Time to Trim, Fert & Mulch
It's easy to follow
This is my annual garden routine for my beloved Wellington-based garden design customers, who live in a temperate climate.
Follow this general routine to Trim, Fertilise & Mulch in August to get the garden ready for spring growth; and then after the long summer Christmas holidays, to tidy things up and bed the garden down for a low maintenance autumn and winter.
It's easy to customise
If you’re from out of town, you may need to adjust your routine by a month or so for warmer and cooler climates.
This is a simple annual routine. You can also use this chart to add any specific seasonal & nuanced requirements for your particular plants eg fertilise winter flowering plants like Hellebores in May; and hard prune roses & fruit trees in July, when they are completely dormant.
Consultations
& Supplies
Catalogue
Download a pdf to customise for your own garden routine
Here is the annual routine explained in a bit more detail …
Late winter – early August
In this order: Trim, then Fert & then Mulch.
This is a light Trim, main Fert & main Mulch.
The timing is important. Fertilise in early August, to give a month’s head start for the ferts to trickle down to the feeder roots to maximise their upcoming spring growth.
Fert both your pots & garden.
For pots - use a high quality synthetic topdress fertiliser like Triabon (16-3.5-10 + TE) or Nitrophoska (12-5-14-8) on all your pots. Follow the quantity directions carefully, so you don’t over apply too much and burn the roots. These fertilisers are activated by watering, and trickle down to the feeder roots, and they last 3-4 months. Then they need to be reapplied. They feed the plants directly, and are excellent for plants in pots where there is no/little organic activity to convert biodegradable organic matter into plant food.
For gardens - use: organic fertilisers are best in the garden eg biologically active compost everywhere (not dried out cheap largely bark-based composts); rock dust and seaweed everywhere for a wide diet and broad spectrum of trace elements; and Biophos or blood & bone for fruit, flowers and hungry plants like buxus.
Then do: a general trim now, to remove unwanted areas before spring growth. Always trim on a dry day to avoid the spread of disease getting into cuts. I trim Buxus, hydrangeas, grasses and perennials now.
Then mulch: 10cm thick on top of ferts, so the ferts are closer to plant roots + to lock in winter ground moisture. Mulching hot dried out earth in summer is less effective. You also want to mulch a really decent thick layer to block out the light and prevent weed seed germination, and to last the whole year. Use mixed species, shredded mulch over plain bark.
Three months later – November
Fert your pots.
Use: Triabon (16-3.5-10 + TE) or Nitrophoska (12-5-14-8) or similar high quality synthetic topdress fertilser on all pots.
After Xmas Holidays - late Jan, early Feb
In the same order: Trim, then Fert & then Mulch.
This is the main Trim, Fert & Mulch top if needed.
This is the main pruning season, especially for trees, when the weather is fine and dry and growth rates have slowed down. It's also a really good time in the new year to tidy up and assess your garden for any changes over winter. And if you do a good trim and tidy up now, it should see you through autumn and winter.
Fert both pots & garden.
Use: Triabon (16-3.5-10 + TE) or Nitrophoska (12-5-14-8) or similar high quality synthetic topdress fertilser on all pots.
Use: organic fertilisers on the garden eg Biophos or blood & bone on any fruit, flowers and hungry plants that need a little perking up.
Top up your mulch if needed. This will help protect your soils from weather extremes over winter.