NOW'S the time to whip your alfresco garden space into shape so you can sit back and admire everything you're growing.
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To ensure gardens of all sizes keep healthy and look beautiful, Yates gardening expert Angie Thomas recommends some quick and easy steps.
"In the lead up to Christmas, spend some time preparing the garden for visitors by pruning hedges and trimming garden edges a week before entertaining outdoors," she said.
"It's also the ideal time to start planning new produce to grow and sow seeds to keep a fresh supply of delicious vegies and herbs at your fingertips, whether you grow them on a balcony or large outdoor space.
"If you're taking a trip over the summer, help keep flowers blooming and fruit and vegies healthy by applying mulch on top of pots and garden beds to reduce moisture loss from the soil."
If you're growing tomatoes, sow further crops to extend the fruiting season well into autumn. Any tall seedlings are fine to plant in a deep hole, leaving the top 20-25cm out of the soil.
Enrich the soil first with Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food, which improves soil structure and provides gentle slow-release nutrients to the tomatoes as they grow.
Sweet baby beets are ideal to plant now in a sunny spot and will be ready to harvest in just six to seven weeks.
Soak clusters of seeds in water for two hours before sowing into trays. When the seedlings are 5cm tall, transplant them over to a bed or pot.
Add quick-growing silverbeet to your vegie patch to produce a vitamin-rich leafy green that's the perfect home-grown addition to salads and stir-fries. Apply Yates Thrive
All Purpose Liquid Plant Food every two weeks to ensure your crop develops lots of lovely tender foliage.
In tropical zones, cherry tomatoes, watermelon, eggplant, lettuce, cucumber, Asian greens and buk choy are great to sow now. Angie's tip: If potted vegies get too hot and start wilting, move them into the shade. Lettuce, rocket, parsley, mint, basil and silverbeet will all tolerate part shade, and a spot with sun in the morning and afternoon cover is perfect.
A few packets of Yates herb seeds, along with a stylish pot, make a sweet gift. Angie recommends a mix of dark green curly parsley, basil minette and thyme.
More great garden tips at www.yates.com.au
