The result of a wet February

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Caroline

  • Full Member
The result of a wet February
« on: March 06, 2016, 05:56:39 AM »
The attached photo, taken yesterday evening, is remarkable mainly because the grass (I cannot dignify it with the name "lawn") is green.  Usually by this time of year it is a parched straw colour, with occasional patches of green where the insidious kikuyu grass has taken hold.  I then go out on kikuyu "search and destroy" missions, otherwise it takes over everything.  But this February we have had twice the normal rainfall, not torrential, but steady wetting stuff, the result of El Nino and Cyclone Winston. As a result the ground is no longer as hard as concrete, and all sorts of plants and seeds are starting into life far earlier than expected.  I am thinking of doing tasks which I normally do in late April or early May.

Not so good for grapes, tho' - we are about ten days from picking the chardonnay, and the vineyard team have been flat tack making sure that powdery mildew hasn't got a hold.  So far so good...
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

Joanna Savage

  • Sr. Member
Re: The result of a wet February
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2016, 07:10:17 AM »
Yes, Caroline, Kikuyu is a menace if you are not feeding cattle or trying to stabilise water courses. Which are the main grasses in that lush green sward? Do you have ryegrass  and fescue and the like, as in southern Australia?

Caroline

  • Full Member
Re: The result of a wet February
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2016, 11:46:25 PM »
Hi Joanna

Where I had to re-sow following the house-build, it's tough lawn grasses, mostly fescue and rye-grass.  Some paspalum has also insinuted itself -not as bad as kikuyu but still unwanted.  Further down the slope we just mowed the original pasture from the old sheep farm and it is relatively weed-free.  Round here, if you disturb the soil sixty million unwanted weed seeds  are encouraged to leap into action.
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline