Our weekly email news letter. Sign up here to get them delivered straight to your email in box. See below for previous issues...

Please note that product availability and prices may have changed from when this newsletter was sent. Please check this site or phone us for current availability and pricing.

Friday 21st November, 2014

Hi

Hot fix, quick pics, nice digs

I often get asked....

Why is this plant doing so well and right next door to it is another plant exactly the same and its doing so badly.  I have treated them both exactly the same with planting, food and water.

Things are never quite straight forward when you are dealing with something that is living and whilst you may think that you have done everything exactly the same.... well there could be some other underlying factor.

A classic example would be new subdivisions where they remove all the top soil and natural humus layers  and you new gardens are of various levels of substrates.  Alternatively you just don't know exactly what is under each plant in terms of depth of top soil or even moisture. ie no top soil or even a natural water path way so its always wet.

I have seen examples of a hedge where the plants go from really healthy to those that look quite stunted and the poorly. The problem has been that the plants go from an area of good soil to that where there is no top soil and the poor plant is expected to grow in almost clay with no top soil and to top it off, often set in stones. In this scenario regular application of mulch will encourage the development of a more correct environment, ie humus and earthworm activity and over time potentially correct the situation.

  

Other situations of being too wet can cause a plant to be unthrifty or even die.  New subdivisions with large driveway areas that are often concrete or similar cause rain water to collect and of course run off and it often runs to the same point creating that very wet spot in the garden for any plant that is in its way. An example we had in the nursery is that we irrigate the nursery every night and the resulting surplus water runs off and it takes the one path being the lowest and the tree that was there died. Took me a while to work it out what the cause was.  Its like being a plant doctor, you have to look for all the varying signs (symptoms) and then make an educated decision from what you see. 

Colouring with Dahlias

I always think of great country gardens when I think of Dahlias, they tend to flower after the spring rush going into the summer months providing a awesome splash of summer colour. Dahlias are pretty easy to grow as well disappearing for the winter and then up they come flowering there hearts out untile the autumn. Tidy them away for the winter and how easy is that.

The latest in Dahlias

Small English lavenders called  Thumbelina, probably the tiniest of them all as the name suggest and would be fab as a lavender border. Still in the smalls there is also Foveaux Storm with its dark purpley blue flowers and the classic munstead with more grey blue pickable flowers.

Remember its full sun and sharp drainage for the med beauties. Trim the spent flowers back after they have finished just tipping below the foliage to keep the plant nice and compact.

Hydrangea seemanii for the plant nuts. I was over at a friends in Rotorua  the other night for dinner and OMG what an amazing garden. Brim full of interesting plants ranging from Paeonies actually in flower to, Bromeliads, Chatham island for get me nots also in flower  I will also mention here the amazing pots of Rhodohypoxis just looking stunning. Where I was heading was that I have never seen  hydrangea seemanii (climbing hydrangea) as a large grown plant

            

shizopragma hrdrangeoides

delphiniums

Pot

Its great that its such a fab spring with all this rain as the ground is still so lovely and moist for planting.

Have a great weekend!

Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team

Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.

Archived by year 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |

2014 Newsletters...

Lily of the valley 2014 (24th May, 2014)

New Year (23rd January, 2014)

Grapes dahlias and more (29th January, 2014)

Test (5th May, 2014)

Fabulous February (6th February, 2014)

Rosmarinus (14th February, 2014)

Bottlebrush (21st February, 2014)

Feijoas Feb (28th February, 2014)

Luculia (7th March, 2014)

Camellia debrief (14th March, 2014)

Autumn Planting (21st March, 2014)

Awesome Autumn Sale (21st March, 2014)

Autumn Sale update (28th March, 2014)

Roses Still to Go (4th April, 2014)

Heucheras (12th April, 2014)

Bracteata (18th April, 2014)

test 24th April (24th April, 2014)

Anzac Day (25th April, 2014)

Chefs Choice (2nd May, 2014)

Mothers Day (6th May, 2014)

Sasanquas (16th May, 2014)

and the pot goes on (13th June, 2014)

Strawberries and Daphne (13th June, 2014)

Winter Colour (3rd July, 2014)

Mid Winter (11th July, 2014)

Mid Winter (12th July, 2014)

Its time to prune!!! (18th July, 2014)

Marmalade and Witches (1st August, 2014)

Flowering Nude (5th August, 2014)

Asparagus and Spuddies (13th August, 2014)

Garden Coverings (22nd August, 2014)

Fluff and Stuff (29th August, 2014)

Officially spring (5th September, 2014)

Officially spring (5th September, 2014)

From where I sit (26th September, 2014)

October 3rd (3rd October, 2014)

leaves (5th October, 2014)

Lavender (15th October, 2014)

Its show time (31st October, 2014)

Roses are red pink yellow and more (3rd November, 2014)

Calibrachoa Surprise (13th November, 2014)

..... Roses In November

Hydrangeaeous (28th November, 2014)

Peanuts (3rd December, 2014)

It's Christmas, Lets get Potty (12th December, 2014)

Its The big day (24th December, 2014)

Its The big day (24th December, 2014)

HL Nurseries Limited t/a Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: