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Gardening

sprIng In

soutH aFrICa

BY HEATHER BALCOMB

With such an amazing diversity of plants

indigenous to South Africa, we are truly
spoilt for choice.

he lovely cold snaps of weather at the end of winter always emphasise
the welcome warm sunshine of the beginning of spring. I love this
Ttime of year, and particularly here on the Highveld, we see a marked
change with many plants coming into bloom as a stark contrast to the
beautiful but browner colours of winter.
Trees, shrubs and all manner of plants are sensitive not only to temperature
but to length of the day as well. As both increase, they prompt plants to start
putting out shoots and/or flowers. Since ancient times, all over the world
people have used these cues from nature to start planting their crops.
Likewise, September marks the start of the planting season on many
people’s horticultural calendars, so dust off those garden tools and get out
into the garden!

HERE ARE SEVEN STEPS TO A BEAUTIFUL LAWN
A good garden design will see your indigenous garden looking beautiful
through all the seasons but our lawns often suffer and don’t look their best
by the end of winter. Many keen gardeners ask how they can achieve a
healthy, beautiful lawn in time for summer.
On the Highveld, September is a good time to nurture your lawn. Cut the
grass on the lawnmower’s lowest setting possible, but make sure that you
don’t damage the ground. This will probably be about a centimetre or so
above the soil level.
Scarify (the process of scratching the surface of the lawn) with a leaf rake.
This takes all the thatch (debris and dead grass) from winter off to allow
strong new growth through.
Spike the lawn with a spike roller to make small holes in the ground. This
aerates the soil, which promotes strong root growth of the lawn grass. You
might need to water first, to soften the ground for the spikes, so that you
can create bigger holes in the ground with your roller. Most people don’t
have their own spike roller, but you can hire one from a tool hire shop at a
reasonable cost.
Apply a thin (about 2cm) layer of compost on the lawn. You can use the
leaf rake again to help spread it out roughly before the next step.
use a straight edge (anything light enough to manoeuvre that has a
straight edge) to pull the compost across the lawn so that it fills up all the
holes made by the spike roller. This will also fill small indentations in your
lawn, giving it a lovely level look. It is very important to pull the compost off
the top of the grass so that you don’t smother the growing tips of the lawn
which are at ground level. They must be just peeping through the compost.
You can fertilise the lawn with slow release 5:1:5 at this point. I usually
don’t as I think the compost provides sufficient nutrients for a beautiful lawn.
Water lightly to help the compost sink into the lawn and release its
nutrients more easily. Do not over water, especially in early spring as, at this
time of the year, the ground can stay waterlogged for too long.

Let it grow!

ARTICLE COuRTESY OF RANDOM HARVEST INDIGENOuS NuRSERY - WWW.RANDOMHARVEST.CO.zA.

16 • Issue 9 2020 • The Villager