Garden beds that have been well used for summer and autumn crops may benefit from the planting of a green manure crop.
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Green manure crops are sown from seed and include legumes such as varieties of peas and beans, as well as clover, chickpeas and oats.
Although the seeds can be sown in the traditional way, it is quite sufficient to scatter the mixed seeds over the garden bed and then use a rake to cover the seed with soil.
Following the germination of the seeds, the resulting plants should be allowed to develop to the flowering stage.
Just after the flowers have fallen (the stage at which the plant has reached its maximum maturity level) the plants can be dug into the soil and then left to compost down. The garden bed should be left for at least a month before new planting takes place.
An alternate method to digging in the green crop is to cut the plants off at the base at flowering time. The green stems can then be left to form a mulch o the surface of the soil.
Growing green manure crops that are then dug into the soil is an efficient method of obtaining nitrogen for the soil. Bacteria in these plants take nitrogen from the air and convert it to the form that plants normally obtain from the soil. The process is known as nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen is essential for optimum growth and production of flower and vegetable crops.
Growing green manure crops can be more cost-efficient than purchasing mulch and has the additional benefit of ensuring that new, unwanted weeds are not introduced to the home garden.
PLANT SMART
Many vegetables are suitable for sowing during June but have different maturity times.
Maturing in July, mustard greens should be sown direct into the vegetable garden, while radish will mature between July and August. Peas, silver beet, carrots (all sown direct) and lettuce (planted into seed trays and then transplanted) will be able to be harvested between August and September, while beetroot and snow peas reach maturity later in September. Cabbages, celery, eschalots and parsnip (all sown in seed trays and then transplanted) and broad beans (sown in rows) will mature during late spring. Onions will not mature until between December and February.
It is important to avoid having successive plantings of the same types of vegetables in the same areas of the garden as this can allow the build-up of diseases over successive seasons. Crop rotation, which involves planting different types of vegetables, will assist in the reduction of diseases. Seasonal crop changes will often lead to crop rotation.
LOVELY LILIES
Lilies can produce some very interesting and spectacular flowers in the garden. They can be grown in a number of shapes and sizes and are generally quite hardy plants.
Sprekelia formosissima produce showy, rich red flowers in an unusual orchid shape. Bright gold anthers add to the appeal of the flower. They have strappy, mid-green leaves.
Sprekelia have a number of common names by which they would be better known. These include Aztec lily, Jacobean lily or Maltese Cross. They are suitable for growing in most areas of the garden, provided they receive a reasonable amount of sunlight.
Jacobean lilies grow in a wide range of climates, including warmer ones as well as those that experience frosts.
The pineapple lily, Eucomis comosa, produces flowers on long stems. The flowers can be cream to green, or sometimes pink, and are usually scented. They have an unusual cylindrical shape. The stems are also a most
attractive part of the plant. They have a spotted appearance, with red-brown markings covering the green stems.
In addition to growing the pineapple lily in a garden bed, they make very suitable subjects for pot culture.
Flowers of the pineapple lily are most useful for cutting and displaying in vases, lasting for several weeks.
Pineapple lily bulbs can be left in the garden for several years. If it is necessary to lift the bulbs, this should happen when the foliage has died back. At this time the small, new bulbs that have developed around the main bulb can be removed. The bulblets can be stored in a cool, dry and airy place until replanting takes place, when the bulbs should be planted in rich, well-drained soil, just below the surface of the soil.
A sunny position is preferred by pineapple lilies.
Ifafa lilies (Cyrianthus) produce unusual but attractive small, long, thin tubular-shaped flowers at the ends of thin stalks. They are very hardy and drought tolerant, preferring warm, sunny positions. They will withstand light frosts. As the bulbs grow and multiply they will form tight clumps, making them an ideal subject for inclusion in drifts under deciduous trees, or in rockeries or pots.
A rich soil that has had a good quantity of humus added to it will encourage the production of good flowers. Bulbs that are growing in a favourable position can flower for up to nine months of the year. They are often in flower during the colder months at the end of winter and into early spring.
Flowers of Ifafa lilies may be shell or salmon link, creamy white or lemon yellow.
Vallota lilies (Cyrianthus elatus), also known as Scarborough lilies, produce bright orange-red blooms that have an open trumpet shape.
geoffh.gardening@gmail.com
Maitland and District Garden Club
![JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED: Garden beds that have been well used for summer and autumn crops may benefit from a green manure crop. JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED: Garden beds that have been well used for summer and autumn crops may benefit from a green manure crop.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Q9r3V9AUcqpAGD3DNsaA9W/c9ad42d2-0606-4395-8927-8a3826efd8b9.jpg/r0_363_3264_2307_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)