December is the perfect month to spend more time in the garden! 

The pleasure of learning new plant varieties and discoveries on gardening approaches is shared amongst many avid gardeners. I hope these quick tips help you have a successful vegetable or flower garden. 

Tidy Up 

• Start trimming your hedges, small trees, shrubs and lawn hedges.
• Deadhead your flowers and mulch around your plants.

 

Popular Edibles

Great time to plant favourites like cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies, watermelons, rockmelons, sweet corn and passionfruit.  

 

Tomato Support 

Stake your tomatoes within a month after planting them or before they reach a height of about 10 to 12 inches. Tomatoes are easy to grow but their growing stems are quite soft and sensitive to damage. Plus, they yield heavy crops so it’s good to give them early support.

 

Blossom End Rot Prevention

A common misconception might be that blossom end rot is a fungal plant disease.

 

Actually, one of the causes of blossom end rot is calcium deficiency and this can happen in tomatoes, eggplants, melons for example. Calcium is a vital nutrient in vegetable plants because it strengthens the cellular structure in the fruit. Aside from nutrient-deficiency, another possible cause of blossom end rot is over fertilisation (nitrogen). With too much nitrogen, the plant tends to not absorb its required levels of calcium.  Inconsistency of watering is another possible issue. 

 

In order to give your plants the best chances against blossom end rot, give your plant calcium-rich fertilisers.  Keep your plants well-watered. Add mulch to keep the soil moist.       

 

Garlic Lovers

Summer is the best time to harvest garlic (end of December to early January). When the lower, outer leaves turn yellow or brown, it’s time to harvest the garlic. Loosen the soil around the plant and carefully pull them out. Timing is quite important. When you harvest the garlic too early, it’s likely it won’t store well. Once harvested, you may eat the garlic right away although some people leave them on the ground for a few days to dry it up. If you intend to store it for a few days, tie the bundles together and keep them in a cool, dark, dry place with good air circulation.

 

Basil Season

Salads and desserts would be a highlight of this season and adding basil is a great way to add flavour to your meals! Awapuni nurseries stock 8 varieties of basil: lemon, bush, Thai, sweet, red Rubin, cinnamon, greek mini and mixed. We particularly recommend the basil lemon for a burst of unique, citrusy flavour. It smells amazing, too!

 

Beamin’ Blooms!

Everywhere in New Zealand, flower gardens are blooming. Fill up your gardens with foxgloves, lavender, impatiens and poppies.  If you wish to try something different, take a look at some lupins or salvia. They'll add a bit of colour and height to your garden.  

 

View our Summer 2021 Newsletter.

Featured products: Mānuka 100 Seedling Combo $90 and Mānuka 25 Seedling Combo $30