Mucking in for winter

Planting Guide

It's getting harder to get up early due to the colder weather. However, there's always something to do in the garden, even in winter. Many gardeners are motivated to keep planting despite the colder weather, not only to save on food costs but also because gardening is regarded as a productive and satisfying hobby. On top of this, gardening is a great way to keep warm, healthy and inspired.

For this month, let's start with;

Garden Maintenance

Enrich your soil — First things first. Turn over your soil and add compost, fertilisers like sheep pellets.

Let go of your leftover summer plants.

Rake autumn leaves up.

Clean and fix your garden tools.

Prepare your soil for strawberry and garlic planting.

Mulch is key!

Edible Garden

Brassicas like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower can handle the colder weather and can be planted generally in NZ's milder winter regions. Buying seedlings will give you a good head start. Plant broad beans and peas if you live in areas without frost. Awapuni Nursery's Onion Pukekohe Longkeeper seedlings are now available for winter planting as well.

For the really cold areas down south, you may want to consider planting silverbeet, kale, spinach, garlic, strawberries and onion. We recommend using mulch for much needed insulation. Organic mulches, 5-8cm thick, may include pea straw and oak leaves.

If you're planning to give one of your garden beds a rest, you may want to consider planting cover plants like blue lupin and mustard. Cover plants help your soil regain nitrogen content. Closer to spring, you can turn over the soil planted with these cover crops and use these crops as live compost by burying them in the soil. This will improve your soil structure.

Stagger Your Planting - lettuce, onions, peas, radish — every 10-14 days.

When days get shorter and colder, your plants need all the help they can get. Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic will give your garden its much needed boost. It promotes strong root growth, helps the plants handle the temperature shock and most importantly, it helps bolster the plants' cell walls giving them stronger resistance to diseases.

At Awapuni Nurseries, garlic seedlings are roughly 15cm high, carefully hand-shelled and hand-planted. Ideally, garlic is planted in colder months (from June -July) because it needs the cold for the bulb to properly develop.

If you're planting strawberry seedlings this June, note that they will be most productive in their first year.

Flower Garden

Smiling pansy flowers, geranium, colourful polyanthus are hardy annuals. Geraniums are beautiful, cold-tolerant plants that keep pests at bay. They can be great companions with many beautiful flowering plants like roses, lobelia and vegetables like cabbages!

You may also want to consider planting more flowers in hanging baskets, containers and pots. This way, you can move your flower pots around your patio/deck for more sunlight or protection.

Hardy Herbs

If you are thinking of adding herbs to your winter garden, the cold-hardy ones are catnip, parsley, mint and thyme. Chives will move to a dormant state but they will be back in spring.

Natives

Winter is still a good time to plant all natives as they can thrive in New Zealand's unique climate. Native grasses, trees and shrubs appreciate the colder weather. Festuca actae is a NZ native tussock that has a striking silvery bluish green colour. They are great for mass planting to create a stunning landscape. Native grasses are available in bulk seedling bundles from Awapuni Nursery's online store.