Kowhai Thompson’s first landscape design instalment Mass Planting One way to create a ‘tied together’ look in your home garden is to add areas of mass plantings. This works both for brand new gardens and for established gardens. Think of purchasing 5 or 10 identical plants at a time of the same variety/colour at a … Read More
From Michael Coulter January has been a month of real challenges in the garden this Summer with winds, hot days followed by cool days and some rain. Despite this I have had plenty of good growth and fruit to harvest although some plants are running a little later than usual. Much of the work to … Read More
From Michael Coulter December is the start of the Summer weather and plants are now well into their rapid growth with many of the Spring-planted crops ready for harvest. Many of the pest and diseases that attack our plants will also begin to appear so we will need to take action to mitigate the damage … Read More
From Michael Coulter Spring weather has at last given us some rain so the top soil now has some good moisture but the sub soil is still dry, this means that we will still have to water our gardens to keep the moisture up where the plants are growing. The warmer temperatures plus humidity from … Read More
From Michael Coulter Spring is well and truly here. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the city is clothed in a kaleidoscope of Spring flowers of all colours and types. We are still in need of rain to get the soil moisture up to a good level for the coming growing season. I … Read More
From Michael Coulter September, the start of the very busy time in the Spring garden. As I write this it is raining, I hope that we get a good amount as we really need some to give the soil a moisture boost to start the season off. I have noticed that some of the Spring … Read More
From Michael Coulter August sees the transition of the seasons from Winter to early Spring. The days are getting longer and the sun has more warmth. This time of the season can be very challenging in the garden; it can be very cold to quite warm which tells us that we must get on and … Read More
July is Fruit Tree Time at Oderings [one_half] Once again Oderings will have a great range of fruit trees available for purchase from the start of July. Recommended for urban dwellers is the dwarf pear tree. Pear Garden Belle is the first truly dwarf variety of pear in New Zealand, growing to just 3m tall … Read More
Winter has started with some changeable weather and frosts but so far there has not been any extremes. Now that the shortest day is past, our thoughts turn to the Winter work around the garden. Pruning fruit trees and roses are the main plants for this time of the season but other shrubs and trees … Read More
May is the busy month of the Autumn as Winter approaches there are many tasks in the garden to be completed before the cold weather arrives. Leaves need to be collected and made into compost. Paths kept clean and treated for moss and lawns repaired and treated for weeds. The planting of Spring bulbs and … Read More