Kowhai Thompson’s first landscape design instalment Mass Planting One way to create a ‘tied together’ look in your home garden is to add areas of mass plantings. This works both for brand new gardens and for established gardens. Think of purchasing 5 or 10 identical plants at a time of the same variety/colour at a … Read More
From Michael Coulter February has been a windy, dry and warm month which has kept me busy in the garden trying to keep up with all the work as well as the extra watering needed to keep the plants healthy. All my stone fruit has been harvested and I am now looking forward to apples … Read More
I love the non-stop flower power which Calibrachoas have to offer. They start flowering from early Spring, and with a little haircut in early Summer they come away with even more flushes of flowers which will continue until frosts. These callies are perennials, and as long as they don’t get too wet in Winter, they … Read More
Congratulations to all our participants this year. Especially to Carol and Ray Skinner for winning the Premier Garden Award and to Dr Vicki Fowler & Bernie Smulders whose garden pictured here won Gold. CLICK HERE for all the results
WAITANGI DAY QUIZ What did the Maori use the following plants for? Raupo (name three uses) Poroporo Harakeke (name four of the many uses) Totara Aruhe
Where were you born and where did you spend most of your childhood?
I was born, raised and educated in Christchurch. On leaving high school I entered the travel industry and was fortunate to guide for a variety of interest groups and travel extensively throughout the world. Later I had the privilege of being manger of PGG Travel, Focus Travel, AA Travel Hereford Street and eventually my own travel broking business.
With the first month of the year over and everyone heading back to school and work it is time to plan all the things we want to do in 2017. The CHS is no different except we have been planning for some time to make this an exciting and fulfilling year for our members and … Read More
From Michael Coulter January has been a month of real challenges in the garden this Summer with winds, hot days followed by cool days and some rain. Despite this I have had plenty of good growth and fruit to harvest although some plants are running a little later than usual. Much of the work to … Read More
Swan plants are in hot demand this Summer, everyone wants the happiness of watching a caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly especially children, there’s something so fascinating about it and not to mention is very educational as well.
The reaction when people see the Gazania Wild series is WOW! We all know and love gazanias for a hot and dry area in gardens or pots, but the huge flower size, and bold clarity of colour in this series is a serious show stopper. This easy-to-grow, hybrid treasure is ideal for pots, borders or … Read More