Tui Spring Times 2014

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SPRING times

In the Garden with Annabel LANGBEIN issue 17

featuring:

• Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens page 7 • Grow your perfect potato page 8

Win a foodie & gardener’s dream weekend with Annabel Langbein!

Learn how to nurture plants from a tiny seed to a delicious crop.

page 15

page 6

Welcome

to the Tui SPRING Times for 2014.

We hope your garden is off to a brilliant start this spring!

This issue of Tui Spring Times is packed full of projects, advice and inspiration to help you make the most of your piece of paradise!

This spring, Tui and Annabel Langbein are helping Kiwis get inspired in the garden with the weekly ‘Tui Garden Project’ featured on Annabel Langbein’s new show, Through the Seasons.

Each week Annabel will show you a fun, simple garden project in her beautiful Wanaka garden, that you can do in your own backyard – and then creates delicious seasonal recipes to enjoy your homegrown harvests with friends and family. Watch Through the Seasons on Saturdays at 7pm, on TV One. All Tui Garden Projects will be available on our website, so you can recreate the project Annabel has completed, and reap the rewards of your own homegrown delights. We will have weekly giveaways of the project packs – join our email newsletter and Facebook page to be first to hear about these and other exciting goodies!

WIN A FOODIE & GARDENER’S DREAM WEEKEND WITH ANNABEL LANGBEIN WORTH OVER $5000!

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2014

• • • •

If you’re not sure where to get started in your spring garden, check out page 3 of this issue for a summary of top ‘to-do’s’.

One of which has to be getting your potato patch underway – flick to page 8 for everything you need to know when selecting the perfect spud variety.

Last but not least, if you’re as big of a fan of Annabel as the Tui team is, read below to find out how you and a friend could be jetting to Queenstown on a foodie and gardener’s dream weekend with Annabel.

We would love to see what you have been up to in your garden – please share your photos on facebook.com/ tuigarden or email them through to info@tuiproducts.co.nz Happy gardening and enjoy spring in the garden, from the Tui Team.

For gardening tips and advice join us at facebook.com/TuiGarden.

You and a friend will join Annabel for a private tour, and a meal in her fabulous Wanaka garden Indulge yourselves with $1000 spending money Enjoy a Trust the Chef Menu lunch for two at the award–winning Amisfield Winery and Bistro Return flights to Queenstown and two nights’ accommodation in spectacular Wanaka

Buy any Tui product, and enter in store, or at tuiproducts.co.nz Flick to page 15 for more information!

IDEAS AND INSPIRATION FOR YOUR SPRING GARDEN Spring is a busy time in the garden, the days are getting longer, the soil is warming up and it’s a perfect time to plant salad greens for summer, fragrant herbs, and to fill your piece of paradise with colour!

Planning ahead!

Bring Bees to your Backyard

Planning is important to ensure you get the most out of your spring garden.

Consider the following when deciding what to plant in your garden: what you like to eat, how much room you have, and creating colour in your backyard.

Filling your piece of paradise with vibrant floral displays will bring joy on a daily basis – for both you and the bees!

September is bee month so why not get in the garden and plant some bee friendly flowers. Plant borage, sage, marigolds, chamomile, purple tansy and nasturtium.

Spring is also the perfect time for sowing seeds for bedding plants like begonia, chrysanthemum, cosmos, dianthus, geranium, gerbera, marigold, petunia and impatiens. See Rachel Vogan’s Cottage Garden article on page 13 for more floral inspiration.

Popular vegetable crops for planting in spring include: lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, beetroot, celery, onions, peas, beans and potatoes.

These vegetable crops all grow well in garden beds. Later in spring, when the weather really starts to warm up and there is no longer the threat of frost, plant tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes and capsicums.

follow Tui’s 4 Steps to a successful spring garden 01

prepare

02

plant

03

nourish

04

protect

Prepare Like building a house a good foundation is key to success in your garden. The better the soil the better the crops!

Plant

Vege Delights If you have a smaller space planting in pots and containers is a great way to grow your own. Fresh salad greens including mesclun, rocket and lettuces are perfect for smaller spaces.

Plant in a planting mix specifically designed for what you are planting.

The best times to plant are early in the morning or late in the day, so the plants aren’t exposed to the hot sun straight away.

Nourish Feed your plants and they will feed you. Plants use nutrients from the soil as they grow, so replenishing the nutrients ensures you get maximum yields and long lasting crops.

Tomatoes are a quintessentially Kiwi addition to every backyard – ideal for sandwiches and salads over summer!

And again, even if you are restricted in space there are many varieties suited to smaller spots, such as Tumbling Tom and Megabite, which grow well in pots and containers.

Protect

Grow a plentiful supply of tasty potatoes, plant sprouted seed potatoes in garden beds, pots and containers. Turn to page 8 for more details.

The weather, weeds, pest insects and diseases can all impact on the success of your garden. Protect your plants with layers of mulch and use the Tui Plant Protection range for any problems that arise.

Find out more at tuiproducts.co.nz

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Annabel Langbein’s

SPRING GARDEN

Although best known as a cookbook author and publisher, Annabel Langbein is also a highly experienced and knowledgeable gardener.

She studied horticulture at Lincoln University and for many years has grown her family’s fresh produce in her gardens and orchards in Wanaka and Auckland. Her seasonal harvests are the inspiration for many of the inventive but easy recipes in her books and TV series.

I never cease to be amazed by the longawaited arrival of spring. It’s still freezing outside but after months of winter’s bleak, blank canvas the first signs of the new season are such a welcome relief.

Some years I do find myself wondering if spring will ever arrive, as the icy days of winter roll on interminably. But it eventually pulls through even the most inclement weather. Longer days, more light and just the faintest hint of heat in the sun and the soil are the triggers for the growing season to start afresh.

Before you even think about planting, you need to get the soil in tip top shape so that your plants can get the start they 4

TUI SPRING TIMES 2014

need to flourish. Putting in a little effort at the start of the new growing season, and remembering to water regularly once your plants are in the ground, is all it takes to grow healthy plants and an abundance of harvests.

Last spring I neglected to put the effort into properly preparing a couple of my garden beds and the lack of growth and performance was quite astonishing – small, weak plants, with little in the way of harvests.

I have found the best formula is to dig in plenty of Tui Super Sheep Pellets and loads of compost. This also provides a worm-friendly environment, and having lots of worms is a big tick for plant performance.

Once your soil is prepared it’s time to do a little bit of planning. Work out what you want to be eating in summer, then establish how long each plant needs until it’s ready to harvest and work back. It’s really annoying when your crops start producing just when you are leaving for your summer holidays! As with cooking, choose things you like to eat, and maybe fruits and vegetables that don’t transport well and are pricier to buy, such as rocket and mixed salad greens.

It’s also fun to plant around different cooking cultures. In early spring Asian

vegetables are a good option – bok choy, tatsoi and other quick-cooking Asian greens as well as coriander and spring onions offer fresh, clean tastes that help put winter behind us.

Early spring is a great time to get salad crops into the ground – miner’s lettuce, chicories, rocket, spinach and curly-leaved lettuces will all do well even if there’s still a chill in the air. You can plant pea and broad bean seeds now, but other beans are frost-tender so wait until all risk of frost has passed before planting them directly into the ground.

Brassica seedlings can be planted out in early spring, as can onions, leeks, spring onions, fennel and radishes. When it comes to herbs, coriander, parsley, dill and chervil are safe to plant now.

Any seeds or seedlings you’re planting out in the garden at this time of year benefit from a little protection, either from a cloche or a piece of frost cloth.

This keeps the soil a little warmer, reducing the variation between day and night temperatures.

It’s still too early to plant sun-loving summer crops such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and zucchini in the garden – the soil temperature needs to come up a little before the seeds will be able to germinate.

ANNABEL LANGBEIN’S PRAWN & BOK CHOY RISOTTO Adding Asian flavours to risotto sounds like an unlikely idea, but it’s a twist that really works. It’s nice and limey and light.

Prep time 15 mins Cook time 30 mins Serves 4–5 as first course or 2–3 as a main Ingredients 3 tbsp butter 2 medium onions, finely diced 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger 1½ cups risotto rice 4½ cups hot chicken stock finely grated zest of 2 limes salt and ground black pepper 350g shelled prawns, halved lengthwise ¾ cup frozen peas 4–5 small or 2–3 medium bok choy, cut into 1 cm pieces 2 tbsp lime juice 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves, plus extra to garnish Heat butter in a deep, heavy-based pot and gently fry onion and ginger until soft but not browned (about 5 minutes).

Sow these seeds in trays indoors or in a greenhouse so they are ready to transplant when the soil warms up. It’s such a rewarding feeling to eat something you have raised from a tiny seed, but these vegetables take a long time to come into production so they need a headstart inside. Then you can plant out the established plants once all risk of frost has passed.

Down south we have quite a short growing season so I like to get my tomato seeds germinating in the first week of September. My mini greenhouse provides the perfect environment for germinating seeds. The little coir pellets that come with it hold water well so the seeds don’t dry out. They’re designed to take one seed each, then be transferred as a unit to a compostable pottle, so when you come to plant out the seedlings the whole thing goes into the ground, pottle and all, and there’s no trauma for the plant’s root system. Double tick.

Salad seeds such as rocket, mesclun or microgreen mixes are best germinated in trays, but be sure to start with a good quality seed raising mix – it makes all the difference to getting your seedlings off to a good start.

Once your plants are established, take care to water them regularly, mulch around them to conserve moisture, and top them up with Tui Vegetable Food and side dressings of sheep pellets two or three times during the growing season. Every three to four weeks I like to water in some Seasol plant tonic – with its root-supporting properties it gives everything a great boost.

Add rice and stir over heat for 2 minutes to lightly toast. Add chicken stock and lime zest (reserve a little for the garnish) and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine, cover and cook over a very low simmer until almost cooked (about 18 minutes).

At this point, test the rice – it should have a small white core in the centre of the grain. If the rice is dry add another half cup of hot stock or water.

Stir in the prawns and peas, cook for a minute and then add the bok choy and cook another 2 minutes.

Stir in the lime juice and coriander and adjust seasoning to taste. To serve, sprinkle with the reserved lime zest and coriander.

For more great Annabel Langbein recipes see annabel-langbein.com

Don’t forget that soon crops that have overwintered will start to go to seed, so be sure to use up all those winter veges such as leeks, silver beet and brassicas.

Here’s a great recipe for one of my winter staples, bok choy.

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garden project m Seed Growing fro Nurturing your plant from a tiny seed to a delicious crop of veges, or a stunning floral display, provides satisfaction second to none for gardeners! Seeds need warmth and moisture to germinate. Using a mini greenhouse and coir (coconut husk) pellets allows you to give them ideal conditions in which to grow, by creating a more controlled environment.

Directions for growing from seed using a mini greenhouse: 1. Soak coir pellets in a bucket of water and wait for them to swell up to approximately four times their original size.

2. Pick soaked coir pellets out of water.

3. Place coir pellets in your mini greenhouse.

4. Place one seed in each of the coir pellets. Use the end of a pencil to push the seed under the surface and cover with a little bit of coir.

5. Place lid on mini greenhouse and close the top. Keep pellets moist. In 5–10 days you will see little seedlings emerge. Once your seedlings have two sets of “true leaves” they are ready to transplant.

6. To transplant, transfer them into small pots (either a bio pot or something similar size to those you buy your seedlings in at the garden centre) filled with Tui Vegetable Mix, leaving them in their coir pellet.

7. Press soil around the seedling.

8. Water well, and ensure you water daily.

9. Before you plant your seedlings outside, you need to harden them off.

This means putting plants outside during the day time and bringing them back inside at night for a few days just so they acclimatise.

10. When your seedlings look about the size you would buy them from the garden centre, and all risk of frost has passed, you can plant them out in garden beds or pots.

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2014

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7

4

10

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Tui Tip You can use Tui Seed Raising Mix instead of coir pellets. Simply fill the tray of your mini greenhouse, plant the seeds, and follow the above steps.

en on

as se

Saturday 7pm

® Go from garden to plate this season with ease with the Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens range, proudly brought to you by Tui.

Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens® Mini Greenhouse

Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens® Seed Range

The Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens Mini Greenhouse creates ideal conditions for germinating seeds and growing healthy seedlings by providing a more controlled growing environment. Each Mini Greenhouse comes complete with coir pellets, a watering rose, and step by step instructions, so you can grow your own with success!

Grow your own ingredients to create delicious dishes from garden to plate with the Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens Seed Range. There are five unique varieties available: Asian Treats, Italian Banquet, Bee Friendly, Mexican Feast and Microgreen Goodness, each pack contains four types of seeds for you to grow at home.

Bee Friendly The sweet nectar of colourful borage, sage, purple tansy and Queen Anne’s lace flowers will entice honeybees into your garden to aid pollination.

Asian Treats Bring zing to your table throughout the seasons with some of Annabel’s favourite Asian herbs and vegetables – bok choy, capsicum, coriander and garlic chives.

Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens® Potato Sack Keep your homegrown potatoes fresher for longer with the Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens Potato Sack. Each potato sack is unique, and is handmade in New Zealand from recycled hessian sack.

Italian Banquet Bring the flavours of the Mediterranean to your garden and your plate with Italian favourites: zucchini, mesclun mix, basil and Italian parsley.

Mexican Feast Sweetcorn, butter beans, buttercup squash and tomatoes cohabit so well in the garden and on the plate. Plant sweetcorn, beans and squash together for a traditional Mexican three-sisters garden.

Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens® Garden Trug Carry your carefully tended fruit, vege and flower harvests and garden tools with ease in the Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens Garden Trug. This is an essential accessory when planting and harvesting in your garden this spring!

Microgreen Goodness Sow directly into pots or trays and you’ll be snipping your first harvest in no time.

Microgreens can be grown indoors at any time of year and are a fun way to introduce children to gardening.

Available at all good garden centres and DIY stores. Find out more at tuiproducts.co.nz

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GROW YOUR PERFECT POTATO

Tui Tip Potatoes are gross feeders so need a lot of nutrients. To get the best from your crop, feed with a speciality fertiliser like Tui Potato Food.

The humble potato is a staple on dinner tables around New Zealand. Roasted, boiled, mashed or in a salad – no matter how you serve yours, they will always taste better dug out of your own garden.

Tui Certified Seed Potatoes are available in a wide range of varieties. Here are some of our top picks:

Potatoes in a Flash If you’re after a quick crop these three will come to fruition in 90–100 days.

Rocket is the fastest producing of early varieties and provides a good yield. Great for growing in containers. Rocket is a good boiling potato with waxy texture.

Swift is fast growing with exceptional taste, great for growing in containers.

Swift potatoes will not discolour or disintegrate on steaming.

Cliff Kidney performs best in soils that contain peat. An excellent, firm potato for early cropping. Great for growing in containers and best for boiling.

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2014

For a bumper crop Grow plenty for the whole family with the below varieties.

Ilam Hardy is very adaptable and will give a good yield over a wide variety of conditions. It has light blight resistance and is a great variety for growing in containers. Ilam Hardy has excellent cooking qualities, in particular boiling and frying.

Agria is high yielding and great for growing in containers. They have excellent cooking qualities – in particular boiling, and stores well.

Summer Delight is Lynda Hallinan’s favourite! Summer Delight grows well throughout New Zealand in most soils and has high resistance to bruising damage and soft rot. Use Summer Delight for all types of cooking except frying.

Moonlight is a very high yielder with excellent drought and wind tolerance.

Moonlight has excellent cooking qualities – in particular boiling and frying.

Annabel Langbein’s picks Annabel likes to try different heritage varieties of potatoes, and plant a variety to give a good harvest throughout the year. Her top picks are: Jersey Benne and Swift potatoes are my favourites for early season – I like to get them in right at the start of the season so we can have them on the Christmas table.

For main crop potatoes I find it hard to go past Agria, as they are so good cooked every which way, and they keep really well! If you get the chance to try some heritage varieties look out for Pink Fir and the French Rate potatoes.

Try something different Variety is the spice of life, for something different try Moemoe Maori Potato.

Moemoe Maori Potato will grow in all soil conditions and has reasonable drought and wind tolerance. A flavoursome potato, it is best eaten shortly after harvest and great for boiling and steaming.

new potatoes for Christmas

For the Tui Potato Growing Guide VISIT TUIGARDEN.CO.NZ/ HOWTOGUIDE/POTATOGROWING-GUIDE

Nothing beats new potatoes with lashings of butter and mint, and both of these varieties are perfect contenders for the Christmas table.

Purple Passion has excellent cooking qualities – in particular French fries and boiling and moderate resistance to blight and powdery scab.

Jersey Benne is a medium cropper that can be grown in most soils and is a great variety to grow in containers. It is one of the most popular varieties for mashing or boiling.

MORE VARIETIES FOR YOU TO CHOOSE FROM VARIETY

TUBER

FLESH

COOKING

DAYS TO HARVEST

Rocket – fastest producing of early varieties and provides a good yield. Great for growing in containers.

Round, white

White, waxy

Good boiling potato with waxy texture.

Very early crop, approx 90 days

Swift – fast growing with exceptional taste. Great for growing in containers.

Oval, white

Creamy yellow, waxy

Will not discolour or disintegrate on steaming.

Very early crop, approx 90 days

Cliff Kidney – performs best in soils that contain peat.

An excellent, firm potato for early cropping. Great for growing in containers.

Kidney, slight pink tinge

White, firm, waxy

Best for boiling.

Early crop, approx 100 days

Jersey Benne – a medium cropper that can be grown in most soils. Great for growing in containers.

Oval, white

White, waxy

One of the most popular varieties for mashing or boiling.

Early crop, approx 100 days

Moemoe Maori Potato – will grow in all soil conditions.

Reasonable drought and wind tolerance.

Oval, purple

Creamy white, waxy

Good for boiling and steaming. Good tasting.

Best eaten shortly after harvest.

Early-main crop, approx 100 days

Maris Anchor – yields well in most soil types but likes shelter. Great for growing in containers.

Oval, white

White, waxy

Keeps well with excellent all purpose cooking qualities.

Early-main crop, approx 110 days

Ilam Hardy – very adaptable and will give a good yield over a wide variety of conditions. Light blight resistance. Great for growing in containers.

Oval to round, white

White, waxy

Excellent cooking qualities – in particular boiling and frying.

Early-main crop, approx 130 days

Agria – great for growing in containers. High yielder.

Long oval, cream

Yellow

Excellent cooking qualities – in particular boiling. Stores well.

Main crop, approx 130 days

Heather – reliable, steady cropper.

Long oval, purple

White

Excellent cooking qualities – in particular boiling, mashing and roasting.

Main crop, approx 130 days

Purple Passion – moderate resistance to blight and powdery scab.

Oval, purple

Cream

Excellent cooking qualities – in particular French fries and boiling.

Early-main crop, approx 140 days

Desiree – likes reasonably fertile soils.

Oval, pink/red

Creamy yellow

Excellent all purpose cooking qualities.

Main crop, approx 140 days

Nadine – requires adequate soil moisture at all times.

Round, white

White waxy

Excellent cooking qualities – in particular boiling.

Main crop, approx 140 days

Red Rascal – reliable, steady crop. Resistant to late blight and powdery scab. Suitable to be grown organically.

Oval, crimson

White

Excellent all purpose cooking qualities.

Main crop, approx 150 days

Summer Delight – will grow well throughout New Zealand in most soils. High resistance to bruising damage and soft rot.

Round to oval, yellow

Creamy yellow

Excellent cooking qualities for all end uses except frying.

Main crop, approx 150 days

Moonlight – excellent drought and wind tolerance.

Very high yielder.

Oval, white

White

Excellent cooking qualities – in particular boiling and frying.

Main crop, approx 160 days

Rua – will adapt and produce heavily in most soil types.

Round to oval, white

White

Excellent cooking qualities – in particular roasting and boiling. Keeps well.

Main crop, approx 160 days

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TUI GARDEN PROBLEM SOLVER

Unwanted insect pests, diseases and weeds invading your garden?

Use the Tui Garden Problem Solver online tool at tuigarden.co.nz/ garden-problem-solver to help you find solutions to common insect pests and diseases in your spring garden.

Problem

Description

Symptoms

Solve it

Caterpillars

Small worm-like insects.

Caterpillars can be yellow, black, orange, red, green, blue, white or brown.

Holes are eaten in the leaves leaving ‘windows’ and along the leaf margins leaving ragged edges.

Leaves may be rolled up and stuck together.

• Tui Insect Eliminator for Fruit & Veges,

Passion vine hopper

Brown sap sucking moths with mottled wings and a fluffy tail.

They are visible on leaves and jump when disturbed. Plants lose vigour and honey dew is excreted, causing black sooty mould.

• Tui Caterpillar Eliminator for Fruit & Veges

Aphids

Small pear-shaped soft body sap sucking insects, that are often found on the underside of leaves.

Aphids can be green, black, yellow or grey.

Stunted growth, distorted, curled leaves, honey dew is excreted causing black sooty mould.

• Tui Insect Control for Fruit & Veges

Botrytis

Grey mould forms on wet leaves or fruit.

Infected foliage and fruit collapses.

Common in warm humid weather.

• Tui Disease Eliminator for Fruit & Veges

Broadleaf weeds

Broadleaf weeds are generally green weeds such as creeping oxalis, daisies, clover, convolvulus and dock.

Found on paths, patios, driveways and in garden beds.

• Tui Weed Control

• Tui Caterpillar Eliminator for Fruit & Veges

• Tui Insect Eliminator for Fruit & Veges • Tui Caterpillar Eliminator for Fruit & Veges

• Tui Tough Weed & Tree Eliminator • Tui Weed Eliminator for Lawns

Look out for this icon for natural based products – a safer choice for you, your family and the environment!

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2014

NEW PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS

Plagues of unwanted insect pests, diseases and weeds can ruin your carefully tended plants and lawns before you get a chance to enjoy them. Tui’s range of Plant Protection products are designed to help you achieve even better results in your garden, by eliminating those unwanted insect pests, diseases and weeds.

Tui Insect Eliminator For Fruit & Veges

Tui Caterpillar Eliminator for Fruit & Veges

Tui Weed Eliminator for Lawns shot

Use Tui Insect Eliminator for Fruit & Veges to combat common insects and caterpillars ruining your fruit and veges.

It continues to protect your fruit and veges for up to 14 days after application.

Effective on leaf roller, thrips, aphids, tomato fruit worm and the caterpillars of diamondback moth and white cabbage butterfly. This Single Shot™ concentrate makes 5L, providing the perfect amount for a single application around the garden.

Tui Caterpillar Eliminator for Fruit & Veges is a fast acting insect eliminator that combats caterpillars ruining your fruit and veges. Although primarily used to eliminate caterpillars, it is also effective at controlling other insects such as aphids, thrips, earwigs, mealy bug and passion vine hopper. This Single Shot™ concentrate makes 5L, providing the perfect amount for a single application around the garden.

Use Tui Weed Eliminator for Lawns to combat common weeds invading your lawn. It is a selective weed killer – penetrating right down to the roots to kill common weeds, without harming your lawn. Effective on a variety of weeds including daisies, clovers, chamomiles, catsear, buttercups, fathen, thistles and dandelions. This Single Shot™ concentrate makes 5L, which covers approximately 125m².

Tui Disease Eliminator for Fruit & Veges

Tui Targeted Grass Eliminator

Tui Sprayer

Use Tui Targeted Grass Eliminator to combat unwanted grasses in your garden beds, without harming desirable plants.

It is effective on kikuyu, couch, paspalum and annual poa grasses. The ready to use bottle means no mixing is required.

Use Tui’s 5L Pressure Sprayer, complete with an extendable telescopic brass wand to help combat invasions of unwanted insect pests, diseases and weeds. The perfect partner for Tui Plant Protection Single Shot™ concentrate products which make 5L of spray. Ideal for use on fruit, veges, flowers, lawns and weeds.

Use Tui Disease Eliminator for Fruit & Veges to combat common diseases ruining your fruit and veges. It continues to protect your fruit and veges for up to 10 days after application.

Effective on powdery mildew, botrytis, brown rot, late blight and downy mildew. The ready to use bottle means no mixing is required.

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11

P I TR AD O R G SPRIN This spring Tui and Annabel Langbein are going on a road trip around New Zealand.

Join us in store for an evening of gardening, cooking & great times!

WITH SPECIAL GUEST, TONY MURRELL!

to find events near you visit tuiproducts.co.nz

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2014

CHARMING COTTAGE GARDENS

By Rachel Vogan Cottage gardens have a vintage and charismatic charm that resonates with plant lovers. For some they symbolise memories of a grandparent or a drive through the English countryside. The primary elements in cottage gardens are flowers and colour.

Modern day design is all about clean lines, with a less is more approach to plants, furniture and furnishings. Cottage gardens are the complete opposite, the more plants the better. The mix of plants are captivating with their myriad of old fashioned looking flowers, perfume and variety.

Part of the appeal is the unstructured, romantic and whimsical look, almost like Mother Nature created it herself.

Once established, plants readily self seed and multiply, covering all available soil, becoming almost a blur of foliage and flowers.

Creating a cottage garden

• Avoid planting in straight lines and rows.

Cottage gardens don’t really have any rules, it’s up to the individual; they tend to suit those who don’t like to be restricted to plant choice, straight lines and formality. Some may say, a more casual approach, but on the other hand a well thought out and carefully planted cottage garden will have all year round seasonal interest and it can pretty much manage itself once planted.

• Scatter wild seed packets around in spring and autumn to see what pops up.

Recycle and reuse A cottage garden layout can blend in all sorts of features from picket fences to brick walls to pergolas and statues through to chicken coops, tee pees and seating areas. Old water tanks, farm implements, rustic furniture, corrugated iron, railway sleepers and old tools, like water cans all add to the charm.

Top tips for cottage gardens: • Don’t be afraid to plant in every available plot of soil.

• Group plants of a similar colour together.

• Find room to place a seat in a secluded or tranquil corner.

• Select plants that readily self seed and multiply, these will fill in any gaps as the seasons go by, leaving no room for weeds.

Typical cottage garden plants – here are just a few choices: Regardless of what flowers you want to grow, you will only be successful if you choose flowers that suit your local climate.

• Flowers – cosmos, delphinium, dahlia, foxgloves, cornflower, poppies, hollyhock, larkspur, marguerite daisy, lady’s mantle, lavatera, stock, penstemon, echinacea, gaura, salvia, and achillea • Wildflowers and herbs • Vegetables – silverbeet, kale, cavalo nero, runner beans • Shrubs – hydrangea, roses, cistus, lavender • Old fashioned roses • Climbers • Fruit trees, currants, brambles • Hedges – beech, escalonia, buxus, lonicera Remember you don’t need to have a cottage like house to have a cottage garden; modern houses and apartments can blend in cottage elements into the garden by using low hedges as a border in behind which cottage plants can be grown.

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PRODUCT PICKS FOR SPRING Tui NovaTec Minis We all know good things come in small packages and this season, Tui NovaTec Premium fertiliser’s innovative nitrogen stabilising technology is available in convenient new mini packs! Each 75g pack contains the perfect amount to feed two 40L pots or one square metre of garden. Minis are available in four varieties to provide the optimum balance of nutrients for specific plant groups: Tui NovaTec Vegetable, Tui NovaTec Flower & Rose, Tui NovaTec Citrus & Fruit Tree, and Tui NovaTec Premium, to help you achieve even better results in your garden!

Seasol The best way to create and maintain a stunning garden is to use garden fertilisers in addition to plant tonic.

Seasol is a seaweed based plant tonic made from seaweed that is sustainably sourced. The naturally occurring growth stimulants in Seasol promote strong root growth, reduce transplant shock, improve germination rates and increase flowering and fruiting capacity. Seasol

contains potassium which promotes thicker, stronger cell walls. This means plants are more able to cope with stresses such as heat, drought and frost.

Use Seasol throughout your garden all year round.

Available Sizes: 500ml, 600ml, 1L, 1.25L & 4L.

Tui Prickle Eliminator for Lawns Use Tui Prickle Eliminator for Lawns to combat prickle weeds invading your lawn.

It is specifically designed to rid your lawn of prickle weed (Onehunga weed) without damaging grass. Prickle weed sets its tiny spiky seeds in late spring and dies away in the heat of summer. For a pricklefree lawn this summer, apply in spring to prevent spikes from setting. The Single Shot™ concentrate makes 5L, which covers approximately 50m² of lawn.

Tui BioGro Certified Organics Nothing beats the taste of fresh seasonal vegetables you’ve lovingly tended from seed, or the sweet scent of flowers blooming in your backyard. Gardening

JOIN THE TUI NEWSLETTER AND WIN! The Annabel Langbein Delicious Gardens range

To enter, simply join the Tui newsletter for the weekly Tui Garden Project with Annabel Langbein at tuigarden.co.nz/ page/tui-time-newsletter before 30th November 2014.

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2014

with Tui’s range of BioGro certified products means you can rest assured you have maximised the natural goodness in your garden. New from Tui, this range includes: Tui Organic Potting Mix, Tui Organic Compost, Tui Organic Seed Raising Mix and Tui Organic Vegetable Mix.

Tui Pea Straw Mulch 90L Tui Pea Straw Mulch is the perfect finishing touch to create a tidy, well cared for look in your garden, while providing all the benefits that come from mulching.

Use throughout your garden, in pots, and containers to keep your piece of paradise in tip-top condition.

This new 90L bale will cover approximately 2–3 square metres.

WIN

A FOODIE AND GARDENER’S DREAM WEEKEND WITH ANNABEL LANGBEIN! • You and a friend will join Annabel for a private tour, and a meal in her fabulous Wanaka garden • Indulge yourselves with $1000 spending money • Enjoy a Trust the Chef Menu lunch for two at the award–winning Amisfield Winery and Bistro • Return flights to Queenstown and two nights’ accommodation in spectacular Wanaka OVER $5,000

IN PRIZES!

Buy any Tui product, and enter in store, or at tuiproducts.co.nz

Terms and conditions: Competition open to New Zealand residents only. Flights are from a New Zealand airport to Queenstown. Competition entry dates 1 September 2014 – 14 December 2014.

Proof of purchase must be retained, or attached to entry form to be eligible. See tuiproducts.co.nz for full terms and conditions.

tuiPRODUCTS.co.nz

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Tel 07 575 2160 Fax 0800 442 398 Mt Maunganui, New Zealand

Homegrown Ingenuity

TUIPRODUCTS.CO.NZ