What's Growing on at Wairere Nursery

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Wednesday 22nd April, 2015

Plants for those shady spots

So little time..

Autumn has to be the most enjoyable season. With it's lovely crisp invigorating mornings which quietly blend into comfortably warm days allowing you to get so much done in the garden. There is quite a bit we can get done now too as this is an excellent time for planting, trimming, pruning, and of course composting. With the return of the rain and lovely warm temperatures the grass will need more mowing which means more clippings for the compost bin. Don't forget to layer the clippings with the leaf fall that has started already and a small dose of lime will help accelerate the composting process. Compost is an excellent method of increasing the fertility of your soil as you are adding organic matter which is full of nutrients and soil binding and water holding properties.

Heuchera has had a revolution in colour foliage breeding and we now have Heucheras in almost every colour of the rainbow! There is absolutely no reason your shaded garden shouldn't be the most magnificent area of your garden. These special plants tolerate a wide range of light conditions with the rule of thumb being that the lighter the foliage the less sun they need. Plant them slightly raised to ensure good water drainage.

Ceanothus gives stunning blues in every shade imaginable on a gorgeous spreading evergreen plant that has glossy deep green foliage. Excellent for trailing over a bank. These shrubs cover themselves profusely in flowers in spring.

Liriope make a superb mass planted effect under trees or in woodlands or equally gorgeous as a border. An evergreen perennial that is tight clump forming and spreading with flowers appearing in summer followed by black berries. Always neat and tidy with next to no maintenance required.

Aucuba Mr Goldstrike is an excellent evergreen shrub with striking spotted golden/green foliage that has the remarkable ability to grow in almost any conditions.

Callistimon get their name from the spikes of flowers that bloom at the end of their stems. They love a sunny spot in the garden and will reward you well with colour during spring and summer. They like a nice peaty soil and are happiest in a mild climate so some protection from the harsher extremes may be helpful. Don't fertilise these babies in their first planting year as they are not nutrient hungry. A nice layer of compost in their second spring in the ground will see them right.

Cordyline from juvenile form through to adulthood these plants give superb form and structure to any garden. With a great range of green to red foliage plants and lots of variegated varieties as well there is a place in every garden that will benefit from the addition of this hardy and reliable native.

Ajuga is wonderful, tight grouping, little groundcover that will dazzle you with it's colour display during it's spring flowering. These plants tolerate frost well but don't like drying out so are excellent to brighten up a canopied area perhaps under the shade of your trees.

Winter herbs to spice up any culinary experiment you may indulge in. These are great in a pot on the kitchen window sill for using fresh in your cooking.

Garlic is ready for planting now. Usually from the shortest day to the longest day or there abouts. Garlic takes a good 6 months to be ready. A handy hint for the vege garden is that garlic plants are a great insect deterrent so plant the garlic around the boarders of your garden to make the best use of this wonderful bonus. Elephant garlic is the milder garlic, beautiful for roasting and Printanor is that lovely power packed garlic that makes even the dullest dish have zing. Garlic is known to have blood purifying properties so if you need a pick me up add a good dose of garlic to your steak and hopefully you will enjoy good health over winter.

Green crop time has arrived. If you don't rotate the plants in your vege patch then your soil could be in danger of nutrient deficiency, soil borne bacteria and disease becoming established and organisms such as wireworm become abundant and ruin your crops. To avoid this it is a good idea to rotate your plants on a 3 year cycle so you don't plant the same crop in the same place for 3 years. It is beneficial to have a rest or fallow period in areas of your garden and at this time you can plant a green crop. This is a crop that is cut and dug into the soil before it flowers when the green lushness is at it's optimum. Legumes and lupins are used for fixing nitrogen in the soil, mustard to get rid of wire worm, oats give plenty of green crop manure or all of the above just to be sure. It is a quick crop, throw the seed over the tilled earth and let it grow into green lushness. Before it flowers (and especially before it seeds) mow it, let it dry out then dig/hoe it back into the soil. This process takes about 60 days.

Housekeeping

Have you got your alarms set for an early rise Saturday? ANZAC Day is one of the few days when we are closed but we will be open from 1pm onward on ANZAC day. As usual this does not affect your online purchasing, however due to the short week following ANZAC dispatch will have only 2 days to get the orders out due to Monday now being a holiday. Orders will need to be in and paid for by Wednesday in order to be dispatched. We will be open Sunday and Monday at our usual hours of 8.30 am to 5 pm

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

However you decide to enjoy yourselves this long weekend, please stay safe and remember our fallen! 'Lest we forget'

Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team

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

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2015 Newsletters...

We're back (8th January, 2015)

Settling In (29th January, 2015)

Summer colour (30th January, 2015)

Fabulous Feb (6th February, 2015)

Roses on sale (16th February, 2015)

stevia (20th February, 2015)

Cheeky Climbers (6th March, 2015)

Michelias and Camellias (11th March, 2015)

Living fences (20th March, 2015)

Easter is nearly here (25th March, 2015)

Mourning the end of summer? (2nd April, 2015)

SALE NOW ON!!! (8th April, 2015)

Autumn Harvest (17th April, 2015)

..... What to do with all those leaves.

Autumn Flowers (1st May, 2015)

Sunday Mothers Day (8th May, 2015)

Colours of Autumn (15th May, 2015)

Always a project (22nd May, 2015)

Rose potting (23rd May, 2015)

Clip n Snip (4th June, 2015)

Roses Galore (14th June, 2015)

Rose Climbers (19th June, 2015)

Its Time to prune (3rd July, 2015)

Like a candy shop (11th July, 2015)

The pruning session (16th July, 2015)

Red and white stems (24th July, 2015)

Rose pruning Thur and Fri (24th July, 2015)

Winter Colour (31st July, 2015)

Time to feed (9th August, 2015)

Magnolias (20th August, 2015)

Gardeners work is never done (25th August, 2015)

Till the cows come home, or get shoooood away! (28th August, 2015)

Topiary Art (11th September, 2015)

Tosca in spring (19th September, 2015)

An extra hour (25th September, 2015)

The first Friday in October (2nd October, 2015)

Pretties Galore (9th October, 2015)

Frantic Fridays (16th October, 2015)

geraniums are in (20th October, 2015)

November events (31st October, 2015)

Movember (9th November, 2015)

Christmas is coming (20th November, 2015)

Harry was blowing in the wind (26th November, 2015)

December (3rd December, 2015)

Chilli out for Christmas (18th December, 2015)

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