As national online garden expert for Palmers, I am free to answer your garden questions.
Keep any gardening queries coming to the Facebook page called Palmers or their web site www.palmers.co.nz and I will answer in detail all of your queries.
Eden Living is still running in full swing as I work alongside NZ's
largest garden retailer. If you prefer you can contact me directly
through my web site www.edenliving.co.nz
Wherever you are in the country you have a Palmers near by and everything I talk about here is available at a store near you.
Ripe Red Tomatoes! The one thing I just love about summer is juicy tasteful tomatoes - actually there are many things i love about Summer and as the days are stretching longer I conclude that Summer really is my favourite season. Spring rain and wind just doesn't cut it for me! This mad weather of late (or some say every Spring) cheats me into a false sense of watering security; it rains and pours allowing that old man to snore as there is not much else to do outside in the wet, but the wind just whips it all away and in a blink on an eye everything is bolting to seed! Make sure you are taking time to set up a decent irrigation system this season. Everything you need is in store from simple soaker hoses to advanced DIY complete kits.
I must say that at least Summer - even if a disappointing one like last year - will guarantee you longer days to play, Christmas will always be in the Sun which suits me down to the ground and yes my favourite thing in the garden is at it's best... Tomatoes! I have on my Chrissy wish list for dearest husband to possibly fit a pizza oven somewhere on our urban yard - if you know my garden, it is SMALL but not tiny and I have managed to fit the biggest garden that can fit within the perimeter boundary (however I wonder if the neighbour who is never home would notice a few favourites in their driveway bed??); I have even managed to notice my office roof will be a great host to my pumpkin and watermelons - so a small sized Pizza oven - there must be room out there somewhere! However, if I don't hurry and decided on a spot it will be too late to put on the Christmas list and the next celebration of our wedding anniversary is not until March so that's too late in my books!
Spray with Copper or Neem Oil to prevent blight - Last season I managed to kill 36 plants with blight as I thought it wouldn't really be the necessary to spray. I didn't realise that if your neighbour has had blight in the last 3 years you run the risk of picking up their spores and if that wouldn't do the damage then the wet, fine, wet run we had last year was enough to almost guarantee me a ticket to blight in the garden. Potatoes and Petunia also fall risk, so spray them too.Pinch out your laterals - At Palmers Planet I will show you what a 'lateral' is. Take the time to take them out as if you don't pinch them out while young you will end up with a giant triffid of a plant and smaller Toms that are shaded by lots of leaves that can affect ripening.
Feed well - Tomatoes need Potash and Magnesium and a complete Tomato food has everything you need to get the flavour you will be waiting for.Water the base, not the leaves - Watering the leaves will increase the chance of fungal disease so keep it low to help them grow!
Growing in a Greenhouse will extend your harvest season - You will be picking for a lot longer if you grow undercover and selecting the right Greenhouse for ultimate sucess is your next challenged that has been solved by Palmers. Our twin wall polycarbonate and aluminum Greenhouses are a quality product boasting 2.4m x 1.8m growing space for just $1499.00 in any local Palmers store. What better way to spend the long weekend ahead setting up one of these to beat the cool Spring weather and keep you growing well into Autumn. Want to know more about Greenhouse Growing? Read on for how to pick your best site and what to plant and how to be sure to ward of pests.
Four Simple Steps to Positioning your
Greenhouse
Growing in a Greenhouse is
ideal to extend your growing and harvesting season. Positioning your Greenhouse
for it to achieve maximum sunshine in winter
will be the ticket to achieving this.
1. Take a moment to sketch
out the boundary of your property and include location of trees, your house and
neighbours house that will cast shade in winter. Do not worry about summer sun as it is the
winter location that is most vital.
2. Shade areas on your
drawing that you know will be in shadow in the morning and use a different
colour to show afternoon sun.
3. Assess your drawing and choose an area of
your garden that will be in the most
amount of sun in winter. If the only
space with the most sun has morning shadow, then select this space as you are
wishing to achieve 6 hours of sun on the Greenhouse each day.
4. Position your Greenhouse for the door to face
away from the prevailing wind.
5. Provide wind break and planting if your
Greenhouse is positioned in a windy location to prevent wind gusts from
damaging your Greenhouse.
Wind Protection for your Greenhouse
Selecting a location for
your Greenhouse to be permanently positioned may expose it to wind that can be
damaging to your investment. A site that
has the most winter sun is imperative to your growing
success; so breaking the force of wind battering your Greenhouse or creating a
wind ‘tumble’ will be necessary.
Erecting a structure that
the wind cannot pass through (like a greenhouse or a solid fence) can create a
worse tumbling effect on the other side of it as well as strain against the
structure and cladding of the Greenhouse exposed to the prevailing wind. This is why creating a wind break with
planting wind hardy hedging and using wind break cloth or trellis that slows
down the wind will be necessary to consider when positioning your Greenhouse.
What to plant for a hedge screen
Plants that grow quickly and will withstand prevailing wind to provide a screen to slow down the wind.
1 - Corokia
2 - Oleria paniculata
3 - Lavender dentata
4 - Feijoa
5 - Griselinia Littoralis
 |
| Corokia Frosted Chocolate |
 |
| Oleria Paniculata |
 |
| Lavender Dentata |
 |
| Griselinia Littoralis |
Always remember that whilst your hedge is young it is important to provide additional wind protection with wind break cloth.
Plants to Grow inside your Greenhouse
Extending your growing
season is a great way to get started early in the garden and keep your
harvesting for longer into Autumn, I have even known people to grow Tomatoes
virtually year round!
Some plants - like peas,
runner or dwarf beans, potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum and chili will not survive
frosts but with a Greenhouse your delicate edibles can be planted now in
Spring.
Seed-raising in your
Greenhouse is ideal to provide a warm and sheltered location for quick germination. Set up shelves in your Greenhouse for your
seed trays to sit on.
Some plants grow really well
with other plants, this is called companion planting. See the list below of
plants to grow in your Greenhouse and what to plant with them.
Potatoes –
sprout their ‘eyes’ first in a warm sunny position like a window sill then pot
up in a potato bag in the Greenhouse.
Don’t plant other plants in with Potatoes but spray with copper to
protect from blight.
Tomatoes –
They love to grow with Chili, Capsicum
and Basil and all of these will do
well in your Greenhouse.
Peas and beans love to grow with Cucumbers. They will all grow up trellis and can be
planted together in large tubs or raised gardens in your Greenhouse. As your Cucumbers form they will dangle down
without any trouble or extra support.
Happy Gardening everyone and have a great long weekend!
Maria Quayle-Guppy
Palmers Garden Consultant
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