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Friday 20th March, 2026

Hi

In life we mostly try to find a balance between one extreme and another. For us moving into town, after living in the country for 20 years, tipped it a bit too far. So we are on the move again (hopefully) trying to find that peace and privacy which we have decided is more important than the convenience of town living. Don't get me wrong, our neighbours are nice people, but I don't need to see them in their dressing gowns and slippers, smell what's for dinner and listen to doors slam late at night as their teenagers stumble into the sleepout. I miss my privacy and summer always makes it more obvious, when we are eating outside a lot and enjoying the warm evenings to share with friends and family. 
Hedges and screening trees are worth their weight in gold when it comes to these situations. They filter out sights, sounds and smells which you may not be super excited to have! I am looking forward to Tui song, the gorgeous scent of cabbage tree and lemonwood flower (yes, I am serious) and a restful palate of colours with nature for a backdrop. The garden may have to be a work in progress, but one of the first things that we will be looking at planting will be a hedge or shelter trees.
Hedges, hedges, hedges
Hedges can be many things to many people, so it's a good thing that there are a huge number of plants which can be grown as hedges. You are probably familiar with some of the more common varieties such as Pittosporums or "pittos" as everyone around here calls them. Even within this genus there are some considerable differences between varieties in terms of leaf colour, size, shape, texture and plant growth. If you are in town you will be almost guaranteed to find a hedge of Pittosporum tenuifolium on your way to work, school or study. They are so common because they are so simple to grow and generally easy to maintain as a dense, healthy hedge between 1 and 2 metres high. Tenuifolium means narrow or thin leaf and this species has small rounded leaves which clip nicely into shape. They are fast-growing and will establish quickly into a medium-sized hedge. Prune twice a year in autumn and spring before the new growth can cover up your cut branches. 
Pittosporum Eugenioides, Tarata or Lemonwood - many names for a versatile and quick-growing native with wavy yellow/green leaves and a scented flower (who knew!). For Māori the scented leaves, flowers, and resin were used to make traditional hair oils and perfumes and the gum was chewed for breath freshening and also used to seal items. This plant is tough; hardy to just about everything including attacks by possums, and will grow in poor soil. It's a larger-growing variety which can easily grow to 4m tall, and is suitable for rural blocks as well as a stand-alone specimen in the background of a garden.
Pittosporum comes from the Greek for pitch, the think sticky black stuff that goes on roads (pitta) and seed (spora). The Karo is the best example of this. If you know it, you will be familiar with the seed pods which open, after the purple flowers have finished, to reveal seeds covered in gooey black stuff. Perfect for coastal conditions, the leathery grey green leaves of this one are hardy to dry, salty or windy conditions making it a great windbreak or screening plant. We currently have in stock a hybrid form called Pot Belly which grows around 1.2m tall.
If you are after a softer, more refined look, Pittosporum Wrinkle Blue is a hybrid of tenuifolium which grows nicely to 1.5-2.5 metres and has a slight crinkle in the leaves and lovely black stems. Plant them where you can trim easily as it is fast-growing and will need regular haircuts. It will make a great backdrop for your next Christmas BBQ selfie.

 
Larger-growing hedges and shelter trees are important for lifestyle blocks or large sections as they can help you enormously when establishing your garden, as well as providing screening from the neighbourhood. If you are in a coastal setting or somewhere the wind is dominant, this is your first step to ensuring a successful planting programme. We have a range of larger-growing evergreen and semi evergreen hedging options which can be trimmed on a more industrial scale than provided by a pair of hedge shears. Check out our Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus) hedge by the red roofed villa when you are next at the nursery. The beauty with a lot of these varieties is that they are very quick-growing. Trim once or twice a year from when they are young to ensure bushy growth right to the ground. 

 
Camellia hedges add another dimension to your garden space. Rather than being a neutral background, they can be a feature in themselves. If you have seen a mature hedge of Setsugekka in full flower, with large rosettes of white petals surrounding prominent yellow centres composed of stamens, you will understand what I mean. Our new season's Camellias will be arriving in shortly (early April) so now is the perfect time for some preparation. This could include clearing the ground where they will go, adding organic matter like compost, sheep pellets or bio boost and thinking about how many you need. For most Camellias we recommend a spacing of about 80 cm apart and digging holes about 40cm deep at least. The other thing you can do to improve the performance of your camellia hedge is to "limb up" any large trees which are shading them excessively. Our gardeners have recently been doing this before trimming the Camellia transnokoensis hedge and it looks super sharp!
Check out our full Camellia selection which will include many that are currently out of stock now, but only a couple of weeks away from arriving. Or if you can't wait we still have stock of Paradise Blush, Setsugekka and Mine No Yuki.

 
New Release Roses:
We are very fortunate in NZ in that we have nurseries which are prepared to jump through the fairly high hoops that are in place to import new plants from overseas. This allows us to grow some plants which have been bred and tested in overseas markets before making their way to our shores. Matthews Nurseries is one such who brings in roses from Europe which have been proven to be outstanding garden plants. The latest releases which will be available for kiwi gardeners this year courtesy of Matthews include two varieties bred by internationally acclaimed rose breeders Kordes Rosen who were established in the 1800's. It is they who bred Iceberg, Friesia and other favourites which we wouldn't be without, so they are known as one of the top breeders of hardy, disease-resistant roses today. 
Starry Sky is a Shrublet rose, which is a category of roses that are bred to be compact, low-growing and bushy and feature an almost continuous display of flowers. Spectacular quantities of petite soft blush petals completely smother this low-growing, bushy plant. Glimmering stamens for bees to enjoy in any garden on an extremely healthy plant. This one is an international award winner and grows about 80 cm tall. 
Marondo is another shrublet so equally as compact and floriferous (lots of flowers). Continuously flowering clusters of true red flowers, dancing above lush dense foliage. This multi award winning shrublet ticks all the boxes for no fuss, easy care gardening! Marondo grows about 90 cm high and wide.

 
Delectable is a Hybrid tea rose introduced by Matthews which has come from French rose breeder Pierre Orard. He is the grandson of the first Pierre Orard, also a rose breeder, who established a nursery in France in 1930. The nursery has passed down the generations, keeping it in the family. This beautiful rose has deep, deliciously perfumed blooms which exude their aroma above contrasting dark burgundy foliage. The opulent purple flowers are elegantly borne, great to pick with few thorns, repeatedly produced on a hardy plant.
Richard's Rose was named to honour one of Matthews Nursery's previous nursery managers, who discovered the chance sport (a unique and stable mutation) of Amber Flush rose. With eye catching, true yellow blooms of classic form and fragrance it is bound to become a favourite. Upright, healthy growing plant which is wonderful for picking. This one has been super popular, so you may have to put this on the list for next year.
Peony Tubers
Peony plants can be regarded as one of the most enduring of the perennial class. It's said they can live up to 100 years, which means they will probably outlive all of their gardeners. Your grandma peony is long lived because she has an astonishing root system which is thick and fleshy and these store energy for the months when she is dormant so she can burst into flower in spring. In ancient Greece, and also medieval Europe, they were said to have ability to ward off evil spirits so some people used to wear pieces of peony root on a necklace around their neck. Eww, gross. 
There is a saying with Peonies that they follow the 3 stages: Sleep, Creep and Leap. For the first year after planting they might not do much that you can see because they are growing roots - their sleeping stage. In the second year they start to have extensive top growth - the creep stage, and then finally in the third year after planting they leap into bloom, producing a breath-taking display of sumptuous flowers. The most common problem that gardeners will encounter is caused by planting them too deep in the soil. The buds which are usually pink or white need to be only about 2 to 5 cm below the surface. The best time for planting peonies is in the autumn, as they hate to be disturbed and at this time of year they are going into their dormant period. You can find further tips for growing peonies on our website here.

 
These are very popular so if you miss out now, we will have the potted varieties available in September.
New to the Nursery
Just arrived are some of our Evergreen Azaleas which will give excellent spring or autumn colour (depending on the variety). Some are even suitable for a hedge. Check out the selection - there are more to come in over the next few weeks as we prepare for the peak planting time. Azaleas love a shade or semi shade position but can grow in full sun if you can mulch them well and water over the summer months. Feed with an acid fertiliser in early spring to encourage strong repeat blooming the following season.

 
It might be jumping the gun a little, but soon we are expecting our Printanor and Elephant Garlic to arrive. We sell these either by weight or number of bulbs and they are always popular. If you follow the traditional meme, then you should plant on the shortest day (winter solstice) and harvest on the longest day (summer solstice). You are sure to get a good crop if you dig in plenty of organic matter and water well over the hot months. It also makes a great aphid deterrent if you want to plant near your ornamental plants to "mix things up a bit".
That's all from me for now, time to visit some Open Homes and check out the neighbours. Regards, Tracy.
Cheers from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team.

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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. (22nd April, 2015)

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: