October Issue Rodney's Rural Lifestyle Magazine by Pete's web sites

RODNEY'S

OCTOBER 2011

ISSUE 49

Jeff Thomson: Helensville artist pg 3 Waste water treatment systems pg 8 Farming matters: sheep health pg 10 Landscaping: plants for the shade pg 15 Boosting pasture growth pg 17 Weeds to knock back now pg 18 Horsin' around: getting horses back into work pg 20

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Where our cover comes from…? Helensville folk will have immediately recognized it as a local landmark. Helen Martin shot the image after interviewing world-renowned artist and Helensville local, Jeff Thomson. It’s a detail from the outside wall of a wonderful piece of art created by Jeff… a.k.a. Helensville’s public toilets. In this issue Helen talks to Jeff about this and some of his other works. On the matter of toilets and sustainable waste water treatment, readers have asked how modern septic systems work. A dry topic I know… but if your system’s packing it in these things can keep you awake at night (on a still night at least). Hopefully, this story will flush out some misconceptions. Duncan McNab’s expertise on animal husbandry is extensive and he describes things with classic, dry Kiwi humour when talking with Helen about sheep… acting on his ideas will help you manage the woolly buggers better.

We’ve incorporated Sandy Reid’s ‘Horsin’ around’ column and Dave Beattie’s views on vegetation management into a comprehensive feature on pasture management. Yes, we’ve addressed the topic several times, but at this time of year the same reader comments keep emerging. Do keep your feedback coming.

channels. Drop me a line if you share my pain). See you at the Rural Lifestyle Expo at Helensville on 30 October. Go the All Blacks!

Lastly, Grant McKechnie steps away from the light to share his ideas on plants and trees that will do well in the shade. Incidentally, I’ve been testing the Black Trakka system for tracking elusive rats and finding good success…(but not before they cost us $700 in repairs chewing wires inside the dishwasher). I’ll update our website for those who want to know more on ridding their properties of these pests and we’ll feature more on the topic next month. Of course the tension builds as we count down to the RWC final and the county is abuzz as we nervously await the outcome… will the All Blacks finally pull it off? Oh, the frustration of living in the country… no reception to pick up Maori TV. (But I have now found an inexpensive solution for our TV reception woes and we can finally watch the free-to-air

Neville Walker – Editor & Publisher Visit rurallifestyle.co.nz for a FREE subscription Letters or enquiries to Rodney’s Rural Lifestyle, RD Marketing Ltd, RD1, Kaukapakapa. Phone 09 947 3580. Email: neville@rurallifestyle.co.nz Advertising enquiries: Marlene Brown 021-854-946 Rodney’s Rural Lifestyle ©2011. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without permission of the publisher is prohibited. No responsibility accepted for any direct or indirect consequences arising from reliance on any content within Rodney’s Rural Lifestyle. Editor: Neville Walker. Sub Editor: Helen Martin. Writers this issue: Helen Martin, Duncan McNab, Sandy Reid, Grant McKechnie, Dave Beattie, Neville Walker. Designer: Dan Stenhouse, Bgraphix. Printing: PMP maxim.

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RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

Jeff Thomson with shredded paper sculpture. Photograph by Rory Thomson.

LIFESTYLE

Jeff Thomson: Helensville

artist

By Helen Martin

A community that is home to an internationally renowned artist has much to celebrate. And when that artist contributes to local projects, as Helensville’s Jeff Thomson has done for many years, the community can count itself very lucky. Jeff’s interest in working with corrugated iron began in 1980, when he took a break from his studies at Elam School of Fine

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Arts in Auckland to walk the country. Sleeping on the side of road by night, intently drinking in all he saw by day (advertising and letterboxes were of particular interest), he walked parts of the Kaipara, starting at Takapuna, then moving through Dairy Flat, Kaukapakapa, Makarau, Silverdale, Albany and Kumeu. The corrugated iron letterbox sculptures inspired by the road trip set

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Helensville toilets. Screen-printed and powder-coated corrugated steel, used corrugated iron, toughened glass, acrylic sheet.

Jeff on the path of sculptural discovery he has walked ever since - over time he has woven corrugated iron, screen printed onto it, made lace out of it and stacked it in shapes and sculptural forms. He is now widely known for such iconic sculptures as his corrugated iron-covered Holden Stationwagon (now housed at Te Papa), his animals (elephants, hens, penguins…) and the massive gumboot signalling you’ve arrived in Taihape. Having moved to Helensville 15 years ago

Chatting with Jeff in the vast, 760 square metre workshop that contains not only the tools and materials of his trade, but also, in one corner, the home he shares with his wife Shona Cameron, I learn that he loves making art away from art galleries and

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to be near family living in Kaukapakapa, Jeff now has several pieces on display at The Alan Gibbs Farm on Kaipara Coast Highway, in company with other esteemed artists such as Ralph Hotere and Len Lye.

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relevant to the community. He’s always busy with several projects at the one time, with 70% of his work from private commissions (he’s currently making 10 guitars for a client in Queenstown, for example) and the rest involving preparing for exhibitions (local and overseas) and experimenting with new ideas.

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Iconic Jeff Thomson hen. Photograph by Rory Thomson.

RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

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…and a beautiful corrugated iron horse. Photograph by Rory Thomson.

Taihape gumboot. Photograph by Rory Thomson.

A recent challenge for Jeff was figuring out how to design a new public toilet block for Helensville that would be functional, environmentally sympathetic and beautiful. And while he now works in many diverse materials (including wire, plastic, hay and paper), he chose his beloved corrugated iron for this project. Patterns and maps from Kaipara Harbour and the river, limited mainly to blues and greens, are printed onto the corrugated iron

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cladding, creating a visual narrative of place. At the top of the walls is a black and white frieze of sea life images sourced from A.W.D. Powell’s 1947 Native Animals of New Zealand, which is housed at Auckland Museum, and to the side stands the water tank whose portholes offer a view inside, telling of historic shipwrecks that came to grief on the Kaipara Bar. In tune with the environment, water for flushing the toilets is collected from the roofs of the toilet block and the neighbouring shop. In June, the NZ Sunday Herald named this the country’s Best Public Toilet. Jeff is fascinated by demolition and construction, relishing presenting familiar things in new, subversive ways. He brought these qualities to his work on the three to four and a half metre noise walls of the recently opened motorway project along sections of the SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and the SH16 Brigham Creek Extension. Painted a bright orange inspired by the terracotta clay used in the original Crown Lynn Potteries at Hobsonville, the walls are in the process of being overlain with Jeff’s tyre track design, taken from the tread patterns left by vehicles on Muriwai Beach. When finished, the 700 metres of wall enhanced by extensive native plantings and in parts by work from artists John Radford and Matt and Kate McLean, will become New Zealand’s largest public artwork. Current projects for Jeff include four metre-high curved steel panels that will trace the history of Milford on the North Shore, and two shelter walls depicting local stories at the Kaipara Medical Centre in Helensville. For this project, locals are to be invited to suggest appropriate wording, and the text selected will be cut from steel to give the effect of lace.

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RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

Jeff is never short of projects and ideas. The challenge, he says, is how to carry them out, what materials to use, what designs to employ. When I visited Jeff, with his assistants working busily nearby, was cutting large meccano-styled shapes from steel for an exhibition to be held very soon in Wellington. He likes to keep working on a project right up to the last minute, he says, and he’s not sure yet how this one will be configured. And then there are those 10 guitars waiting to be made...

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Waste water treatment

systems By Neville Walker

During a recent survey readers asked us to provide information on wastewater treatment systems. When shifting to a rural area, people inherit either traditional septic tanks or a much more efficient modern waste-water treatment system. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re building or renovating, councils prefer you to opt for the latter.

How do the old septic systems work? The traditional septic system utilises a buried concrete tank that collects waste water, solids and grey water in a single chamber. The solids break down somewhat (20-30%), and as more waste/ grey water enters the tank, the waste water overflows (i.e. gravity-fed) to a drainage field (trenches filled scoria and drainflo pipes, usually in 3 or more long lines from the septic tank). Over time, compaction of soils (from stock, tractors etc), overloading and blockages cause disposal beds to become less efficient and ultimately they fail.

How do modern waste water treatment systems work? The move to more efficient waste-water systems has been driven by changes in legislation and environmental concerns. The new approach to waste water treatment uses a more efficient system of multiple pre-treatment chambers (as opposed to just one) to kill the harmful bugs and pump the effluent out through the driplines. By the time the water reaches the dispersal field it is of such a high quality the environmental impact is negligible and the water can be used for irrigation. Sunlight and soil breaks down the small remaining percentage of harmful bacteria.

RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

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also contain a specific effluent filter. Air is pumped through the system utilising aerobic bacteria, allowing the friendly bacteria in suspension to break down sewage. Typically the water is dispersed through a sub-surface dripline irrigation system, which by this stage has been treated to 95%. The amount of irrigation required is based on the number of bedrooms in the home and the type of soil onto which it is dispersed. For example, a four-bedroom house on an imperfectly drained soil (clay loam) would require 400m of dripline covering 400sqm of land.

How do the systems compare?

inlet

sediment One of the problems with older septic systems is that they utilise anaerobic bacteria inefficiently to break down solids very slowly.

One of the domestic systems supplied by our advertiser Oasis Clearwater (see diagram within their ad on page 8) consists of five chambers, with liquid flowing through the system by hydraulic disbursement. Two pre-treatment chambers settle out the solids and allow anaerobic bacteria to begin the process. The chambers

The newer waste water treatment systems are more efficient breaking down sewage but they can still require emptying every 3-4 years, depending on usage. The modern systems do require continous electricity in order for the pump and aerators to work (although power outages are not usually a cause for concern). With a regular maintenance check every 6 months (costing around $150pa), over time the system and driplines should be trouble-free and with little or no impact on the enviroment. If you have recently moved to the country and haven’t had your septic sytsem pumped out, it may pay to have it done sooner rather than later. When we moved to the country 9 years ago the existing system was close to full and would have soon failed had we not had it pumped out and fitted pre-filters to stop solids entering the drainage field. Fingers crossed, hopefully it keeps us going for a few years yet. But that’s the problem with older septic systems… you never know just how long they will last.

Own a lifestyle block and needing some answers? Whether you have 1 acre or 100, come to the Lifestyle Expo for answers... try before you buy. Learn about fencing, fitting gates, building new homes, sheds or barns, planning, taming & reshaping your land, animal husbandry, power tools and there’ll be tractor rides for the kids! Plus the big brands will be there too… Buildlink, Makita, Strainrite and Hurricane Fencing Products, Honda Motorcycles plus a host of businesses, suppliers and contractors involved. For details on activities and exhibitors or to showcase your products/services as an exhibitor phone: Chris on 027 296 0687 or Neville on 09 947 3580 / 021 377580

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RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

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agent. Stock that are underfed (controlled starvation) are more susceptible to health problems.

Drenching and flushing the ewes A pre-tup or pre-flush drench, which you buy from your local rural supply store, cleans the worms out of the ewes’ guts so they have every opportunity to do well and are in pristine condition, ready for the ram. When you drench, mark the sheep’s nose with a raddle (red marker) to make sure you don’t miss any, or double drench. ‘Flushing’ is when the ewes are put into good quality pasture to increase their body weight. This assists in increasing the ovulation rate, which in turn increases the chances of a multiple birth.

Vaccinating Vaccinate your ewes six weeks prior to lambing with 5-in-1 multivac to protect their lambs against tetanus, pulpy kidney, malignant oedema, black disease and blackleg. Vaccinate the lambs at docking with an anti-tetanus lamb vaccination. The main ailments you need to control in sheep are:

Foot rot Foot rot is a very contagious bacterium. The area between the horn (the outer casing of the foot) and the flesh becomes infected and rots the flesh. As the horn peels away from the flesh the flies lay their eggs in there and the maggots eat the rotting flesh. Some breeds are more susceptible to it than others. Prevention: buy off a good local farmer who culls ewes for this problem. As soon as a sheep shows signs of limping, check it. A foot bath of 10% zinc sulphate or formalin helps prevent foot rot. Treatment: you need

RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

to learn how to treat it yourself. Once you’ve seen how awful it is you’ll very quickly get the idea that you need to look after them. Trim the hoof off with sharp foot rot shears, trim the hoof right back from the rotting flesh, wash the maggots out, spray them with disinfectant or a zinc sulphate solution to help harden the rotting flesh. If you don’t pare it back the flies will just keep laying eggs and the bacteria will live inside that environment. You need to separate infected animals from the rest of the flock for ease of further treatment.

Foot scald People sometimes think their sheep have foot-rot because they’re limping, but about 90% of foot problems are actually a scald, which is also caused by bacteria. It occurs between the toes and causes the flesh to start dying – this can then turn into an abscess. Foot-scald can develop suddenly when it’s wet underfoot and there are a lot of animals in a small area. Prevention: use the same methods you use for foot rot. Treatment: it’s easy to fix. Spray the area with copper sulphate to harden it. You can also use formalin baths.

Milk Fever If a ewe hasn’t had good nutrition before lambing she may develop milk fever 1 to 3 weeks after lambing – the fever is caused by calcium deficiency. At first the ewe becomes very agitated, then she gets lethargic and bloated and can die quite quickly if not treated. Prevention: year-round good nutrition. Treatment: consult your vet – injections of calcium and other minerals can cure it.

Grass Staggers Symptoms can be a trembling of the head, swaying or staggering

Smaller than ever – more powerful than ever In the same way the microchip revolutionised computers, wireless technology is now revolutionising hearing aids and their accessories. Why wireless? Technology surrounds us everyday and now hearing aids can connect us to other people, to computers and mobile phones, and to stereos and TV’s. Having wireless technology allows us to hear and interact in a meaningful way with the technology around us, even from a considerable distance. Hearing aids now use a variety of methods to connect to other devices – whether its Bluetooth technology, 2.4 GHz technology, or via FM radio transmissions. And the best part is: it’s SO easy! Modern hearing aids connect wirelessly to your TV, without interrupting conversation.

What is Bluetooth? It is a wireless way to send information between electronic devices and is found in mobile phones, hands-free headsets, and now in hearing aids!

What are the optional hearing aid Accessories? • Remote control • TV/stereo transmitter • Bluetooth/wireless interface • Microphone lapel clip for mobile phones

Yes, the technology is complex and extremely high tech, but connecting to common devices that we use everyday is effortless. With either a simple touch of a button, or the flick of a remote control; you’re connected to the world around you again. Wireless hearing aids give you two main advantages: 1. Easy connection with the world around you – i.e hearing the TV dialogue clearly, hearing your favourite song in stereo on your iPod, hearing a conversation whilst driving on your mobile phone. 2. Enriching and improving the quality of the everyday listening experience through the hearing aids. Wireless now allows you to have control over the sound that you hear, and it allows a cleaner, more pleasant, more natural stereo sound, and in most cases, less background noise.

Communication is the key: Hearing aids are now more like your ears – they work together to give your brain better

information – in stereo. Your hearing aids can now tell you, in words, directly into your ear when its time to have them serviced; if one gets lost, the remaining hearing aid can tell you one is missing; they can even tell you in a variety of languages when the battery needs to be changed! They make it easier to connect to your loved ones by helping you hear mobile phone conversations clearly in BOTH ears at the same time, without even holding the phone to your ear! Your phone can be up to 10 metres away from you and you still hear the conversation directly into both ears. You can now drive in the car and hear hands-free on the phone through the hearing aids, and essentially hear the phone more clearly – even over the road noise!

No buttons, no fiddling – just seamless hearing, automatically. Hearing aids are now compatible with Bluetooth and the two aids can communicate to each other. When there are background noise situations – they can give you stereo sound with speech in BOTH ears simultaneously, in real time, giving you considerably better listening in background noise than ever before. So for example, if you were sitting at a table in a noisy restaurant with your wife and the waitress comes over to tell you the specials, the hearing aids would now pick out the waitress’ voice and her voice would stream into both ears simultaneously, whilst at the same time the background noise from all directions would be reduced. When your partner starts talking, the aids would then pick up their voice from the other side and also send it to both ears at the same time.

It allows you to hear clearly and effortlessly in BOTH ears at the same time, regardless of which direction you are listening and without the unwanted background noise – and they can do this automatically!

Automatic or Manual – your choice. Hearing aids are now fully automatic, but they do have optional accessories to help you wirelessly and effortlessly connect to the world of sound around you, and to hear your loved ones better. Sometimes this would be a remote control (as small as a mobile phone) to adjust the sound, sometimes it would be a little box plugged into the TV to hear the dialogue clearly, sometimes it’s a small device to hear the mobile phone in the car.

Wireless connection to the TV. Another recent development is a wireless accessory that sends a signal from a TV or stereo directly to your hearing aids. Gone are the days of having to turn the TV up so loud it becomes uncomfortable to everyone else in the room. Plus you can still hear the conversation around you. All levels of technology with the new wireless generation of hearing aids – from the fancy to the simple hearing aids - now all allow you to connect to the computer, or the phone or the mobile, or the TV or stereo without complicated wires. Giving you the freedom to hear effortlessly and clearly again.

If you think you may have a hearing loss call HearingCare for a free hearing test now on 0800 50 50 58.

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when they walk or not being able to stand. There are a number of causes for this, one of which is magnesium deficiency, and treatment varies according to the cause, so it’s best to get a vet’s advice as soon as you notice it occurring.

Parasites These include flystrike, lice, ticks and worms.

Flystrike This can be a problem from late spring to late autumn. Flies are attracted to damp wool and warm wet weather is a danger time for flystrike. Eggs laid in wool close to the skin soon hatch into maggots, which eat through the skin and feed on the sheep’s tissue. The sheep becomes restless and the wool discoloured. If it’s not treated the sheep will die. Prevention: In December, two or three weeks after you’ve shorn, keep an eye on the sunshine and humidity levels and watch how the flies are building up. That’s when you look at spraying. The days are gone when you and the sheep got covered in chemicals. Modern day treatment is so easy and so efficient, and the chemicals are amazing, so there’s no excuse for having flystrike now. All your local rural supply stores have the modern treatments. You spray them on and it gives you four months’ cover. For a small stock holder this gives you so much peace of mind. Treatment: clip around the affected areas and dip the sheep.

Lice These parasites live permanently on sheep, making them very restless and causing wool loss. Prevention: keep an eye on your flock and treat them as they occur. Treatment: keep the flock licefree by spraying.

Ticks

Now you can drink better quality water than town supply… Just moved onto tank water? Can’t remember when you last had your steriliser or membrane filtration system serviced? We can service any existing system or install complete systems to protect the whole family so your water is safe to drink for spring and summer.

While ticks live away from their hosts for most of their life cycle, they need to feed off the blood of a host for some of it. This can cause abscesses, which in turn can lead to death. Prevention and treatment: the normal dipping process and timing of shearing will deal with ticks.

Worms Sheep can develop a worm burden, which shows in greasy faeces and dirty rumps. Sheep you buy off a good farmer will have a limited worm burden and older sheep are less prone than younger sheep. Prevention: drenching is important. Drench as little as possible and make sure you get the right dosage. Your local stock agents will tell you what to use at different times of the year. You have to keep drenching lambs every 21 days – after that the worm burden suddenly accelerates. Drench ewes twice a year, once when you get them pre-tup, then at docking when they’ve had their lambs. Treatment: if the sheep still get worms in spite of being drenched, get them in and drench them again. Maintaining well fed, healthy stock ensures you’ve opted for a life style, not a life sentence.

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Recommended reading

0800 787 392 www.smallkiwifarms.co.nz/186.html www.sheep101.info/201/diseasesa-z.html

www.purewaterservices.co.nz 14

RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

Agapanthus ‘Streamline.’

LANDSCAPING

More plants for the

shade

By Grant McKechnie Griselinia lucida.

This month, I’m going to carry on where I left off in the September issue and continue talking about plants for the shade. Let’s start with something a bit unusual, but well worth its place in any garden, Physocarpus opulifolius Shady Lady. Physocarpus are frost-hardy shrubs originating in North America, and Shady Lady is a particularly attractive deciduous selection. Leaves are deep purple in summer, turning red in autumn before dropping. Pom-pom clusters of small, pink-tinged white summer flowers contrast strongly with the foliage colour. There are not many plants that give you summer foliage colour, plus flowers, plus

autumn colour. Add the fact it will grow in sun or partial shade and you have a very pretty multi-tasker. ‘Shady Lady’ gets to about 2m x 1.5m, and will be all the better for a mid-winter trim for shape. Now from the uncommon to the common-as-muck: agapanthus cultivars are happy chappies in shade or sun and are tough, growing in diabolical soil conditions just about anywhere except a bog. We grow a dwarf 50cm x 50cm blue-flowered form called Streamline, which doesn’t seed everywhere, so isn’t invasive. It flowers for a long period over late spring and summer.

The aggie cultivars are great for a narrow shaded garden on the south side of the house, or for adding colour under big trees. Another couple of tried-and-true plants are Buxus sempervirens (English box) and Griselinia littoralis (kapuka) – of course you’ll know these plants, but did you realise they both cope well in shade as well as sun? For these two, we’re talking shady and dry, not shady and wet. Both are hugely popular for hedging and the griselinia has the added bonus of being a good food source for birds, which love the seeds.

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Let Grant & Julie help you select the best plants for your place! Robinson Rd, Coatesville. Ph/Fax 09 415 8806. mck.nursery@clear.net.nz www.mckechnienurseries.co.nz RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

SAL Y A D 4 E V I MASS

Thursday–Friday–Saturday–Sunday 20 to 23 October 9.00am–4pm Groundcovers - Shrubs - Hedging - Trees

Astelia, Manuka, Flax, Carex and Coprosma species, Red Mapou, Pittosporum and more!

Renga Lily, Karaka, Pohutukawa, Flax, Manuka, Kanuka, Coprosma, Carex species and more!

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All plants in our sale are well established and a good size. Our team are always happy to help you make the right choices for your property. All prices in sale are GST inclusive. Eftpos, cash or cheque (sorry, no credit cards)

Buxus is a perfect hedge for a shady place.

Griselinia is likely to need a little more trimming when used as a hedge in the shade – its growth will be more elongated as it stretches towards the light. Give it an extra trim each year to keep it compact. Kapuka’s glossy green, big-leafed cousin, Griselinia lucida, will also grow in shade or full sun. Lucida, when growing naturally, is an epiphyte – in other words, it grows on a host plant (whether the host plant likes it or not). You don’t usually have to tramp too far into the bush in the Waitakeres to come across them, but you do have to look skywards to see them. However, they’re quite happy planted normally. Common names for Griselinia lucida are akapuka and puka, and just to confuse things, my next subject, Meryta sinclairii, shares the name puka. Puka (the Meryta sinclairii version) is also known for its big glossy leaves, and by big, I mean huge. The puka grows to 4m plus, so it’s not usual to see it in the shade, but if you have some big open trees, it will happily fill in the gap underneath.

Normal Hours Mon-Fri 8.00am to 4.30pm, Saturdays 9am-3pm

Phone: 09-422 7307 email: admin@libertypark.co.nz 90 Jones Road, Omaha www.libertypark.co.nz 16

RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

Also quite at home under trees or in a south-side-of-the-house garden are Dianella intermedia and Libertia grandiflora (both natives) and mondo grass. They all handle the shade well – in fact dianella prefers it, and will maintain a lusher green in the shade. Dianella has narrow flax-like leaves and delicate starry white flowers in autumn, followed by indigo berries which birds enjoy. These three plants are of the dry and shady persuasion, but if you’ve got a wet and shady situation, say, under a stand of rimu or kahikatea, use a wet-tolerant native grass, such as Carex secta or Carex virgata.

Soil testing tips

Boosting pasture

growth

By Neville Walker

If you haven’t tested your soil in the last 2-3 years, the first thing to do to eliminate guess-work is to have a basic soil test done. This can cost as little $53+GST, but it is worth adding a sulphur test (add $14+GST) to determine how depleted your soil is. Adding an organic sulphur test to the list will give you an even clearer picture. Sulphur is essential and for optimal growth it needs to be in balance with the phosphorous level. Note that adding sulphur to your mix is relatively inexpensive.

Application

Taking care of your pasture takes time and money, whether the returns you’re looking for are the ‘hard’ financial benefits, or the ‘soft’ benefits, such as a pleasant outlook and calm, healthy animals. Post-winter renovation You’re not alone if you think you’ve read about pasture renovation in Rural Lifestyle Magazine before. The comments and questions we receive suggest that for many, renovating paddocks and/or spreading fertiliser fall into the ‘too-hard basket’. Many people seem not to know where to start, or feel that coming to grips with it is ‘too technical’. So here’s a simple process that may help. To get the best out of grazing small acreages, it pays to optimize

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UNDER-SOWING

Armed with soil test results you can consult with your fert supplier about the optimal mix for your property. In the past there were no options for an organic mix tailored to my soil’s needs. However, I’m pleased to say that our sponsor of this feature, FertCo, now offers an organic option that can be blended to your requirements. The Fertco G-lime product (granulated lime) is a more concentrated form of Ag-lime, which means it delivers around 130% of the liming equivalent. They also have pre-blended fertiliser mixes specifically designed for horses (see references on page 20). It is worth considering buddying up with neighbours to save on transport costs by having your fert delivered to one address as

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www.tankvac.co.nz RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

FARMING MATTERS

nutrition and grass production. Successive seasons of neglect reduce the nutrient value and this affects animal health and production. The reason we apply appropriate fertiliser (and lime) is to fuel the soil, the ‘engine room’ of pasture production, to carry us through the process of grazing, taking off silage / hay during spring and summer.

either a liquid in drums or granules in 25kg bags (or in bulk as half or onetonne bags). From there you can apply it individually or have one of the contractors we’ve listed do the spreading. If you think fertilising is too much of an investment, consider the money you may end up forking out in supplementary feed over winter to make up for feed shortfall or poor quality hay. And if we have another drought, the grass will recover more slowly when the autumn rains finally arrive. As a result of applying fertiliser and lime over the last couple of years, I’ve seen how well grass regrowth has responded each time after grazing. Unfortunately, I haven’t kept on top of weeds as much as I should have and the grass hasn’t been able to compete with the dock and buttercup. But now that these have been sprayed, I can see how fertiliser and weed control go hand-in-hand… weed & feed as they say. But that’s a story for Dave Beattie to tackle next… For more details on FertCo’s product range including organic (advert on page 19) and liquid fertislisers visit www.fertco.co.nz or call them on 0800 337 826.

Weeds to knock back

now By Dave Beattie

Penny Royal is a perennial plant often found in damp pasture. It is in the mint genus so is relatively easy to identify coming away at this time of year. As you walk through your paddocks you will smell a minty smell as

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the plants are crushed under your feet. It is highly toxic to humans and animals if taken internally - people have died from consuming it. The secret is to get broad leaf weeds early before they flower. This even more important with Penny Royal.

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As it is unpalatable to livestock, Penny Royal will quickly take over your pasture. Competition for light space and nutrients will leave little feed for your valuable livestock. A broad leaf spray in October is the best course of action to begin to eliminate this pest. It will be necessary to continue this for several years, as a large seed bank will have built up in the soil. We mentioned buttercups briefly last issue and by now they are turning many paddocks into a sea of yellow. They are a menace, as they spread fast and crowd out grass. Now is certainly the time to knock back both of these vigourous weeds.

Dave Beattie has extensive experience with vegetation management and is a Registered Chemical Applicator. He is also available for wide range of weed spraying work and fertiliser application.

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RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

Dave Beattie 027 551 9851 09 420 6304

dave.beattie@vegetationspecialists.co.nz

www.vegetationspecialists.co.nz

Warkworth: Farm & Lifestyle Centre 09 425 7754. Silverdale: Falloons Stock Foods, 09 426 4402. West Auckland: Oikoumene Forest 0800 833 399. Supply & Application: Vegetation Specialists 027 551 9851

Sandy and her Station Bred Gelding, Chip.

HORSIN' AROUND

If you have noticed your horse is easily spooked or displays nervous behavior when handling or out riding a magnesium supplement can be beneficial. A basic soil test will show up any magnesium deficiency in your soil. I have noticed my station bred geldingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s girth increasing and even though I am steadily increasing his work-load, I am shutting him up during the day for short periods with just hay and water available. Building up slowly is crucial, as doing too much work too soon with an overweight horse is asking for trouble and can lead to joint problems further down the track.

Horses coming back into

work

If you are not able to shut your horse away you can try and breakfeed your paddocks by using electric tape to cordon off strips of grass, making sure water is always available. This way you can monitor just how much grass the horse is getting.

By Sandy Reid

After a long winter of eating hard feed and hay, your equine friend is probably hoping this is going to be a regular thing. But sooner or later work is required and his holiday will be over. The new shoots appearing in the grass are full of sugar. Good quality hay provides the fibre needed to help balance the sugar levels. Hay also helps keep your horse warm should there be any cold spring nights remaining while you begin to cut down the high level energy feeds.

Sugar levels in the grass generally stay quite high until the spring flush settles down. Maintaining the right feed ratio is tricky and takes trial and error to get right. You know you have sorted it when your horse is in good condition (not fat) and is settled. Then you can enjoy the lovely spring weather together and plan for a season of competing, or just enjoying rides out hacking.

Quick references High sugar levels in the grass and mycotoxins from clover and rye at this time of year may require management for some horses. For more details on managing this jump onto our website. Where I have listed a range of references that provide more for horse owners concerned about clover, mycotoxins (see back page for the special on Mycosorb binder) and high sugar levels on our website.

Phone Ian now for an on-farm demonstration. NEW PRICE - NOW ONLY

RURAL LIFESTYLE ISSUE 49

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Need Sales? Talk to us now... Deadline for November issue is 21 October. Deadline for December issue is 21 November. For rates and availability, email neville@rurallifestyle.co.nz or phone 09 947 3580 / 021 377 580 or Marlene on 021 854 946. Don’t delay – space is limited.

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EXTENDED SPRING HOURS NOW OPEN TILL 2PM SATURDAY!

2-4 Morrison Drive, PO Box 378, Warkworth. Ph 09 425 7754 Fax 09 425 7560 thefarmce

2-4 Morrison Drive, Warkworth. Call us to arrange delivery (09) 425 7754 email: thefarmcentre@xtra.co.nz www.farmandlifestyle.co.nz A. PHONE ORDERS WELCOME! (09) 425 7754

Prices valid until 29 October 2011 or while stocks last. All prices include GST unless otherwise stated.