The Star: September 15, 2016

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34 Thursday September 15 2016 Gardening follow us on facebook.com/riseupchristchurch The Star Gardening Advice with QUESTION I would like to know what to do when Buxus hedge turns brown. Do we need to add something to the soil? Congratulations! Today’s winning question came from Trevor Townsend ANSWER Buxus leaves turning brown often occurs during the winter months or when plants are seriously nutrient deficient. Unfortunately, there is no point applying fertiliser in winter months so you must be patient until the warmer weather arrives in mid-October. Fertilise your Buxus plants regularly with Daltons Premium Tree & Shrub Fertiliser through until mid-December. Recommence applications in the New Year (around mid-Feb), fertilising right through until mid-April. Remember, Buxus plants can be considered a gross feeder (a plant that requires more fertiliser and nutrients to grow successfully) and therefore generous amounts of fertiliser should be applied. Make sure after any fertiliser application that you water it in well. Other products to try: Premium Goldcote Landscape & Garden Fertiliser, Daltons Mulch & Grow. Check out our How To Grow guides at our website www.daltons. co.nz/how-to-guides for more helpful tips and advice. Each pack is valued at $85 and contains: • Daltons Premium Garden Mix • Daltons incredible edibles ® Vegetable Fertiliser • Daltons Organic Bio-Fungicide Granules • Besgrow Coir Mulch • PLUS a pair of comfortable, versatile Red Back gardening gloves from Omni Products (www.omniproducts.co.nz) Send us your gardening question to be in to win! Be in to win an PRIZE $85 PACK! The best cropping veggie garden is one that’s well prepared, and nutrient rich soil is critical to its success. If you’re planning your first garden, choose a site that is north facing and is not too windy or exposed. We have Daltons Premium Vegetable Packs to give away which contain everything you need to get up and growing! Email your question and glove size to: chchstar@daltons.co.nz Entries must be received by 21 st September 2016 Gazania likes heat • By Tod Palenski IF YOU’RE looking to add some spark to your garden this summer, look no further than gazania. This flame-like plant produces incredibly striking orange, yellow, cream and red flowers and loves hot, dry, sunny and even windy growing conditions. For a perfect planting buddy, partner it with livingstone daisies. These bright coloured plants thrive in the same conditions as gazania. Because of this, both plants are great for mass planting on dry slopes, bedding, ground cover, edging and in pots. And for the same reasons, gazania The magazine for gardeners who like To geT Their hands dirTy www.gardener.kiwi 100% and livingstone daises are both perfect to plant now as the weather warms up. They’re especially good to grow if you plan on being out and about or away a bit over the warmer months – once planted, they require little to no care. Grab your gazania and livingstone daisy plants Make sure the area you choose to plant in is well-drained, rather than hard and wet. Dig a hole and pop a seedling in. Plant them quite close together – about 200mm apart – as they don’t tend to spread far when they grow. In around six to eight weeks your garden should have some extra spark of summer colour. New Zealand Alpine Garden Society CHS Daffodil Show Rhododendron Society Show Woolston Club, 43 Hargood Street Saturday 17 September 1pm – 5pm Sunday 18 September 10am – 4pm PlEnty oF FREE PARking Alpine & Rock Garden Plant Exhibits Rhododendrons - Species & Hybrids Stunning Daffodil Display School Competitions Bonsai, Cacti & Succulent Displays Admission $5.00 (Children under 15 FREE) www.nzags.com Ouruhia ‘The greatest little nursery in town’ www.ouruhianursery.co.nz SPECIALIST LANDSCAPE NURSERY NEW SEASON: • Fruit Trees • Berry Plants • Ornamental Trees • Roses HUGE NATIVE SELECTION Plus lots more! On site garden design Cnr Marshland & Turners Road 8.30-5pm • 7 DAYS • Ph 323 8588 Eftpos, credit cards and most garden gift vouchers welcome
The Star follow us on facebook.com/riseupchristchurch Thursday September 15 2016 35 BACKED BY ODERINGS QUALITY GUARANTEE Time to plant cold-tolerant veges ALTHOUGH hints of spring are occurring regularly, late frosts can still occur and cold winds are often a feature of September. Even though it may feel warmer, soil temperatures rise at a slower rate than air temperatures. It’s time for final preparation of your vege garden before planting starts in earnest in October. If the soil is still wet, delay digging as there is no advantage working with very wet soil. Plant out veges that can withstand late cold conditions while still maturing in the warmer summer month’s including; beetroot, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, lettuces, onions, peas radish, silver-beet and spinach. Winter flowing annuals such as primulas are now coming to the end of their flowering. You can plant out some of the more robust summer flowering annuals in September like alyssum, calendula, cornflower, nemesia, snapdragons, strawflowers and sweetpeas. In many areas, roses have burst into new growth at the first indication of warmer weather. Early season is the best time for roses, bushes are usually clean of fungal diseases and flowers will soon be abundant. Mulch now with fresh compost then apply rose and flower fertiliser in • By Tod Palenski SPRING HAS arrived, which means salad season is just around the corner. And there’s nothing like picking fresh salad ingredients straight out of your garden. I’ve talked a lot about the different salad plants (typically lettuces) – iceberg, baby cos, red, triumph, just to name a few. But for some reason I’ve never mentioned endive in one of these articles. And I’m not really sure why. Endive is a great addition to any salad. I like to partner its fine curled, mid-green leaves with rocket. To my mind, endive is a bit bitter and rocket is a little peppery, together GET BUSY: With longer hours of daylight there are more jobs to be done in the garden. early October. Bulbs are blooming and adding fragrance and colour to the garden. Newer plantings can be left in the ground to naturalise in permanent positions so don’t lift them. Winter flowering trees and shrubs will be nearing the end of their flowering period so it’s time for remedial pruning before the new seasons growth begins. Prune to establish a natural form and shape of your trees and shrubs. With smaller gardens, you may wish to prune to maintain trees at a smaller size. Apply a copper fungicide as a preventer to summer fungal diseases on berry fruit including raspberries, boysenberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries, As the soil temperatures rise, this is an ideal time to sow a new lawn, or renovate an existing lawn. Check the drainage and improve any permanently TASTY: Pick the leaves as you need them. they’re a great combo. What’s equally important, and another reason why I’m surprised I haven’t mentioned endive in the past, is it’s so easy and quick to grow. Unlike most lettuces, it doesn’t need to create a heart in the centre so it’s very quick wet areas before sowing. Leave fertilising your lawn until late September/early October. With smaller sections, and more people downsizing, containers can be a very useful way for growing veggies and flowering annuals. Always renew with fresh container mix before planting new season flowers and veggies. During the growing season apply slow release fertiliser to help plants remain healthy and grow vigorously. It’s still a little cool for planting out your new season herbs into the garden; however planting in large containers can provide an early start for chervil, coriander, dill, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme. Check your existing herb garden; some plants may need to be cut back severely while others should be replaced when temperatures rise. Leave planting basil until October. Easy to grow endive to produce. Simply pick the leaves off as you need them. To plant, look for a well-drained spot in the garden. If the soil is still a bit wet and cold from winter, try growing endive in a pot. Just add some good quality potting mix, plant a couple of seedlings around 5cm apart and away you go. Depending on where you are in New Zealand and how warm the soil is yet, it will take around four to six weeks for your endive to be ready to harvest. Remember, you can tell the soil is warming up when you need to start mowing your lawns again. Take a chance on endive. You might just like what you grow. GARDENING GUIDE Strawberries I love strawberries in summer, but my advice is don’t wait until then to plant them. Spring and autumn are the ideal times to plant strawberries to ensure you get bigger crops in summer. Strawberries are one of the quickest of all the berry fruits to produce a crop. The plant is usually only retained for one or two years before it is replaced with a new one. This is because they produce at their best on their first and second year and decline each year thereafter. Strawberry Varieties Strawberry Aromas offers consistently large to very large fruit which is red with pale flesh. It has a great flavour with a firm texture. Best of all it is heavy yielding, and is especially suited to the Christchurch climate. Strawberry Camarosa has large to very large dark red fruit which are firm with a medium red flesh and excellent flavour and a high resistance to wet weather. It has a vigorous growth habit so needs plenty of space between plants. Soil Preparation They need a sunny, warm, well-drained position that is humus rich and slightly acidic. Dig in plenty of compost or Oderings ‘Fruit & Veggie’ mix at the time of planting. Plant strawberries in mounded rows or ridges; this helps with drainage, prevents root disease and keeps the roots warmer, increasing growth and production. Plant 15cm apart with the crown above ground level. Growing together since 1929 Evergreen Azaleas Dwarf evergreen shrubs, with masses of spring flowers. Great range of colours available. Good in pots or the garden. Lobelias 8 Border Varieties Vibrant mixture of bright flowers on compact plants. Good for pots, baskets or as a garden border. Glass House Tomatoes Be the first to grow and crop your own tasty tomatoes this year. Only suitable for a warm, frost free area. Head in-store or visit oderings.co.nz Barrington 92 Stourbridge St (03) 332 9099 4.59 2 .99 9 PACK Cashmere 205 Cashmere Rd (03) 338 5193 12.99 9 .99 EACH Specials valid until 21.09.2016 or while stocks last. We cannot sell or redeem Go Gardening gift vouchers. Other vouchers – Yes. Mulching The main reason black polythene is used when planting strawberries is to keep the plants and the fruit clean. It is also good for keeping a high soil temperature for better fruit production. The disadvantage is that polythene doesn’t breathe so the soil deteriorates faster. The alternative to polythene is newspaper, weed mat or mulch; these let the soil breathe and help keep moisture in during summer. My Top Tasty Tip If you want flavour, flavour and more flavour from your strawberries there are two tips that are a must. The first is to fertilise your plant with potash, this has two jobs; the first being it adds the nutrients needed to help the plants flower and fruit, and the second is potash also helps makes the fruit sweeter and juicier. Yates have a product called ‘Liquid Potash’, the reason I love this product is it works so much faster than the traditional powder potash. My second tip is to reduce the watering of the plants one week prior to harvest; this will also help retain the juicy sweet flavour of the fruit. To see more top tips on how to grow strawberries in the garden, pot and containers then read more at www.oderings.co.nz Linwood 485 Linwood Ave (03) 982 3498 Nemesia Nebula Mixed Very bright vibrant flowers over a long period give a great display in any garden or pot. Eye catching. 4.59 3 .99 6 PACK Strawberries Camarosa and Aromas produce large and juicy, great flavoured fruit from early in the season. Open 7 Days, 8am – 5.30pm Philpotts Road 116 Philpotts Rd (03) 385 2386 4.59 2 .99 9 PACK Yaldhurst 20 West Coast Rd (03) 342 9198 Like us on Facebook 9.99 7 .99 6 PACK ODR/STA/7280
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