Saturday 14th February, 2026
Hi
Well I didn't get to go swimming, but we ended up with a couple of nice snapper from last weekend's efforts. Somehow the best laid plans don't always work out on the day. Planning your garden in advance, however, is always a good idea so you don't get stuck with something unsuitable. When we first moved to our current house we got the chainsaw and stump grinder busy removing cabbage trees which had either been planted or just "arrived" in areas that were not suitable. Who wants to pick up cabbage trees on the lawn everyday? Not me!
Needless to say, the next garden will have a lot more thought and time put into it at the planning stage; including thoughts about what time of year various things flower so that we can have colour throughout the year. February winners are
Lagerstroemia,
Gaura,
Caryopteris and
Echinacea. Let me know if you have others which would be good, as I may have a new garden to plan for soon #House on the market.
What next for the avenue?
I had some response to my last newsletter with readers sending in their suggestions for the replacement trees or support for particular varieties. The trees have been completely removed now, which also involved grinding out the stumps so that we were not left with mounds and roots to trip over. This will enable us to drive our Can-Ams (utility vehicles) up this path which will help enormously with shifting stock around the garden centre. Practical considerations are important for our (slightly aging) staff to get everything from A to B with the least effort and sweat. Don't worry, I do include myself in that description!
So, the next step is planning where and how many trees to put in. We are focusing on the spacing of the trees, which is important from a design point of view, as odd numbers like 3 or 5 or 7 are more pleasing to the eye. From a practical point of view this means we can remove the second and fourth tree etc. when the trees grow to enable them to reach their optimum height and width. That is probably the mistake I see most often when people are considering planting - they don't think about the full long-term dimensions of the plant when first planting. The trees pictured below, for example, are all beautiful but grow 4-8 m wide in 7-10 years!
One way to overcome the challenge of wanting a full "look", without waiting for your plant to be fully grown, is to plant what Lloyd fondly describes as sh*t trees in between. The idea of this is that you plant something that is fast growing in between the ones you want to establish and then cut them out. Sneaky eh? When planning your spacing you should try to envision what the fully grown tree/shrub will look like so you aren't left with a tangle of intertwined stems rather than a garden of distinct shapes and textures.
For the Avenue we also want to add a focal point in the hedge at the back of the garden centre to draw your eye (and hopefully your legs) in that direction. A large interesting pot, feature plant or art work is a great way to add another dimension to the uniformity of an avenue or pathway.
Remember Roses ... for love
Thinking ahead, we have many popular varieties which will be in hot demand when they arrive in June. It's only about 4 months until they come in, so make sure you get your favs by adding them to your waitlist.
Hebes
For hardy and versatile shrubs for many garden situations, you can't go past
Hebes. These compact flowering plants are available in lots of leaf colours and sizes. They vary from tiny silver-leaved varieties (e.g.
Quicksilver), which you could find in the wild on the slopes of Canterbury's Inland Kaikoura range, to the large-leaved variegated forms of Hebe Speciosa (also called
Waireka) with its large purple flowers.
Liriopes
The
Liriope plant is named for a mythical water nymph who was the mother of the vain youth Narcissus. She was told by a seer that her son would not live a long life unless he "did not know himself". The unfortunate son fell in love with his own reflection in the river and drowned, fulfilling the prophecy. This seems to be quite ironic to me as Liriopes are one of the few plants which grow really well in DRY shade. One of the reasons for this is that they have storage nodes which look like lumps on the roots. They are perfect for borders and mass planting and will form a dense clump with pretty clusters of flowers in late summer/autumn.
Monroe's White is the one most suited to full shade and will clump well.
Royal Purple has the most striking dark purple flowers and can cope with sun or partial shade. Clip your liriopes back when they start to look tatty and they will come away with fresh new leaves, or divide them up to spread to other areas. Although similar to
Mondo grass (Ophiopogon) the principal differences are the height they grow; Mondo is much smaller, and the fact that Mondo grass spreads more under the soil. The rhizomes of mondo grass act like roads - seeking out new territories to conquer!
Fruit Trees on Sale
About this time of year we usually have a bit of a cull of some of the older
Fruit Trees which we want to move before the new season's stock arrives in July. This year is no different and we have a large range of apples, pears, plums, and cherries which need to go. They are in our clearance area and it is "first in first served". Bring your trailer as they are good-sized trees which will look great in the ground and produce yummy fruit for you next season.
Apples include Peasgood Nonsuch, Wellington, Tydemans Late Orange, Belle du Boskoop, Sturmer and more.
Pears include Beurre Bosc, Conference, Packhams Triumph, Winter Cole, Winter Nelis and more.
Plums include Satsuma, Santa Rosa, Pernel, Burbank, Damson and Sultan. The
Cherry variety Montmorency
is also in the clearance area. But who knows what you will find tucked away? The only way to be sure is to come and have a gander. Note that plants are taken out of stock as they are moved to the clearance area, so they are no longer visible on the website (you will only be able to see full price stock of the same varieties, if we have any).
Sadly I have no more space for
Fruit Trees at the moment, and I can't resist a bargain, so I will be avoiding that area of the garden centre for now. If you have some space and the budget then we hope to see you in the weekend. Whether or not we see you; have an enjoyable one. Regards, Tracy.
Cheers from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team.
.jpg?t=1770941298 "Ophiopogon Japonicus (Mondo)")
