The Star: October 17, 2019
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Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Thursday <strong>October</strong> <strong>17</strong> <strong>2019</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong><br />
GARDENING 33<br />
GARDENING ADVICE<br />
Today’s winning question came<br />
from Kate. Congratulations!<br />
My question is about rhubarb<br />
Q<br />
we have a couple of good size<br />
plants but the stalks never seem<br />
to go red they always stay<br />
green. Help! Rhubarb jam just isn’t the<br />
same.<br />
rhubarb<br />
jam<br />
A<br />
WIN a Daltons Premium Lawn Care Pack!<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are two possible reasons why your rhubarb stalks have<br />
remained green. If your mature rhubarb plant has numerous<br />
leaves, they could be preventing the sun from reaching the<br />
stems and colouring them. If this is the case, reduce the<br />
number of large leaves on your plant.<br />
However, the main reason for the stalk remaining green is likely due<br />
to the variety of rhubarb you are growing. <strong>The</strong>re are a number of<br />
named varieties of rhubarb now available at garden centres that will<br />
guarantee you red stems. For example, Ruby Tart has dark red stems,<br />
grows in a range of climates and grows all year round. Claret Cobbler<br />
is one of the main commercially grown varieties, has large red stems<br />
and also grows all year round. Lastly, Ruddy Fool is a medium sized<br />
rhubarb and is very cold tolerant with deep red stems.<br />
With your existing rhubarb, if the fl avour is exceptionally good,<br />
consider adding some raspberries or strawberries when making<br />
your jam. This would provide the colour for your jam while not<br />
signifi cantly altering the taste.<br />
After planting, allow to grow for the fi rst season before harvesting<br />
the stalks. Products to try Daltons Garden Time<br />
Landscape Bark and other mulch products.<br />
For growing advice and information on<br />
products visit www.daltons.co.nz<br />
Spring is a good time for repairing or planting a lawn because the soil is warmer which makes<br />
grass seed germination more successful. Apply Daltons Premium Lawn Fertiliser to existing<br />
lawns from late September and avoid mowing too ‘close’ initially in spring. Check mower blades<br />
are sharp to make the cut cleaner; otherwise they can tear out the grass and damage growth.<br />
We have a Daltons Premium Lawn Care Pack valued at over $70 to giveaway which<br />
contains a Daltons Garden Time Lawn Fertiliser, Daltons Lawn Patching Gold, Daltons<br />
Premium Lawn Soil, plus a pair of comfortable Red Back gardening gloves from Omni<br />
Products www.omniproducts.co.nz<br />
$70<br />
PRIZE<br />
PACK!<br />
Get outside and go potty – it’s rewarding<br />
GARDENING IN pots is a<br />
spectacularly rewarding and<br />
low labour hobby.<br />
Instead of battling the elements,<br />
treating tired old soil,<br />
weeding and digging frantically,<br />
you simply tip the prepared<br />
perfect potting mix into the<br />
container, follow it up with the<br />
plants, water and wait. It’s hard<br />
to go wrong.<br />
You just move the pot<br />
around until you’ve found the<br />
perfect sunny or shady spot,<br />
without disturbing the root<br />
system, because a container<br />
garden is portable.<br />
You can move it about your<br />
home, patio or garden to fill<br />
bare spots at any time of year.<br />
And best of all, when you<br />
move house, you don’t have to<br />
leave your cherished garden<br />
behind – they all shift with the<br />
furniture.<br />
Furthermore, container<br />
gardens look great anywhere –<br />
as hanging baskets on terraces<br />
and pergolas, half round containers<br />
spilling colour down a<br />
wall or fence, or simply sitting<br />
on paved areas, decks and<br />
steps. For best effect, plan your<br />
planter by height as well as<br />
colour.<br />
You can mix annuals with<br />
a central perennial until the<br />
perennial gets well established,<br />
and in the meantime, enjoy a<br />
miniature garden rather than a<br />
miniature plant surrounded by<br />
bare earth.<br />
You can dispense with the<br />
annuals when the perennial<br />
takes over.<br />
Container gardeners can<br />
pretty much give up weeding<br />
altogether. But you don’t need<br />
to do a bit of soil maintenance<br />
from time to time, because the<br />
plants aren’t in a self renewing<br />
envi- ronment – they’re<br />
relying on you to give them<br />
nutrition and moisture.<br />
Potted plants can dry out<br />
fast. Some will need watering<br />
up to twice a day in the hotter<br />
months, particularly those in<br />
terracotta and other porous<br />
pots.<br />
Send us your<br />
gardening question<br />
to be in to win!<br />
Email your question and<br />
glove size to:<br />
chchstar@daltons.co.nz<br />
Entries must be received<br />
by 23rd <strong>October</strong> ‘19<br />
WHAT’S GROWING<br />
AT ALLWOOD...<br />
Flowering Cherry Trees<br />
Coming into flower now<br />
Large Grade Japanese Maples<br />
Great discounts<br />
Weeping Silver Pear Trees<br />
Tough trees for exposed sites<br />
Keep up to date through our Facebook<br />
page and at www.allwood.co.nz<br />
GREAT<br />
SPECIALS<br />
GREAT TIME<br />
TO PLANT!<br />
NEW SITE<br />
now at 913 SHANDS ROAD<br />
T: 03 349 9240<br />
now at 913 SHANDS ROAD<br />
Just south of the Selwyn Road / Shands Road intersection<br />
www.allwood.co.nz
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