It has seemed a long time coming – but spring is officially here! Even if you are a novice gardener there are plenty of options for planting right now, lettuce and kale are very easy to grow and it’s also a good time for swan plants which our Monarch Butterflies love.

Find out what else you can plant right now with this handy guide from our absolute favourite seedling company Awapuni Nurseries. I’m looking forward to planting Awapuni’s Brandy Wine Pink Tomatoes!

When ordering online check out their Bee Mix which is a selection of seasonal plants that bees love. Perfect for spring time planting along with your favourite vegetables.

Keep planting your brassicas, cauliflower, cabbages, beetroot, broad beans, lettuce, spinach, kale and silverbeet, which will all do well right now. Apply a good general fertiliser to ensure their best possible start.

It’s also time to get your strawberry plants in – in time for Christmas Day lunch. Try some in hanging baskets if you’re short on space. Work on five to six plants per person in the house, to ensure a good supply. Remember to cover them up with netting early too, to keep out the birds. 

And how about working some spring and summer colour into your flower garden. Creating a cottage garden is also a fun thing to do – and the bees will love you for it.

I suggest some alyssum, cornflowers, lobelia and sweet peas to get you started. If you haven’t done already, prune the last of your roses. Check for aphids, and use a copper spray to help control the mites and disease. 

To go natural, planting marigolds near your roses will help deter the aphids too. Applying mulch will help keep the weeds down as it prevents the light getting through to them and sprouting. 

The warmer weather brings ideal conditions for the weeds to shoot up now, so keep on top of them with weekly hoeing. Rake up old leaves to let your lawns new spring growth come through. Apply nitrogen rich fertiliser to give your lawn a re-boot. Fertiliser works best on your lawn when it’s dissolved – so if you’re applying granular fertiliser, do so when it’s about to rain. 

Turn over your compost monthly, to speed it up. You’ll know it’s ready when it looks like potting mix. Adding a sprinkling of blood and bone can also help speed it up.

Looking forward – come October you can start planting your summer veges and herbs.

Plant beans, peas, lettuce, zucchini, basil and tomatoes. Kamo kamo (similar to a short fat zucchini), red spring onions, capsicums, chillies and cucumbers will all be ready to go in as the ground warms up even more so too. 

And to get super organised set up your climbing frames for your tomatoes, beans, peas and cucumbers. Trellis netting on a fence works well, or a stand-alone tee-pee system – and both mean you’ll have more room on the ground for future veges. And as for ‘branching-out’ into something new this summer…. I’m going to stake my zucchini and grow them vertically.

To order plastic packaging free Awapuni Seedlings online click here. Keep an eye out for their specials by signing up to their newsletter and follow them on Instagram here for up to date tips and give aways!

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