• Put down mulch in areas where it is thinning, especially around newly planted out trees, shrubs, roses and perennials. 
• Replenish mulches on established plants, especially roses, Azaleas, Hydrangeas and Camellias. Mulch options include coarse compost, macadamia nut shells, peach pips, sunflower seed husks, straw, leaf mould and pine bark chips. 
• Water hydrangeas deeply and regularly and feed again this month with an acid-based fertiliser if you want blue flowers. 
• Stake, mulch and regularly water Dahlias. Watch out for red spider mite. Pinch out the first buds to encourage more flowering stems. 
• Move water-sensitive succulents under shelter during periods of high rainfall. 
• Use water-retention granules in flowerbeds when planting young summer annuals such as Salvias, Portulacas, Vincas and Celosias. Water-retentive products break the water-resistant layer of certain soils, draw the water deeper into the plants’ root zones and keep the soil moist for longer. 
• Going on holiday soon? Weed all the beds, feed them with a general fertiliser, water. 
• Feed containers and hanging baskets every two weeks with a liquid fertilizer.

Sowing

• It is also prime planting season for Impatiens right now.
• Plant lots of annual summer colour. Begonias, bedding Dahlias, Celosias, Nicotianas and Salvias are all available now.
• Plant out fresh sweet basil seedlings to get a crop going, and sow seeds of it too, to ensure an abundance of fresh and aromatic leaves. 
• Plant parsley as a snail-repelling border around lettuce, green beans or Swiss chard. 
• It is time to plant scented Star Jasmine, Hibiscus, Inca lilies, Rudbeckias, Dahlias, Echinaceas, gardenias and Bougainvilleas. 
• Plant for birds and butterflies using shrubs like Tecomas, September bush, Buddlejas and Pentas. You will have an endless stream of wildlife visiting your garden, and you can also call this your low to medium watering zone – Rewild your garden

• Keep newly planted summer bulbs like dahlias moist. Start a feeding programme once they have sprouted foliage. 
• Buy Amaryllis bulbs and keep them in the veggie drawer of your fridge until exactly six weeks before 25 December (13 November), when you should plant them to have a home full of flowering amaryllis exactly on Christmas Day. 
• Allow the foliage of spent spring bulbs to go yellow and to die back naturally. Continue to feed and water those bulbs you want to dig up so that they can store food for next season’s floral show. 

• Lift and divide bearded Irises. Prepare the soil with compost, bone meal and a sprinkling of agricultural lime before re-planting the fans with the top of the rhizome exposed ensuring that they flower well again. 
• The flower power and general health of perennial Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) which is also important as a pollinating plant, can deteriorate if not divided and replanted into compost enriched soil every 2 to 3 years. Divide them now by digging up the clumps, discarding old woody growth and replanting the healthy sections. 
• Bergamot can be divided in the same way and at the same time as yarrow. Combine Bergamot with Yarrow, Shasta Daisies, Gauras and tall grasses to create a summer prairie patch. 

• All shrubs pruned in spring will have sprouted new growth. Pinch back the new shoots to encourage bushier growth. 
• Fynbos like Buchus, Leucospermums, Ericas and Proteas can be pruned after flowering. Also prune confetti bushes quite hard. 
• Prune the lower branches off deciduous trees to allow more sunlight to penetrate the shaded parts of the garden. 
• Stop lavenders like Lavandula stoechas from becoming woody by pruning them just after a flowering spell – this will keep them healthy and around for longer. Prune about 2⁄3 of the growth away and never into old wood. 
• Prune Jasmines, Banksia roses, Deutzias and Spiraeas after flowering. 
• Prune Ivy Geraniums after a first flower flush. Keep on feeding them regularly to encourage another flower flush. 
• Cut back Poinsettias and prune Hibiscuses and Tibouchinas to encourage flowering in late summer and autumn. 

• When mowing, occasionally change your cutting direction – this prevents uneven growth and ridges from forming. 
• Trim the lawn edges regularly from now through the summer months. 
• Adjust the height of the lawnmower blades to the summer cutting level. 
• Fertilize the lawn monthly to ensure good, healthy growth through the season. 
• Continue to use selective herbicides to treat persistent patches of broad-leaf weeds. 
• Water newly planted lawns during dry weather. 
• Keep a look out for lawn caterpillars and mole crickets, they will start being active from now until February. 

• In the absence of rain, increase watering to three times a week, and water deeply. 
• Towards the middle of November, recharge the roses with an application of 30 g Ludwig’s Vigorosa 5:1:5 (25) around each rose bush. (Use half a dose for miniatures and newly planted bushes, and a double dose for large climbers and shrubs.) 
• Check the mulch and renew it if necessary to ensure that the roots of the roses are kept cool and moist. 
• Spray at twice a month with Ludwig’s Cocktail (Insect Spray plus Chronos) or Rose Protector for pest control. This should also prevent a sudden increase of red spider, but if there is an infestation of this pest, spray with Milbeknock two weeks in succession to kill newly hatched mites. 

• In the kitchen garden, sow seeds of summer and autumn vegetables as the cool season vegetables and herbs begin to lose condition. All members of the Cucurbit family, which includes Pumpkins, Squashes, Marrows and Cucumbers, flourish when sown now. It is also prime sowing season for maize and sweet corn. 
• Gooseberries grow easily from seed which can be sown this month. Use a seed tray filled with moist seedling mix and sow at the depth recommended on the seed packet. Cover with seedling mix or vermiculite and press down lightly and keep moist during germination. 
• Sow and plant the top 10 veggies that do well in spring – green beans, carrots, courgettes, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes and sweetcorn.

• Vegetable seedlings that are perfect for planting now include brinjals, peppers and chillies in a spectrum of different colours, shapes and sizes, with varying degrees of heat (or ‘fire power’). 
• In the absence of rain, water established vegetables once a week and seedlings at least twice a week. • Mulch around vegetables, especially those that do not shade the roots with their leaves. 
• Feed long-season crops like tomatoes, chillies, brinjals and squashes. 
• Harvest regularly to prolong the yield. 
• Remove weeds. 
• Thin out seedlings.