1 KNOW it’s still a little carly to start worrying about what
the first frosts are likely to do to your lovely garden plants,
but the distinct chili in the wind last weekend has reminded
me that it is better to worry carly than to grieve late.

So now is the time to. begin
planning the salvage of as much of
your summer garden as you can
and prepare yourself for upcoming
visits by those not-so-welcome
guests; Jack Frost) and = Chilli
Rains.

As an example, if you were to
leave basil out in the herb garden
for too much longer you would
stand a great risk of losing it. Basil
doesn't need frost to end its
season; a few days of cold, wet
tain will do the job nicely.

By the way, basil is an annual
and would likely die quite quickly
if you tried to transplant it in-
doors. So don't bother trying to
save it, simply cut the plants back
to the ground and then hang the
cuttings in a cool, dry, well-vented
area until they are dry enough to
store in a spice jer.

Unlike the basil, some plants can
be lifted out of the ground and
transplanted into a clean pot with
a sterilized potting soil so they can
lead a sheltered life indoors over
the winter,

Generally, these should be plac-
ed in cool bright locations with
good air circulation and a reason-
able amount of humidity.

You must remember that this
will be a shock to the plant’s
system, therefore you should try to
ease the plant indoors. Bring it in-
doors every night and take it back
out each day for approximately
one week; this will acclimatize the
plant to its new environment.

As with all of the plants that you
bring in from outdoors you should
carefully inspect them for stow-
aways. Nasty littl creatures, like
spider mites, white flies, scales and
aphids view a winter indoors with
the same longing that we have for

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If possible, try to set up a
quarantine area in the house. By
leaving the newcomers here for
roughly six weeks, you can keep
your eye out for potential pro-

lessen the impact of transplant and
relocation shock, the plants will
sull suffer and precautions should
be taken not to compound this
with the additional problems of
over-watering, over-feeding, or too

garden gate
by Geoff Tobiasson

bleris and treat them before they
smiead to your other house plants.

While they are in quarantine, try
appying two applications of 20 int
Safer Soap with 2 ml Malathion 50
per cent EC in a litre of water,
sprayed to the point of run-off five
days apart.

Even though you may try to

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much hot, dry air.

As a plant goes into shock, its
growth processes will slow down,
therefore, it will not need as much
water or nutrients as it did outside.
With most varieties, you are better

off keeping the soil barely to even-
Ivy moist und they recover and do
not feed at all until next spring.

Some of the more obvious plants
worth considering as winter house
guests would be the hibiscus,
fuchsia, citrus plants, bougan-
villea, or any other plants which
we know as tropicals,

Other, less obvious candidates
could be fibrous begonias, impa-
tiens, coleus, geraniums, trailing
verbena, marguerites; in fact, any
of the bedding plants which are
grown from cuttings rather than
seeds have possibilities.

And back to the herb garden,
you may want lo ensure that you
salvage a good supply of the tender
perennials like rosemary, tarragon,
and sweet marjoram either by lif-
ting one or two plants or by taking
a few cuttings.

In the weeks ahead, I will
discuss the timing and best
methods for propagating these and
other plants by taking cuttings and
divisions.

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