Gardening

Gardening advice with Daltons

We all need a bit of gardening advice now and then. The Daltons experts are here to help! Send in your question and you could win a Daltons prize pack - see entry details below.

We live on a riverbank with very acid soil which is fantastic for growing fungi pretty much all year round but our lawn, if you can call it that, is quite something else, everything but lawn! Can I change this at all, or do I accept defeat? Many grasses prefer an acidic soil, so it may well be worth experimenting with a few different grass species instead to see if one is significantly more successful in your property. Always remember that preparation before sowing is absolutely key to establishing a successful lawn. It may be necessary to import some weed-free fresh soil into your property and a free-draining loam (a soil composition of equal parts of sand, silt, and clay) is preferable. In spring, carefully divide your lawn into areas and sow a number of different grasses e.g., rye, brown top, fescue. As the seeds germinate, irrigate to encourage strong, vigorous grass growth. Hopefully this experiment will provide some answers enabling you to establish a lawn the neighbours will envy! Congratulations to Sue Wilson who has won a Daltons gardening pack with her question.

Once you have established your lawn, feed with Daltons Premium Lawn Fertiliser every 4-5 weeks from October until Christmas (do not fertilise over the hot summer months). Then begin applications again from late February to late April.

You may also find it helpful to read our free How To Grow Lawns Guides for more gardening advice:

daltons.co.nz/how-to-guides.

Win a Daltons Rose Planting and Care Pack

Roses bring a little magic to a garden, with their lovely scents and classic beauty. Many people think roses are hard to grow, but they are quite easy and offer gardeners many rewards. Our Rose Planting and Care Pack, valued at over $85 will help you grow beautiful blooms and includes a pair Red Back gardening gloves from Omni Products. 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 Thursday 30 June.

Planting Roses

AVAILABLE AT

Check out our website for useful Gardening Guides & How To Videos! www.daltons.co.nz