The Star: September 19, 2019

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The Star Thursday September 19 2019 30 GARDENING Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz No time to dawdle, there’s plenty to do AS OUR recent weather has served to prove spring is often very unsettled, but by the end of the month, temperatures have usually risen and the growth in the garden abounds. There are a million tasks to do in the garden; all enjoyable, especially the planting of the summer vegetable garden. It’s probably the most active time of the year in the vegetable garden. Prepare the area well by adding in new compost in significant quantities. All summer vegetables can now be safely planted, including courgettes/zucchini, cucumbers, beans, beetroot, carrots, celery, corn, leeks, lettuce, melons, onions, radish, pumpkin and tomato. To avoid vegetables all maturing at one time, stagger your plantings as continuous cropping and supply is much preferable. As plants become established, apply light side dressings of vegetable fertiliser to help develop strong healthy plants. Water young plants regularly and deeply to encourage a strong root system. The last of winter flowing annuals can now be removed and the soil prepared for new plantings. As with the vegetable plot, add plenty of compost to the soil and dig it over well to create a fine tilth (breadcrumb like texture) ready for planting. Summer flowering annuals can include alyssum, asters, cornflowers, californian poppy, cosmos, livingstone daisy, lobelia, marigolds, nemesia, petunias, portulaca, phlox, salvias, sweet peas and zinnias. Early varieties of strawberries will begin to ripen towards the end of next month. Check plants for any signs of grey mould (botrytis). Remove any infected leaves and ensure there is enough pea straw, mulch or hay around plants to keep developing berries clean and healthy It’s a busy time for lawn lovers. The first application of lawn fertiliser can now be made; hopefully at the same time as spring rain, otherwise water it thoroughly after applying. TASKS: Get the mower out, spring growth means they will need mowing every week. Get plants into containers. Sow seed where there are bare parts of the lawn, add new topsoil before broadcasting the seed and lightly water to activate germination. Mow your lawn regularly to encourage vigorous growth. Classical winter flowering shrubs such as rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas are now coming to the end of flowering. They may require some minor pruning before they break into spring growth. Apply fertiliser to these plants in late next month and apply mulch all around your shrubs. Now is a great time to plant containers and pots with summer flowering annuals such as petunias which are a favourite to provide colour throughout summer months. Start your new season’s display by removing existing potting mix, thoroughly cleaning the container before refilling with new mix and planting. In the herb garden, remove any old plants from the previous season herb garden. Plant out new seasons herbs, including those that are frost tender such as basil. Clip your herb plants frequently for culinary use and to encourage fresh young growth. Backyard art – something to marvel at WOULD YOU dare to buy a friend or relative a piece of garden art as a gift? The idea that you can make art yourself for next to nothing is not wishful thinking. So if you find yourself at a sculpture exhibition, or one of the many garden festivals and fetes that have sprung up, and you see a toilet roll holder bolted to what appears to be a concrete drainage pipe lovingly smeared in purple paint, for goodness sake don’t imagine you could do the same yourself. Just buy it and get it home to rescue that desperately dull stretch of griselinia. But before parting with your cash bear in mind – where you are going to put it; what it will look like when it is in place; and if you know when to say ‘‘stop’’. Art, they tell you, is very personal. Not so in the garden, where everyone invited around must suffer or marvel at your personal taste on show. It pays to buy not what your gut instinct says you love but what will gel best with the geraniums. Inside the house, most artworks would look acceptable displayed against a white wall but in the garden you could say you already have the art installed – plants are like a painted canvas. So the art you bring home is really more of a final brushstroke. Big lawns thus require fat installations at the end; intimate WACKY: Spread artworks around your garden, give them space. corners suit tiny trinkets and treasures. Therefore you have to first identify which particular spaces need what — the garden’s overall style and feel is as important as the size and aspect of the spaces inside. Resist buying the art while trusting you will find somewhere to put it. Plywood cutouts in various settings will work well in particular areas. A dark corner may best be furnished with something bright and shiny, while another vista might be enhanced with a see-through work that comes to life in silhouette. If your haven is bold, funky and chunky you can’t insult it by asking a flowery teapot to stay. Busy pieces of sculpture look best in simple settings but minimalist pieces are strong enough to cope with a little more froth and flowers surfing around their shores. Your garden is a cake and pieces of art like the birthday candles — space them out, make sure they match the icing, and for goodness sake don’t put on too many. SELWYN ROAD SHANDS ROAD SHANDS ROAD 913 SHANDS ROAD 913 SHANDS ROAD Just south of the Selwyn Road / Shands Road intersection Located on the same site as Readylawn The original same day lawn GRAND reopening sale T: 03 349 9240 E: info@allwood.co.nz SAVE UP TO 50% AND MORE Keep up to date through our Facebook page and at www.allwood.co.nz
$7.90 incl. GST Thursday September 19 2019 The Star Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz GARDENING 31 GARDENING ADVICE Today’s winning question came from Bex McNaughton. Congratulations! I had a severe bout of thrips on my viburnum over summer and Q seem to have managed it with spray. Is it likely it will return as the weather warms up? If so, what can I do now? And lastly, will the frosts destroy existing insects? A WIN a Daltons Veggie Garden Planting & Care Pack! No matter how big or small your available space; you can successfully grow vegetables in regular garden beds, raised beds or in pots and containers. Prepare your soil for planting by digging in lots of organic matter such as Daltons Compost or Garden Time Vegetable Mix which improves the soil quality and helps plants to develop strong healthy root systems. Use fresh container mix for growing in pots or raised beds. Each pack is valued at over $70 and contains 2x Garden Time Vegetable Mix, Daltons Goldcote Vegetable and Herb Fertiliser, Besgrow Coir Mulch and Garden Time Chicken and Sheep Pellets, plus a pair of comfortable Red Back gardening gloves from Omni Products (www.omniproducts.co.nz). Many viburnum species are very prone to thrips, particularly in warmer parts of the country and sheltered sections of gardens. There was a time 30-40 years ago when thrips, along with a number of insects, were destroyed by heavy frosts, however unfortunately this no longer appears to be the case. Heavily infected shrubs like viburnum usually have considerable leaf fall during the winter months. Ensure all leaves are collected and removed from that part of the garden. As spring arrives, fertilise your viburnum with Daltons Premium Shrub and Tree Fertiliser to ensure the plant is growing strongly. This can provide some resistance to thrips. You can continue to spray your viburnum with good quality horticultural oil. However, this may not eradiate the infection long term and the thrips can still return. Finally, you may wish to remove the viburnum and plant an ornamental shrub that is not prone to thrips infections. This may sound extreme but there are many attractive shrubs that could more than adequately fi ll this position in your garden. Products to try; Daltons Garden Time Fruit & Citrus Fertiliser and Daltons range of mulch products. For growing advice and information on products visit www.daltons.co.nz $70 PRIZE PACK! Send us your gardening question to be in to win! Email your question and glove size to: chchstar@daltons.co.nz Entries must be received by 25th Sept ‘19 oN sAle Now! LANDSCAPING CANTERBURY FOR OVER 30 YEARS Now only $35.80 Plus $5 P&H per copy receiVe $500 oFF! Is your section in serious need of landscaping? Evergreen is here to help with some spring promotions to Design, Build and Plant your landscape so you can enjoy it come summer! Landscape design: If you choose Evergreen’s Landscape Architect to design a concept and planting plan, we’ll give you $500 off! Landscape construction: Choose Evergreen to landscape your section and we will give $500 off the total quote (T&Cs apply. Contact us for more information on the promotions). growing with you June 2018 | 100% Plants For winter wow Cool Choices For Colour & Contrast From swamp to sea views The journey begins with sarah the Gardener Snap it up Enter our annual Birdlife Photo Competition to win great prizes! clear the air Why groWing indoor PLAnTs is so good for you give it a grow from gArLic To chinese ArTichokes, We hAve your groWing TiPs covered the latest releases into the rose world + rose care through winter AvAilAble from stAr mediA: Level One, 359 Lincoln Road Addington, Christchurch Phone 379 7100 The magazine for gardeners who like to get their hands dirty SUBSCRIBE FROM $43. 50* *6 issues/6 months SUBSCRIPTIONS FREEPHONE 0800 77 77 10 WWW.GARDENER.KIWI design it | BuiLd it | pLant it We do: Decking Paving Driveways Irrigation We HaVe: Tree Nursery Diggers Loaders Tip trucks Fencing Excavation Pizza Ovens Lawns Retaining walls Planter boxes Ponds We suppLY: Design services Trees / shrubs Bark / soil Decorative stone EVERGREEN LANDSCAPES LTD 60 Ivey Road, Templeton, Christchurch Nursery Enquiries Ph 027 312 4406 Ph: 03 349 2929, Mob: 027 359 9877, E: design@egn.co.nz Open: Mon to Fri, 8:30am - 4:30pm w w w . e g n . c o . n z Landscaping from Residential, to Lifestyle, to Commercial Sites
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Page 7 and 8: • By Sophie Cornish SCAMMERS HAV
Page 15 and 16: • By Sophie Cornish GARY DUNCAN
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Page 35 and 36: • By Gordon Findlater A FAMILIAR
Page 37 and 38: • By Gordon Findlater ONE MONTH
Page 39 and 40: NEWS 39 Feisty Kia Cerato deserves
Page 41 and 42: Show home Guide Homes by Parklane

The Star: September 19, 2019

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