October Outdoor Eco-Celebration October Checklist

Posted on: September 22nd, 2021 by Cassidy No Comments

Rev up and rejoice – it’s time to motor in October! Garden Day is on Sunday the 17^th, giving you the perfect reason to host a little outdoor eco-celebration - #gardenyay. Welcome spring in full swing and give your garden, potted windowsills, and patio planters some much-deserved admiration from loved ones. Also, it’s rose month! GCA’s are stocked with some serious stunners, waiting just for you. There’s much to plant, grow, and sow too, as well some easy-peasy maintenance to take care of. With compost and spades in hand, let’s get to work!

Raging for roses

Your top 5 babes available at GCA’s now are:

Double Delight: Pointed, cream colour buds unfolding delicately into shades of scarlet.
Just Joey: A hybrid apricot/orange blend tea rose with a seductively sweet scent.
My Granny: A spreading shrub with full rosette blooms in shades of soft pink and white.
South Africa: SA’s top performer with huge clusters of large, golden-yellow double blooms.
Zulu Royal: Large, symmetrical blooms in deep mauve with a silver-lilac dust.

Rosey tips: Avoid wetting rose leaves in the late afternoon as this may encourage black spot and powdery mildew. Plant living mulch between your roses such as erigeron, verbena or lobularia. Remember to feed with special rose fertiliser every 4 weeks for max bloom power.

Rushing flower power

Plant and sow now

For instant colour, go for calibrachoas with masses of miniature petunia-like flowers.
Sun-loving annuals in seedling trays include: petunias, lobularias (allysum), gazanias, penstemons, Chrysanthemum paludosum and C. multicaule, Sunpatiens and celosias.
Shade-seeking seedling trays include: New Guinea impatiens, begonias, impatiens (Busy Lizzie) hypoestes and coleus.
Go-getter perennials for all regions are: agapanthus, gauras, nemesias, osteospermums and geraniums of all kinds. Also go for gypsophila and masses of pretty but tough angelonias. Star jasmine, penstemons, columbines and echinaceas are lovely too.

Top seedling tip: Give your seedlings the best head start in life by planting them in compost-enriched soil. When transplanting, avoid pulling them out by their stems and rather push them out from the bottom of the punnet. Pinch out their growth tips as they mature for a bushier plant.

Top sowing tip: To prevent small seeds from sticking to your fingers and clumping together, mix them with some dry sand, then sprinkle over moist soil.

Bustling hunger busters

Carrots: Sow seeds directly from spring to autumn to ensure a continuous harvest. The soil must be cultivated deeply to make it loose and friable.
Cucumbers: Sow seeds directly into rich soil. Plants will need sturdy stakes to keep the fruit off the ground.
Green beans: Plant bush-type seeds that are easier to manage if your space is limited.
Lettuce: Try oak and loose-leaf lettuce seedlings, available in trays from your GCA Garden Centre.
Radishes: Sow small amounts directly into the ground throughout summer.
Squashes and baby marrows:As soon as new greens emerge, thin them out to allow ample space for trailing support.
Tomatoes and sweet peppersare also available in seedling trays now. Pinch off lower leaves when planting for a bushier, abundant yield.
Spinach: Plant or sow several rows every few weeks to ensure a continuous supply.
Herbs: Parsley, chives and basil seeds and seedlings can be planted/sown in the veggie patch or in pots for your kitchen garden or sunny windowsills.

Edible encouragement: Feed young veggies every two weeks with a water-soluble fertiliser and keep a sharp eye on germinating weeds between rows. Set snail bait amongst strawberry plants and provide a mulch of straw, coarse clippings, or weed matting to prevent the fruit from touching the soil. Pick the fruit frequently to encourage more produce.

Board the maintenance train

Lawns: Fix hollows and bumps by cutting out the turf in the affected area. Add or reduce soil as needed and gently replace the turf. In shady areas with barren patches, check out our handy article that’ll help you choose the perfect grass for the job: (link to shade grass article) Spray weedkiller to get rid of broadleaf weeds. Before treatment, fertilise your lawn and water well, wait two weeks before applying spray.
Weed alert: Weeds compete with healthy crops for space, water, sunlight and nutrients, ultimately reducing your crop yield. They grow quickly and reproduce in large numbers. Seeds are easily dispersed by wind and animals, especially whilst mowing the lawn. Weeds are also hosts for pests and plant diseases, so make sure to visit your GCA for a variety of effective treatments to use.
Succulents: Tidy up succulents like echeverias and Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, which have stopped flowering. Divide and replant into other parts of the garden.
Fruit trees: Thin out peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums when they are about pea-size. Apply a fertiliser that’s high in nitrogen and potassium to promote plump, luscious fruit. Continue spraying and baiting against fruit flies and codling moths.
Pests: Put out snail taps and cutworm bait to protect all new seedlings.
Anti-fungal: Encourage strong root systems and combat fungal disease by watering your garden early in the morning, instead of in the evenings.
Re-potting: Ferns are ready for new homes! Repot and transplant all ferns now, followed by a feeding every two weeks with a liquid fertiliser mixed at half strength.

DIY Succulent & Rose Flower Crowns for Kids A little something special for the girls this October

Posted on: September 23rd, 2020 by Shahnee Stockigt No Comments

Life is a Garden is calling on all the fairies, princesses, queens and creatures of the garden to come out and DIY with us. We’ve got a little something special for the girls this October - drum roll, please… enter the flower crown! In celebration of October rose month as well as Garden Day on 11 October, we’re blushing shades of pink and green to bring you these lovely flower crown ideas using succulents and roses.

Here’s a step by step to creating your upcycle can masterpiece.

You will need:

An Alice-band and/or pliable craft wire
A few glorious succulents, roses, and some viney plant strands (Ivy may work nicely)
Green insulation tape, twine or ribbon
Superglue
Scissors and maybe some pliers
Bits and bobs of pretty arts and crafts goodies like shells and beads if you like

Getting started

The first thing our DIY fairies need to decide on is whether they would like to decorate an existing Alice-band or if they would like to create a crown from scratch. Secondly, have a look in the garden at what kind of succulents, roses, and other vine-type plants are available. Head off to your local GCA Garden Centre for those special flowers and vinery you may want to add. Gather your arts and crafts goodies and prep your creation station.

Preparing your headband

If you are using an existing Alice-band, we recommend you choose one that is a little wider to give you more of a surface on which to stick and wrap your goodies. Alternately, if you’re creating a headband from craft wire, we recommend using at least two strands of wire together for more stability and also for more surface area to work with.

Breathing life into your creation

Step 1: Single out your centrepiece succulents and roses. Make smaller bouquets with your additional greenery for added texture, variety, height, and a personal creative touch
Step 2: Shape your handmade wire crown to size, leaving a little extra room for the decorations. Connect the circle crown with a little insulation tape. You may also wish to completely cover your crown with ribbon or twine before you move on.
Step 3: Wrap your vinery around the crown/Alice-band. Use some twine or super glue to secure the greenery.

Terrific tip: Use a whip-like stem from a willow tree, or similar sort, to make a bow. Intertwining the stem will hold your flowers in place nicely.

Step 4: Place your focal point roses and succulents around the crown/Alice-band. You may want them all in front or perhaps spread around the crown. You can secure them by weaving the stems through the wire, or by using a mixture of superglue and twine for Alice-band crowns.
Step 5: Arrange your mini-flower bouquets and any additional decorations such as shells and beads to all remaining open spaces. Once again, secure your flowers and décor goodies with a little super glue, craft wire, ribbon, or twine. You may want to use some tongs here if you’re working with wire.
Step 6: Make sure your crown has fully dried and set. Place on top of your head and parade around like a magnificent fairy princess, Earth goddess!

Terrific tip: Store your living floral crown in the fridge to keep it fresh. Lightly spray your blooms before you wear it to pucker them up a little.

October in the Garden October Check List

Posted on: September 23rd, 2020 by Shahnee Stockigt No Comments

October is the month of flowering profusion with the queen of flowers, the rose, putting on a glorious first flush of blooms in the Highveld. Roses have also become synonymous with Garden Day, happening on Sunday 11 October this year. Since Life is a Garden, let’s spend some quality time celebrating our green sanctuaries on Garden Day, regardless of their size – potted window sills and patio planters deserve a little celebration too.

Sow edibles

The “grow to eat” concept of shortening the food chain time from soil to plate is growing in popularity. Edible gardening is easy and fun, regardless of the size of your space. Life is a Garden, so if gardening means a few potted plants, so be it!

It’s always exciting to try out new varieties. Here are a few amazing new squashes to tempt you:

Lemon sun squash is a patty pan that produces sweet and tender fruits on vigorous plants. The male flowers are also perfect for frying.
Easy pick gold and easy pick green squash are smooth textured no-fuss zucchinis.
Butterbaby squash is a small, sweet butternut that can be grown up a trellis to save space.
Honeynut squash is another mini butternut that has exceptionally sweet fruit, is easy to germinate and produces high yields of fruit.
If you want to try something funky then sample the vegetable spaghetti squash. It has unique flesh that separates into long, clear strings, which resemble pasta. It has a slight crunch with a mild squash flavour and can be used just like spaghetti. It’s the ideal way to get small children into eating veggies and also the perfect vegan spaghetti.

Tip: Don’t forget to include a South African favourite, the gem squash or squash Rolet or Little Gem. Continue spraying for fruit flies and codling moth. If you have not started or are unsure of what to use, consult your local GCA Garden Centre.

Bedding plants

Look out for:

Shade: Beacon Impatiens or busy lizzies this spring since they are Downy Mildew resistant.
Semi-shade: Harmon New Guinea Impatiens. They produce vast numbers of beautiful flowers in exquisite shades, including some bi-colours. They are very floriferous with the plants being covered in bloom all season long. They will be very eye-catching in focal areas, containers and hanging baskets.
Semi-shade to full sun: Sunpatiens are strong and less prone to disease and are able to tolerate high heat and humidity, rain and adverse weather conditions.

Tip: Sunpatiens like other impatiens require regular watering.

Rose Care

October is pink month or Breast Cancer Awareness month. In honour of pink, here are some stunning pink Celebrity roses that you may want to have in your garden:

Princess Charlene de Monaco: A beautiful Hybrid Tea rose, which has very fragrant double flowers, light apricot to shell pink in colour. It has excellent disease resistance and a good choice for use as a cut flower.
Thuli Madonsela rose: This novel rose is vigorous, with strong roots, and disease-resistant leaves, able to thrive despite climatic stresses – just like her name suggests. The striking two-tone pink and white blooms have a perfect hybrid tea shape but carried in abundant clusters. The colour is prominent, feminine pink and white for purity. Grows to about 1.4m high.
Anneli van Rooyen rose: An extremely free-flowering hybrid tea that loves when the sun brings out its exquisite colour - a blend of deep cream to coral. Grows to shoulder height.
Patricia Lewis rose: A family favourite that’s even thorn free rendering excellent cut flowers. The medium sized, pointed buds open slowly, spiralling to exhibit perfection. The glowing colour lingers between deep pink and red. A healthy & energetic grower.
Elize Cawood rose: It's love at first sight and you won’t have to act impressed with these babies. The shimmering pearl white carries ever-so subtle undertones of soft pink. Every bloom is of a flawless Hybrid Tea shape – perfect for picking as cut flowers.
Rina Hugo rose: A faithful rose donning classically shaped, pointed buds. It develops into full and elegantly shaped deep magenta-pink blooms. Grown to be vigorous, healthy and strong carrying its large blooms in rich abundance.
People’s Princess rose: Named after Diana, the Princess of Wales, who was widely loved by people. The pointed, green-hued buds develop into large, firm petalled blooms; deep silk pink, the colour of pigeons’ breasts flows from the tips of the petal edges towards the centre of the high pointed, exhibition shaped flowers.
Hannon rose: Named after Hannon - the Glam Guru. A new variety of Hybrid Tea rose with deep pink flowers! It blooms and flushes throughout the season and makes the perfect and most stunning cut flower. Grows to about 1m high.

Inland Gardening

It’s always a good time to assess where you can add to the atmosphere of your garden with the soothing sound of running water. There are loads of different water features that are both decorative and natural in style. Most attract birds and frogs to the garden with the bubbling pot features doubling up as a bird bath. To create movement and add life to your garden, visit your local GCA Garden Centre and see the inspiring range of aquatic peace-makers they have on offer.

Coastal Gardening

Get your garden December ready. Whether you are staying at home or having visitors, now is the time to plant up some extra colour or to add that long-awaited extension to the herb and veggie garden.

Tip: Don’t let your fresh plants be eaten by snails and slugs. Place snail and slug bait in the planted areas. Visit your local GCA Garden Centre for more advice.

October in the Garden Celebrating Gardening

Posted on: October 1st, 2019 by Shahnee Stockigt No Comments

With the 20^th of October being ‘Garden Day’ and October being ‘Rose month’ – what an opportune month to celebrate gardening!

Rose month

Your roses should be producing their first flush of perfect blooms and the sun is still not too scorching – allowing the blooms to last longer. Spring is also the ideal time to select and plant new rose bushes in your garden. These are some of our favourites:

Ingrid Bergman POULman unfading red
Memoire KORfuri unspoilt white, fragrant
Zulu Royal DORient mauve, fragrant
King David TANmarsal bronze
South Africa KORberbeni golden

Pop in to your nearest GCA Garden Centre for more inspiration and supplies.

What to Sow

As soon as the soil warms up in mid spring, you can start to sow all your summer veggies, including beans, sweetcorn and tomatoes. Two of your main “must haves” for your summer salads are cucumber and celery.

Cucumber seeds should be sown in composed enriched soil in a sunny site. When flowers start forming, feed with potassium-rich organic fertiliser. Support plants well so they can climb upwards, even when the cucumbers get large. This also protects the cucumbers from slugs. Harvest /cut the cucumbers off the plant when they are still quite young, avoiding the skin becoming hard. Regular harvesting encourages a more continuous production of
Celery needs rich, moisture-retentive soil which is achieved by digging in plenty of compost. Sow in shade or semi-shade. Feed weekly liquid feed in mid to late summer. Plants should be spaced 20cm apart and kept moist. You can cut stems frequently as required.

What to Plant

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) - one of the easiest and most rewarding bulbs to grow, amaryllis produce showy, trumpet-shaped blooms that add a flamboyant touch to your garden or home. Often referred to as the Christmas flower because they typically bloom around five weeks after being planted (during the warmer months). For this reason, amaryllis make a wonderful gift at Christmas time and can also make gorgeous centre-pieces for the Christmas dinner table.

Amaryllis do well in most soil types, provided they get sufficient drainage. Plant in a sunny or semi-shade position and for the best results, give your amaryllis some bulb food every two weeks. These beauties are perfect for pots, and can be planted in groups in your garden.

As they retreat into dormancy at the end of the warmer months, you can decrease watering and leave them in the soil throughout the various seasons. Do not stop water them until all of their foliage has receded.

Star Flower or Egyptian star cluster (Pentas lanceolata) - a fast-growing, small to medium-sized herbaceous shrub with light green foliage. Pentas comes in a variety of colours, including pink, red, mauve and white. The beautiful flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds and make great cut flowers. The shrub grows quickly in full sun or semi-shade and vary in height but the modern hybrids are lovely compact bushes, growing +-100cm tall and +-30cm wide. Plant them into rich, well-drained soil. Cut off the dead flowers regularly to encourage re-flowering or continuous blooms.

What to Spray

There are many types of broadleaf weeds that can get their roots into your lawn. Clear out and control weeds in lawns, by using a selective broadleaf weed killer that is safe for use on established lawns.

Aphids are rife on new growth, they feed on the sap of most garden plants and are usually found in large colonies on the new growth tips, flower buds or on succulent foliage. They are particularly prevalent during early spring and into the summer season, sucking the sap from plants and causing malformed flowers and foliage. They can be controlled with one of the numerous different insecticides registered for use on these pests.

Chat to a specialist at your nearest GCA Garden Centre for advice on the various products available and what would work best for your needs.

What to pick

Growing your own veggie garden is both fun and rewarding. Ready for harvest in October are: asparagus, broad beans, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, lettuces, rocket, spinach (Swiss chard) and spring onions. The perfect ingredients for some very tasty and creative summer salads and veggie dishes. If you don’t have your own edible garden established yet – it is never too late to start.

Rose Care

It’s not hard to see why October is “Rose month” as you enjoy your roses in all their glory.

Water deeply at least once a week - for roses to flourish it’s best to water them twice weekly giving them 15mm of water each time. Roses that were fertilised in mid-September should be fertilised again in mid-October or early in October if September was skipped. This encourages root activity and new leaves and flowering stems to sprout. Only use the recommended amount of granular rose fertiliser.

To prevent aphids, bollworm, thrips, powdery mildew and black spot, spray fortnightly with the correct organic spray.

For quality blooms, disbud hybrid teas by removing side buds out of the leaf axles beneath the terminal bud. Remove spent blooms; not only will your rose bed look tidier; this also encourages the production of new quality stems. If you’d like long stemmed blooms for the house, don’t cut more than half of them on a bush.

Visit your local GCA for advice on the best products to use to meet your needs.

Inland Gardening

(Gauteng, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo)

Before you know it, December will be here – start preparing your garden now for all your holiday and festive season needs.
Clean out water fountains and ponds and ensure you unclog the impeller on your water feature pumps.
Check that your irrigation system is working effectively. Unclog nozzles and filterers, and replace any pipes or heads that need replacing. You don’t want to be rushing around last minute before you go away in December to ensure your watering system is working!
Plant additional veggies (like beans, sweetcorn, tomatoes, celery and cucumber) so that you have a good selection and enough to feed your family and any visitors over December. Sow more parsley, chives, basil and coriander seeds in your herb garden.

Look out for insects such as aphids, mealy bugs and whitefly on soft new growth and control with the correct insecticide.
Tidy up garden containers by pruning shrubs and specimen plants to maintain a round shape. Plant some bright red bedding begonias around the stems and these will give you a great splash of festive colour in December

Coastal Gardening

(Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal)

Snails and slugs are more than likely sneaking out of their hiding places at night and eating seedlings and young shoots in your gardens. There are a number of ways, including traps to keep these guys from destroying your plants. Chat to the experts at your local GCA Garden Centre to find a solution that best meets your needs.

Inspect all members of the lily family such as agapanthus, crinum, clivia, nerine, amaryllis and haemanthus for lily borer. They are most active at night and can be treated with insecticides.

Clean up container plants and top dress with mulch, crushed peach or apricot pips or pebbles to keep the soil moist between watering.
Plant tropical fruits such as lychees, mangos and bananas.

Celebrate #GardenDaySA 10 Ways to boost Garden Day sales

Posted on: September 10th, 2019 by Shahnee Stockigt No Comments

Garden Day will take place nationwide on Sunday, 20 October, encouraging gardeners to down tools, pop on a flower crown and celebrate their gardens with neighbours, family and friends no matter how big or small their garden is.

Garden Day is a great way to kick-start the gardening season, driving customers into your garden centre to get ready for their Garden Day parties.

Position your centre as offering everything your customers could ever need to get their gardens ready for Garden Day: from plants and containers to furniture and garden decoration.

Use the Garden Day campaign and flower crown imagery as a hook to generate local PR, boost staff morale and engage your customers.

2019 supporters toolkit

Host your own Garden Day celebration on Sunday 20 October. The Garden Day website has put together a handy toolkit of ideas and resources, which you can use to support the campaign via social media, including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.

Download any of the images and share photos of your celebrations using #GardenDaySA #LifeIsAGarden.

10 Ways to boost Garden Day sales

Tell your customers: inspire your customers to host Garden Day celebrations by featuring Garden Day in all your communications in the run-up to Garden Day.
Create exclusive Garden Day promotions: devise time-limited, linked sales promotions across the centre and badge them as Garden Day offers.
Wear Flower Crowns: Get inspired by JJ van Rensburg and his Garden World crew, take a leaf out of the flower crowns of the Eckards GardenPavilion team or crown yourself King of Garden Day like Johan du Preez, aka Panda. Encourage all staff to pop on a flower crown to get customers talking! Happy-looking sales staff make for happy customers and increased sales.
Enter our Garden Day Competition: Our Garden Day team will get in touch with you directly with information on what you can win and how to win it! Great cash prizes up for grabs!
Think local PR: send photos of your staff in flower crowns to local media and tell them what you’re doing in the run-up to Garden Day. Make use of the free press release template at www.gardenday.co.za and embargo your story until 30 September.
Pick a Champion: Nominate a member of staff with a passion for social media and promotion as your Garden Day champion.
Consider offering cafe/restaurant Garden Day offers: offer special Garden Day packages in the lead-up to Garden Day.
Consider hosting a Flower Crown workshop: work with a florist to run paying - or free - workshops on how to make your own flower crown for Garden Day.
Join the Conversation: be part of the Garden Day buzz by using the hashtag #GardenDaySA
POS: Our team will be in contact directly to set up delivery of your POS materials, including your in-store posters and table-talkers. POS material will arrive early September.

For more information, email info@gardenday.co.za or visit www.gardenday.co.za and follow the campaign on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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