October 3, 2008 Weekly Garden Guide

We are heading quickly towards mid spring and plants are romping into growth. This is the time to finish major pruning and shaping. You then follow up later with a light hair cut on the new growth if required.

  • As plants put on their new growth, it is the optimum time for feeding them. At a recent dinner party of a number of seasoned gardeners, we all agreed that the local product of BioBoost is as good as any and better and cheaper than most.
  • Slugs and snails are at their most active. If you use slug bait, remember that one bait can kill a number of offenders so do not use it like fertiliser. Slug bait is pretty nasty stuff so wear gloves and/or wash your hands thoroughly after handling it. If you don’t like slug bait, getting out at night with a good torch and digital control can effect a reasonably good hit rate, especially on damper nights though it is tricky to manage both torch and umbrella. Spreading gritty material such as sand, sawdust, crushed egg shells, pine or rimu needles discourages many slimy crawlers although they only head off to easier pastures. The old favourites of a buried beer can with a few centimetres of beer at the bottom (they are drawn by the scent and then get trapped or drown) or hollowed out orange skins can attract them until you do a killing round in the morning. It is not friendly to liberate captives into your neighbour’s property. Don’t be sentimental. Squash them.
  • The cold blast this week is a timely reminder of the value of cloches in establishing early vegetable crops. The usual modern cloche is a series of hoops with an opaque or clear plastic cover and allows you to cover a decent length but you can get cheaper alternatives for smaller areas. Even opaque plastic milk containers will act as a mini cloche for a single lettuce.
  • Plant climbing and dwarf beans, carrots, peas, cauli, broc, beetroot, spinach and salad veg. These can all go directly into the garden as seeds or plants…
  • If you didn’t do it last weekend, then get onto planting seeds of melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, aubergines and capsicums into containers as soon as possible. Keep them in a warm spot and you will be ready for planting out at the end of the month. If you have bought little plants of them already growing, don’t check their growth by putting them straight into the garden. It is still too cold in most areas. Pot them on to a larger container if needed and keep them warm and in growth.
  • Top dress garlic and strawberries with a light dusting of blood and bone if you haven’t done so already.

In 1939, Jens Jensen pontificated:

In the plan of human conduct there is a marked difference between the mind which sees beauty in a simple violet and which sees it in a pompous rose or dahlia. On the one hand we have a love for the free and untampered flowers of God’s creation and on the other hand for a flower of social ills, sophistication, and conceit.

Well dang me. And there I was thinking that indeed violets are lovely; it is just a shame they can be so invasive. But we had no concept that Mark’s plant breeding could be held responsible for social ills!

From Oranges in Sorrento to Lemons in Hawera with Moturoa School Inbetween

In Sorrento (the south of Italy) earlier this year, Daughter and I were very taken with the use of fruiting oranges for street trees. It seemed impossibly romantic and I wondered whether it was a feasible option for Waitara, which has a climate eminently suitable to growing citrus.

As we walked along, we discussed whether it was appropriate to pick the fruit but the dilemma was solved when we ended up staying in accommodation set in an orange grove with an unlimited supply of free fruit. But even as we admired the orange trees (what a wonderful fragrance there must be at flowering time), the cynical side of me thought that such plantings were unlikely to survive long back home and the trees were more likely to either vandalised or stolen soon after planting out.

So it was saddening to read this week of the destruction wrought on the children’s gardens at Moturoa School. I am sure I was not alone in being absolutely delighted by this newspaper’s coverage of children’s gardening activities. It is just so positive and wholesome and makes one smile to see this type of initiative which enriches the life of everyone it touches. Nobody could fault the projects which teach children how to tend the soil, produce home grown fruit and vegetables and to develop a taste for fresh food – all of which will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives. Some of us are envious that it didn’t happen when we were at school.

It just seems incomprehensible that anybody, adult or child, would want to destroy such projects – not once but twice in the same day. Even worse than ripping out the plants and snapping the trees is the message the children have been given about the unpredictable and vicious nature of some people. This was not a lesson that eight year olds needed to learn. How do you explain to young children that some people are so warped and bent that they derive satisfaction from destroying something positive and cooperative and good? Yes there will be positive outcomes. People will be kind and generous and supportive and the children will replant but they have still been taught a nasty lesson too early in life.

Good on Moturoa School for planning to replant. I am sure that the vast majority of people (and certainly every single person who reads this column) wish them every success and hope that the low-lifes have finished their fun in destroying children’s efforts.

Parents or grandparents who want to encourage young children to garden at home need to remember that successful results are the most important driver. Children need the best and most prominent spot in the garden, not to be hidden away out of sight around the back or in a waste area. They need a position in full view, in full sun and with some shelter from wind. In our experience, they like a defined area of their own with clear boundaries. It does not want to be too large and it doesn’t need expensive edgings or to be a raised bed unless you want a permanent installation. But defining the area with an edging of river stones, pieces of board or stray pavers gives a sense of containment. Being within reach of a hose or a tap is helpful. Preparing the soil in advance gives young children a head start too. Littlies can not be expected to turn over soil effectively and double dig. They will lose heart and be defeated very quickly. But if they can move straight into a well prepared bed and start incorporating compost and planting, the probability of success increases greatly. It is a simple gift to give to children.

I have also been reading about the moves by the South Taranaki District Council to use fruiting trees in public plantings and to supply apple trees to local residents this year. While I would be reluctant to see only fruit trees used (there is a place for splendid ornamental trees as well), there is something very charming about this sort of use of productive planting. I am sure that a community which feels a sense of ownership will take better care and be more vigilant in protecting plantings.

Walnut trees and chestnut trees in public locations are a splendid idea. When we were students at Massey, Mark used to harvest walnuts from an avenue at Acacia Birch and he had an annual race with the local Chinese to beat them to the chestnuts at Awapuni Racecourse. Some years ago, he collected ripe olives from in front of the New Plymouth Courthouse but it was an action tinged with feelings of guilt. At least in South Taranaki, the locals will know that it is fine to harvest nature’s bounty from their trees.

I had an all too brief chat to John Sargeant, the man driving the South Taranaki plantings. He tells me that the aim is to plant 1000 trees in the district in the next 5 years, of which about 10% will be edible. He talked about the role trees play in making memories and that in fifty years time locals should still be harvesting chestnuts, long after the planting of the trees has been forgotten. I was inspired by his passion for the project and the practical way in which he is using trees to add value to the lives of local residents. Mr Sargeant is not scared to experiment. The fig trees in Opunake have been less than successful and he has to be philosophical about thefts of feijoas and lemon trees. At least when theft occurs, the plants are still growing somewhere, whereas straight out vandalism is harder to take. Given that most people only want one lemon tree, one hopes that replanted trees may stand a better chance of remaining. The more South Taranaki residents realise that something quite special and innovative is happening in their district, the more protective they may become of their trees.

Go South Taranaki, I say, and may this set a trend for more mixed plantings in other local body areas of Taranaki. It would be a great project for community councils in the north to pick up and run with. Maybe we could yet see citrus trees, feijoas and nut trees growing throughout Waitara. In fact, Waitara could go one better than most other areas and even use bananas. How about those for defining a desirable climatic identity?

September 26, 2008 Weekly Garden Guide

  • Most of the magnolias are past their peak now but the Japanese flowering cherries are coming in to their own and evergreen azaleas are at their peak, in northern areas at least. These azaleas are a member of the rhododendron family but much more forgiving in their requirements. You can even cut scruffy plants off just above ground level and they will spring back into fresh growth. You can also shape and clip them if you chose and the time to do this is just as they have finished flowering.
    • Give roses a feed now. If you prefer to avoid using fertiliser, at least give them a mulch of compost but don’t bury the plant’s crown.

      • As deciduous fruit trees show their first green tips, get a spray of copper on… You can usually get away with being laissez faire about any further spray programme, but this is the most important application of the season to prevent problems later.

  • Kumara can be encouraged to start sprouting for planting out later. Place them in sawdust in a warm, dark spot.
  • It is all go with starting off the summer growing vegetables in containers to get the leap on planting out in another month. Rock melons, water melons, capsicums, aubergines and tomatoes all need a long growing season so starting them early can contribute significantly to getting a good harvest. But it is still too cold to plant them out in the open.

    • The Curious Gardener’s Almanac tells us that the apple can grow at the highest latitude of all fruits. Apples need about 40 days of cold to produce their flowers which is why they can not be grown in the tropics. Raspberries, however, can allegedly be grown anywhere between the Arctic and the Equator.

    If you wonder why we rarely see blackcurrants or redcurrants in Taranaki, it is because we are not cold enough for them. They need a chilly winter to thrive and fruit. Gooseberries also prefer colder conditions but can be grown here. However you need to keep refreshing the plants to keep them going in our soft climate and mildew can be a problem. The home gardener can, however, get enough to have a pie or two and to combine with rhubarb.

    September 19, 2008 Weekly Garden Guide

    As spring bulbs finish flowering, a light feed will encourage them to build up strength for next season’s performance. After exhausting themselves with their floral display, the period immediately after is the most important time for fattening the bulb again. Never remove the foliage until it starts to die off naturally and even tying the long leaves into naff little bundles affects the natural replenishment process.

    • Dahlia clumps can be lifted and divided now. They perform much better if the clump is tended to every few years so will reward you for your efforts. Congested clumps tend to fall apart too easily when they put on all the top growth.
    • Grasses may be used as low maintenance plants but it doesn’t mean they are no maintenance plants. They can start to look very scruffy and unkempt and develop dead patches in garden situations unless you lift them and split them up occasionally, replacing them in soil which you have dug over and cultivated. Dividing now means that they will spring into healthy fresh growth immediately. It also helps to groom them once a year, pulling out the dead foliage either by hand or with a rake.
    • Don’t delay on pruning and feeding feijoa bushes. They will produce larger fruit if you take a little care with them and keep the bush reasonable open.
    • Make sure you have your old raspberry canes cut off and cleaned up before the new growth gets away any further. It is time for their spring feed.
    • If you have young strawberry plants, it is usual to remove the first round of flowers so that the plants can build up strength and size before they pour all their energy into fruiting.
    • You can still plant onions, carrots and beet direct into the garden. The onion family goes beyond the usual brown skinned variety (Pukekohe Long Keepers are the most common variety here though goodness knows what the cheapies that are imported from China are, let alone what chemicals they have been exposed to). Try shallots and red onions as well. Onion thinning can later be used as spring onions.
    • Sow corn, courgettes and tomatoes into containers to get the leap on the great Labour Weekend plant out tradition. It is a little early for planting green beans direct into the garden unless you have a really favoured position, but they too can be started in containers if you want early crops.

    If you are planning a new garden, you may wish to take notice of the dictum from Philip Miller from 1724:

    The area of a handsom Garden may take up about thirty or forty Acres, not more.

    Book reviews

    There must be a demand for modern books about our native flora because this month has yielded up three new publications.

    100 best native plants for new zealand gardens (do not ask me what happened to capital letters. I am just a retired school teacher who still understands the grammatical difference between less and fewer) is a fully updated edition of a very popular 2001 book by Fiona Eadie. Notwithstanding the lower case book title, this excellent book combines passion, scholarship and practical gardening experience. It has a wealth of information about the author’s current pick of her favourite New Zealand plants (25% have changed, apparently, since the earlier version which reflects her move from Auckland to Dunedin).

    I do like a book which doesn’t patronise by dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator but which can instead combine popular appeal, enthusiasm, technical knowledge, information and botanical detail in one package. Each plant has a couple of photographs (assorted photographers – the quality is a little variable), botanical name, common names, a general description and sections on likes and dislikes, pests and problems, care and maintenance, landscaping suggestions, similar species and named cultivars.. The information is accessible and useful. There is plenty of information without drowning the reader. From acaena to xeronema, this is a good book to have and encapsulates some of the unique plants which make our gardens different from the rest of the world who have yet to see beyond our cordylines and pongas.

    The Cultivation of New Zealand Grasses by Lawrie Metcalf is also an update of an earlier publication by the same author with revised text and fresh photos. Lawrie Metcalf is widely respected for his passion and his scholarship. This is the definitive reference book on our native grasses – their propagation, care, use in the garden or landscape, their botany and an A to Z listing of the different varieties. The topic has not been dumbed down for the masses but it remains perfectly readable and easily understood. It is a little shy on photos but if grasses are your thing, either professionally or as a hobby, you will not want to be without this book. And if grasses are not your favourite plant, it may inspire you to look beyond their use in motorway sidings and traffic islands.

    Living with Natives, edited by Ian Spellerberg and Michele Frey is a curious publication to come from the Canterbury University Press because it is basically a coffee table book unashamedly targeting a populist market with no pretence of scholarship. It is a collection of 44 short essays by an eclectic mix of New Zealanders ostensibly about their love of native plants. The problem is that by no means all of the 44 have something worth saying. A house guest at the weekend who is passionate about natives (the plants, I mean) and is a botanist, gave up when she read the piece where Bob Harvey thinks his kauri is beginning to recognise him.

    However, it is a nicely put together book with lovely photos by John Maillard and some of the contributors do have something to offer including some helpful advice and hints rather than platitudes or clichés, so if you like coffee table books, you may find it an interesting insight into different people’s love of our country. I just think it would have benefited from more rigorous editing.

    100 best native plants for new zealand gardens, Fiona Eadie (Random House, $44.95) ISBN 978 1 86962 150 6

    The Cultivation of New Zealand Grasses, Lawrie Metcalf (Random House, $34.99) ISBN 978 1 86962 148 3

    Living With Natives, edited by Ian Spellerberg and Michele Frey (Canterbury University Press, $39.95) ISBN 978 1 877257 68 1