Garden Tips December/January
Mulch and Water – This is probably the most important activitiesfor your gard
en during the hot summer months with high temperatures and NW winds.
WEB SPECIAL: 1/2 Wine Barrels only $59.00 ea – Why not fill one with a living gift for Christmas – Remember to mention this to get the special..
Edible Garden
- For those who protected their potatoes and other vegetables from the late frosts – start digging up and eating (once flowers start to die off on the potatoes)
- Keep planting lettuce, spring onions and radish
- Pick beans every 2 – 3 days, keep watered
- Once your pumpkin (or melon) vine have 2 – 3 fruit, nip the ends so the growing energy goes into the fruit
- Tomatoes and corn will be ready late January in a good season or warm site
- Strawberries, raspberries and cherries are ripening so cover with bird netting to protect. If you are making jam to get the BEST results use the freshest berries and do in small batches (1 -2kg)
- Sow sprouting broccoli and cauliflower etc. mid December for planting out in late January – Beware grey aphid and white butterfly
- Stop harvesting asparagus in mid December to allow for root reserves for next season – support with stakes and twine
Prepare Garden For Christmas
- Give flowers from your garden to friends and family
- Enjoy the fruit of your labour on Christmas day – Potatoes, peas (sown mid September), beans, lettuce, carrots, spring onions.
- Enjoy the raspberries, strawberries, black currents for desserts and juice or make jam to give as a gift
- Christmas Gift Ideas for the keen gardener: Pruners, sprinklers, trowel, weeder, stainless steel spade or fork
Irrigation
- Watering systems should be installed to conserve water
- Trickle irrigation is the most economical
- Time clocks will avoid over watering
- If you have automatic irrigation set for early morning e.g. 5am or late evening e.g. after 9pm
Holiday Care for your Garden
- If going on holiday give the garden a good soak before you take off, or make sure the irrigation system is working well and not leaking, or have sprinklers on a timer system and ask neighbours to turn the timer around if summer is particularly dry
- Mulch is great for keeping the moisture in
- Place potted plants in cool shade behind the house
- A good idea to have lawns mown by family/neighbours – makes the property look lived in.
- If you have a full vegetable/fruit garden, invite friends etc to enjoy rather than waste
Trees/shrubs
- Ensure any newly planted trees/shrubs have sufficient water to help get them established
- Fruit trees need to be sprayed with Bravo to prevent fungal infections
Lawns
- Water just enough to keep green, browntop and fescue are fairly drought resistant and survive even if browned off
- Do not cut lawns too short to keep them from drying out too quickly and keeps the roots cooler
Roses
- Prune to 5 leaf after flowering, watering will encourage flowering
- Water early in the morning is better for the plant
- Fertilise roses with Evergreen Rose Fertiliser to encourage new growth for second flowering
Flowers
- Plant your summer annuals now and enjoy the bright colours this brings to your garden
- Dead head/cut down and fertilise to encourage more flowering
- Provide support for Dahlias and Christmas lilies
- Lavender: After flowering, cut back about 1/3, but make sure not to cut back to hard mature wood with no re growth potential.
Garden Tips for November
The October rains…
have created a wonderful medium for spring growth, in fact, it is the greenist I have ever seen the hill sides around Canterbury. Take time to enjoy your garden and follow the tips below to Read moreGARDEN TIPS FOR MAY
The Royal Wedding was well worth watching and I hope you enjoyed it as much as our family did.
But on a gardening note….Autumn is the ‘roll up your sleeves’ time of the year.
At the Garden Centre we are still doing 20% off our large grade trees. So why not fill a gap in your garden while the prices are excellent
Garden tips for May include Mothers Day gift ideas, so read on… Read more
Happy Easter
Wishing you all a very Happy Easter and a relaxing holiday time. We are giving our staff a break these holidays too.
We are doing an Easter SALE with 20% off our already low prices on easylift TREES, so come in and get a ready made tree to fill a gap in your garden
Easter/Anzac Hours
- Friday = Closed
- Saturday = Open 9am – 5pm
- Sunday = Open 9am – 5pm
- Monday = Closed
Garden Tips for MARCH
It is a difficult time for us all here in Christchurch, but we wanted to pass on the March Garden Tips for those who are able to get out and into your garden and to take your mind off the hardships at the present time. With the early autumn rains we have had, this reminds me, now is a perfect time for planting new trees or shrubs so why not visit our SALE
Edible Garden
- Harvest the last of your mature vegetables Tip – leave a small stem on your pumpkins to help prolong shelf life
- March is the perfect time for planting winter seedlings (or seeds if it is done early in the Month) veges beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, leeks, cabbages, cauli, silverbeet plus winter lettuces. Protect young seedlings with Slug Bait and cotton strips (black cotton) to discourage birds
- Harvest apples, pears, plums and peaches. Tip – Keep watered to encourage larger fruit
- Prune raspberry canes – remove dead canes and tie up the new ones, the fruit always appears on the 1 year old canes
Flower Garden
- Keep dead heading flowers/roses to keep them looking their best
- Start planting bulbs
- Cut down/back perennials
- Container planting of Pansies, Polys and Violas to brighten up your garden/entrance way over the winter months
Lawns
- Late March, with Autumn approaching now is a good time to prepare any new lawn areas for seeding – Pick up an info sheet from the Garden Centre
- Grass Grubs? Deal to these with Diazanon
- Fertilise lawns to keep green – ‘Osmocote Lawn Builder’
- Lawn weed problems? Apply Turfix for flat weeds
Trees/shrubs
- A good time to take cuttings of trees and shrubs
- Fertilise camellias, rhodos, azaleas, Daphne, buxus hedging and any potted plants (indoor and outdoor) if not done already
- Trim hedges/topiary to allow new growth to harden off before winter – Wait for an overcast day or prune early or late in the day
- If you have Pittosporum, Wisteria, smoke bushes (Cotinus family) or Maples for pruning, now is the time. Tip – Never prune these in winter.
Christchurch Earthquake Note
To all our subscribers and visitors to Evergreens’ Web Site.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Christchurch during this devastating time. We sincerely hope that all your families, friends and colleagues are safe and well.
We are fortunate enough to say that our immediate staff and families have come through relatively unscathed.
What a tragic loss with the death toll, our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones.
The Garden Centre is up and running, as our site is about 30km from the epicentre. The landscaping side of our business is also in work mode, although it does not feel like work as normal as we are all coping in our different ways.
Annual Sale – Sneak Preview
We are having our Annual Sale starting on 4 March 2011 to Sunday March 20th.
Some of our fantastic sales specials include:
- Fruit Trees – $29 each
- All Large Grade Trees from $75 each
- Selected Natives from $8 each
- Buy 2 Roses and get free rose fertiliser
Download our Annual Sale 2011 Flyer to see more specials.
Don’t forget to check our special landscaping offer on the back of the flyer!
October – Asparagus with Orange/Ginger Sauce
With spring well on it’s way, we are enjoying the warmer days and not so many shakes in the Christchurch region.
Make the most of the asparagus in your garden with this recipe or just add it raw into salads, quiche or try roasting them too. Have you planted your fruit trees yet? Mention our OCTOBER SPECIAL and get 15% off your fruit trees
Asparagus with Orange Ginger Sauce
Ingredients
- 500gm Asparagus washed and trimmed
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp fresh lemon or lime juice Read more
TOP SHOP FINALIST
We entered the TOP SHOP competition again this year and have come up trumps in the Large Format Category.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
YOU ARE A CHRISTCHURCH TOP SHOP® RETAIL EXCELLENCE AWARDS
FINALIST!
