Wind Damage

Although I am always glad to see the back of winter and enjoy the transition into spring, I always seem to forget that at the end of spring as we venture into summer, along comes the south easter wind!

The "Cape Doctor" is what we call this wind as it blows away all the city smog, but oh my word, it plays havoc with the plants in the garden and can make one very disheartened.

Apart from the fact that this wind dries out the soil - especially in containers, it can ruin newly planted seedlings, snap off branches from trees and shrubs and scorch the leaves on plants.

Some days the wind can be gale force and then we see real damage in the garden.

The best way to survive this wind is to make sure that plants are well staked and this should have been done in spring as well as mulching the soil well in order to retain the moisture in the soil.

Many plants rely on the wind for pollination, but sometimes the wind is too strong and blossoms are completely blown off - my olive tree is an example of this - the blossoms appear in masses during spring and then - wham! the wind blows every one away!!

This year I have made sure that my tomatoes and peppers are well staked and so far they are holding their own and doing well.