Well, the weather is warming up, and gardens are now on the move!

Early in the bare-root season the ABC Gardening crew came out to Balhannah Nurseries to do a film shoot for a segment on fruit trees with Sophie Thomson, Garden writer and Horticultural extraordinaire. If you happened to miss the segment, there’s a summary on planting and pruning your fruit trees that you can find by logging onto:

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2613562.htm

Spring is here and it’s vital to make sure a few basics are done:

• Most fruit trees need a copper spray PRIOR to budburst to prevent curl leaf and other diseases – if the buds are starting to swell, then time is running out. If the buds have already burst, unfortunately it’s too late and you may have to remove any curly leaf by hand!
• Now is the time to trap all that good rain we have been having in the ground by applying some high quality organic mulch, which will also build up the organic material in the soil and keep all the microbes fed and active! But remember - not too thick or the mulch may prevent further rainfall penetrating into the soil!
• And before you cover all your soil up, take the opportunity to give your fruit trees a liberal dose of organic fertilizer to get them off to the best start in Spring when they are coming out of dormancy – hungry and rearing to grow!

With the bare-root season over, trees are now available in pots for planting all year round – drop into your local Garden Centre to see what’s in stock! It won’t be long before summer comes on, so a nice ornamental in the right spot will give some relief when the heat turns up.

Enjoy a great gardening season!