Spring has arrived and it’s time to turn our attention to the garden.   Growing your own vegetables has become very popular over the past few years with raised garden beds being built in many back yards.  The question is what you fill them with?  South-Hort Vege mix is designed to be used in raised beds and planter boxes.  It contains an Osmocote controlled release fertiliser supplying all your plants nutritional requirements for the season.  South-Hort Vege Mix is weed free and free draining creating the perfect growing environment for your plants.

South-Hort Vege Mix can be planted and sown directly into without fear of root burn.  Space is always at a premium in raised beds so shop around for plants that are more compact (Little Sweetie Cabbage) would be one example.  Plants aren’t the only thing on the move at this time of the year and pest love young seedlings so after planting spread some slug bait around to protect those young plants. Remember always give your seedlings a good soak in a bucket of water before planting.  This will get them off to a good start.  The Broad Beans that I sowed last month are now up so this is a good time to get your steaks into the ground to support them later in the season.

Now is the time to be thinking about sprouting your potatoes.  When purchasing your seed potatoes make sure they are certified seed potatoes this will insure they are disease free and you should insure a good crop of potatoes from them.  lay your potatoes out in a sunny spot but not in direct sunlight.  When the sprouts are about three centimetres long they are ready for planting I will cover the planting side of things later on.  You can now sow the following seeds directly into your garden beds.

Carrots, Beetroot, Broad Beans, Spinach, Silverbeet, Spring Onions, Lettice, and Peas.

Garden beds also need attention this time of the year.  Now is the perfect time to be adding plenty of well-rotted compost, which will improve the soil structure, porosity, and bulk density – creating a better plant root environment for your plants.  South Hort Premium Compost is blended completely from sustainable natural products and contains no green waste or bio-soils.  The entire process is independently certified by Bio-Grow NZ, resulting in a premium certified Organic Compost.  When applying your compost add some South-Hort Blood and Bone this contains Nitrogen, Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus just apply to the top 10cm of the soil and fork in with your compost.

Don’t forget your lawns.  Nothing looks better than a great carpet of green.  South-Hort Lawn Mix is used extensively in the turf and landscape industries, due to its ease of handling and excellent growth properties.  Lawn mix is free draining and open with high organic content providing excellent water holding properties.

For established lawns you can apply South-Hort Lawn Fertiliser this has been specifically formulated to promote the establishment and maintenance of a lush, green lawn. South-Hort Lawn Fertiliser contains nitrogen for dense leaf growth, phosphorous for strong root development, potassium for strength and disease resistance, iron for colour and moss control plus trace elements. Apply on overcast days or early evening at a rate of 50grams per square metre.  Always remember to water in after application. Remember good gardening starts with the soil.