Book Review

Earth Users Guide to Permaculture

2^nd edition – Rosemary Morrow $39.95

This is a great book on measuring, monitoring, and reducing our ecological footprint. A practical step-by-step guide on how to design a permaculture garden of any size, from an inner-city balcony, a garden in the suburbs or a large rural property. A great book on how to have an edible productive garden.

Blobbing around the Garden

Excitement hit the nursery a couple of weeks ago, when the new range of Sedums arrived.  “Purple Blob” and “Chocolate Blob”, commonly known as Stonecrops, are beautiful textural ground covers that can be used in a variety of situations in the garden. We love these plants, not only do they look fantastic and have beautiful tonings through the leaves, these are amazingly low maintenance plants, with low water requirements.

You can achieve great effects through the garden with these plants by using them in many different situations, such as between rock crevices, walls, or other edges, where it can spill between or over areas. Given enough space you can form a cushion like mound as a structural and textural ground cover. Ideal for container displays, we love the look when planted up into brightly coloured pots either on its own as a beautiful feature or in a mixed planting.

Chocolate Blob has rich red-brown tinted foliage, which is a fantastic feature, but is also studded with dark pink flowers in autumn.

Purple Blob has varying shades from dark purple to a light mauve with tints of a gorgeous green throughout, these are amazing colours that really blend and create a great focal feature.

You will love these plants and be entranced with the texture, which makes you just want to touch them. Come in and have a look at these wonderful sedums that are available in store now.

 Rodney’s Top 5 Azaleas

In Chinese culture, the azalea is known as the “thinking of home bush”, and has been immortalized in poetry, and stories. In Korea there is even an alcoholic beverage made from the azalea blossoms, called azalea grape wine. In Australia, azaleas have been popular in the home garden for many years, and are still perfect whether it is a suburban, country or courtyard garden or simply in pots on balconies. Azaleas are easily grown in pots as specimens, hedges, and mass planted or grown as a standard. Come in and see the range from mid-august.

Red Wing

Red Wing is a semi-double, ruffled rosy red, which looks amazing when in full flower through winter and spring. A very hardy, vigorous medium growing azalea that can be used as a free flowering carpet under trees in the garden, or they look great in pots for small areas or entertaining areas. A long flowering azalea that will tolerate full sun or a semi shaded 

Alba Magnifica

Large single white flowers with a slight perfume; Alba Magnifica is a very hardy, vigorous tall growing azalea that will take full sun to semi shade. Pruning to shape will result in mass flowering that creates an amazing focal point in the garden. Alba Magnifica is one of the most popular azaleas to create a standard, which look fantastic in pots.

Kirin

Kirin is a Kurume azalea with semi-double musk pink flowers about the size of a dollar coin which will spot flower from autumn to spring with it’s full flush of flowers in late winter to early spring. With it’s smaller flowers and leaves this is a compact azalea growing to approximately 1m tall. A light prune after flowering will help to keep this compact shape. A hardy all-rounder, which can be used in the garden or a pot and is popular 

White Bouquet

White Bouquet is a large semi-double white flower with a green throat. A long flowering azalea from autumn to spring, with spot flowering throughout the year. White Bouquet is a hardy azalea growing to a height of approximately 1m with a compact shape, and grows well in full sun to semi-shade. A lovely azalea for the garden that can be used for hedging or borders as well as a focal point in pots. Another fabulous all-rounder. 

Magnifica

Azalea Magnifica has beautiful large purple flowers that mass over the plant through its main flowering period of spring. Spot flowering through autumn also adds colour to the garden with this upright growing azalea.

Magnifica can be grown in full sun to part shade and can grow up to 1.5m tall. There are many uses for Magnifica in the garden; it makes an excellent hedging plant, as well as looking amazing in a pot or as a focal point in the garden. Pruning after flowering will keep this azalea, bushy and in a compact lovely shape. 

Give me Fruit…  

Strawberries, blueberries, apples, pears, and cherries…what takes your fancy?

The thrill of walking into your yard and picking a piece of fruit and tasting the amazing flavour that bursts in your mouth is something that you can never tire of.

Children especially love picking fruit or berries, the wonder in pulling the fruit from the bush or tree is never lost on them. June – July is the time of year to start planting our fruit trees, even if your limited for space the range of dwarf trees that can be planted into pots is amazing.

A pot filled with strawberries always looks fantastic as well as endlessly producing fruit for you.

Come in and see us for advice on putting a little fruit into your life and check out the huge range of fruit trees available from mid-June in store.

Free-Range Kids

There have been articles on children and their health in the news and media for years now, and how our children are growing up in a culture dictated by television. Smaller backyards as well as fears for the safety of our children also contribute to how little time they spend outdoors playing.  According to “research” and “statistics” children don’t want to be outside playing anymore, they apparently prefer to sit inside and be plugged into T.V and computer games….Really?

This surprises me, with two beautiful daughters of my own, who are 5 and 8 years old, and like most children, full of energy and fizz for life, my children NEVER want to come inside, it is a battle sometimes, when it is getting on dark to get them to come in and have baths and dinner. The constant refrain emanating from the twilight gloom is “But we’re playing”.

I wonder though that if some of this being plugged in to T.V and computers is our fault as parents? I mean it is sometimes so much easier, when you’ve had a long day at work and your battling to get in the door and start dinner, homework, and demands of little darlings who haven’t seen you all day, to turn on the T.V and plug them in, just for some peace and quiet. I know I’ve done it.

The reason that I think that my children love being outside is that we (my husband and I) are always outside. They have been brought up in an environment where even their extended family is always outside, doing SOMETHING. From the moment our children were born they were put in a pram or sling and taken with us while we gardened, went for walks, worked, or played with our animals.

I was brought up “outside” here at the nursery, and even as an adult I find it difficult to stay inside. I tried working in an office once, with very few windows to the outside, I didn’t last long.

So maybe the key to having free-range kids is having free-range parents?

We have even gone one step further and chosen a school for our children, which promotes the outside life, and appreciation for nature. So when I am calling my girls in the twilight and I hear “but mum, we’re playing” I smile and wonder at my free-range kids.

Secateur Magic  

 Pruning can be done at any time of the year, though for deciduous trees and shrubs, as well as roses,      winter is the time to get in and prune. Using the correct tools will make your job, easy as well as  professional.

 Check out the new range from Felco, world leaders in pruning tools.

Pruning is one of the best things that we can do for our plants. Whether it is removing   dead flower heads, pruning back fruit trees for better fruiting, or shaping a plant to a certain style, pruning is any gardener’s job. We prune our plants to help encourage new growth and to keep plants to a certain height or width, it is an integral part of gardening, just as is fertilizing and watering.

Buying pruning tools is often a dilemma for some of us, as there is so much choice. One of the first things any one who has a garden should have is a pair of secateurs. It is as important as gloves or shovels, and will be an invaluable tool for life if you choose the right pair. We always use Felco’s when pruning, Felco’s are a Swiss made tool,which is renowned for quality and durability.

Felco’s are also one of the only brands that have spare parts for you to replace any wear and tear if needed. The new range that has been released in secateurs is the 160S and the 160L, which are truly well crafted. With light, hardwearing handles made of high resistance composite fibre, and blades of hardened high-quality steel, these are a sensational secateur. They also have hand and wrist protection in the design of the handles and angle of the cutting head, which is designed also for user comfort.

You can’t go wrong with any tools from the Felco range, come in, and see us at the Nursery to help you with advice on the best secateurs to suit you and your needs, or check out our on-line store and become a professional in no time.

Can’t see the Forest for the Trees…

Trees are an important part in any garden, giving structure, shade, colour, and perspective. Let’s check out Rodney’s top 4 trees that are ideal for your garden

Prunus Cerasifera ‘Oakville Crimson Spire’      

 This is an exciting new form of Prunus with richly coloured foliage. An excellent urban tree, its hardy and adaptable  nature makes it an ideal garden, screening and street tree where space is restricted. An extremely upright form of  purple leaved flowering plum. White spring flowers give this tree, multi-seasonal appeal. Grows to approx 6m x 2m 

Acer Rubrum ‘October Glory”

The most outstanding autumn colour tree in the world. It has a uniform growth habit; this cultivar is a  superb specimen tree for larger gardens.

The foliage is lustrous and dark green until early autumn when the foliage turns to a brilliant red/orange tones to pinkish lipstick red. Very adaptable to wide range of climates. Grows to 12m x 9m.

Acer Palmatum  

The most commonly grown of the maples from Japan. Acer palmatum is a lovely small foliage tree that can be used very effectively as a specimen tree, giving dappled shade in small gardens. With a vase shaped habit becoming rounded. Dark green leaves in warmer months, turning to various shades of red to gold in autumn. Grows to 4m x 4m

Pyrus Betulaefolia ‘Southworth’ Dancer  

 This attractive flowering ornamental pear selection has fine birch like leaves that ‘dance’ in the          slightest breeze. With new leaves that emerge as silvery grey and mature into shining mid-green and      turn in autumn to a bright yellow. Numerous white flowers with bright purplish-red stamens                cover the tree in spring. This is an excellent tree for gardens and streetscapes. Grows to 7m x 4.5m

Cyclamens are a firm favourite with me. I plant up my pots on the verandah in autumn and then have the most amazing colourful flowers brightening up my winter. I also bring the pots inside when we are having a dinner party or friends around, and they are much nicer then a bunch of cut flowers.

Our modern hybrid Cyclamens, came originally from Cyclamen persicum, and belongs to the primrose (Primulaceae) family, which originated in the Mediterranean, Greece, and Lebanon. In the 1600’s Europeans took the plant back with them to Europe to be used as an ornamental plant in gardens. The flower is a delicate sweet pea shape and the beautiful heart shaped leaves are marbled patterns that make an interesting feature.

Cyclamens are long flowering from April to spring and come in a range of the most vibrant, beautiful colours. They love the cooler conditions and being a perennial can be planted after flowering and they have died down, in a cool shady spot in the garden where they will start to re-grow (from tubers).

One rule to remember with cyclamens is not to water the leaves or the flowers, you can either gently lift the leaves and water the soil or have them in a pot with a saucer, which they will draw up water as needed. Keep your cyclamens under cover to maintain beautiful flowers in winter, such as on a verandah. They can be brought inside, as long it is not to hot and stuffy.

If your looking for a perfect present for Mothers Day then you can’t go past a Cyclamen.

In store now.

The new Volunteer camellia Japonica is stunning, with early flowering, large wine coloured with white markings on petal edges, peony form flowers, this is an amazing specimen camellia. Volunteer does best on the southern side of the house, and can also be used as a hedge. Every house should have one. Another beautiful camellia is Sweet Jane (see picture above), which flowers from early winter and into spring. With pink buds which open to an informal semi double blooms with pink rear petals and light pink to white central petals. The graceful slender branches make this a wonderful espaliered camellia or look magnificent as a feature in a pot or in the garden.

Tulip Time camellia is a very unusual, with light lavender pink flowers that remind you of miniature tulips, this variety in full bloom in early winter against the glossy green leaves is breath taking in any garden. Tulip Time has strong upright habit and is sun hardy and a bonus is the scented flowers.

Camellia japonica Federation was bred in honour of the 100th anniversary of the federation of states in Australia. With large deep pink at the edge shading to white at the base of the petals, peony formed flowers; this is another winner in the garden. The glossy leaves and upright habit make it a wonderful specimen in a pot or feature in the garden. Come in and see these beautiful camellias now at the nursery and put a bit of colour into your garden.

50% off selected shrubs and groundcovers including hedging and screening plants, and 50% off our entire range of terracotta and glazed pots.

Don't miss out!