The last two months of winter are anything but dull. Whether you’re preparing for spring, all about edibles, a seasoned trendsetter, or only just embarking on your gardening journey, there’s something for everyone to dig their green fingers into. Here’s Life is a Garden’s winning winter inspiration to get you in the mood for a day of playing in the dirt.
Seasonal container gardening adds big colour to small spaces. You can bring any patio, balcony, and stoep to life with a couple of banging blooms to suit your unique style. What do your plants say about your personality, and how will you pot them to complement or contrast the colour and texture of the flowers? Small-space landscaping is simple, with stunners like these about to bloom:
Sea thrift (Armeria maritima), aka fairy grass, are whimsical flowering perennials that produce soft pink, globe-shaped flowers above long stems. Plant them in full sun or semi-shade, and try pairing these with pastel purple or pink pots for a dash of romance.
Pelargoniums come in a variety of hybrid species and colour varieties to indulge in. They are sun-loving and low-maintenance, evergreen and always cheerful. You can really get creative with your container pairing to create an artist-inspired balcony, rich in mood and texture.
Peace lily (spathiphyllum) is a great zen-looking plant and excellent for good feng shui. Loved for their showy white flowers and dark green foliage, they also assist with air purification. Grow them in a space with good natural light but no direct sun. *Toxic if consumed.
Top personality pairing: plant lavandula stoechas (French Lavender) in a medium-sized white ceramic pot for a clean look that says, “I’m modern with an adventurous side”. For a more textured vibe, go for a woven basket that says, “I’m rustic and laid back’’ Lavender needs at least six hours of direct sun.
Planting vs sowing: planting is when you replant (transplant) an established plant from the nursery into its new container or bed at home. Sowing is when you grow a plant from scratch, using seeds from a seed packet.
Edibles are everything, so sow nasturtiums, Italian parsley, spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce, rocket, carrots, beetroot, radish, beans, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and celery. Plant out rhubarb, shallots, garlic and globe artichokes. In frost-free areas, make the first sowings of summer crops like runner beans, dwarf beans, maize, sweetcorn, pumpkins, and squashes. Also, start sowing early crops of sweet basil, coriander, and rocket. Follow the instructions on the seed packet, as those first sown in seed trays will still have to be protected from the cold.
Get ready to reinvent the summer veggie patch by introducing friends with benefits for your edibles. We often think of an edible garden as produce sown in neat rows with exposed soil, clear of any other plants not on the menu. It might just be the time to revise this idea. There is so much to benefit by including other herbs and flowers in the veggie garden (companion plants), which take care of pest control, weeds, water evaporation, poor soil conditions, composting, barren spaces and, of course, pollination.
Companion planting is a smart planting technique that means growing certain plants close together for their mutually beneficial effects, such as pest protection, pollination, or growth enhancement.
Plants such as lavender (for fleas), basil (for flies), citronella grass and rosemary (for mozzies), as well as chrysanthemum (for spider mites), repel a variety of insects thanks to their essential oil compounds and deterring scent. You can plant these in and around the veggie garden as long as they are in close range of the greens.
Your harvest needs the bees, and they need us. Create a flower border around your veggie garden and bring in the friendly flyers to pollinate and spread seeds. Try marigolds and alyssum, as well as allowing all herbs to come to flower. Remember to include a freshwater source for the helpers with a way to get in and out too.
Veggies on the grow are already such a lovely sight, as is each one of the above-mentioned companion plants. For super-charged gorgeousness, pollination benefits and insect repellent power, try cosmos, nasturtium (tropaeolum majus), sunflowers and sweet pea (lathyrus odoratus). Make space for these beauties in preparation for spring/summer planting.
Top tip: remember to research when to grow plants according to your region. Visit your garden centre to see which tasty treats await you.
Your August to-do list
When preparing new areas for planting, dig in one bag of compost and a handful of bonemeal plus a dressing of general fertiliser into every 2m² of bed.
Perennials, such as agapanthus, dietes, and hemerocallis, multiply quickly and become overcrowded after a while, which will inhibit summer flowering. Dig them up and carefully divide them for replanting over a larger area.
If you have a small rose garden that has just been pruned and you need a good companion plant, use parsley seedlings as a border, as they enjoy the same growing conditions. Now is also your last chance to prune roses.
August is considered the windy month in most parts of South Africa, so don’t forget to stake newly-planted trees to prevent them from toppling over or snapping.
Revive your semi-dormant indoor plants by cleaning the leaves with a wet cloth and giving each plant a diluted dose of liquid fertiliser.
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