Gardens all over the country — with, perhaps, the exception of those located at cold, high elevations — should be bursting with both bloom and organic produce this month. If yours is not, then you know the reason for it but yes, with serious effort, you can still put the wrongs to right before the cool season growing period expires in a blast of late spring heat.

Those of you who are not, for whatever reason, participating in one of the increasingly competitive annual spring garden competitions, such as the Horticultural Society of Pakistan, Karachi spring garden competition, which, for many gardeners, are the high point of the gardening year, may not have put in the hours — or expense — required for even an outside, no pun intended, chance at winning a coveted gold medal. But I have no doubt that they still have managed to create some classic masterpieces of laid-back gardening style which, with a timely injection of work, seeds and nursery bought plants, would knock spots off competition winners. Let’s face it, there is far more to the art of gardening than winning a passing dose of societal accolade which cannot be served up in the kitchen!

Food — organic, home-grown food — really is, and always has been, the backbone of ‘sensible’ gardens through the ages. Despite the dictates of floral fashion, this remains an extremely important case for the rapidly shrinking segment of the global population who are still blessed with a patch of land, a flat rooftop, large balcony or other useable area, where the cultivation of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs can be awarded the priority it deserves. While you may not get any medals for healthy food production you will, depending on the work put in, certainly make a recognisable difference to your family’s health and also to that bug-bear known as a budget.

As a gardener you always have your hands full; either sowing seeds or taking care of the plants

Luscious grapes

December is, for residents of cities and plains, an excellent month for sowing a wide variety of vegetable and herb seeds either directly in the ground or in carefully prepared clay pots and other suitable containers. This month and through until mid or the end of February at the latest, is the perfect time for planting nursery grown fruit trees and fruiting vines, too.

Vegetable seeds to sow this month are basically the same as were recommended for November but, for those of you who may have missed the list, it includes the following: cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, Swiss chard / leaf beet, pak choi, chopsuey greens, giant red mustard, mustard mizuna, fast growing calabresse, kale and rutabaga / Swedes. You can also go for Chinese and Japanese varieties of rapidly growing winter radish and do look out for the delectable black skinned ones please; French radish, spring onions, beans, peas, turnips, carrots, beetroot, potatoes, celery, chicory, endive, lettuce and tomatoes. For tomatoes you will have to provide some night protection if temperatures suddenly decide to plunge which, judging from previous winters, is quite liable to happen in Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Peshawar. Tomato plants, especially those bearing scrumptious cherry tomatoes, are surprisingly hardy but, no matter what seed packets claim, not invincible to cold snaps.

On the herb front, flat-leaved parsley — not the slower growing curly variety — can still be sown, as can borage, lemon balm, watercress, lovage, dill, aniseed, chamomile, chervil, coriander, chives, garlic chives, oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender but only the fast growing types and mint. In southern parts of the country, you can sow lots and lots of different kinds of sun-loving basil with green, purple, red, smooth, flat, curly, large and small, highly aromatic leaves to be used, liberally, in an incredible range of both food and drink.

Sun kissed rose

A high percentage of the above can be sown directly where they are to grow whilst others — cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes and basil being good examples — are more usually started off in seed trays/pots or prepared seed beds. Once large enough, these can be transplanted into their final growing location with, if the transplanting guide in a recent column is followed, great success. It has, however, become clearly evident from questions submitted, that some of you wonderfully over-enthusiastic gardeners are attempting to transplant root vegetables — such as radish, carrots, beetroot and turnips — which is not at all advisable. This is not to say that transplanted root vegetable seedlings will not survive — although survival rate is liable to be very low — but they will not fully recover from the shock of having been disturbed and the resultant crops, if any at all, will be of very poor, tough and stringy, quality. It pays to sow root vegetable seeds at recommended distances and then, if any overcrowding does accidentally occur, to thin out and discard excess seedlings rather than to waste time, space and energy, in attempting to transplant them.

Fruit trees to put in the ground — or, if dwarf varieties can be tracked down, in suitably large pots/containers — this month and over the next few weeks, include apples, pears, peaches, olives, apricots, cherries, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, mango, loquat, kumquat, custard apple, chikoo, coconut, date, guava, star fruit and banana.

Olives

Fruiting vines such as grapes — and yes they can be grown with great success in Karachi — should go in now, as can both passion fruit and the relatively recently introduced Kiwi fruit vines, although these may be happier from Bahawalpur north rather than in coastal regions to the south.

Other jobsw in the garden this month, aside from permanently ongoing maintenance which is all too often neglected, include the pruning and feeding of established roses and the addition of new rose bushes / climbers, if desired. Do not overlook the fact that rose petals are perfectly edible, as are hibiscus flowers, if, that is, they have not been poisoned by applications of toxic, chemical sprays. Maintain a daily watch for seasonal pests and diseases which tend to plague annual flowers at this time of year and, when found and identified, if they do not respond to acceptable organic treatment, pull out those that are heavily infected and dispose of them well away from the garden and not, it must be emphasised, on the compost heap or in the compost bin as it would further encourage the problem to multiply.

Flower lovers — no you have not been overlooked — may like to find room to sow some, or all, of the following cool season through to spring, beauties, all of which can be cultivated either directly in prepared ground or in selected clay pots/containers: sweet peas, larkspur, Queen Anne’s lace, cornflowers, sweet sultan, alyssum, ageratum, phacelia, bellis, nemophila, cosmos, candytuft and poppies galore.

December is also an excellent month during which to spend as many hours as you possibly can in wandering around all of the nurseries in your locality, checking what is on offer, which plants are in bloom and identifying those you want to open your arms to and take right home.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer will not respond directly by email. Emails with attachments will not be opened.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, December 7th, 2014