Selwyn Times: March 31, 2021

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Selwyn Times Wednesday March 31 2021 30 GARDENING Plant your natives now • By Henri Ham IF YOU WANT to add bold and attractive plants to your garden that are resilient and will last for years with little love, then look no further than native plants. Right now – in autumn – it’s the perfect time to plant natives in your garden. Planting your natives now lets them really get established before the cooler and wetter months arrive. The great thing about natives is their ability to cope in areas of high rainfall, and their resilience to growing in a range of landscapes. Once planted, natives can easily flourish for years with very little extra care, making a very low maintenance, but striking kiwi garden feel. And, as an added bonus, natives are fantastic for attracting birds to your garden, as they love the flowers, nectar and berries. Worried natives are only for people with loads of space? Lowgrowing flaxes take up relatively little room, and can provide years of enjoyment. Cookianum mountain flax is a dwarf variety, with lush spiky green foliage. And Banks Peninsula blue (Festuca actae) is an ornamental perennial grass, which is grown for its subtle, soft blue foliage. Many native trees and hedging plants are diverse in their use. They can be shaped into smaller shrubs or aligned into hedges. SUBTLE: Festuca actae or Banks Peninsula blue is an ornamental perennial grass. Trees such as Pittosporum (tenuifolium) look great as an individual planted tree, but when planted around 1m apart form a fast-growing hedge that can be moulded to your liking. Another example is Akeake (green or purple) – usually considered a fast-growing shrub, but if left alone will become a tree reaching 3-4m. Kakabeak is a favourite of mine – a lovely shrub with attractive spring/summer flowers that resemble the beak of the Kaka parrot. They can reach 2 -3m high, and last 15-20 years – making for a pretty garden, with a relaxed Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz upkeep. Once planted, you can easily plant annuals around these natives, and vary these yearly to change the garden feel. Once you’ve got your natives, select their new home in the garden. Natives can be planted in boggy areas too, so it could be a chance to revitalise a wet or lessattractive part of your garden. I often encourage gardeners to grow ‘drifts’ of natives plants; which means planting an uneven number of plants, or unbalanced groupings, to create a casual and natural looking native garden – similar to the flowers in a cottage garden. To plant, dig a hole for each plant and bury to the top of its root ball. They will need an initial watering every few days to ensure their best possible start. Natives enjoy rich soil, so mulch with a rich compost, and top this up sixmonthly. You can layer shells, pebbles and different sized rocks around your plants for a contemporary feel, and this will additionally help keep the weeds away. Natives can also be planted in larger pots, and can thrive for a few years with minimum work. Smaller flaxes naturally lend themselves here, but native shrubs can look really pretty too. The pots will restrict their roots and create a ‘bonsai’ effect, keeping them naturally smaller. TOP-SELLER: Polyanthus grow anywhere there is sun. Add colour for winter THERE’S A reason polyanthus is one of the top selling plants year after year. In fact, there are a couple of reasons. Polyanthus is very easy to plant and grows just about anywhere – as long as there’s some sun. But we think the secret behind it’s popularity, comes down to the fantastic, bright colours it comes in – particularly at a time like winter when there isn’t so much colour in the garden. This pretty and popular plant come in a range of hues like pink, blue and red and looks great in hanging baskets or borders. You can grow polyanthus in pots but they also look good planted around potted citrus trees. Once you’ve got your seedlings you need to find a spot to grow them. If you’re planting outside, make sure the soil is welldrained, then dig over and add some compost. If you’re potting your polyanthus, use potting mix to ensure they have the best kickstart to their growth. In around four to six weeks you should have these tight, low, compact and colourful plants brightening up your home and garden. Pick off the dead flowers to encourage more flowering and watch out for slugs. Handy tip: If your polyanthus has trouble flowering, add a little bit of dried blood from the garden centre to provide more potassium. Garden In the with intelligro Autumn is a great time for getting things ticked off your ‘To Do’ list in the garden. Winter gardens start in autumn, so get those veggies in ready for harvesting through winter. Lawn maintenance is near the top of the list, both preparing new ones and sprucing up existing. Fertilise on an overcast day, preferably with rain on the forecast. New lawns can be sown now too. Edible Garden Plant seedling such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, kale, beetroot, silver beet and radish. Flower Garden Bulbs can be planted now; daffodils, freesias, tulips, anemone to name a few. NEW IN Birdies Garden Beds are now available both in store and online! Made with high quality steel, these beds are built to last. They come in 3 different sizes, and colours, and are super easy to put together. Come and see our display beds in store and get your collection started today! Easter Opening Hours Good Friday: Closed Saturday 3rd April: 7.30am – 5.30pm Easter Sunday: 8.30am – 4.30pm Easter Monday: Closed Intelligro Opening Hours: Monday – Saturday: 7.30am – 5.30pm Sunday & Public Holidays: 8.30am – 4.30pm /igro.co.nz /intelligro_nz 261 Manion Road, Weedons 7677 | P: 03 347 9012 | E: info@igro.co.nz Easter Open Sat, Sun and Mon 25% off Forest Floor Mulch Now $29.40 per m3 Christchurch’s largest range of landscaping supplies Hire trailers – from $5 per hour Order Online – Click & Collect Delivery available all weekend 03 348 2915 www.gardenbox.co.nz 57 Lunns Road, Middleton (off Curletts Road) Making your great outdoors greater HIre equIpment 1.7 ton Digger 3 buckets and 2.5 ton electric tip trailer Plate compactor Log splitter Concrete mixer Lawn Dethatcher Barreto rotary hoe 3” Water Pump Wheel barrows Hand tools Concrete ball float/Screeds Electric concrete vibrator Check out the rest of our landscape supplies online www.mainscapegardensupplies.co.nz Contact us mon - Fri 1543 Springs Road, Lincoln 8:00am - 5:00pm 021 241 7908 Saturday sales@mainscape.co.nz 8:00am - 3:00pm oN sAle Now! 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Wednesday March 31 2021 Selwyn Times Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz GARDENING 31 Time to tackle the tricky garden pests AUTUMN DAYS herald a change towards cooler weather, the soil stays moist and there’s colour everywhere. It can also be the best season for planting, because new plants have time to settle in before they’re faced with their first summer. Fertilising Spread organic pellets around shrubs and flowerbeds. Feed citrus and other fruit trees with citrus food. Clear away weeds and grass at the base and spread a layer of organic mulch over the root area (keeping well clear of the trunk). Remember, feeding with high potash fertilisers encourages blooming and, even more importantly, builds plants’ resistance to disease (essential at this time of year when fungal problems are rife). Lawn care Give lawns a feed with a longlasting fertiliser. Early autumn is the ideal time to rejuvenate tired lawns. Spike with a fork or a purpose-designed lawn aerator PESTS: Caterpillars and white butterflies will destroy cabbages. and oversow with a lawn seed blend. Pest control Watch out for the autumn influx of caterpillars. White moths and butterflies attack cabbages, cauliflowers, rocket and their relatives, vine moth caterpillars are demolishing grape leaves, flax caterpillar is stripping leaf sections of leaves, leaf rollers are knitting leaves and emerging to graze on apples, feijoas and other fruit. Use low toxic options for controlling most caterpillars. Grass grubs and porina, too, can destroy lawns. Treat weeds Many annual weeds are approaching maturity and should be removed before they have the chance to spread their seeds. Other autumn tasks Prune the hydrangea stems that flowered last summer. Reduce clusters of camellia buds to one per stem. Divide perennial plants and spread to other parts of the garden. After their leaves have fallen, spray deciduous fruit trees (eg peaches) with a copper fungicide. Good coverage will clean up the remains of summer pests and diseases. Move cold-sensitive container plants into shelter. MOISTURE: Mulch shouldn’t be used just to make the garden look tidy. Use mulch judiciously, don’t make volcanoes MULCH, IT seems, is the new compost. There’s nothing wrong with mulch when it’s used judiciously, but creating ‘‘mulch volcanoes’’ around your trees is a very bad idea, especially when it’s done mainly for aesthetics. The root zone of an established tree extends beyond its drip line, so mounding the mulch against the trunk does little for the roots, except cause roots near the trunk to grow into the mulch volcano. The piled-up mulch can soften the bark of some young trees and invites insects and diseases. The lower trunk, unlike the roots, cannot easily survive long-term with the constant moisture the volcano traps—it’s the equivalent of planting a tree too deeply. Bear in mind that the main reasons for mulching are to retain soil moisture, suppress weeds and moderate soil temperatures — not to cover the garden so it looks tidier. 10% TO 50% OFF ALL PLANTS* AUTUMN *While stocks last! WEEKDAYS 8:30–5PM MARCH 29 TH –APRIL 9 TH WWW.GREENLINC.CO.NZ Open Easter Monday! Closed Weekends.
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