Friday 1st May, 2015
Last Autumn Quarter
Hi
Those Aussies sent the bad weather over that we have had this week!!!
What a blustery week its been, I think that we got the left overs of that storm that hit the southern part of Australia. Its been 3 windy days here in the nursery with the wind coming from the North west which is bit of an unusual direction for us here..... I don't mind the rain but the wind is a different story.... Last Saturday I had just raked all the leaves from under the big
Claret Ash that we have in the middle of the garden centre, and then after the big blow on Sunday, well you would never have known that I had ever done it. Have to say that the wind made a lot of leaves fall in a hurry which is good. I love the colours of the Autumn leaves and don't mind the job of raking them all up and besides it only happens once a year.
Last year we raked all the leaves up by hand but I've seen an expert on the end of a motorised blower so its off to the Stihl shop to get us one this year. Its way quicker to blow them all into a heap and then pick them up and the bonus is you don't get all the gravel, though the leaves do have to be drier.
Hard to believe but we have been here some 25 years now and all the trees that we planted are now quite huge and there is quite a lot of leaf fall especially down our Right of Way. Now the trees that we planted down there on the south boundary are all
Tilias or if you like Limes (common name but not to be confused with the citrus Lime).
We planted them all in a row some six metres apart and now they all touch along the southern boundary.
Do they ever soften that southerly wind that blows right through the Nursery and because they are on the south side we don't loose any sun. Smart placement of trees will soften and filter the wind and then add hedges into the equation and they will break the wind at a lower level protecting the garden or in our case the entire nursery.
What should you be doing in the Garden
Planting ... Why because the ground is still warm even though the air temps are dropping and its moist due to the Autumn rains that we have had so far this season. So if you have a project to do like put in a new hedge or redo a piece of garden then get onto the job. Autumn and Winter are the planting seasons for trees, shrubs hedges and the like.
Hedges... we are giving all our hedges a final trim/ shape for the season so that they look nice and sharp all winter long. Most hedges should have two trims a year, one after the spring flush has finished and the other after the Autumn growth flush.
Roses should now all being left alone to finish flowering and to set hips. Don't even dead head them as this will set them off into another growth spurt and you want them to rest for the winter. Take the old dropping rose leaves away and don't compost them.
Autumn colour... Ericas, Grevilleas..
What do Lily of the Valley shrubs (
Pieris),
Blueberries,
Rhododendrons,
Azaleas and
Ericas all have in common........... Well I could guess but the rhododendrons and Azalea threw me off the scent a tad.... They all belong to the heath family which for the technos is the Ericaceae. When I think of Ericas I think of Ericas, blueberries and Pieris, well they all have the same kind of what I would call classic bell or tubular flower that hangs in clusters or along the stem of the plant. Maybe the Rhodos are a bit of a cousin but the neat thing about writing this column is that I learn new things.
The cool thing about Ericas is that the give colour at this time of year and on the whole they form quite tidy and not overly large shrubs.
Erica springwood white and
Kramers red are both hybrids that have a really low growing form and just masses of flowers. These ones could almost be used as a ground cover. Then there are the
Melanthera Ruby Shepherd which will grow to a tidy 70 odd cm and is just smothered right now in cerise bells. Then there are the ones that have the longer tubular bells like
Mammosa deep pink. Next week there are even going to be more as I know that Harry has spied more for colour in the nursery.
Grevilleas from our Aussie neighbours are also pretty good at providing some Autumn and Winter colour. Mostly these are shrubby bushes that typically grow to approx 1.5 metres and have brightly coloured spidery like flowers Check out Firecracker, Fireworks, Prostrata aurea and Nancy Otzen. There are some pretty good ground cover forms too Like Drummer Boy, Mount Tamboritha and Gaudi Chaudi. Dont forget that Grevilleas love those hot and dry and very sunny positions and that the groundcovers would be ideal for covering a north facing bank.
Green Crops and I don't mean Wacky Baccy
Dad used to do this and its a good thing to do, but you know those empty vege bed over the winter, well the thing to do is plant a green crop in them. Just rake them over and sow or broadcast the seeds. Use one or a mix of either mustard seeds, lupins or a mix of both with grain added. They fix their own nitrogen and when they come up to flower, well dig it all into the garden. It will make the empty plot look way better all winter instead of being weedy and all messy.
Now dad used to double dig which means you make a trench double the depth of a spade and layer the grown green crop in then turn the first row of soil over the top so that the lupins sit about a spade depth under. Dig the whole garden over this way. This means that you can plant new plants directly into the top layer and when their roots reach the green crop , it will be rotted down. Another project for the weekend LOL
Harry's deals this week include
Cordyline Polka a clumping cabbage tree in apricot tones that mature to olive green, Nice plants at $21.99 normally but here at $12.99. These would suit being in a pot of just in the garden as a feature plant.
Kakabeak roseus has pinkie red parrot beak like flowers that hang in clusters. Great filler in the garden with their fern like foliage and amazing flowers. $21.99 these now just $16.99
Phormium Green Dwarf $9.99 now $6.99. This a small growing attractive green flax that will grow to approx 1m. A great plant to use as a filler and looks amazing when contrasted with the orange grass Carex testacea.
Roses Roses Roses.... still to clear out at half price these need to go to make space for the new seasons stock. If you want some roses just to fill a bed then these are ideal. We are getting to the end of the stock varieties so put some options in your order.
Yah for a fine weekend and its meant to be a gorgeous one at that especially if today (Fri) is anything to go by. Tomorrow is the beginning of duck shooting season so is you see a whole lot of men in camouflage then you will know that they are not going to a gay party but rather out to bag some ducks to be casseroled.. Me I'm in the garden getting it all up to scratch (cause I'm not a duck shooter or going to a party) and the new seasons roses are due in another few weeks so there won't be time for the garden then. Enjoy this beautiful Autumn weather and get the heat pumps serviced as you know its only going to get cooler.
Have fun
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where even
GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag
