CHS Website Editor, Author at Canterbury Horticultural Society

Monthly Tips & Tasks – November

Fruit & Vegetables, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Spring Gardening

The very changeable Spring weather of the last month will hopefully change to the more settled warmer weather that we expect this month. We are now in the month which we do most of our planting and sowing. In the vegetable garden it is time to plant and sowing of all the warmer loving plants. Many of the earlier planted crops will begin to grow faster and be ready for harvesting. Weeding and watering will be needed as the temperatures increase and the days are longer. Fruit trees will be getting to end of their flowering so the time for treatment for codling moth, caterpillars and aphids will be here. Soft fruits will be starting ripen so will need to be covered to protect them from the birds.

Romancing the Rose

Herb of the Month

Our first roses will be blooming now. So many types and varieties grow almost world wide. The name for a “rose’ is almost the same in any European language, an indication of its antiquity.

Early poets all sang praises of the rose. Dried roses have been found in Egyptian tombs. “Rose” by any name signifies joy, beauty and love. During the medieval period people associated the rose with Spring and fertility, also with pleasure and enjoyment.

Amazing Weed-inspired Pesto Recipes

Homepage, Recipes

September’s Eat Your Weeds workshop hosted by Cathy Bouma of Tuahiwi Herbs was a sell-out success. Thirty participants enjoyed Cathy’s lively presentation and demonstration of various weed-inspired foods and flavours. Everyone enjoyed the herbal infused teas and went away inspired to experiment for themselves. Check out these amazing weed-inspired pesto recipes!

Monthly Tips & Tasks – October

Fruit & Vegetables, Garden Life, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Spring Gardening

This Spring is bringing the usual mixture of warm and cold weather – potentially a problem for the garden as we start to get ready for the planting and sowing time. To get the most from our plants we should really wait until conditions are consistent for the soil and the weather settles down. The Spring bulbs are in full bloom and will benefit from a fertiliser to build up the bulb for next season; removing spent flowers will also help. Spring flowering trees and shrubs should be pruned straight after flowering to ensure good growth for the next season’s flowers. Read more

Herb of the Month – Jerusalem Artichoke

Herb of the Month

Have you got a sunny empty spot at the back of your garden? You may like to try this ancient tuberous sunflower species grown by native Americans long before the arrival of Europeans. It is an attractive tall growing perennial with sunflower heads up to about 10cm across. It grows from white underground tubers that are rich in inulin, can be eaten raw, or cooked. They also make a delicious soup which tastes a little like oyster soup. It was taken to Europe and became very popular there in the 1600s. Despite the name, the plant has nothing to do with either Jerusalem or with artichokes! Another old European name, Sunchoke is more appropriate!

Monthly Tips & Tasks – September

Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Spring Gardening, The Flower Garden, This Month in the Garden

September is the month in which Spring growth really gets going. The Spring bulbs are in full bloom and deciduous plants come into life.

The weather is still very changeable and there is always the danger of frosts that can damage new growth; this makes for a very busy time in the garden.

Ground preparation for sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings should be completed, old Winter crops removed to make way for Summer plantings and the last of Winter pruning completed.

Herb of the Month – Chickweed

Herb of the Month

A real nuisance once it gets into your garden, this plant does have its uses! Originally native to Europe and Asia it now grows wild throughout much of the world preferring cultivated moist soils but is not fussy, becoming variable in size and habit. Buried seeds are known to retain their viability for at least 25 years and the plant can even flower and ripen seeds under snow! Don’t let it flower or you will have it forever!

Winter Speaker Series 2019

Winter Speaker Series

OUR LIVING LANDSCAPE Developments in viticulture from Akaroa beginnings to Waipara today Four highly qualified and experienced speakers presented this series of stimulating talks culminating in the M J Barnett Memorial Lecture on Thursday 15 August 2019. [one_half] Venue The Winter Speaker Series 2019 venue was The KIOSK, Christchurch Botanic Gardens. There is plenty of … Read More

Monthly Tips & Tasks – August

Fruit & Vegetables, Lawns, Monthly Tips & Tasks, Winter Gardening

We have now had some good frosts that have cut back many plants in the garden so it is a good idea to lift some of them to overwinter. Plants that benefit are dahlias, begonias (tuberous and fibrous types) and some perennials.The pruning of fruit trees and roses may now be completed and they can also be given their Winter sprays. These tasks are best done on a fine sunny day.Green houses should be washed, disinfected and any repairs completed in readiness for the start of Spring.All crop residue should now be removed from the garden or green house and either composted or disposed of.Prunings from the garden I shred up and add to the compost heap. My heap is protected from the wet and cold and turned over two or three times to ensure good quality compost is available for digging in later.New season fruit trees are now arriving in the garden centres. Make sure you get in early for the best trees.Strawberries and cane fruits can be planted now. It’s a good idea to try and get cultivars that will fruit at different times to achieve a longer harvest time ( ie. early, mid season and late types).Spring bulbs will be starting to emerge through the ground so be careful when weeding not to damage the shoots.If you have a heat bench or pad you can start sowing some early seeds to be ready for early plantings. Do remember the days are still short though and even with additional heat plants will take longer to grow now than in the Springtime.Early potatoes can now be sprouted (chitted) ready to plant in a few weeks in a well protected part of the garden.New season roses are also becoming available, make sure you get in early as some of the new introductions sell out very fast.

Herb of the Month – Coriander

Herb of the Month

This beautiful Autumn golden deciduous tree is the one remaining species of the Ginkgoaceae family and was around before the dinosaurs, when there were ferns but no true flowering plants. Charles Darwin referred to it as “A living fossil”.