Late winter and early spring is the time to re-pot many plants into larger pots or just replace tired, depleted potting mix. Pots should be of adequate size, particularly width, for the plant to be potted, and with ample drainage holes. Consider upcycling a suitable container for a unique look or converting into a wicking system.
Ensure plants are well watered and unstressed beforehand and use good quality premium potting mix with the Australian Standard tick of approval at the bottom (premium ticks are in red, regular in black). Unless the pots are quite large it is best to stick with potting mix and not add garden soil, as drainage will be hindered. You can, however, fill the bottom section of pots over 60cm or so with a lower quality mix, coarse gravel or similar to keep costs down.
Tidy up plant roots if needed with a sharp spade, old serrated bread knife or secateurs (best to keep a set especially for this purpose) and keep the soil level the same as it was previously.
Water in well with fertiliser tea or seaweed extract – there’s no need to add granular fertiliser at this stage as premium standard potting mixes contain enough nutrition feed them for at least six weeks.
Handy app: Plants of South Eastern NSW
This free and extensive plant identification app was compiled by well-known local author Betty Wood, co-author of popular text Flowers of the ACT & Region (2005). It covers a wide distribution range and includes fact sheets, images and glossary of around 2,900 plants, including garden runaways.
For more: apps.lucidcentral.org/plants_se_nsw/
Workshops at Canberra City Farm
Making wicking beds: Dan Hartwell of GrowEasy and Dan Cusack of Revive Landscapes will help attendees build three raised wicking garden beds using WaterUps technology. Chris Curtis of Fresh Landscape Design will also give a short presentation on his Honours degree research into what wicking beds are all about.
When: Saturday 10 August 9am-12:30pm.
Cost: Free for CCF members, $20 ($10 concession) for non-members. Lunch option: $10 for pumpkin soup, bread and cheese.
To register: email [email protected]
Grafting fruit trees: Come along to this hands-on workshop for beginners presented jointly by Jonathan Banks of Pialligo Apples and Mark O’Connor.
When: Sunday 11 August10am-4pm
Cost: $130 (CCF members get a $20 discount). Includes grafting materials, grafting knife and potting mix, lunch of organic produce grown at CCF, and apple tree.
To find out more, or register, visit: bit.ly/CCF-GraftingWorkshop
Canberra City Farm is located at 2 Dairy Road, Fyshwick ACT.
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