June

Welcome to winter: With the shortest day almost here, growth is slowing down. The dormant season is a good time to prune deciduous trees and vines such as pipfruit (apples and pears), figs, grapes and roses. Citrus can also be pruned over winter. After pruning, feed with compost and mulch deeply.

Prune in June:

Grapes: Prune hard, to a structural framework of vines with just a couple of buds on each lateral (branch). They fruit on new wood. Roses: Prune out the oldest wood, then prune to an outward facing bud. Figs: Prune hard over winter if you want to reduce the size, then pinch out tips over summer to create a many-branched tree. They too fruit on new season’s wood, so an unpruned tree may have lots of fruit but they’ll all be up in the air for the birds to eat! Apples and pears: fruit is borne on ‘spurs’ on two-to-three year old wood, so be careful not to take these off. Prune off the oldest wood, diseased wood and any branches that are crossing or rubbing. Winter pruning promotes a big response of new growth in spring, so new shoots may need thinning out mid-summer. Plums: Don’t need heavy pruning- just thin out unwanted or inward-growing branches. Citrus: Prune these any time through until September: take out the oldest branches and criss-crossing growth. Try to create good airflow to reduce fungal diseases. Pruning over the colder months reduces the chances of lemon tree borer entering the wounds.

Want to learn more about fruit pruning? A good place to start is MOA community orchard at Jeep Rd Domain. The orchard demonstrates which trees do best in a sandy, windy dune situation, and shows how to care for trees with mulching, companion and shelter plantings. There are regular hands-on working bees - for more information contact raumatisouthresidents@gmail.com.

Or join your local Tree Crops Association, they hold regular information days: http://www.treecrops.org.nz/

Herbs for Kapiti:

Other June jobs:

Mulch, mulch mulch: Feed that soil life! Now is the time to create your soil for next summer. Build it up with layers of wood chip, seaweed, straw, grass clippings, manure…

Seedlings: If you allowed a few plants to go to seed over summer, seedlings of lettuce, borage parsley, mizuna and other self-sowers will be popping up everywhere. Move them to a suitable spot (or pot up for your local school or community garden.)

Garlic:

• Weed the bed thoroughly, fork in lots of compost and a dusting of lime
• Poke a hole with a stick about 5cm deep and pop in cloves so the tip is just below the soil.
• Water well and mulch with straw or seaweed to keep weed-free.

Broad Beans: One of the few seeds that germinate at low temperatures, these are among the easiest veges to grow.

• Poke into the soil 10-20 cm apart, 1-2cm deep
• Put a stake in each corner of the bed, wind string around as the plants grow.

Sow: It’s getting too cold for many seeds, but you can sow broad beans, and onions in trays to plant out in late winter. Grow microgreens on a sunny windowsill.

Plant: Garlic, beetroot, winter greens (bok choy, mizuna, lettuce, miners lettuce, land cress, silver beet, parsley.)

Miner’s Lettuce: Not well-known, but gardeners who grow it will rave about how it comes back each winter with no effort. A Californian native, it was a staple food for gold miners (hence the name).  It’s a hit with kids and adults alike, being soft and mild in texture and flavour, more like a bright green spinach rather than crunchy lettuce. Great for winter salads as well as spanakopita, soup, pasta etc. Sow now: seed available from LovePlantLife, Kings or Koanga 

The Council Green Gardener, Hannah Zwartz, offers sustainable and waterwise gardening advice to local residents, community groups and schools. Community Visits and workshops are free.  To contact the Greener Gardener, call the Council on 296 4700 or 0800 486 486 or see www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/greenservices

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