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