So you want to screen out your neighbours, cut out the traffic noise or enclose an outdoor area.
You could build a fence 2 metres high, but how sterile is that? You are much better to plant a hedge or screen of native or exotic plants to filter and cool the air, produce flowers, attract birds and create a lovely outdoor room.
It is most important to prevent grass and weeds growing around your plants and through your garden beds, since grass and weeds severely inhibit the growth of plants.
It is important to heed the warning when your local forecaster announces 'a chance of frost', and take precautions to protect your garden. It is possible to extend your growing season by several weeks if you are able to keep your plants alive through a single early frost.
How you ease your plants into their new environment plays a large part in determining whether they make it or not. With these helpful tips we can increase your success rate.
One of the secrets of successful gardening is the lavish use of organic mulch…
In Christchurch’s temperate climate with long dry summers every year, any measure that reduces the need for watering and saves on water is surely commonsense.Bare ground heats up very easily under the relentless Canterbury sun. Roots can’t grow in baking hot soil. Therefore in Christchurch it is essential to cover the ground with a thick insulating blanket of mulch to keep the soil temperature cool enough for the roots of newly planted plants to grow.
Espalier is the training of a tree to be decorative as well as producing fruit. They do not require any special skills by the grower, but take time to achieve good results.
ESPALIER - A central stem with horizontal arms tied along supporting wires.
CORDON - A true cordon is a single straight rod grown either upright or, obliquely (slanting). Mutiple cordons, lattice, double "U" and triple cordons, are useful for more vigorous varieties.
There are many ways of staking trees, and many old wives tales on how and why it should be done. This is the way we stake trees and the way we recommend you do it to.
The importance of thorough soil preparation cannot be stressed too much – it is the key to creating a successful native garden…
The ultimate success of your garden depends just as much on soil preparation as it does on the correct choice of plants for your soil type and the conditions.
