“The garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness, it teaches industry & thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.”

~ Gertrude Jekyll ~

Feature Plant:

Gazania!

Superbly Bright! Sun loving & easy to grow!

Haling from wild flowers in South Africa, Gazanias are one of those flowers you can just plant and forget! They are drought tolerant and can grow in any soil type including poor, dry and sandy soil.

A regular watering regime will keep these beauties blooming continually throughout the year and a good dose of an all purpose fertiliser like our Super Growth or specialised variety like our Rose & Flower granules every 6-8 weeks, gives them an extra burst in growth and continual blooms.

Gazanias grow in any location of the garden and form clumps of shiny green or silvery leaves 30-45cm round and the blooms pop up from there in a variety of colours – white, yellow, orange, pink, stripy & two-toned – the possibilities are endless!

A favourite with landscapers for their hardiness and bursts of colour, you won’t be disappointed by this show stopper!

Top Tip: Regularly deheading old blooms will help with continual flowers!

How to Grow Beautiful Roses

A garden filled with deliciously fragrant rose blooms, a pot overflowing with colour or a vase of stunning roses adorning the kitchen bench can’t help but put a smile on your face!  Roses are one of the most rewarding flowers to grow.  If you want to know how to grow beautiful roses in your home garden, read on!

WHERE TO PLANT

Choose a well drained position with at least six hours a day of full sun. Ideally the position will be protected from strong wind and away from other established trees.  Allow plenty of growing room as it can be difficult to prune or pick roses that have been planted close together – there is nothing fun about thorns catching in your clothes as you squeeze between bushes to pick that perfect bloom!

TIP: DIG SOME COMPOSTED POULTRY MANURE INTO THE SOIL WHEN PLANTING.  SUPER BOOSTER PELLETS OR BLOOD & BONE PLUS ARE IDEAL.

It is important to check that you have well draining soil as water logging can encourage disease problems.  If water pools and doesn’t drain away, add some organic matter such as composted manure or add drainage or mound the soil before planting.

Using a heavily diluted seaweed product such as Neptune Liquid Seaweed can help manage transplant shock and encourage healthy growth.

WATER

This is a key element to keeping your rose bushes healthy.   Water too often and you will have shallow growing roots that are not insulated from the heat or protected from burning.  Once you have planted your rose, water deeply two to three times a week until established.  The frequency can then be scaled back slightly unless the weather is hot and dry.

Potted roses need more frequent watering as the potting mix needs to be kept constantly moist (not wet).

TIP: ROSES THRIVE ON A DEEP SOAKING OF AROUND 10 LITRES PER PLANT.

MULCH

Regular mulching will protect the roots, which is important when the weather is warm and the roots are susceptible to burning.  A nice layer of mulch will keep the soil at an even temperature and retain moisture. It is important to keep mulch and grass away from the base of the bush to avoid collar-rot.

FERTILISING

Poultry manure is a great, nutrient rich fertiliser for Roses.  Using a fully composted product like Katek Rose & Flower Fertiliser that is boosted with potassium for enhanced flowering and a range of other nutrients to improve bud to flower conversion and foliage colour.  This pelletised fertiliser can be applied every six weeks from Spring to late Summer/early Autumn around the base of the plant.

Fortnightly application of a foliar feed like Katek Neptune or Super Growth Liquid during Spring & Summer is also recommended.  As seaweed is a great plant health tonic, Neptune can be applied to the soil and foliage helps prevent disease, stimulates the soil’s biology and encourages strong and health plant growth.

TIP: A FERTILISER FORMULATED ESPECIALLY FOR ROSES WILL CONTAIN THE NUTRIENTS NEEDED FOR SUSTAINED GROWTH, HEALTHY PLANTS AND BRIGHT COLOURFUL BLOOMS.

PRUNING

Pruning helps control airflow and the overall health of the plant.  The best time to prune is mid to late Winter or at the beginning of Spring.  Pruning is important for flower production as the old growth doesn’t produce blooms of the same quality or abundance that new shoots are able to.  By removing the older growth the plant can put its energy towards new growth and bigger, brighter blooms.

The first step of pruning is removing older branches, dead or diseased wood.  When you cut, ensure you are cutting above the growth bud as leaves space for the new leaves to shoot.   The general rule of thumb when pruning is to remove 2/3 of the plant’s height in mid to late Winter.   During Summer, a light prune back can encourage new growth.

TIP: REMOVING INTERIOR BRANCHES ALLOWS LIGHT AND AIR TO CIRCULATE AND WILL HELP REDUCE THE RISK OF DISEASE.

To prevent the spread of disease, collect your clippings and burn or dispose of them.

HAPPY GROWING!

Super Chicken’s Top Tips!  

• Now is the time to start planting out your bulbs & you’ll have beautiful blooms come Spring! Some of our favourites to grow are Daffodils, Freesias & Hyacinths!
• Try growing succulents or cacti’s in colourful pots for indoor plants! These wonders store water in their fleshy leaves and strive on neglect if you’re not a green thumb – easy as!
• Re-mulch the whole garden! Try our Katek Not Just Mulch which has a poultry manure base or we also love Sugar Cane Mulch for it’s wonderful nitrogen properties as it breaks down! Mulch away!
• Don’t forget to give your fruit trees a bit of Neptune seaweed concentrate & also a good dose of Super Growth organic fertiliser pellets, they’ll thank you for it with a bountiful harvest of juicy fruit!