Monthly Checklist
Plant Now
Tend To
Essentials
Plant Now
Veggies, garlic and potatoes, stone fruit and strawberries, trees and shrubs, flowers and perennials.
Tend To
Weeding, protecting, pruning, spraying, deadheading, watering, cutting back, dusting, and harvesting.
Essentials
Kings Sheep Pellets, Yates Lime Sulfur, Quash, Strawberry Mix, Kings Lawn Moss Control, and Yates Slasher Organic Weedkiller.
Plant Now
Veggies, garlic and potatoes, stone fruit and strawberries, trees and shrubs, flowers and perennials.
Veggies
- It's time to get those seedlings in the ground! From lettuce and leek to broad beans and broccoli, give your garden a boost with these winter favourites.
- Plant garlic and start chitting potatoes now, letting them sprout for a few weeks before planting.
Fruit Trees
- Peach, plum and nectarine trees are coming into stores in late June. Order specific varieties now instore.
- Plant strawberries now to ensure they get settled and produce a bountiful crop come summer. Cover the soil with strawberry straw to protect the fruit from fungal diseases and to encourage growth.
Trees and Shrubs
- Plant trees, shrubs, hedging and hardy climbers now.
- Plant daphne now to add a beautifully scented bush for winter.
- Add a touch of fragrance to your garden with daphne, ideal for partially shaded areas.
Flowers and Perennials
- For colourful winter displays, plant hellebores under trees and shrubs.
- Brighten up your garden with winter annuals like cineraria, pansies, viola, polyanthus, primula, asters, and hardy mini cyclamen.
Tend To
Weeding, protecting, pruning, spraying, deadheading, watering, cutting back, dusting, and harvesting.
Veggies
- Depending on how cold your garden gets, shield tender plants and seedlings from frost with frost cloth.
- Keep newly planted veggie beds weed-free.
- Check to make sure beds aren’t becoming too sodden in the rain, and if necessary improve your drainage.
- Don’t keep seedlings too wet, or they risk collapsing from damping-off disease. If water restrictions are still in place, use grey-water to water your garden (make sure you use eco-friendly soap).
- Protect tender veggies from those pesky slugs and snails with Tui Quash.
Fruit Trees
- Prune back any new growth on established deciduous fruit trees, keeping them short, so that they are easy to harvest from. Make sure you prune on a dry, sunny day to reduce the risk of diseases.
- Spray lime sulphur on your deciduous fruit trees only. If you have had leaf curl in the past, gather up all fallen leaves and dispose of them in green-waste bins (not the compost)
Flowers and Perennials
- Deadhead Hydrangeas, and any other flowering shrubs, perennials, or annuals with flowers that are past their best and clean up dead foliage.
- Remember to water cyclamen from the saucer if they are in small pots.
- Cut back perennials that have finished flowering, and trim back trees and shrubs where necessary.
- Leave pruning roses until July.
Lawn
- Remove any lingering leaves to prevent parts of the lawn dying off.
- Fertilise your lawn and help get rid of moss with Kings Lawn Moss Control.
- Spot spray larger weeds in your lawn now with Slasher Organic Weedkiller.
Indoor Plants
- Adjust your watering schedule for indoor plants, watering less and keeping an eye on soil moisture levels to prevent overwatering.
- Keep plants away from heaters and drafts to avoid dieback.
- Wipe dust off leaves and wash windows to help your indoor plants absorb more light
Harvest
- Harvest veggies such as silverbeet, spring onions, leeks, lettuce and parsnip.
- Harvest citrus including mandarins, oranges and lemons.
General Tasks
- Gather up leaves from trees (that have not had a history of disease) for next year’s leaf mould.
- If you are making a strawberry patch, make sure it has the right amount of drainage and use Tui Strawberry Mix and a layer of strawberry straw.
- Help break down existing clay pockets with ClayBreaker Gypsum.
- Sharpen and clean garden tools to help prevent the spread of disease.
- Rejuvenate bare areas in the veggie patch by sowing green crop seeds to enrich the soil for spring planting.
Trees and Shrubs
- Ensure stakes and ties are secure to provide proper support for your trees and shrubs.
- Remove lichen from deciduous trees once they have shed their leaves by spraying with Yates Lime Sulfur.