair bare patches in an existing lawn the autumn weather is kinder to the newly germinating grass and it’s easier to keep the lawn moist. 
* Good preparation of the soil before sowing or laying a new lawn is vital. 
* Remove all the weeds by spraying with Yates Zero Weedkiller.  
* Cultivate the area using a fork or rotary hoe 15-25 cm deep and spread over some organics or a layer of lawn underlay around 2.5 cm deep and incorporate well.  
* Level the area using the back of a rake or a lawn leveler. 
* To get new lawns off to a great start apply Dynamic Lifter Turf Starter which promotes stronger root development and improves soil moisture retention as it contains Waterwise water storage crystals. 
* Water the area well before sowing seed or laying turf, and keep the soil moist until the new lawn is established.