The Star: January 26, 2017

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Thursday January 26 2017 35
Gardening
Tips to get you back
in the growing mode
• By Rachel Vogan
WITH THE start of a new year
many of us have grand plans
to make some changes in the
outdoor department. It may be to
grow some new plants or try new
colour combinations. Some may
consider building a new garden,
developing a new area or adding
in a pergola and seating. Others
may like to start saving their own
seeds or making compost for the
first time, and some may be lead
to be self-sufficient in the edible
department.
Whatever you think you may
like to do, write it down and refer
to it every now and again; put
it on the fridge, and if the same
things keep floating to the top,
then add it to your ‘barrow list’.
For me, 2017 is all about growing
plants in pots. My garden is pretty
full, so now it’s all about ‘pot
power’ – whether it be vegetables,
flowers, or something with strong
foliage. It’s official: I am going
potty!
Compost
The start of a new year is a
good time to hook into some
compost turning and making
a new pile. If you are starting
from scratch, remember the key
compost ingredients are browns
and greens. Browns are carbonrelated
things such as newspaper,
cardboard, sticks and twigs.
Greens are nitrogen-derived, so
that means anything with leaves –
such as grass clippings, weeds and
food scraps. The final ingredient
is water. Use equal parts of each
element: alternating layers of
brown and green organic matter,
then water your heaps to start the
composting process. Covering
open compost heaps with plastic
will speed up the process. Now is
a good time to turn any existing
heaps.
Stone fruit
It’s ripening fast now, so to ensure
the best flavour, allow all the
fruit to fully ripen on the tree. If
birds are an issue, get some bird
scare tape; they hate it and so do
wandering cats! For crops that
are still developing that have a
particularly heavy fruit-set, thin
out heavy clusters to allow the
fruit to fully develop into a decent
size rather than having a whole
lot of smaller fruit.
If fruit shows any signs of
rotting, remove instantly to
prevent the rot from spreading
through the tree. Most stone fruit
should be pruned in summer
after fruiting – the main reason
for this is to prevent the spread of
any fungal diseases such as silver
leaf.
Sweet peas
What generous blooms these are! For me, a
season without sweet peas would be like a life
without wine – not worth thinking about. Now
they are all in full bloom, remember the trick to
keeping them flowering is to keep picking them.
Regular picking triggers new flower buds to
appear, whereas leaving the spent blooms on the
plant shortens the flowering season, as the plants
then just put their energy into producing seed.
Dahlias
The flowering marathon of dahlias is well
underway. Few other summer stalwarts bring
so much pleasure for so little effort. If only all
relationships survived on the smell of an oily rag.
As a cut flower, dahlias last for days. If you change
the water regularly they will last a good week. Pick
the flowers once they are almost fully open as the
buds don’t tend to open fully if picked too early.
Vegetables
New potatoes are on the menu! When digging, aim
to make sure you get all the wee spuds out of the soil.
As soon as soil space is available, sow another crop so
they will be ready to use over the winter months. Sow
seeds of Brussels sprouts as these seedlings need to be
well in the ground by the end of the month to ensure a
hearty crop by the time winter arrives. Remove broad
bean plants that have done their dash; chop them up
and add them to the compost heap. Sow new rows
of radish, carrot and beetroot, and make sure you
replenish the soil with a bag or two of compost before
you re-sow. Avoid planting broccoli, cabbage and
cauliflower while the soil is so hot, as they are a coolclimate
crop best planted once the soil cools a little.
•More gardening, p36
Companion Herbs
We all know herbs are great to grow
in the garden, they’re usually easy
maintenance, fun for kids to grow and
a great supply of fresh tasting flavour to
add to your favourite dishes. But did you
know that they have more importance
and use than just helping dinner taste
great? Yep, herbs are the ultimate
companion plants! From attracting
pollinators, fending off unwanted pests
and helping other plants taste better.
One of the most important reasons for
planting any plant is to attract pollinators.
Bees and butterflies are important and we
want to invite as many into our garden as
possible. Borage is a great choice to do this.
It isn’t a plant you’ll find in too many gardens
but it should be. It has a wonderful refreshing
cucumber like taste, the oil from its seeds
are sought after for its anti-inflammatory
qualities and bees absolutely love it! This
is because of the stunning blue star shaped
flowers. Bees love bright colours but contrary
to what people think bees actually don’t
see red and orange very well they see blue,
purple, white and yellow best! So for bees
those are the colours to plant.
Rosemary is also a great addition to the
garden. Its purple flowers attract bees early
in the spring so they know to keep coming
back throughout the summer, it’s
30
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Basil Bowls
One of our most popular herbs is ready to go.
Use basil in pesto, with chicken or in Italian cooking.
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Swan Plants
Just in time for the hungry monarch
caterpillars to come. Plant now to ensure
an ongoing supply.
Open 7 Days, 8am – 5pm
Head in-store or visit oderings.co.nz
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Oderings Fruit & Veggie Mix
The perfect soil media when planting
vegetables, fruit or anything edible is the
Oderings Fruit & Veggie Mix.
Barrington
92 Stourbridge St
Linwood
485 Linwood Ave
a hardy plant looks great planted en masse
or shaped into topiary styles. It good for
repelling unwanted insects like mosquitos
and of course it’s great for roasts! But be
careful not to plant next to potatoes as these
two do not like each other.
Basil is one of the ultimate companion
herbs! It tastes amazing, Bees and butterflies
love it but other insects like white fly, aphids,
fruit fly and mosquitos hate it! However,
people sometimes have difficultly growing
it, this is because basil is a tropical loving
plant and needs to be protected from the
cold. A tip therefore is to grow basil in a
bowl, this way you can easily move it in and
out as necessary. For outdoor planted basil,
definitely buy frost cloth. Basil also helps
plants such as tomatoes and peaches resist
disease and taste better! Simply plant them
as a border around the susceptible plants.
I could go on forever about all the different
companion herbs as the list is endless but
I won’t. What I will say is bear in mind that
planting these won’t guarantee you’ll be
insect and disease free but will help. So load
your gardens up with as many different
herbs as you can and don’t just plant them
in their groups! Mixed them up, experiment
and have fun! It’s a simple and natural way
to protect and enjoy your garden.
For more information visit our website
www.oderings.co.nz.
22
OFF
Herbs
We offer a great range of aromatic and culinary
treasures, pick and use them often.
Cashmere
205 Cashmere Rd
Philpotts Rd
116 Philpotts Rd
Specials valid until 1.2.17 or while stocks last. We cannot sell or redeem Go Gardening gift vouchers. Other vouchers – Yes.
Backed by Oderings Quality Guarantee
Set the scene for summer entertaining
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Petunia Duo Mixed
Masses of fully-double, brightly coloured
large flowers over many months. An ideal
plant for garden edging, or in pots.
Yaldhurst
20 Main West Coast Rd
We know them ‘cause we grow them.
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