Selwyn Times: January 22, 2020

24 Wednesday January 22 2020
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Gardening
Put up a pergola
MANY OF us believe New
Zealand has near-perfect
weather and have made a
conscious decision to live
outdoors.
We don’t want simply
to wander about in our
gardens – we want to eat,
entertain, shower and even
sleep in them as well.
That being the case,
gardens need much more
structure than they’ve ever
had before, to give us a
sense of security and enclosure,
and one of the easiest
ways of adding this is with
a pergola.
Any one can do it with
a few bits of wood and a
hammer. If you don’t have
a hammer, you can buy a
simple, ready-made pergola
from the hardware store, or
a flash, stylish one from a
design shop.
A pergola can either be a
garden element in its own
right, in which case the design
will be paramount, or
simply a support for climbing
plants, making the look
of the underlying structure
less important.
Wood is probably the
easiest material to use if
you’re doing it yourself, and
the type you choose will be
determined by how long
you’d like your structure to
last. If you don’t want it to
rot, choose something like
cedar, which will weather
well and hang in there for
the long haul.
If you prefer a casual,
rustic look and don’t much
care whether it’ll still be
there in 10 years’ time, you
can make it out of branches
that have fallen from trees,
bound with twine.
For longevity, metal
pergolas are winners.
Naked pergolas can be nice,
but most look better with
something growing up
them.
Roses and wisteria are
obvious choices and it’s
hard to imagine anything as
appealing, but there are numerous
climbers which will
provide shade and make a
beautiful display.
Plumbago auriculata has
clusters of powder-blue
flowers that will cover it
during summer. It likes
decent soil, regular watering
and lots of sun, and can
be hardpruned in winter or
spring,
The wonga wonga vine
(Pandorea pandorana), will
easily smother your pergola,
even if it’s 10m high. In
spring it’s covered in small,
HOMELY:
Kiwis are
using outdoor
space as
a living
environment,
make the
most of good
weather by
installing a
pergola.
creamy flowers. If you’re a
real Kiwi, Tecomanthe speciosa
will have to be on your
wish list. This native needs a
stout pergola for support. It
has glossy, green leaves and
clusters of creamy, tubular
flowers in spring.
Give it rich, moist soil
and shaded roots. It has a
pink relative called Tecomanthe
venusta which
likes a warmer climate.
Mandevilla splendens is
a native of Brazil and has
extraordinary, deep pink
flowers. Mandevilla laxa
is a hardier version, with
clusters of fragrant, creamy
white flowers. Mandevilla
sanderi `Rosea’ is successful
in a container and will
grow in a conservatory in
cooler areas.
The incredibly tough
bougainvillea will add instant
Mediterranean appeal
to your garden, even if your
soil’s not great and water is
scarce.
It does, however, like the
sun. It comes in various
shades, with the disadvantage
of long, sharp thorns.
If your pergola is set over
pavers and there’s no soil
handy, grow bougainvillea
in a pot. It may do even
better than in the ground.
SUMMER IS HERE Preserve moisture and prevent weeds with mulching
PEA STRAW
$10 Bale
MAINSCAPE
Garden Supplies
Making your great outdoors greater
TREE MULCH
$12 Scoop
MiLL BARk
$20 Scoop
Free loan trailer available | FOR HIRE 1.7 ton digger
Mainscape Garden Supplies
1543 Springs Road, Lincoln | Phone 021 241 7908 | Like us on
We are open 6 days: Monday to Friday 8am-5pm and Saturday 8am-3pm
www.mainscapegardensupplies.co.nz
FoREST FLooR
$29 Scoop
Mitsubishi Triton a
capable all-rounder
I DON’T like it when I’m
left defeated.
However, I was beaten
when it came time to take
home a bulky piece of
furniture my wife and I
purchased. It was simply
too long for the deck
of a Mitsubishi Triton.
Transporting the item
resorted to plan B – waiting
for a large SUV to come my
way.
That didn’t leave me
disappointed with the Triton
though, it is still the useful
load carrier for the tradie
or recreational enthusiast,
and I did find other uses for
it such as picking up a new
television and taking a good
amount of recycling and
green waste to the transfer
station.
Early last year the Triton
had a major upgrade.
Well, it’s mostly a facelift,
but the bold new frontal
treatment gives the ute a
more aggressive look and, of
course, refinements in and
around the vehicle will keep
it fresh through 2020 and
beyond.
While there are a few
engineering upgrades,
the Triton still has the
same engine and basic
chassis and suspension
elements. That’s a good
thing, it can mix it with the
market frontrunners, it is
very much a preferential
purchase.
The evaluation ute was a
high-grade VRX-specced
double cab with automatic
transmission. The latter is an
all-new six-speed type, it is
a beauty with smooth shifts,
and in VRX form it also has
a paddle-shift sequential
mechanism. Mitsubishi
was listing this VRX as a
special offer during my
time with the test car, it was
sitting at around $50,000.
To my way of thinking,
that is extraordinary value
considering its specification
level and how well it stacks
up to the opposition.
Major items include
leather trim, keyless entry
and ignition, cruise control
and speed limiter, rear view
reversing camera, and a host
of advanced safety features.
Under the bonnet sits
a 2.4-litre four-cylinder
turbocharged diesel engine.
It is rated at 135kW with
437Nm of torque, both
figures are realised low in
the rev band at 3500rpm
and 2500rpm. Even though
it is diesel-fed it is a lively
engine and gets about its
work willingly, it is also one
of the quietest engines in its
class, and that’s a credit to
the engineers – getting a big
block four-potter to work
smoothly takes some doing.
It is evident that the Triton
has the benefit of much
MITSUBISHI TRITON VRX: Highly-regarded fourwheel-drive
system.
soundproofing, and it has
a well refined engine in the
first instance.
A lot of development
has also been carried out
to cut down fuel use, it is
now to the point where an
8.6-litre per 100km (33mpg)
combined cycle can be
claimed.
• Price – Mitsubishi
Triton VRX, $49,990
• Dimensions –
Length, 5305mm;
width, 1815mm;
height, 1795mm
• Configuration
– Four-cylinder,
four-wheel-drive,
2442cc, 135kW,
437Nm, six-speed
automatic.
• Performance –
0-100km/h, 9sec
• Fuel usage –
8.6l/100km
During my testing time
the trip computer was
constantly listing at around
10l/100km (28mpg) with
a 7l/100km (40mpg)
readout showing at a
steady 100km/h, the engine
just loping over gently at
1700rpm.
On the subject of figures,
the Triton four-wheeldrive
has a tow rating of
3500kg and it will haul a
payload of 905kg in a deck
area measuring 1520mm
x 1470mm x 475mm
(depending on deck liner).
It also has a useful 220mm
of ground clearance, all of
these figures are right up
with market demand.
The test ute was riding
on 18in wheels with quite
chunky 265/60 Bridgestone
Dueler tyres. Even so,
they ride quietly, even
on coarse chip seal, they
SELWYN TIMES
also offer direct feedback
through the steering. Utes
aren’t known for their ideal
handling, but it was nice
to have some surety when
I pushed quickly through
some tricky inland corners.
The Triton has handling
ability unrealistic for a
working vehicle built on
a ladder chassis and load
bearing live rear axle. The
suspension isn’t firm but it is
designed just to capture the
traditional movement live
axles tend to generate.
Mitsubishi’s Super Select
II four-corner drive system
is highly regarded. For
the driver it’s a simple dial
operated mechanism which
sits centre console. Due to
its likely role off-road and
in loose surface conditions,
the Triton has lowish
early ratios broadening to
provide low speed engine
movement on the highway.
With so much torque on
tap filling the gaps between
ratios it isn’t something that
needs to be considered, the
engine has solid power flow
through the rev band.
On a short, undulating
off-road excursion it
impressed with its grip in
loose shingle and its ability
to crawl up inclines, low
ratio is very low promoting
gentle slow speed travel.
Today’s pick-up buyer is
reaping the benefits of long
and gradual development
processes. It’s no wonder
our market is led by utes,
the Triton is a vehicle you
can comfortably put the
family in for that trip into
the high country, skifield
access road, or to the beach
for a swim or surf.
It’s also the quintessential
tow and carry vehicle. If
only that deck had been just
a few centimetres longer.