Great Garden Hedges 

Hi

PUPPY PERIOD BLUES

It's been that time of the month for Galaxy (Italian Greyhound) and we haven't been coping that well with it all as she is, well, really is quite the inside princess!!!!!,  You know how it is, she doesn't even emerge from the bed until well after 9.30am. Well anyway that's how all this came about, we were discussing the nitty gritty with Chris, one of our clients and she had the perfect solution for us! Dog protector liners !!!!  There must be a market for these but she loaned us hers to finish the season though I think that we had already got through the worst of it already and to be perfectly frank we are hoping that she is going to be the proud mother. The next debate is where do we think that she will be having the puppies.  Well on that really serious and appropriate subject for a gardening newsletter we should get back to the subject in hand  of hedges.

MORE ON HEDGES click here for the hedge page

I touched on these last week and there are just so many choices to be had for small internal hedges other than Buxus. Ilex crenata hillerii is one of them and I know that you are going to ask what is this?  Never one to let a moment  of learning the proper names go past Ilex is the correct name for the holly family and before you jump to conclusions not all hollies are large and prickly, This one has actually very small leaves and small growing and actually very similar to Buxus. Left unclipped it will grow into a cute mound of around 50cm and approx. 60/70 cm wide.  It will clip very nicely into a small hedge of even a cone or a topiary ball which I have learned are called stubbies but I have this desire to plant this Ilex as a mounding ground cover. What ever you do with a holly plant they love lots of full hot sun and good drainage.

Now you might ask about hedges for shady garden and there is, and I'm not being rude, a plant called Sarcococca or Butchers broom if you get tongue tied. There are a few different  species but they hedge really well and they just love dry shady areas. It will grow naturally into a small shrub bush approx 1 metre high and has fragrant white flowers and red or black berries depending of the species.

An oldie but a goodie would be Escallonia and as far as I know this is its common name. You can get several cultivars of pink and white flowers. The white form that we have would make for an awesome mid height hedge of approximately .6 to 1.2 metres and has pretty white flowers. Then there is a reddish pink form that would make for a more informal smaller hedge of around 50cm.

For larger hedges I have to say that my favourites would have to be the more classic hedges of bays and the larger form of hollies and even Camellias and I just adore the seasonal changes of our hornbeam hedges. All these choices seem to be very robust and very long term in terms of their lifetime. Griselinias are all very popular with their shiny green leaves  and make for quite a contempory look.

ECHINACEAS Or CONEFLOWERS Click here

These handsome autumn perennials are out there doing their thing right at this present moment in time. I think that these plants are seriously cool and there are some nice new clones out there in a variety of colours. There is even a double one called Pink Poodle, sounds like a plant that we would have LOL. If you are planning on cutting your lavenders back, do it now because if you leave it too late then they dont regenerate before the cold wet winter.  It's time to cut back for a final rose flush now. in 7 weeks they will be back in flower which should be the end of April. Once in April leave your roses alone, don't even dead head as you want them to finish flower and set hips prior to winter. Then you can prune them once it gets cold enough so that they wont regrow, usually at least June but more usually July

JACKIE'S ZUCCHINI LOAF
If there is one vege plant that everyone should plant it's a Scallopini or a Zucchini or two or three.. I reckon that we eat them for over 6 months in every style of dish imaginable. With not wanting to put my neck on the line and with very little effort the cost of growing a few veggie surely saves on the housekeeping. Down the back we had about 10 scarlet runner bean plants that regrew this season as they do and we have had beans for Africa. I think that I have frozen a good 30 to 40 packets of them. They seem to all become ready at once so eat your fill and then freeze  the rest.

Now  back to Zucchini: Jackie wrote in to share this zucchini cake/Loaf with us which I passed onto the test kitchen in the gate house (AKA Dad in the  front cottage) to make the cake so that I could do a photo shoot.
My grandson grew them a couple of years ago and was very pleased they grew so well,
BUT was not so keen when mum said he had to eat them as he'd grown them.
After searching the net this recipe was found, its great if you add walnut pieces.

Keep up the good work, I just LOVE the newsletters.

Jackie's Zucchini Loaf

3 Eggs        1.1/2 Cups Sugar    2 Cups Flour    
½ tsp B.P        1 Cup Oil        2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Vanilla        3 tsp Cinnamon    1 tsp Salt
2 Full Cups Grated RAW Zuchini1 Cup Chopped Nuts (Optional)

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Beat eggs, sugar & oil till fluffy.
Add Zuchini.
Sift dry ingredients in and mix well.
Add Vanilla & Nuts
POUR into 2 loaf tins
Bake 180 for 1 hour or until done.
Keeps well in freezer.

NEW PRODUCT RANGE Click here

Everyone has been asking for Neem oil and Neem granules so we have thought that an 'organic' or chemical free range of products would really compliment our range of plants and other products. Chris who writes our plants descriptions and many pieces on the web swears by this new range that we have. So we got Chris to trial a suitable range for us to stock, from Neem oil, liquid copper,Bio Boost to Perkfection for roses. I have always been a firm believer that a well fed and watered plant will have a full immune system to perform at its best so good and balanced diet is a great start combined with safe to use sprays for bugs and fungal infections.

 

Cheers Lloyd and Harry!!!!

Make it a Wairere weekend where gardenings not a drag!!!!!