Gardening advice with Daltons

Daltons gardening experts are here to help. Send in your gardening question and you could win a Daltons gardening prize pack! See entry details below.

I am about to have some remedial work done to a steepish bank that slipped during the Nelson floods. Can you suggest shrubs and plants that have a good root system that will help to hold the bank together?

Plants can help stabilize a bank or slope by reducing erosion and improving soil stability. They can also absorb water from the soil, reducing the amount of runoff and preventing soil from becoming waterlogged and unstable.

Plants with deep, strong root systems are generally the best choice. Shrubs, and groundcovers (and grasses) are all good options for bank stabilisation as they provide good ground cover and help to hold soil in place.

Below is a list of robust native plants that will help to stabilize your bank. Native plants also help increase the biodiversity in your garden. Add plenty of Daltons Garden Time™ Compost to the hole when planting.

Ground covers that root as they spread:

• Coprosma acerosa

• Coprosma brunnea

• Muehlenbeckia complex.

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Give your trees and shrubs the best start by using plenty of compost when planting and popping in a Daltons Premium Planter Tab. Regularly fertilising existing trees and shrubs in your garden promotes healthy growth and foliage. Our Tree and Shrub Planting Pack, valued at $89, has everything you need!

To enter, email your gardening question to nelsonmag@ daltons.co.nz with Daltons prize pack in the subject heading. Giveaway entries must be received by Fri 23 June 2023. daltons.co.nz

Shrubs with a robust root system:

• Coprosma rhamnoides

• Coprosma lucida

• Coprosma repens

• Coprosma robusta

• Geniostema rupestre

• Here stricta

• Here parviflora

• Myrsine Australia.

• Olearia solandri

• Phormium cookianum

• Pittosporum crassifolium

• Pittosporum Stephen’s Island.

• Pittosporum ralphii