Snow can be great for the garden, as it provides some moisture as well as the nitrogen and sulphur that is collected by the snowflakes as they fall.
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In these unprecedented dry times, any moisture is better than none at all.
Wind is definitely not so good.
The recent really cold windy weather may have "burnt" the leaves of evergreens by drawing the moisture out of the leaves but, because the ground is so terribly dry, there's no more moisture available to replace it and the leaves become desiccated.
If you notice plants that are showing these effects, target your buckets of shower water on to them.
Mulching will reduce moisture loss and screens of hessian can help reduce the wind velocity.
Hellebores are terrific easy-going evergreen cold climate perennials which begin blooming in July.
Helleborus orientalis flowers can be single or double and come in white, pale yellow, purple, slate-grey, dark plum, pink, green and even nearly black.
They often have spots or wavy edges in a contrasting colour, and are extraordinarily long lasting, ageing to lovely pale greenish tones.
These Hellebores do best where they have good light in winter and shade in summer, and so they are good for under deciduous trees.
They need well-drained conditions with lots of organic material.
Once they have established themselves they are tough and long-lived and form large clumps 45-60 cm tall.
Corsican hellebores, Helleborus argutifolius, grow to 60-80cm and are happy in sunny, well-drained soil on the dry side.
Clusters of pendulous pale-green cup-shaped blooms open in late autumn and last until early spring.
It needs to be cut to the ground after flowering, as new stems will then grow to re-form the plant.
Helleborus foetidus is taller at 80 cm and has attractive finely dissected leaves and bunches of pale green bell-shaped flowers in winter and early spring.
- Prune grape vines before the sap starts to rise.
- Prune deciduous ornamental trees before the buds start to swell, to allow more time for the tree to recover before the sap starts to flow and the buds break open. Don't prune spring-flowering shrubs and trees now, though, as you will prune off the flower buds!
The next meeting of the Armidale Garden Club is on August 22nd, at 7pm in the Uniting Church Youth Club Hall.
Everyone is welcome just come along!