With spring only a month away there’s plenty of work to do in the garden. Now is the time to start thinking about preparing and planning for spring planting, including sprouting your seed potatoes to ensure a Christmas harvest. August is also the perfect time for a winter tidy up – clip the hedges, edges and prune a selection of fruit trees.
Leading up to spring there’s a lot to be planned in the vege garden including preparing the soil and planting some cold hardy vegetables. In preparing the soil make sure that humate is used liberally as this makes an outstanding difference to the growth and vitality. Organic humate is now available in handy 5 and 8kg bags and is available from any good garden centre near you. Southern Humate is a great form of compost and is widely accepted that its up to 20x more potent than regular compost. When planting just use a handful of humate mixed in with the topsoil or potting mix – the results will truly amaze you. Being BioGro certified as well makes this product very safe to use.
All deciduous fruit trees can be planted in July, August and September while the plants are still dormant. The widest selection will be available in garden stores now. All fruit require a position in full sun. Shelter from prevailing winds is preferable.
Once the soil becomes compacted, it is very hard for air and water to move through it, which limits root growth and reduces the ability of plants to establish themselves. This is where humates come into their own. Humate helps in breaking down these barriers making the soil more pliable and creating an outstanding soil base to work from. The biology increases dramatically through increased worm activity aerating the soil quicker. A great idea is to blend in our organic humate with Dave’s Magic Mix pellets (chicken manure and humate) to maximise results for the upcoming season.
Also as the month of August rolls on it’s a good time to plant numerous vegetable plants including beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, peas, mesclun, onions, silverbeet, spinach, coriander, parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme.