Meerkats lead way as holidaymakers turn to garden

By Julia Holmes
'Twas the season to be jolly. Now 'tis the season to be industrious.
We've eaten our fill of turkey, opened all our Christmas presents and toasted the arrival of the New Year.
Now it's time to get down to some serious DIY.
Many Kiwis subscribe to the mantra "my home is my castle" but no more so than at this time of year.
Western Bay home improvement stores and garden centres have barely had time to draw breath after the influx of Christmas shoppers before being invaded by a swarm of enthusiastic doer-uppers.
Neil Trotter, front-end supervisor at Mitre 10 Mega in Tauranga, said staff had been busy selling "lots of everything".
"It depends on the weather. When it rains we sell lots of indoor stuff and when it's sunny we sell outdoor stuff," he said.
"We get a lot of complaints from husbands who say they're supposed to be on holiday," he laughed.
At Bunnings Warehouse, Mount Maunganui, barbecues have been the big seller.
Operations manager Matt Junge said the store was the busiest it had been since opening in May last year.
"For us, it is more outdoor lifestyle buying - tables, plants, paving, barbecues, spades and shovels. The biggest area of selling is barbecues, by a long shot."
The store's hire section was also busy, with people sourcing equipment such as lawnmowers, shredders, waterblasters and weedeaters to spruce up their properties.
The hot weather, which can deter gardeners, has not stopped the greenfingered from stocking up at Palmers, Tauranga.
"We have been quite busy, considering the weather. When it gets too hot, it slows down a bit but it's been going quite well this year," said third-in-charge Sue Robinson.
Home decor, such as garden ornaments, had been particularly popular, she added.
Garden gnomes were out of fashion, having been replaced by ornamental meerkats, terracotta men and brightly coloured toucans.
"A lot of people, we've noticed, have gone to easy care. They are buying weed mat, pebbles, scoria and plants that don't need much attention and decorating it up with pots and ornaments. It is certainly the trend. Everyone's too busy to attend to gardens."
Shopper Gaye Southwell, of Ohauiti, was at Palmers buying plants to stave off holiday apathy.
"I'm finally bored after Christmas and New Year," she said. "I work at a school, so it's my holiday time now."
Russell Uren, of Whangamata, had been roped into helping his sister landscape around the pool at her Welcome Bay home.
"I'm here on holiday ... I'm doing some work with driftwood and stuff ... a bit of creative gardening."
Bayfair Garden Centre and cafe owner Lynda Dick said the vegetable garden seemed to be making a comeback.
"A lot of younger couples are deciding to have a go," she said.
Many of her customers were buying seedlings but she expected the sale of larger items to take off again once people started to recover from Christmas and had time to sit back and take stock of their gardens.
"It's not really started yet. People are still in holiday mode. Give it another week or so, then we will see an increase."