NATIONAL GARDEN DAY
October 20th is National Garden Day. It is an annual day of celebration in honour of our gardens and green spaces. Celebrate your gardens with drinks under the tree, picnic on the lawn and generally just soaking up the results of your labour. Join us in our garden centres as we celebrate as well. Each Starke Ayres Garden Centre has its own programme for the weekend and we would love you to join us in celebration of our plants and our lovely customers. See the Events page of our monthly hand-out or follow our Facebook or Instagram feeds for more information.
GROW CLIVIAS!
These spectacular strappy plants with orange or yellow tubular flowers are indigenous to South Africa, are hardy, grow in dry shade and never fail to impress. These lovely members of the Amaryllis family will thrive in pots as well as in the open ground. Grow in well drained soil, feed regularly and water regularly without overwatering. We have stock of flowering size plants. If you try growing from seed they will take at least 4 years to flower. Use either Kynoch KynoGarden 2.3.2 or Bio Ganic All Purpose fertilisers to boost the flowers. If planting in a container use Culterra Clivia mix
PINCUSHION
Another indigenous plant that thrives in our gardens is the Pincushion (Leucospermum species). This stately plant will have finished flowering by now and will need to be pruned once the flowers are spent. Be sure to never cut below the leaves. Cutting into the woody stem can affect the plant adversely. If shaping is required for any of the Proteaceae plants be sure to trim from early in the plants’ life to ensure a well shaped plant with multiple flowering stems. When pruning take note of the mulch around the root zone and top-up to protect the roots from the summer sun. Feed with Fyngro Supers, specially formulated to be low in nitrates and phosphates for growing fynbos plants.
GARDENERS GOLD DUST
Gardeners Gold Dust is made up of gypsum and ground kelp. It is a powerful soil additive used to break up clay soils and it also aids in water retention and nutrient uptake in sandy soils.
A 5kg bag will cover 20m² and can be used on established gardens as well as new plantings because the product can be watered into the soil.