February Gardening Update Canterbury Gardens in Summer The weather over the Christmas period was not very summer-like. Below-average temperatures, dull, cloudy days, and double the usual rainfall made gardening quite a challenge. The silver lining for me was the excellent crops of raspberries, strawberries, and blackcurrants. Tomatoes have been slow to ripen, and my stone … Read More
Site Plan Creating a site plan for your fruit tree orchard is essential for effective management. A straightforward layout that indicates the location and type of each tree—such as apple, peach, pear, and plum—provides a clear reference for future care.The next step is to track harvest times and annotate this information on your plan. This … Read More
Summer Gardening Update Canterbury Gardens in Summer Summer has arrived, bringing the annual battle with blackbirds over ripening berries. Strawberries and raspberries are their favourites, often pecked before they’re fully ripe. Not this year! With netting in place, the berries are safe, ready to enjoy with ice cream. This is a busy month in the … Read More
When is the right time to harvest? Picking too early or too late can result in underdeveloped or overly ripe fruit. Check out the information below to help you determine when your fruit is ready to be picked. Signs of Ripeness Colour Apples, pears, nectarines – full colour has developed for the variety. Peaches, plums, apricots … Read More
Spring Gardening Tips in Canterbury As I write, the rain is falling – much-needed to give Spring a proper top-up of moisture in the soil before the demands of Summer arrive. Labour Weekend is the traditional time when the soil and daytime temperatures are warm enough to plant and sow all the plants that need … Read More
This month is the start of the Summer fruit season with berry fruits at their peak and stone fruit starting to ripen. With longer days and the warmer temperatures these fruits will ripen quickly so they must be looked at each day and are best picked in the cooler mornings before they get too hot. … Read More
As the Summer weather arrives many gardeners will be looking to navigate water restrictions and charges. Maximising the effectiveness of hand watering is crucial. In the past I’ve used NovaFlow drainage pipes, these can be buried near trees and shrubs and filled on permitted days or with collected rainwater. This is an efficient way to … Read More
This month the growing season is well underway. Daylight saving has started and the Spring weather is so far, warmer than usual and the monthly rainfall, below average. This year the fruit set on my stone fruit looks very good, I’ll be maintaining my spray programme to keep pests and diseases under control. The apple … Read More
March, is it late Summer or early Autumn? For me it is both, the Dahlias are in full bloom and the early flowering chrysanthemums are also at their best, along with many Autumn flowering perennials all remind me that Summer is coming to an end.
This month is all about harvesting fruit and many of our vegetables.
February heralds the beginning of peak harvest time for most of our fruit and vegetables that were planted in Spring and early Summer before Christmas. The flower garden will be blooming as the dahlias, begonias, perennials and Summer annuals reach their showy best.