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Friday 21st August, 2020

Pesky critters, molluscs, and visions of smorgasbords!
Hi

Finally... a window of opportunity to get into my home orchard and get cracking with secateurs, pruning saw and loppers and now the task of pruning my fruit trees is done and dusted...  but wait there's more!
Spring is the time to get out with the ferts and feed your garden and pots, so I will get out with some fruit and citrus food and feed all the trees in my orchard.  I will say it again but a healthy tree, with plenty of air movement through it, well fed and watered, will always perform better and be more resilient to fungal and pest infection and that rule of thumb will go for all plants in the garden, your precious roses included!
Now, I have circles around the trees, these have a shredded bark mulch applied which helps the soil with organic matter and also gives a space to apply the ferts to. Remember that the feeder roots will be out, away from the trunk of the tree, so feed around the space of the outer branches i.e the drip line... I still have to go and top up the mulch layer for another year. These circles make it easy to mow around your trees and not run the risk of ring barking the trees... you would be amazed at how many trees I see with this kind of damage at the base due to mowers.
It's not just the orchard that needs feeding, it's everything, and your roses will do so much more with an application of rose fert right now...  Camellias Rhodos and Azaleas too ...it will be a bit like a quick sugar fix and will provide some of the essential elements that aren't in other organic ferts and composts... just feeding the garden with propriety fertilisers is not enough on it's own.. all plants will love constant organic matter which will improve soil structure and create a micro environment with good soil organisms.
Don't forget all of your potted plants need a good feed too but remember it must be a fertiliser that is formulated for pots so don't go using the instant ferts as they will go straight into solution with water. Pot ferts are designed to release food slowly over a period of 3, 6 or 9 months. I suggest to most that they remember to feed every 3 months because when a pot plant runs out of food it can take some time to come back to that healthy glossy green that it should be once you do feed it.
Size does matter... look out for field grown plants
Did you know, mostly we stock containerised plants, that is plants that are grown all of their life in containers of some sort. Most plants start off as cuttings, or perhaps seeds, or even in flasks, as tissue but they usually end up in a 5 cm square pot that those nursery people call tubes (I don't know why that name) and then become what is known in the industry as GOL's (growing on lines). 
Depending on the nursery, these GOL's get, in most cases, potted into the next pot size up and could be ready for sales in approx another year. Other types of plants like Camellias may have two or even three more stages of being potted into the next size container and take some 4 - 6 years to reach their saleable size. Their whole life has been in container.
Then there are some growers that have space and fields and the GOL's get planted out in the open ground to grow on for one to two years... potentially you can get more size in a shorter time frame though this is dependant on soil fertility and rainfall... Rule of thumb though, field grown plants are usually chunky, bushy and large and often with that wow factor of size.
Now these field grown plants can usually only be lifted in the winter and then many growers would containerise these, but a few nurseries still wrap a root ball in hessian. I started out Hort in such a nursery and I can speak from experience that there is quite a knack to wrapping a root ball in hessian and to tie it in a way that holds it all together and stays intact. The advantage is that you have a large plant that can just be popped into the ground hessian and all.
These have just arrived as balled plants 
White and black Mulberry trees, Morus alba and Morus nigra... these are just huge and will make for an instant tree, well almost, in the ground today. Wrapped in hessian just plant, with root ball intact , stake and voila!  Mulberry trees have largish shiny light green leaves famous for silkworm production.   
What I didn't know is the the leaves of the white mulberry can also be used for cut food for cattle and goats. In Korea, apparently the leaves can be prepared as a tea, and finally, the fruit eaten dried or made into wine. I feel that there could be a new project there for some one... Mulberry leaf tea?
If you are into trees that feed the birds then these are a must as they have white and dark, almost black fruit, respectively, that the birds will just adore.
Pseudopanax adantifolius and trident... These cultivars must be selected clones from the native, coastal, five finger lessonii with quite interesting leaf forms... Great largish shrub or small tree for a hot sunny position with poor soil... just think of their coastal origins... these can be readily pruned to keep them nice and bushy.
Lemons and limes... These tend to be a staple fruiting tree that we all like to have in the garden ... we all need a lemon for something and lime will do the trick also whether it be cooking, dressings or the tang for that gin and tonic also some lovely larger grades now available.
Arrived in this week  the fluffy stuff... it must be spring 
Delphiniums... I am a sucker for these and they are a must for colour, for picking or just because you love them! It's the blues that are my favs because blue is quite a difficult colour to find in flowering plants but hey the white and purples are pretty stunning too... we also have delphs in the picking garden and I'm sure there will be space for some more... reminder though that the slugs and snails love these more than you and often the reason they don't reappear after the winter is that the molluscs have found them before you remember that they should be coming up... on that note don't forget the snail bait if you are planting new plants as they will fully partake of the smorgasbord on offer if you don't.  
Daisies ... can't beat these beauties for colour in the garden and they flower all season too... It's early for these so watch out for a rogue frost for now but otherwise all good to go. Daisies make for good fillers to use up space. Stunning in a cottage or border garden and if they get tired just cut them back, but still in the green stuff, and they will delight with a full flush in around 6 weeks just like your roses.
Mock orange (Philadelphus) and apple blossoms Deutzia and Spiraea ... all the shrubby spring blossom shrub are making their way in to the garden centre this week. Spring is on the way and all of these make a stunning statement in the garden. 
Hydrangeas.  Once again we have a huge selection of these gorgeous long blooming shrubs. They are now potted and ready for your gardens. We have all the favourites Annabelle, Limelight, Bridal Bouquet, Kyushu, Bloody Marvellous and more. 
Magnolias, definitely cant leave out the magnolias, they are looking amazing in bloom. Check some of them on our facebook page, they are just irresistible and of course you can see our full range on the website.

Grow your own staples 
Asparagus. These European males are the biggest that I have seen and it's time to get them in now! You need to provide a permanent bed for these delicious spears. They will enjoy good rich soil and my advise is that you need to plant plenty of crowns to get enough to pick. Plant approx 50 cm apart and in rows, just let them grow for the first year, pick for half the season in their second year and go for gold from there on... Asparagus beds can last for years once set up. 
Spuds, spuds, glorious, spuds! I have been assured by Ange that a great selection of potatoes will be in stock by the weekend so watch the website. We do have a good assortment of Maori potatoes available now as well. These are wonderfully colourful and great eating. If you haven't tried them now's your chance to plant some with your main crop, give them a go.
Herbs just in.  Ange has a small selection of culinary herbs that arrived this week.. the range is not extensive yet with just the more hardy species. It's still way too early for the likes of basil, which we usually have in stock around Labour weekend. But there are chives, parsley, oregano, mint and lots more to refresh your herb garden with or just pop on the windowsill in a pot or two.
I have been using a bit of blood and bone this week but not in the conventional sense and it really does seem to work. I have never really had a problem with these pesky animals, what with all of our roses over the years, but this year rabbits and possums have been nibbling at our tender shoots and fruit. Blood and bone sprinkled around does seem to be helping deter them. I have this vision, while at night, this giant army of munchers flow through the nursery enjoying a smorgasbord of plants of their choosing... it would be like sitting down at a banquet... what rose should I eat now..? not to mention the peeling of the lemons that I am trying to sell.
It would seem that we are going to have to manage our lives and businesses around covid Alert level 2 again. For us it means 2 metre distancing and serving customers outside our shop, keeping up good hygiene practices and asking for tracing information from those who don't do the q code thingy, but as inconvenient as that is, my thoughts go out for those in Aucks, in level 3, who are doing it that much harder... so a shout out to all our 09'ers and hopefully a return to level 2 for them next week... so that the impact of closed and reduced business is minimised. I must admit that I have been planning for the future and putting in place systems and hardware with a view to maximise, potentially, more of my team being able to work from home.
Spring is such a beautiful time of year with the days very much lengthened so enjoy the weekend wherever you are.
Cheers Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team xx

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Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: