October 2011 Newsletter
by Clare Scott Nichols Invercargill
IN THE VEGE GARDEN it’s time to start sowing vegetable seeds as the days are longer, the light is stronger and there is plenty of heat in the sun when it appears!
First of all, prepare the vegetable garden by digging in plenty of Nichol’s organic compost or Nichol’s mushroom compost. Fork some compost into the existing soil then sprinkle on some sheep pellets.
Sow some peas, spring onions, radish, beetroot, spinach and silverbeet. Onions prefer a firm ground that does not contain any fresh animal manures or compost, otherwise they will not bulb properly. Whereas silverbeet should be grown in rich soil, helped along with regular waterings of liquid fertiliser. The growth is then quick and robust and when mature the stalks can simply be pulled off, not cut.
Plant a row of early potatoes such as Jersey Benne, Liseta, Rocket or Swift to ensure new potatoes for Christmas dinner. Continue to plant one row of main crop potatoes every three weeks until the end of January for a succession of new potatoes to enjoy later on.
Plant broccoli and cabbage - and if Club Root has been a problem in the past, plant our ‘Success’ brand of cabbage and cauliflower that has been proven to resist club root.
(Club Root is a disease that affects plants like cabbages. It is caused by an organism that can live in your soil for up to 10 years. The first sign is a wilting plant, especially in dry weather. The plants fail to develop well and often fail to develop a crop. If you examine the roots you will notice swellings and roots that look knobbly, like advanced arthritis! Once you have Club Root in your vege plot I'm afraid you are stuck with it for some time. However, the great news is that you can continue to cabbages successfully with the Club Root resistant varieties.)
Labour weekend has long been the most popular time to plant carrots such as Topweight, Manchester Table, Egmont Gold and Express Hybrid carrots, as well as parsnips. Parsnips need a long growing season so now is the time to get them sown as well.
Lettuces make up the biggest part of most summer salads. There are varieties with red, green and coral coloured leaves along with oak leafed varieties as well as frilly leaves in red and green. Then there is the soft leafed Buttercrunch lettuce that forms a loose heart of medium sized leaves with a sweet flavour and Cos lettuce which is a great upright grower with loose leaf hearts. You can continue to sow all these varieties from seed, or save yourself some time and buy them as punnets of seedlings.
Don’t forget to lay some slug bait because believe it or not a snail can eat up to eight times it own weight in one night! ‘Quash’ slug and snail bait is the only safe bait to use around the garden, if you’re worried about your pets being over-inquisitive!
The season for planting tomatoes in the glasshouse is here again. Tomatoes thrive in warm temperatures with maximum sunshine. There is an astounding range of old favourites and new hybrid varieties available, all grown here in the south. The aristocrats of our tomato selection is the ‘X Generation’ grafted tomato plant which is bred strong and healthy ... and the rule of thumb is, the healthier the plant is to begin with then the more resistant it will be to diseases.
Good ventilation is essential to avoid fungal attacks so do not plant your tomatoes too close together as this will generally produce a poor crop. Always buy sturdy plants that have a short space between leaf joints, and if the plant measures nearly as much across from leaf tip to leaf tip, as it is high, you can be sure it has not been grown in an over-crowded situation. Nichol’s tomato plants are grown here in the south and when planted in Tui Tomato Mix you should get a bumper crop of tomatoes.
Ideally, fresh clean soil should be used in your glasshouse each year. The new soil should be made firm before planting and firmed again after planting. Plant each tomato plant at least 5cm deeper than it was in the punnet. Do not over water in the early stages – small plants don’t need much water. Over watered soil is much too cold for tiny new roots to grow away strongly.
Tomatoes need tying to a stake or twined up strong strings hanging from the glasshouse roof. The laterals (side shoots at the junction of leaf and stem that are not flowers) need to be pinched out.
Every gardener takes a few risks and sometimes our adventurous plantings can give us much enjoyment (not to mention the odd scare if frost is forecast!), despite the reputation of the plant being tender. Cucumbers, capsicums, chillies, courgettes and pumpkins fall into this ‘tender’ group and the rule of thumb is that early November is a better time to plant these. However, don’t let this put you off purchasing them now and nurturing them inside, in a warm sunny spot.
And lastly, don’t forget to plant your favourite herbs. Often just one plant of each variety will provide you with an endless supply of fresh and delicious herbs throughout the season. And curly leafed parsley can make an excellent border of the liveliest green in the vegetable garden – it even looks great in a flower garden border.
IN THE FLOWER GARDEN the time for planting annuals is upon us. These delightful little dazzlers will shout out their summer cheer to the whole world. Petunia, phlox, godetia, alyssum and verbena planted in groups or drifts will flower all summer long. Wonderful gap fillers include lobelia, aster, larkspur, cornflowers, nigella, and even the humble marigold.
Enhance summer evenings in the garden by planting fragrant nicotiana and stocks near a window or pathway to provide wonderful evening perfumes. Sweet peas contribute their delicious fragrance and are wonderful for picking – the more you pick, the more flowers grow.
Some hot, dry gardens are simply too dry for the usual annuals and perennials but there are some plants that enjoy such conditions. Nasturtiums have become popular again and revel in poor soil giving more flowers if the soil is not too rich and moist. They are excellent window box plants. Osteospermum, arctotis, gazania, californian poppies and gallardia are also at home in sun baked soil.
Summer bulbs to plant now include colourful gladioli, whose erect spires can uplift any border, and begonias. Planted in pots with a sprinkling of blood and bone, begonias will reward you with a dazzling display of colour all summer long.
Many gardeners are on the look-out for an evergreen climber. Well, the native evergreen Clematis ‘paniculata’ will fit the bill perfectly. A couple of these will smother any unsightly fence or building with masses of spectacular starry, pure white flowers within a very short time. The leaves are a good clean green and extremely hardy - even shrugging off the full blast of our westerly gales with not a damaged leaf in sight. The flowers bloom for quite a lengthy period and best of all, no self respecting bug ever dares to settle on it! The male flowers are the larger but the smaller female flowers are followed by beautiful fluffy silken balls of seed heads which are most attractive.
In the garden centre we have been enjoying the fragrances of spring flowering shrubs. Early spring the sweet strong honey-like scent of the sweet box Sarococca ‘bookeriana’ wafted past our noses. The evergreen Daphne ‘odora’ is loved for its clusters of glistening flowers that spread scent around the garden and later the air is scented by the soft pink flowers of Daphne ‘burkwoodii’.
There are fragrant Viburnums for every month of winter and spring providing flowers and fragrance in sun and shade. Some have evergreen foliage and others display autumn colours and berries. Viburnum ‘tinus’ has been flowering all winter followed by Viburnum ‘burkwoodii’ that carries clusters of highly scented flowers – pink in the bud opening to pure white. Viburnum ‘plicatum’ (plicatum meaning pleated leaves) decks its self with heads of creamy flowers resembling a lace cap hydrangea. Then there is the graceful snowball tree Viburnum ‘sterile’ (pictured right) that has an abundance of white tinted green snowball flowers and deep green leaves that turn purple in autumn. Gorgeous!
A
nd last but not least, don’t forget about the backbone of most properties – the humble lawn! Bare patches in old lawns can be repaired using Tui Lawn Preparation Mix and sown with Tui Super Strike lawn seed. Moisten these newly sown patches each morning to prevent the sparrow family from enjoying dust baths and a free lunch of your lawn seed!
Happy Gardening everyone!
You can’t beat home grown vegetables for real freshness with all their vitamins intact.
And you don’t have to have green fingers to grow tasty vegetables ... simply give the soil a start by lightly forking in some Nichols Compost, a light dusting of fertiliser, remove a few weeds and you are ready to go! Frequent hoeing of the soil allows the sunshine to warm the soil.
Make the most of these sunny days to sow a few spring onions, early carrots, spinach, radish, snowball turnip as well as some early potatoes such as Jersey Benne, Liseta, Swift, or Rocket. Digging the humble spud is part of the magic and mystery of gardening ... it’s like buried treasure!
Broccoli is absolutely choc-o-block full of vitamins. And the common cabbage has become a designer plant now with round heads, conical heads, some with puckered leafy heads and purple heads but all are packed with vitamins. Then there are our simply superb club-root resistant ‘Success’ cabbage plants. Our customers are singing the praises of this new discovery.
Don’t forget to lay some slug bait around all your new seedlings because snails love nice tender vegetable plants too, and, believe it or not, they can gobble eight times their body weight in just one night!
TOMATO PLANTING time is here again.
There are an astounding number of varieties in all shapes and sizes – just remember, whatever the variety, always buy sturdy plants that have a short space between leaf joints. Plants that are tall and puny have been grown in overcrowded conditions and will never thrive or fruit well.
Nichols tomato plants are grown here in the south. There are brand new hybrids as well as the old favourites, not to mention my favourite - TastyTom - which is just the perfect ‘snax biscuit’ size and ever so sweet to eat.
The aristocrats of the tomato family are our ’X Generation’ grafted tomato plants which are strong and healthy - and the healthier the plant, the more resistant it is to diseases.
Plant each tomato plant at least 5cm deeper than they were in the punnet into fresh clean soil. And don’t over water in the early stages - small plants don’t need much water and wet cold soil is far too cold for tiny new roots to grow away strongly. Space the plants for good air circulation because planted too closely will result in weak spindly plants.
Tomatoes need tying to a stake, or twined up strong strings hanging from the glasshouse roof, and laterals (these are the side shoots at the junction of leaf and stem) should be pinched out as they appear.
It’s a glorious time of year with warm sunshine turning the garden into green and gold as daffodils shout ‘we are back again’ as they nod their heads in the breeze.
The Primula brigade are starting their spring performance as well. Our garden centres have a wonderful range of Ballerina and Barnhaven double primroses in shades of lilac, plum and pink which are truly irresistible as well as lovely soft colours of lemon, apricot and white.
Look out for the Candelabra Primulas with tiered swirls of flowers carried on long stems, flowering until early summer, in sumptuous tones of crimson with dark eyes of purple or red to softer pink tints.
Boronia Megastigma or Brown Boronia is one of the most loved fragrances of spring and always a winner in our garden centre. Though they have a reputation of being a short lived shrub they are so worthwhile.
And here’s a couple of tips to improve your success ... It’s important to know that the brown boronia are an Australian bog plant and so if planted in a cooler semi-shade position with compost they will grow much better than the hot sunny place most of us choose, where their poor roots frizzle in the heat. The other secret is to cut back the plant by one third, after flowering, then mulch with compost.
Magnolias are among the most glamorous trees or shrubs. They range from deciduous shrubs to magnificent tall evergreen trees. Early magnolias furry buds are now rapidly opening on naked branches so that we can enjoy their lovely goblet blooms. We have a fantastic range now in stock at Nichols, and it’s a fantastic time to plant trees and shrubs, before the heat of late Spring and Summer sets in. (Pictured: Magnolia ‘Ian’s Red’)
Spring suggests blossom and the Crab-apples are charming garden trees that have the prettiest pink and white blossom then later delight us when their autumn fruits appear. Crab apples are the perfect trees for small gardens with their pleasing shapes.
The Clematis tribe arrive this month. If space is at a premium put in a pole or two and this will allow you to grow more than would otherwise be possible as well as adding much more interest to your border. When planting clematis give them a good start in life and dig a decent sized hole, work in some compost and plant so that the stem is at least 10cm deeper than what the base is now.
For a large sunny wall there is nothing more beautiful than Wisteria with long racemes of lilac blo
You can’t beat home grown vegetables for real freshness with all their vitamins intact.
And you don’t have to have green fingers to grow tasty vegetables ... simply give the soil a start by lightly forking in some Nichols Compost, a light dusting of fertiliser, remove a few weeds and you are ready to go! Frequent hoeing of the soil allows the sunshine to warm the soil.
Make the most of these sunny days to sow a few spring onions, early carrots, spinach, radish, snowball turnip as well as some early potatoes such as Jersey Benne, Liseta, Swift, or Rocket. Digging the humble spud is part of the magic and mystery of gardening ... it’s like buried treasure!
Broccoli is absolutely choc-o-block full of vitamins. And the common cabbage has become a designer plant now with round heads, conical heads, some with puckered leafy heads and purple heads but all are packed with vitamins. Then there are our simply superb club-root resistant ‘Success’ cabbage plants. Our customers are singing the praises of this new discovery.
Don’t forget to lay some slug bait around all your new seedlings because snails love nice tender vegetable plants too, and, believe it or not, they can gobble eight times their body weight in just one night!
TOMATO PLANTING time is here again.
There are an astounding number of varieties in all shapes and sizes – just remember, whatever the variety, always buy sturdy plants that have a short space between leaf joints. Plants that are tall and puny have been grown in overcrowded conditions and will never thrive or fruit well.
Nichols tomato plants are grown here in the south. There are brand new hybrids as well as the old favourites, not to mention my favourite - TastyTom - which is just the perfect ‘snax biscuit’ size and ever so sweet to eat.
The aristocrats of the tomato family are our ’X Generation’ grafted tomato plants which are strong and healthy - and the healthier the plant, the more resistant it is to diseases.
Plant each tomato plant at least 5cm deeper than they were in the punnet into fresh clean soil. And don’t over water in the early stages - small plants don’t need much water and wet cold soil is far too cold for tiny new roots to grow away strongly. Space the plants for good air circulation because planted too closely will result in weak spindly plants.
Tomatoes need tying to a stake, or twined up strong strings hanging from the glasshouse roof, and laterals (these are the side shoots at the junction of leaf and stem) should be pinched out as they appear.
It’s a glorious time of year with warm sunshine turning the garden into green and gold as daffodils shout ‘we are back again’ as they nod their heads in the breeze.
The Primula brigade are starting their spring performance as well. Our garden centres have a wonderful range of Ballerina and Barnhaven double primroses in shades of lilac, plum and pink which are truly irresistible as well as lovely soft colours of lemon, apricot and white.
Look out for the Candelabra Primulas with tiered swirls of flowers carried on long stems, flowering until early summer, in sumptuous tones of crimson with dark eyes of purple or red to softer pink tints.
Boronia Megastigma or Brown Boronia is one of the most loved fragrances of spring and always a winner in our garden centre. Though they have a reputation of being a short lived shrub they are so worthwhile.
And here’s a couple of tips to improve your success ... It’s important to know that the brown boronia are an Australian bog plant and so if planted in a cooler semi-shade position with compost they will grow much better than the hot sunny place most of us choose, where their poor roots frizzle in the heat. The other secret is to cut back the plant by one third, after flowering, then mulch with compost.
Magnolias are among the most glamorous trees or shrubs. They range from deciduous shrubs to magnificent tall evergreen trees. Early magnolias furry buds are now rapidly opening on naked branches so that we can enjoy their lovely goblet blooms. We have a fantastic range now in stock at Nichols, and it’s a fantastic time to plant trees and shrubs, before the heat of late Spring and Summer sets in. (Pictured: Magnolia ‘Ian’s Red’)
Spring suggests blossom and the Crab-apples are charming garden trees that have the prettiest pink and white blossom then later delight us when their autumn fruits appear. Crab apples are the perfect trees for small gardens with their pleasing shapes.
The Clematis tribe arrive this month. If space is at a premium put in a pole or two and this will allow you to grow more than would otherwise be possible as well as adding much more interest to your border. When planting clematis give them a good start in life and dig a decent sized hole, work in some compost and plant so that the stem is at least 10cm deeper than what the base is now.
For a large sunny wall there is nothing more beautiful than Wisteria with long racemes of lilac blossom and there are lots of these arriving this month too.
If the scent of Sweet Peas matters to you we have ten different enchanting varieties of Dr. Hammet's sweet pea plants in a whole range of colours from ‘Almost Black’ and navy to pinks through to bright lipstick reds.
A new consignment of Hostas has arrived with their big expanse of leaves that make scintillating focal points in the garden and soothe the eye. They look superb mass planted in a semi-shaded area in your garden.
And lastly, it’s time to plant Dahlias which are a must for pure brilliance of flower colours combined with beautiful shapes, some with interesting purple-black foliage.
by Clare Scott,
Nichol’s Invercargill
ssom and there are lots of these arriving this month too.
If the scent of Sweet Peas matters to you we have ten different enchanting varieties of Dr. Hammet's sweet pea plants in a whole range of colours from ‘Almost Black’ and navy to pinks through to bright lipstick reds.
A new consignment of Hostas has arrived with their big expanse of leaves that make scintillating focal points in the garden and soothe the eye. They look superb mass planted in a semi-shaded area in your garden.
And lastly, it’s time to plant Dahlias which are a must for pure brilliance of flower colours combined with beautiful shapes, some with interesting purple-black foliage.
by Clare Scott,
Nichol’s Invercargill
