NOW is the time to start pruning back geraniums and pelargoniums.
These tough plants are a blessing in the garden for their drought resistance, long flowering period and relative hardiness against pests and diseases.
Prune back by half to two-thirds and then shape the bush to tidy. Don't throw away the stems you have pruned off, as they can be used to take cuttings, especially the newer tip growth.
These can be cut into lengths about 10-12cm long and placed in pots of propagation mix or even directly in the garden, as they strike very readily.
Small potted geraniums or pelargoniums are always lovely to pass on to family and friends or grow for sale at school or church fetes.
Plant a seed
THE flower garden remains a source of seeds for the next lot of crops, if you allow flowers to go to seed. Seeds from poppies (pictured right) are easy to collect and grow again the following year.
This includes Iceland poppies, Flanders poppies and the summer flowering Californian poppies.
Allow the seed capsule to dry off completely to the point where it almost splits open on its own.
This is when the seed has matured and is the ideal time to pick them and store in a paper bag for sowing the next season.
Sweet peas and foxgloves are another couple of plants ready to collect seed from now. If you want them to self seed in the garden then allow them to set seed and let it fall off and come up in the garden as the season becomes right for germination.
The vegie patch is also a good place to get seed for the following year and at the moment beans are maturing. Allow some to mature right through to the dry pod stage, collect and store for next summer's sowing. Pumpkin, pea, and tomato seeds are easy to collect over the coming months from current crops.
Spray it right
WEED spraying may not be as successful in hot weather as it is in colder weather.
For best results try to spray on cooler days rather than on days of excessive heat or when soils are dry and plants are under stress.
Always agitate the container of herbicide before mixing and agitate the solution once it is mixed and as you use it.
Do not use bore or greywater as many herbicides are salt formulations that become ineffective when used with "hard" water.
