Gardening in Waitaki January 16th 2026

A new gardening year lies ahead, and this changeable January weather continues to shape our gardens, with strong, warm days and spectacular cloud formations rolling through. In the garden, showers are a real gift, keeping everything fresh, supporting strong leaf growth, vibrant flowers, and healthy fruit development. Enjoy the richness of the garden, summer is still working hard for us. I tend to repeat myself, mentioning to cut back all early summer perennials and shrubs before they set seed. You can be especially hard on them now Shrubs, Hedges & Shelter: Now is an excellent time to reduce the height and width of hedges. Growth is rapid at this time of year, so any harsh cuts will quickly soften and fill in. Shelter trees and shrubs, such as pittosporum, laurels, and conifers, can also have their height controlled by removing the central leader back to a point where side branches will cover the cut. This keeps them as shrubs rather than allowing them to become unwanted trees. Always remember: growth removed from the top and sides will regenerate, but branches removed from the bottom rarely do. Rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas are shallow-rooted and really feel the heat. If they’ve outgrown their space, height and width can be reduced now before budding becomes too advanced. Removing spent flower heads will also help direct energy into new growth. Roses & Summer Flowers: Some roses will be showing rust, particularly those that struggle when soils dry out during warm winds. Remove affected leaves and destroy them. A feed of manure-enriched compost and a deep watering around the roots will help restore plant health. Drying Rose petals: Pick early in the morning when plump with dew and lay out to dry on newspaper in a dark, warm, very dry place. When completely dry, store in glass jars and add spices, citrus, lavender or rosemary for personalised potpourri. To enhance the scent, add 5-10 drops of fragrance oil or essential oil to the dried petals. Then, gently toss the mixture and arrange in glass jars or bowls. Hydrangeas are at their absolute best right now; they love damp conditions so water well and cover root area with compost. Lavender is ready for picking: Choose a hot, dry day, tie a string around the breadth of a lavender bush, then cut below the string so stems are contained in a bunch rather than requiring a messy clean up. If wanting to dry lavender, pick when stems are firm but before flowers open fully open. Bunch, then hang in a bone-dry place — any moisture will cause rot. Once dry, the flowers can be rubbed off and stored in paper bags for sachets, wheat bags, or potpourri. The stems are perfect for adding fragrance to the fire later in the year. Drying Rose petals: Pick early in the morning once dew has dried and lay out to dry on newspaper in a dark, warm, very dry place. When completely dry, store in glass jars or add spices, citrus, lavender or rosemary for personalised potpourri.To enhance the scent, add 5-10 drops of fragrance oil or essential oil to the dried petals. Herbs are also ideal for drying now. Pick, dry thoroughly, then rub from the stalks and store in glass jars. My own mix includes thyme, marjoram, mint, coriander, tarragon, dill, parsley, sage, rosemary and bay. Seed Collecting: Seed collecting is well under way. Warm days help pods ripen, and I like to store mature pods in paper envelopes or bags where they can pop in their own time. Aquilegia, poppies, dianthus, pansy, viola and polyanthus are ready now, with delphiniums, peony and iris still to come. Lawns scorch easily in this heat. Mow high, water early in the morning, and feed when rain is forecast. Spot spray weeds when bees are not active, and avoid blanket spraying to protect worms. Light mulch with untreated grass clippings or mowing now and then without the catcher helps keep grass roots cooler. Veg: It’s shaping up to be a bumper year. Corn, beans, cucumbers and pumpkins are taking off; tomatoes are ripening well. New potatoes love the warmth. I leave mine well covered in the ground until needed. Garlic is being lifted and hung to dry. Keep planting vegetables (apart from corn and pumpkins, they need a long ripening time). Rotate crops for best results. Fruit: Blackcurrants are still being picked for freezing, raspberries and strawberries seem plentiful, and apples will have been naturally thinned by recent winds. Cheers, Linda.

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Gardening in Waitaki Dec 9th 2025

A Christmas eve in my past garden.

Here we are at the end of another year, Christmas just around the corner, and gardens bursting with colour, fruit and summer growth. With so many overcast days earlier on, some plants have been slow to move—but that hasn’t always been a bad thing, especially when it comes to vegetables. Slow, steady growth helps prevent bolting, and everything will catch up once the hot summer we’ve been promised finally arrives. As the Christmas countdown begins, I’m sure most gardeners will be spending less time outside, just the basics of mowing lawns and keeping things watered. You all know by now that I am determined to get every gardener to soak and mulch. This truly is the time of year when mulch makes the biggest difference. Anywhere bare soil is left uncovered, weeds will take over. Mulch choices: Soft hedge trimmings, grass clippings, rotted leaf mulch, ornamental grass offcuts, decomposed pine needles, or forest-floor mulch will all help retain moisture and suppress weeds. I have almost finished planting out our new scaled-down town garden after three or four years of growing plants from cuttings taken from our former large formal garden. I chose plants that brought me the most pleasure. However, it is not easy; I am battling with very little soil on top of deep clay that holds water. The gathering of stones each time I visit Kakanui beach has given me a good supply to use at the bottom of each large planting hole to act as a draining sump. Then I add a good amount of compost before planting, so roots don't drown after heavy rainfalls. From now on, it will be the waiting and watching game for me. Roses & Perennials: Peony roses should have their seed heads removed as they interfere with future bloom performance; leave the foliage until it naturally browns off. Delphiniums often grow tall enough to topple their supports, and once they bend, it’s almost impossible to stand them back up without breaking stems. Cut them back to the bend point, and they will reward you with smaller, fresher flower heads. They respond extremely well to feeding, and compost with old stable manure encourages wonderful root growth. Deadheading roses begins now in earnest. For hybrid teas, remove the spent bloom and prune about a third of the stem back to an outward-facing bud. This ensures the next bloom grows to the right height and direction. For floribundas, remove the old blooms individually before pruning. With deep watering and mulch, they will be budding up again in a few weeks. I collect fragrant rose blooms to dry between sheets of newspaper—they make a lovely long-lasting basket of petals for the hall table. If you’re going away, gather all indoor plants into the bath with a little water. Place baskets and smaller pots on the shady side of the house. Deep water the garden, mulch well, deadhead what you can, and then let the garden look after itself while you enjoy a well-deserved break. Fruit in the Lead-Up to Christmas: Fruit always seems to ripen at the exact moment everyone is busiest. If you’re heading away, consider bribing children or neighbours to do a round of picking. Everything can be frozen until you return for jam-making or bottling. Blackcurrant branches laden with fruit can be cut and stripped in the cool of the evening—pruning and harvesting in one go. Gooseberries are prickly pickers, but if you lift the end of a branch with a gloved hand, you’ll find handfuls of fruit hanging underneath. Raspberries and strawberries are the most time-consuming to pick, but always worth it. If birds are an issue while you’re away, cover currants and raspberries with frost cloth, which still lets in light while hiding the fruit from birds. Vegetable Garden: So much is ready in the vegetable garden now. If you’re heading off for a few days, throw some shade cloth over crops to protect them from the sun and birds. Christmas tables will be laden with fresh produce, one of the joys of this season. As we reach the end of another year, I want to take a moment to thank you for being part of this gardening journey with me. The past twelve months would have brought challenges, growth, new connections, and many small joys that remind us what truly matters. Merry Christmas and all the very best for 2026. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in Waitaki November 3rd 2025

After that lovely rain this week, November gardens are bursting with growth, colour and, inevitably, plenty of weeds. Bidibid, chickweed and especially convolvulus seem to appear as thickly every year as the last. Convolvulus is the real nuisance; the only sure way to eradicate it is to dig out its mass of white, rope-like roots. It’s very satisfying when a long piece comes out whole, but remember that even the smallest section left behind will regrow quickly. Hydrangeas: are fully leafed out with flower buds forming for their summer display. Mulch now with manure-enriched compost for stronger growth and better blooms. Rhododendrons, azaleas and peony roses are beginning to make seed. Remove spent blooms on rhododendrons, particularly younger plants, to direct energy into growth rather than seed. There’s a point where the old bloom snaps cleanly without disturbing the new leaf tips; once found, deadheading is quick and easy. remove seed pods on peony roses before too much energy is put into ripening the seed. Roses are budding and swelling. Keep an eye out for early greenflies or rust. If fungal spores survived the winter, a combined fungicide/pesticide spray every fortnight helps keep new growth clean. Spray on a dull day to avoid bees and the sun burning through moisture droplets. Dahlias: are racing along, ensure they’re in full sun with around 10 cm of soil covering the tubers. Perennials and daisy bushes benefit from trimming back their first flush of spent flowers. Regular deadheading keeps them compact and flowering continuously; if seed is allowed to form, plants become woody. Remove old flowers on hellebores before the seed ripens to drop. Box hedging should have produced a good stretch of new growth by now. Established hedges can be trimmed back to the previous cut, but on new plantings, just even the tops and allow side growth to knit together. Choose an overcast day for trimming to avoid sun scorching the fresh cuts. When planting buxus, use 5–7 small plants per metre. Other hedges may also be trimmed once their spring flush is complete. Elderflower is in full bloom, for those who fancy making elderflower cordial, I use the following recipe. 30–40 elderflower heads, Zest and juice of 3 large unwaxed lemons,1.25 litres boiling water, 4 cups (800g) white sugar 2 teaspoons citric acid (optional, helps preserve and balance sweetness) . Rinse elderflower heads in cold water, shake dry, and remove thick stems. Put elderflowers into a large heatproof bowl or jar with lemon zest and juice. Pour over boiling water, stir, cover, and infuse for 24 hours. Strain through muslin into a pot, add sugar and citric acid, then gently boil until the sugar dissolves. Bottle the hot cordial in sterilised jars, seal, cool, and store in the fridge for up to 4 weeks or freeze for longer. Lawns: Warm spring soil has helped grass seed germinate well. Repair bare patches by raking, adding sifted soil and sowing seed. Cover small areas with shade or frost cloth to prevent birds from pulling it out. Keep mower blades higher while the grass is lush—longer grass shades its roots and benefits from nightly dew, helping preserve soil moisture. Soft, unsprayed grass clippings make excellent mulch: spread thinly around shrubs, trees and garden beds to suppress weeds and build humus. Vegetables: It has been perfect weather for getting vegetables established. Keep weeds pulled early to give young plants space. A no-dig garden is a simple, effective way to grow summer veg. Choose a sunny spot on soil (not concrete) and frame it with boards, sleepers, logs or Oamaru stone. If building over existing grass, lay thick, saturated newspaper or cardboard to smother it. Build up alternating soaked layers of manure, compost, leaf mulch, dried clippings, soil and straw. Add river sand, a little lime and general fertiliser through the layers. Top with straw to hold moisture and suppress weeds. Then, plant at this time of year, you can expect to harvest within six weeks. Corn grows sturdily when planted in a block rather than a row, and pumpkins are thriving in current conditions. Tomatoes will soon need staking; if you don’t have a greenhouse, grow cherry or Russian Red tomatoes in pots in a warm, sheltered spot. Fruit: Berry fruits are racing ahead with the warmth and good bee activity. Keep moisture levels up, especially after wind, by giving trees and bushes a deep soak when rain is scarce. Mulch well to retain soil moisture. Grapes will be flowering: only feed vines that need it. Overfeeding established vines results in excessive leaf growth instead of fruit. A little potash helps fruiting, and remember that birds are waiting for all fruit to ripen. Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in Waitaki November 26th 2025

Rose enxhantment.

Growth is in full swing now, with roses blooming early but still likely to give us flowers for Christmas before their summer prune. As blooms finish, head them back to a strong, outward-facing bud. Keep food up to roses—hungry plants are more prone to black spot, mildew, and aphids. If problems are already appearing, a product like Shield will manage pests and disease when used at the recommended intervals. Avoid spraying on hot days or when bees are active. Weeding: Weeds are maturing and starting to seed, so remove them now. Most pull easily while still young. Convolvulus requires persistence—pull it off shrubs, then watch for new ground-level shoots and treat these directly with herbicide so the product travels back down the root system. Box Hedging: Now is the time to trim box hedges. Choose an overcast day to protect tender new growth from sun scorch. Young hedging only needs the tops levelled to encourage bushiness; mature hedges can be trimmed harder if needed. A dressing of compost and blood & bone will provide nutrients to help them through the hot months. Any obvious “scalping” will green up again within a couple of weeks. Dividing Violas, Primulas & Agapanthus: Violas can be dug up, gently pulled apart, and potted into small containers. Kept shaded through summer and autumn, they’ll be ready to plant out by early winter. Treat polyanthus and primulas the same way—use only the fresh young growth and discard the old, knotted roots. There’s still time to divide agapanthus. Clumps that are rootbound often flower poorly. Lift the entire plant, break off smaller divisions, and replant them in fresh compost. These make excellent temporary fillers in new gardens until more permanent plants are established. Compost Tea: If you can get hold of well-aged compost, it’s worth making compost tea—an excellent organic feed that also improves plant resilience. Basic Method: Fill an old pillowcase (or pantyhose/cheesecloth) ½–¾ full of aged compost. Submerge it in a lidded container of water (a clean rubbish bin works well). Cover and steep for a minimum of two weeks to develop beneficial bacteria. Dilute finished tea at 3 parts water to 1 part tea and apply weekly to plant roots. For foliar spraying or young seedlings, dilute further. (Compost tea is not the same as manure tea—manure tea is less balanced and not recommended for foliage.) Lawns: After the strong drying winds this spring, lawns still seem lush. Raise the mower height and consider leaving the catcher off every second cut to help build humus ahead of summer heat. Fruit: Gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and strawberries are plumping up well. Warm, settled days are all that’s needed now to bring on good ripening, so cover from birds. Vegetables: Potatoes: Keep mounding to protect tubers from light and to encourage more new potatoes. Consistent watering is essential if rain is lacking. Root crops: Water regularly but avoid overfeeding leafy crops—they’ll bolt. Seedlings: Plant only what you will use and keep extras shaded until required. Pumpkins & squash: Mulch well; their roots are delicate until the canopy grows. Corn: Should be well established now, as it needs a long season to ripen.General watering: Allow the soil surface to dry slightly between waterings—overwatering small plants can cause root collapse. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in Waitaki November 18th 2025.

The weather may still be unpredictable, but the warmer spells are nudging us fully into summer. Growth is racing ahead now, and that first flush of weeds is appearing just as quickly—deal with them before they set seed and spread further. Dahlias are surging into new growth. Make sure they’re in full sun with at least 10 cm of soil covering the tubers. When dahlias overwinter in the ground, the tubers often lift toward the surface, so top up with soil if needed before the plants get too tall. Daisy bushes and other spring-flowering shrubs can be pruned back now, especially if they’re taking up too much space. Trim them to the previous growth before seeds set and new wood hardens, which will keep them neat and encourage better summer displays. Summer bedding annuals are thriving in the warm soil—petunias, nemesia, lobelia, nasturtiums, salvias, marigolds, and the full array now in shops. These are ideal for brightening garden beds. For pots and baskets, choose varieties that stay relatively shallow-rooted. Geraniums are now readily available; plant them in a sunny, dry position and deadhead regularly to keep them flowering. Fuchsias and hydrangeas can go in now too—both prefer semi-shade and will pick up where your spring flowering shrubs, and peonies have finished. Those growing tuberous begonias will see tubers waking up. If you’re planting them for the first time, choose a sheltered, semi-shaded spot with good drainage. A little morning and late-afternoon sun is ideal. Plant tubers just beneath the surface, 20–30 cm apart, with the hollow (indented) side facing up. Keep the soil just slightly damp—never soggy—and avoid watering over the foliage, as mildew can set in easily. At the first sign of a white powdery patch, treat promptly with a fungicide. Feed with a balanced, fish-based fertiliser every two to three weeks. Buxus hedging may still be too soft to trim. When new growth snaps cleanly rather than bending, it’s ready for a tidy cut. Trimming too early results in a fuzzy edge rather than a sharp line. Lawns will benefit from a dose of fertiliser just before rain—there’s usually some on the horizon at this time of year. This helps build strong roots heading into the hotter months. To encouage deep roots on a new lawn a good soaking once a week is benificial rather than light sprinklings often. Veg Garden: The changeable temperatures will be showing up in the tomatoes' new growth. Cool nights can cause leaf curl or a bluish tint, but they typically recover with warmer weather. Try to avoid watering late in the day while temperatures are fluctuating. Leafy vegetables appreciate the odd chill as it delays bolting, so there’s a silver lining. Fruit should be progressing well. Consistent moisture and nutrients are essential while the fruit is forming. Berries and early plums will be the first to ripen—and the birds know it! Cover berry bushes and strawberry beds now, or you’ll find the birds have beaten you to them. Cheers, Linda

Gardening in Waitaki November 4th 2025

More settled spring days now, warm sunshine, and bursts of colour as rhododendrons, azaleas, peonies and early roses take centre stage.  My roses are heavy with buds, still free from greenfly and black spot, though no doubt both will appear soon. I’ve given them a light spray of winter oil and fish emulsion to deter pests, always best done on a dull day so tender new leaves don’t burn. Avoid spraying or watering foliage at dusk; leaves should be dry going into warm nights to prevent mildew. Trim spent flowers from perennials and daisy bushes regularly to keep plants bushy and flowering continuously. Allowing blooms to go to seed will only make the plants woody and sparse. English Lavender is budding;if spittlebugs appear, don’t spray; instead, hose them off with a strong jet of water.  Clematis hybrids will be looking lovely in garden centres. They need to be planted deeply in rich, limey soil and stems trained while still pliable. They are susceptible to wilting, so if this happens, cut it right down; most recover beautifully the following season. To fill gaps in the flower garden, plant cottage-style annuals such as cosmos, love-in-a-mist, clary sage, lavatera, and blue bedder salvia. Plant them thickly so they support each other and help shade out weeds. Regular deadheading will keep them blooming well into summer. Hellebore seedlings that have popped up around the garden can be lifted and potted to grow on. Peony roses are budding, add supports early and limit flowering on new plants to help establish strong roots for future blooming.Hedges are putting on their spring growth. If they’ve reached the height you want trim when stems have firmed. Choose an overcast day, especially for box hedges, to avoid leaf scorch. If your hedge still needs to fill out, wait for new growth to harden before trimming lightly. All those soft trimmings make great mulch. Lawns are growing fast after recent rain — keep mower blades high to shade the roots or mow without a catcher now and then letting clippings nourish the lawn or spread clippings thinly around the garden as mulch, but avoid thick piles that can smother soil. Bare patches strike quickly now, so rake, reseed, and lightly cover with fine soil for lush results. Vegetables thrive in warm, moist soil, so now is the time to sow beans, peas, pumpkins, courgettes and cucumbers. Stagger sowings for continuous harvests. How about making a runner bean tepe for the wee ones with bamboo lengths and fine wire.If whiteflies appear in the greenhouse, hang some sticky fly paper strips down near plants and attract helpful predators by planting calendula, fennel, and parsley nearby. Fruit: Grapevines that were slightly frosted with that cold snap should now be recovering. Avoid overfeeding grapes;  too much nitrogen only encourages leaves, not fruit. A sprinkle of potash helps flowering and fruiting. Codling moth is on the wing again, making a beeline for your apple and pear trees. Egg-laying begins in November: females lay eggs on or near developing apples and pears, often on leaves close to the fruit or directly on young fruitlets. Try this simple codling moth trap: place a banana peel, one cup of vinegar, and one cup of sugar in a milk bottle. Cut the plastic on the side to fashion a cover above an entrance opening to let moths in and keep rain out, fill with water and hang in trees.  If you have empty garden beds, sow a green crop like mustard or blue lupin to boost humus and protect the soil from drying out. Enjoy the growth, colour, and warm energy of this month — summer is just around the corner. Cheers,Linda

Gardening in Waitaki Nov 1st 2025

And now it is almost November, this spring is proving to be a challenge weather-wise, with much-needed rain arriving alongside a bitterly cold spell. Those relentless winds were hard on flowering cherries; sadly, they couldn’t hold their blossom for long, but things will move now because November really is when the garden comes alive. Roses and peonies are nearly ready for their grand display, stepping in to take over from the camellias, rhododendrons, viburnums, lilacs, and azaleas. Forget-me-nots are also finishing their show; instead of pulling them out, cut them back hard, and they’ll quickly green up to form neat summer clumps, flowering again next spring. Irises are pushing through thick buds now. Remove any mulch from around the rhizomes so they can bask in the sun; I always admire drifts of iris planted en masse, though most town gardens don’t have space for letting irises take over ground that will only hold them. Dahlias: I have had to protect my new dahlia growth from late frost, which blackened leaves. Thankfully, the tubas sent up new leaves, so the protection will go on until frosts are no more. With tulips and other spring bulbs dying back, resist the urge to tidy too soon; let the green tops wither naturally to feed the bulbs for next year. Push or twist them out of sight under shrubs until they lose vigour. If you like to remove and store them, this can be done now, but leave green tops on to die back. Now is the time to plan your summer colour. Try cosmos, marigolds, petunias, bedding dahlias and blue salvias to fill gaps where bulbs have finished. Cat-mint is starting to show its first flush of colour; it’s a pretty edging plant that can be cut back after flowering to bloom again later. If dividing, pull off rooted sections from the main clump, pot them up, and grow them on for new garden edging elsewhere. Keep trimming spent blooms from perennials and daisy bushes to encourage bushy growth and continuous flowering; allowing them to seed will only make them woody. Chrysanthemums and perennial asters can be shortened back now to prevent them from growing too tall and flopping over later; they’ll still flower at summer’s end. Chrysanthemum tips can be placed in river sand to root for new plants. Hedges: Hold off trimming soft new growth until it has firmed later in the month, especially on box hedges, as cutting too early only encourages more tender regrowth. Viburnum and lonicera hedges, however, can be shaped now, and all soft trimmings make excellent additions to the compost or garden mulch. Lawns: Grass, grass, grass, so much mowing! If you haven’t sprayed for weeds, you can spread your clippings lightly around the garden as humus, just not in thick piles. Spread evenly so they break down quickly. With soil now warm, re-sown patches from moss or grass grub damage will establish quickly if kept moist and protected from birds; shade cloth works well until the seed germinates. Vegetable: Growth will take off now after the rain. Potatoes should be ready for mounding, root crops for thinning, and leafy vegetables will run to seed quickly from now on. Young broad bean plants may have been deformed by wind, but mine, already in flower, are showing no sign of rust or aphids. The soil is warm enough now for runner and French beans, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and all members of the pumpkin family. If you’re keen to expand your food garden, now is the perfect time to make a no-dig bed. Choose a sunny spot on bare soil and layer materials: dampened newspaper, manure, compost, leaf mulch, straw, and soil. Water between each layer, finishing with straw on top to suppress weeds and deter slugs. Within six weeks, you’ll be harvesting fresh produce, and the soil beneath will teem with worms and life. Fruit trees and berry bushes will start thriving now, as long as the bees were able to stand up to the winds for their pollinating job. Mulch generously around the drip line of all fruiting plants to conserve moisture as fruit forms. A sprinkle of potash around the base helps promote flowering and fruiting. Cheers, Linda