Two satisfying jobs we can undertake this month in the garden are to sow green manure crops and to take hardwood cuttings.
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With the autumn break and early winter rains on the way, weeds can quickly take over and become a major problem in the vegetable garden.
Many grasses, fat hen and other weeds, germinate at this time of the year and because of the pests and diseases these weeds harbour, you should not rely on these plants to be dug in and used as green manure crops.
Instead, it is far better to sow seeds of tick beans, barley, oats, vetch and any of the peas to be dug in to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil, boosting the small army of microbes and keeping it healthy.
At least one legume should be sown together with one or two grasses or cereals.
The seed mix is usually in equal portions adding one quarter by bulk of superphosphate which can be sown with the seeds.
Packaged green manure seeds are available from most nurseries.
The seeds should be sown to give a moderate stand and following the sowing can be lightly raked in.
The crop should be ready to dig into the soil in about eight to ten weeks.
A Cut Above
Hardwood cuttings of many plants including Tasmanian natives can be taken now.
For the home gardener two or three pots covered with a plastic cover and placed in a mild, but not too sunny position, in the garden will usually give pleasing results.
The cuttings should be five to ten centimetres long. taken from thoroughly ripened wood and planted into 12-14cm pots.
The basal (bottom) leaves should be removed and the basal cut should be directly below a node or bud.
The potting soil can either be coarse sand or preferably a 50/50 mixture of this and coir peat.
The pots are filled in the usual way with the potting mix then firmed flush with the top of the pot.
A blunt-nosed dibber, such as a pencil, is used and the cuttings inserted to at least two-thirds of their length.
A rooting hormone can be applied just before planting the cuttings if desired.
When the pot is filled with cuttings, the soil can be tamped down by knocking the bottom of the pot on the bench top, then water thoroughly.
Hoops made from wire coat hangers are handy to form a frame over the potted cuttings which can be covered with a plastic wrap.
I use zip lock bags by placing the pots inside the bag.
Native plant of the week
Lomatia tinctoria is a delightful, evergreen shrub endemic to Tasmania.
It gets its common, and curious, name of the guitar plant from the shape of the fruit which open to resemble this musical instrument.
The scientific name of the genus, given to it by Robert Brown in 1810, is derived from the Greek 'loma' meaning an edge referring to the winged edge of the seed and the Latin tinctoria for dye-producing referring to a powder found in the fruit.
The cream, scented flowers occur in long, showy spikes at the end of branches and the feathery foliage is very attractive, as is the fruit.
Its natural habitat is dry sclerophyll forests and sub-alpine woodlands, but it also does quite well in the suburban landscape.
Planted in well-drained, acidic soil in conditions from full sun to semi-shade, it has the potential to reach a height of about two metres.
Lomatia tinctoria belongs in the Protaceae family along with hakeas, grevilleas, banksias and waratahs, and is one of three Lomatia species endemic to Tasmania, the other two being Lomatia polymorpha and Lomatia tasmanica.
