• Camellia sasanqua will be in full flower by now – enjoy the displays of warm reds, pinks and whites dotted around Sydney streets. There’s no need to deadhead the spent flowers, but Camellias can tend to make a mess of petals around them – remember to sweep them up to avoid a slip hazard! Autumn is also a great time to plant these beauties, and the nurseries will be well-stocked with different cultivars at this time of year. Camellias are a reliable plant in Sydney provided they get adequate water to establish them, and a well-drained position, and as they mature they are surprisingly drought tolerant.
  • This is the time for cool season brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, but watch out for the cabbage white butterfly. A few fluttering pairs of white wings around the veggie patch may look pretty, but these butterflies lay their eggs on brassica foliage and the caterpillars can fill those leaves full of holes in a flash. Putting out decoy white butterflies made of white cloth or paper around your plants is purported to deter the territorial females, but also monitor your crops and keep some eco-friendly caterpillar spray up your sleeve in case the telltale caterpillar holes begin to appear.
  • Fruiting season will be coming to an end for many common fruit trees. Keep an eye underneath your fruit trees and remove any fallen fruit – rotting fruit can harbour difficult pests like the Queensland fruit fly, which will impact harvests the following year. This is also the time to begin monitoring your citrus for signs of citrus gall wasp – by May the ‘galls’ will have appeared, appearing as swollen sections in the green stems, mainly seen in lemons and grapefruit. The wasp larvae are growing inside these galls and will begin to emerge as adult wasps in September or October – if you spot signs of galls before then, the best method of control is to remove the affected stem or branch and dispose of it into green waste.

OUTHOUSE offers in-person consultations with qualified horticulturalists to help you get the most value out of your landscape. We can provide verbal advice, planting plans or a full landscape design. Get in touch with us to discuss your needs.

View past tips for May here!