The size and shape of planting areas are basic to the success of planting. Because of its visual softness, grass can occupy bigger areas than paving without looking bleak, but too much open grass without some definition and enclosure does give a sense of emptiness (rather than spaciousness). There are many locations where paving is […]
This week it seems timely to celebrate autumn and plan planting schemes for the winter. The summer recedes, but autumn can be one of the most beautiful and colourful seasons and the autumn leaf colours last an unusually long time in New Zealand especially in the north where leaf fall is not speeded by frost […]
Can you have a garden without plants? – a good question indeed. Many people’s idea of a garden is somewhere to grow flowers, vegetables and fruit. Indeed one definition of a garden is ‘a place set aside from the wilderness where the hand of the gardener works in harmony with nature to cultivate for use […]
We Kiwis love our gardens. Apparently, gardening itself is still one our most popular pastimes. However, despite surveys suggesting the contrary, more and more of us are opting for the ‘do-it-for-me’ approach. We want our homes to look as smart and stylish on the outside as they do indoors, and increasingly, we’re just as happy […]
A new insect pest is attacking tomatoes, potatoes and related crops in New Zealand gardens. The tomato/potato psyllid from North America was first found in New Zealand in 2006, and is still spreading throughout the country. The psyllid can transmit a bacterium, Liberibacter, that is believed to cause the disease ‘psyllid yellows’ in tomatoes and […]
These days, it’s a rare kid that chooses the fruit bowl over the pantry. Nostalgic tales from the ‘olden days’ of apples nicked from a neighbour’s tree, for them, seem hard to fathom. But today as always, stolen or not, the mouth-watering crunch of a freshly picked apple just can’t be compared to the one […]
Autumn is a great time to plant a new garden, but for those of us averse to digging, the hardest part can be getting started. Spadework is at its most off-putting where heavy soil is hard to dig, let alone being conducive to healthy plant growth. Poor soils, both heavy and light, can be renovated […]
New Zealand – clean and green, not to mention windy! In conservation terms, our wind is something we can be proud of. It’s a planet-friendly renewable energy resource and we own some of the best. With global warming, the prediction is that our weather is going to get even windier. It’s just as well then, […]
