What an exciting month November is in the garden. Summer is fast approaching and now is the time to prepare and plant for Christmas and the warmer months ahead.
As the days begin to warm, it is time to prepare the garden for the coming season. There is lots that can be achieved now to ensure that your plants and garden continue to reward you beautifully during the hot days ahead.
Water Wise Gardening
Mulching
Mulching is one of the best ways to keep gardens looking great while minimising the need for lots of watering. Rocky Point is proudly one of Australia’s leading producers of the finest mulches for the home garden. Rocky Point products are available at premium garden retailers across the country and there is a great range available to suit every garden style.
Watering
Early morning and evening watering of the garden can be a relaxing pleasure. A chance to enjoy the ever-changing beauty of new blooms, new growth and new life. Deep soaking waterings two or three times a week is better than shallow watering each day. This encourages deep, strong root systems rather than the plants forming shallow surface roots that are more likely to dry out in the baking sun. Applying water retention granules to your garden beds can reduce water use by up to 50% and help to make the most of summer rains.
Nature’s Air Conditioners
Trees, gardens and lawns are proven to reduce the temperatures of our homes and living spaces. Living plants provide shade and will actually cool those refreshing breezes. Lush healthy plants and gardens have us feeling cooler and much more relaxed compared to man-made products such as concrete, paving and bitumen which absorb and store heat.
Shady Characters
Shade Trees
To relax with a cool drink in a shady spot in the garden is a great way to pass those hot summer days. There are many great trees to plant that will give shade and shelter. There are many fabulous fast-growing native trees such as grevilleas, banksias and callistemons that not only provide wonderful shade for us, but become a haven for native birds, small animals and butterflies. Deciduous trees are excellent for providing shade during summer and letting the winter light through as the leaves are shed in the winter months. In warmer regions, trees such as jacarandas, poinciana and frangipanis also supply wonderful summer shade while losing their leaves to let through the winter light.
Climbing Plants
Climbing plants are fabulous to grow over fences, pergolas, arches and structures to provide shady havens. Climbers such as Star Jasmine are covered in flowers now and filling the air with their wonderful fragrance. Passionfruit vines produce wonderful showy flowers followed by an abundance of delicious fruits. Pandorea plants are beautiful climbers with stunning flowers. There are a huge range of climbing plants that are ideal to transform unsightly areas into living, flowering highlights while providing shade and shelter
Water Wise Plants
There is a huge selection of plants that look great in the garden and are hardy with very low water requirements.
Agave, Aloe, Euphorbia, Adenium and Dracaena are very architectural plants and are wonderful garden features requiring very little water.
There are fabulous newer breeds of Lomandras and Dieties that are fantastic waterwise landscaping plants. These are Australian native grasses and look great mass planted.
Succulent plants have seen a huge resurgence of popularity in pots as low care indoor plants. There are many varieties of succulents that will thrive outdoors in the harshest of conditions. Mixing the sizes, colours and textures creates an interesting garden that is very low maintenance.
Your local garden retail experts will have all the advice on the best waterwise plants for your region.
Lawns
Lawns are great for cooling our homes and outdoor areas and are certainly worth the investment of time and effort. Now is the time to lift the mower blades. A longer lawn will help to shade the roots, cool the earth and retain water. This will also encourage a deep root system for longer lasting green lawn.
Apply water retention granules to lawns now to help to hold summer moisture.
The Flower Garden
Christmas and Summer is a great time of entertaining as we enjoy gatherings of family and friends. Plant pots, hanging baskets and flower beds with the plants that love the summer conditions. There are great plants available such as geraniums, cape daisies, impatiens, perennial petunias, and calibrachoas that will reward with bright, colourful summer displays.
For planting your pots and containers, Rocky Point Coco Pro is the professional nursery grade potting mix suitable for most types of plants. Coco Pro not only contains all the quality slow release fertilisers to feed and nourish plants for up to 14 months, but also contains water retention granules. These water retention granules hold onto the water and the plants draw the moisture from the granules as they need to. This means less watering is required, and plants remain healthy and happy with less attention.
Summer flowering annuals such as alyssum, celosia, cosmos, gerbera, impatiens, lobelia, nasturtium, marigold, petunia, phlox, portulaca, vinca and zinnia can all be planted in flower beds now for a terrific summer show.
Hydrangeas
These wonderful plants are available now. Hydrangeas love a shady area in the garden and are also fabulous in pots on patios and covered entertainment areas where many of our summer days are enjoyed. There are many different shades of colours from dark blue, shades of pinks through to white. The shade of the colour of the flowers, or even the colour itself, can change depending on the pH of the growing media they are planted in. There are Hydrangea tonics to make Hydrangea flowers darker or lighter as desired. Hydrangeas are a great plant to have some fun with.
Impatiens
Impatiens have long been a favorite summer flowering plant in shady positions. Over recent years these colourful plants have been bred to not only brighten shaded areas but to thrive in full sun positions. SunPatiens are varieties that are just as happy out in the sun as in the shade. They are excellent in pots and hanging baskets and are also wonderful as living flower arrangements indoors. Now is a great time to plant for months of enjoyment from these colourful plants.
Roses
Whether bush, old fashion, climbing, weeping or standard varieties, November is a peak flowering month for roses. They are looking and smelling magnificent in gardens and parks. Once winter was the time to select new roses while they were dormant, leafless thorny stems. Most garden retailers now have a great selection of potted roses with lots of buds and blooms. This is a wonderful time of year to touch, see and smell before selecting the perfect specimen for your garden. Before planting a potted rose, prepare the soil by adding some Rocky Point’s new improved ActivGrow. This is a well-balanced organic soil improver designed to reinvigorate garden beds and tired soils. ActiveGrow is suitable for all soil types and will ensure the very best start for your newly planted roses, shrubs, flowers and vegetables.
The Edible Garden
Food grown in your ‘Food Forest’ is filled with homegrown goodness, freshness and flavour. November is a month that food almost seems to jump out of the earth. There is much to achieve this month to supply tasty freshness to your summer entertainment events. There is still time to plant herbs and vegetables for summer salads, feasts and BBQ’s. As the cool month crops finish, add generous amounts of Rocky Point’s organic compost and animal manure to prepare garden beds. Plant all the summer favorites such as lettuce, capsicum, chili, eggplant, pumpkin, tomato and zucchini. There is a great selection of herbs to plant now including basil, dill, rosemary, sage, thyme, marjoram, oregano, parsley, rocket and mint. Strawberries and Blueberries are very popular 
and easy to grow at home. November is a great month to plant these treats.
Once planting is complete, Rocky Point Sugar Cane Mulch is the perfect mulch for around your vegetable and herb plants. Sugar Cane Mulch looks great, it is weed free, and will help to retain moisture over the summer months ahead.
Living Gifts
As Christmas fast approaches, plants are not only great to brighten your festive events but are excellent gift ideas. Garden Centres are places filled with life, colour and inspiration. Whether looking for something for indoors or outdoor living spaces, there are great living gift ideas in every direction. There is a huge selection of gardening accessories, home decorating items and features to find that special gift that will bring pleasure long after the time of giving has passed. Plan to give a living gift for Christmas this year.
Happy Gardening!
