Page 13 - Dainfern Valley
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Gardens
          ESTATE GARDENS





                                                   IN NOVEMBER















                                                                              ur summer colour is in and just   the beds to see the Salvia cut off at
                                                                              beginning to take shape.  It   the base and lying desperately gasping
                                                                        Ohas been extremely hot with   next to the original plant!  We sprinkled
                                                                        this heatwave and we have battled to   cutworm bait and the next morning all
                                                                        keep the colour seedlings refreshed   was good in Ext. 16!!!
                                                                        until finally the beautiful summer rains
                                                                        generously showered our gardens, a   The following morning in Ext. 19, the
                                                                        thoroughly good soaking for not only our   common belt island was a disaster!
                                                                        gardens, but the gasping riverbank lawns!    All that remained were stalks of the
                                                                        With the mixture of veld and sinodon   Salvia. We blamed the Hadedas who
                                                                        grasses which often look dead while   were continuously digging for worms
                                                                        interspersed in areas with green kikuyu,   in our perfectly prepared beds, but the
                                                                        we shall now see a huge difference –   following morning we found hundreds
                                                                        green graciously flowing lawns.  of snails!! Snail bait put an end to these
                                                                                                      nasty gnashers!!
                                                                        We thought there were three priorities
                                                                        this month with our summer colour –   Very soon our gardens will be blooming
                                                                        water, feed and mulch. Nothing more,   and you will notice our Christmas colour
                                                                        nothing less, simple!         co-ordination this year consisting of
                                                                                                      reds, grey and green.  The gardens
                                                                        Oh how wrong we were!!!       should look spectacular with the warm
                                                                                                      white fairy lights in the trees giving a
                                                                        Our first experience was the ugly   lovely ambience and elegance to the
                                                                        looking nasty cutworm!!  We walked   Valley for which we are well known too.
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