The constant gardener
Vege watch
In most parts of the country the weather will be settled and warm enough for the planting of sweet corn, tomatoes, basil, courgettes, eggplants, melons, capsicums and pumpkins. Water in seedlings well.
Sowing sweet corn in blocks aids pollination and minimises wind damage. Sow two seeds in each hole, with holes 15cm apart – so the strongest seedling can be kept. Keep the soil moist, and weed gently and carefully as they have shallow roots.
Sow beans in rich soil, with compost or well-rotted manure incorporated. A shallow trench along the side of the row enables watering without wetting the leaves and risking foliar diseases.
Landscape 101
Kaizukas are known as Hollywood cypressesKaizuka’ grows with such wilful abandon. Twisting and spiralling, the branches have a mind of their own, the more ungainly and wilder the better. Some say one of the reasons why they are so beloved in Los Angeles and Californian gardens is that their dense, dark bluish-green foliage looks fab contrasting with all the white and pastel plaster houses, and against all the dramatic cliffs and rocks. They are sculptural and gracious enough to be a specimen tree – that is just the one planted somewhere to celebrate its unique beauty – and are equally spectacular as a windbreak or hedge. Even better, perhaps as a group, erupting out of a bed of cream gravel and their outlandish limbs waving at each other. Topiary fans love them for cloud pruning, the Japanese art of training trees and shrubs into shapes resembling clouds. If you find their untidiness too hard to handle, then corral them in a low hedge, which accentuates both their natural buoyancy and the neatness of your hedge.
