Summer Garden Planner: Gauteng, South Africa

Summer is finally here after lots of rain along with the fourth edition of the Seasonal Planner series! This planner is targeted towards the Gauteng (Highveld) area of South Africa!

Get the lowdown (or the highdown I suppose) on the Highveld Biome and Other South African Climates & Hardiness Zones here.

1. Similar to the Autumn, Winter and Spring garden planners, it is always a good idea to clear out spent plants to make way for new growth:

Remove dead, damaged and diseased plants (the 3Ds)
- Prune remaining healthy plants focusing on dead, damaged and distressed parts.
- All that plant waste goes to the compost heap!
- Only throw away or deeply bury diseased plant matter!Requires 1 person, 1 pruning shear and 30 minutes. Read more about general gardening rules here!

2. The regular rounds of fertilization are required to ensure long lasting growth during the rainy season:

I would recommend a two-weekly half-strength organic liquid feed (I use Biogrow Biotrissol) interspersed with monthly slow release top dressings until February
The soil requires nutrients for the plants and animals to thrive (especially the soil organisms). No soil food = no plant food = no human food!
- Add a generous 10 – 20 cm of matured organic compost. If the compost smells bad, don’t add it as it has not broken down properly yet. That applies especially for manure based compost because it has far too much nitrogen and will likely burn remaining plants.
- No compost? No problem, get yourself some organic slow-release fertilizer, I highly recommend Talborne Organic’s – Vita Fruit and Flower
- Got Earthworm Juice? Good, chuck some of that black-gold on there too!
- Read more about Compost, Soil Horizons and Conservation Agriculture here!

3. Pest populations are going to explode after the copious amounts of good rain, thus it is important to take a preventative and protective approach to plant health – especially by recruiting mother nature’s helping hand regarding biological control

Control pest population explosions along with new fresh plant growth
- NO SYNTHETIC PESTICIDES ALLOWED! STEP AWAY FROM THE DOOM!
- See my environmentally friendly pest control recipes for a myriad of other creepy-crawly-control
- Else, let their predators loose on them! You can find a list of Biological Control posts here!

4. Summer is the busiest and most productive season, additionally all spring fruit and veggies can still be planted. Squash, pumpkins and sweet potato love and need the summer head to produce a good crop, whereas some early tomatoes and fruit trees should already have ripe fruits.