Tui Spring Times 2015

FREE

SPRING TIMES

CREATE THE ULTIMATE KIWI BACKYARD WITH TUI & TONY ISSUE 20

FEATURING:

• FRUIT TREE ESPALIERING GUIDE PAGE 3 • SPRING PLANTING WITH ANNABEL LANGBEIN PAGE 6

Create the ultimate spring garden with our raised garden bed plans

PAGE 5

Learn how to grow plants from a tiny seed to a delicious crop as seen on Kiwi Living

PAGE 8

WELCOME

TO THE TUI SPRING TIMES FOR 2015.

Spring is a busy time in the garden, the days are getting longer, the soil is warming up and it’s a perfect time for planting! This issue is packed with projects, advice and inspiration for a successful spring garden.

This season, Tui is excited to team up with Tony Murrell to help Kiwis make the most of their piece of paradise, with the weekly garden project featured on TV ONE’s new show Kiwi Living.

Each week Tony completes a simple garden project that you can do in your own backyard. Whether you are looking to add value, ‘grow your own’, for a fun activity to do with the kids, or simply to try something new, the weekly garden projects aim to help New Zealanders create the ultimate Kiwi backyard. Tune in to Kiwi Living on Fridays at 7.30pm, on TV ONE. All garden projects that feature on the show will be available on our website, so you can recreate the project Tony has completed, and reap the rewards of your own homegrown delights. We are also giving away project packs each week – join our newsletter and Facebook page to be first to hear about these and other exciting goodies!

If you’re not sure where to get started in your spring garden, we have put together some simple planting plans on page 5 to get you

started. On page 3 we have a step by step guide to espaliering fruit trees, as seen on Kiwi Living, and if you turn to page 6 you’ll get even more spring garden inspiration from Annabel Langbein as she plants for spring in her Wanaka garden.

We want to help Kiwis create the ultimate backyard this season, so we are giving away $5000 in prizes to help you on your way!

Simply buy any Tui product between 01 September and 30 November and enter instore or on the Tui website.

Lastly, don’t miss our top spring garden picks on page 11, including vibrant new blooms to brighten up your backyard from Zealandia.

We would love to see pictures of your homegrown spring harvests and backyard projects – share them on facebook.com/ tuigarden or email them through to info@tuiproducts.co.nz Happy gardening and here’s to a great spring, from the Tui Team.

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

SHARE YOUR KIWI BACKYARD SNAPS AND WIN Share your spring garden snaps and be in to win one of two $150 Tui garden packs, to help you on the way to a successful spring in your garden.

Enter at tuigarden.co.nz/competitions or upload your snap to our Facebook page – facebook.com/tuigarden Entries close 30 November 2015.

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2015

FRUIT TREE ESPALIERING GUIDE

Whether you create your own mini-orchard, or choose to grow a few in pots on your balcony, fruit trees are fun to grow and can give many years reward of fresh, juicy homegrown fruit! For those with a smaller space, looking to cover a fence, or even just looking to create a bit of theatre in the garden, espaliering is a great option.

Shopping list: Fruit tree, Tui Garden Mix, Seasol, Tui NovaTec Premium fertiliser, Tui Mulch & Feed, wire, nails, hammer, secateurs, and ties.

PREPARE 1. Select a fruit tree, apples and pears both work well. Choose an upright growing variety with a straight stem, with two branches on opposite sides lower down on the stem, and ideally another two approximately 30cm higher.

2. Train wire along your fence, approximately 30cm apart. Ensure the lowest wire is at the same height as the bottom two branches you want to train.

PLANT

7. Train the lower branches along the lower wire, and the next two branches along the second wire.

8. If you were able to find a tree with more sets of branches 30cm apart, continue onto the third, fourth wire etc. However if not (and the more likely scenario) you will need to cut the central growing tip (at the top of the tree) just below the next wire, making sure there are nodes (where the leaf comes out from the tree) below the cut so new branches can grow and be trained along the next wire.

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NOURISH 9. Plants use nutrients from the soil as they grow, so replenishing the nutrients ensures your fruit trees grow to their full potential. Feed your tree with Tui NovaTec Premium fertiliser in spring and summer.

10. Don’t forget to water your tree too – especially over the warm summer months.

3. The best times to plant are early in the morning or late in the day, so your tree isn’t exposed to the hot sun straight away.

4. Soak your tree in a bucket of Seasol PROTECT to help prevent transplant shock.

11. The weather, weeds, pest insects and 5. Dig a hole approximately twice the diseases can all impact on the success depth and width of the root ball of the of your fruit trees. Protect your fruit tree and partly fill with Tui Garden trees from the elements with layers of Mix. This has all of the essential Tui Mulch & Feed, to help keep their nutrients your fruit trees need to get roots moist. Keep the area around your off to the best start. tree weed free.

6. Place the tree in the hole, and fill in 12. The Tui Plant Protection range with Tui Garden Mix, ensuring the will help you put a stop to common tree is no deeper than it was in the problems that arise. container or bag.

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Final result of espaliered tree.

For step by step photos of the project from Kiwi Living visit tuiproducts.co.nz

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TUI’S 4 STEPS OF RAISED GARDENS 01

PREPARE

02

PLANT

03

NOURISH

04

PROTECT

Build a raised garden bed for spring planting and enjoy fresh homegrown harvests on your table in no time! Raised beds are a great option if you are low on space or have poor soil in your backyard.

Shopping list: Tui Vegetable Mix, Tui Super Sheep Pellets, Tui Pea Straw Mulch, Seasol, timber for raised garden, and seedlings.

BUILDING YOUR RAISED VEGETABLE GARDEN PREPARE Choose a spot that is sunny, sheltered from the wind and easy to access for harvesting and watering.

Choose non-treated timber (e.g. pine railway sleepers) when building a new raised bed, and make it no more than 1 metre wide, so you can easily reach to the back of the garden. Or, if it is accessible from both sides, it can be up to 1.5-2m. Make it at least half a metre deep, so that root crops like carrots and potatoes have room to grow under the soil.

Once you have the structure built, it is time to fill it up. The better the soil, the better your plants will grow. Fill the bed up with Tui Vegetable Mix a blend of blood and bone, dolomite and sheep pellets to give vegetable crops the best start. Also dig in some Tui Super Sheep Pellets for an instant boost and sustained growth.

PLANT Choose a range of vegetables and fruit you enjoy to eat – see our planting plans for suggestions.

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. Use the Tui Food range of speciality fertilisers for your crops like vegetables, tomatoes, and strawberries as they have the right blend of nutrients needed. Water your raised beds regularly. A good deep watering every few days is better than shallow watering every day. A well watered, well nourished garden will have a better chance of keeping insect pests and diseases at bay.

PROTECT The weather, weeds, pest insects and diseases can all impact on the success of your raised beds. Protect your plants with layers of Tui Pea Straw Mulch and use the Tui Plant Protection range for any problems that arise.

Tui Tip: Offset plants in a zig zag pattern to help fit more in your beds.

GARDENING TIPS AND GIVEAWAYS TO YOUR INBOX! 4

TUI SPRING TIMES 2015

Planting plans: These are some suggestions based on a 1m x 2m raised bed. They call for planting quite densely which is great to pack in a real variety of fruit and veges, just take care to water and feed regularly.

SALAD AND HERB GARDEN Key:

1m

Cucumber x 2 (grown on tepee) Basil x 8 Tomatoes x 4 Spring onion x 16 Celery x 6 Mesclun x 6 Spinach x 6 Coriander x 6 Parsley x 6 Plant 6–12 marigolds as companions amongst the plants.

2m

FRUIT GARDEN Key:

1m

Blueberries x 3 (grown on tepees) Gooseberries x 3 Strawberries x 20 Plant 6–12 marigolds as companions amongst the plants.

2m

BBQ GARDEN Key:

1m

Sweetcorn x 6 Tomatoes x 7 Lettuce – Little Gems x 6 Rocket x 6 Capsicum x 4 Sweetpea x 3+ (grown on tepee) Beetroot x 12

2m

Did you enjoy this guide? Join the Tui newsletter to get regular tips, guides like this and giveaways to help you grow a successful garden each season!

Join at www.tuigarden.co.nz/page/tui-newsletter

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ANNABEL LANGBEIN’S SPRING PLANTING

BY ANNABEL LANGBEIN 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 her inventive but easy recipes.

Around this time of the year you can feel the earth start to come alive. There’s always a temptation to get out there and start planting as soon as the air warms up, but over the years I’ve learnt the importance of getting the soil in peak condition first.

Plants won’t thrive if they don’t have the right nutrition (just like us), so I give all

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2015

my beds a good dig over with compost and a sprinkle of lime (often after winter the soil can be quite acidic). I like to bulk up the organic matter from the compost with sheep pellets, which work so well to condition the soil and bring the worms along (Tui Super Sheep Pellets have the boost of long-life fertiliser in them so they work as a fertiliser as well as soil conditioner).

If I’m planting out small seedlings I always put a handful of vegetable mix in each hole before I plant – it cossets the roots and provides the food those little seedlings need to get going, so they don’t just sit there and sulk.

as these will do exactly the same thing.

You need to start afresh with fresh seed and seedlings.

Knowing your climate is key, as many plants will curl up their toes or go straight to seed without even maturing if the nights are too cold. A good dosing of Seasol seaweed based plant tonic is one of the best ways to help plants manage fluctuations in temperature – it gives the roots the support they need. Right through the growing season I give everything a regular feed of Seasol – it’s like a little tonic that makes the plants look happy and grow strong!

With the days really starting to lengthen out now, all the vegetables that have held over the winter are going to go to seed over the next month or two, so get harvesting now or you’ll find the centres get hard and woody and all the sweetness disappears – often to be replaced by bitterness as the plant changes its mode into seed production.

Different seeds germinate at different temperatures, and soil warms more slowly than air. If you get a thermometer and insert it about 5cm into the soil you will get a reading of the soil temperature and that will let you know what you can start to plant. It’s a good idea to do this at the same time (the middle of the day is best) over a few days and then average the results.

The minute I see plants starting to change shape or put up a seed head I harvest them and then store or cook my harvests – if I leave them, they just won’t be any good to eat. There’s also no point planting any seedlings that have overwintered,

Back in August you should have been able to plant rocket, broad beans, peas and snow peas, kale, lettuce, bok choy, parsnips, radicchio, radishes and spinach (all these will germinate once the soil temperature is over 5°C).

ANNABEL LANGBEIN’S PRESERVED LEMONS Prep time 15 mins + freezing time + pickling time Cook time Nil Makes 1 jar Ingredients 2 lemons 2 heaped tsp salt juice of 1 lemon 1 bay leaf grapeseed or similar neutral oil, to cover Method Scrub the lemons well and slice them lengthwise into sixths. Freeze the lemon wedges on a tray until rigid. Sterilise a medium jar and its metal lid. Take the lemons out of the freezer and pack them into the clean jar. Add the salt and lemon juice and the bay leaf. Cover with oil.

Once the soil temperature goes over 10°C you can plant bok choy, chinese cabbage, leeks, onions, silverbeet and turnips.

Then after the temperature gets to 15–16°C, which often happens in the north in September, most of the summer vegetables can be planted, including beans, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, kale, leeks, lettuce, many of the Asian greens, onions, parsnips, peas, radicchio, radishes, spinach, silverbeet and turnips.

Hot-climate vegetables and herbs, such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, basil, corn and melons, all need the soil temperatures to be up around 18-20°C, which is why you need to get them started somewhere warm indoors. I had a hopeless seed set of outdoor basil last season, and my eggplants really came to nothing outdoors – it simply wasn’t warm enough.

Here in Wanaka I’m lucky to have a lot of room in which to grow my veges, but when people ask me what they should plant if they don’t have a lot of room I always say grow the things you like to eat, and especially things that are easy to grow and expensive to buy, such as rocket and salad greens, spring onions and yummy herbs.

I always grow broccoli and beets because we eat them so often and I like to know I’m eating organically. And, for value, grow potatoes in bags and tomatoes in pots – they’ll taste so much better than store bought.

The pickled lemons will be ready in about a week but will improve over several months. Once you open the jar, you’ll need to keep it in the fridge.

To use the lemons, scoop out and discard the lemon flesh, then thinly slice the rinds.

As long as you get the soil well prepared, plant at the right temperatures and feed and water, success will be yours!

As the new season swings into action, our palates are keen for lighter, fresher tastes. This is a great time for citrus, with its bright clean tastes and freshness making a welcome addition to both savoury and sweet dishes.

Use the finely grated zest of lemons, limes and oranges to add a vibrant zing to your meals, and the juice to add a fresh, bright flavour to dressings and sauces. These wonderful pickled lemons are a terrific preserve to bring a heady Moroccan flavour to stews sauces and dressings.

They are so simple to prepare and keep for months.

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GROWING FROM SEED GUIDE

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!

Try something new this spring and grow your own from seed.

Shopping list: Seeds, Tui Seed Raising Mix, seed raising tray or container, bio pots or seedling containers, Tui Vegetable Mix, and Tui Quash slug & snail control.

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Directions for sowing in containers and seed raising trays: 1. Fill your container with Tui Seed Raising Mix up to 1cm from the top.

2. Tap the container gently on the ground to settle the mix.

3. Water lightly to ensure mix is moist.

4 4. Sow the seed as directed on the packet.

5. Lightly cover with Tui Seed Raising Mix. 6. Cover your container with glass or a light plastic bag to retain moisture and warmth for germination.

7. Place in a warm spot with natural light.

8. Water lightly and regularly.

5 9. Once seeds have germinated remove the glass/plastic.

10. Once the seedlings have two sets of true leaves transplant into small pots (either a bio pot or something similar to those you buy your seedlings in at the garden centre) filled with Tui Vegetable 12. They are ready to plant in the garden Mix. when they are about the size you buy Example of 11. As seedlings in the garden centre, and there is no true leaves. begin to develop risk of frost. Use Tui Quash slug & harden them off by putting them snail control to prevent the seedlings outside at intervals. This helps limit being eaten. transplant shock when you plant them out.

For step by step photos of the project from Kiwi Living visit tuiproducts.co.nz

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2015

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TUI GARDEN PROBLEM SOLVER Insect pests, diseases and weeds can all affect the success of your spring garden. Combat common problems and keep your garden healthy this season with the Tui Plant Protection range.

1. CATERPILLARS

4. BROADLEAF WEEDS

Description: Small worm-like insects.

Caterpillars can be green, yellow, black, orange, red, blue, white or brown. They commonly affect brassicas.

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

Symptoms: Holes are eaten in the leaves leaving ‘windows’ and along the leaf margins leaving ragged edges. Leaves may be rolled up and stuck together.

Symptoms: They are often found on paths, patios, driveways, in garden beds and lawns.

Solve it: Tui Insect Eliminator for Fruit & Veges, Tui Caterpillar Eliminator for Fruit & Veges, Tui Insect Eliminator for Flowers.

2. APHIDS Description: 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. They commonly affect brassicas, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, fruit trees and roses.

Symptoms: Stunted growth, distorted and curled leaves. Honey dew is excreted causing black sooty mould.

Solve it: Tui Insect Control for Fruit & Veges, Tui Insect Eliminator for Fruit & Veges, Tui Disease & Insect Eliminator for Roses.

3. BOTRYTIS

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2

Solve it: Tui Weed Control for paths, patios, driveways and garden beds.

Tui Weed Eliminator for Lawns.

5. PRICKLE WEED (ONEHUNGA WEED) Description: Finely separated leaves and an exposed upward-pointing rosette of sharp-needled seeds.

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Symptoms: Appears amongst grass in your lawn. Prickle weed sets its tiny spiky seeds in late spring.

Solve it: Apply Tui Prickle Eliminator for Lawns in spring to prevent spikes setting.

4 Tui Tip: If insect pest infestations are small, try blasting with a hose or squashing with your fingers.

Description: Grey mould forms on wet leaves or fruit. Botrytis commonly affects strawberries and tomatoes.

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Symptoms: Infected foliage and fruit collapses. Common in warm humid weather.

Solve it: Tui Disease Eliminator for Fruit & Veges, Tui Disease Eliminator for Flowers.

Having trouble identifying pests & diseases in your garden? Use the Tui Garden Problem Solver tool at tuigarden.co.nz/garden-problem-solver

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TUI TEAMS UP WITH GARDEN TO TABLE

This year we are excited to be supporting the Garden to Table school programme. Kaurliands and Maoribank Schools share an update on their garden, providing you with inspiration for your garden at home or school.

1. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?

Kaurilands School: We upgraded six of our existing beds.

We raised them to .8 of a metre, lined them with polythene, filled with polystyrene, covered that with weed mat and filled with 20 cubic metre of garden bed mix.

Maoribank School: We helped plan our garden with Mel, our Garden to Table helper. We went with some of Mel’s ideas and some of our own ideas. When deciding what to plant we thought of the crops we would like to use in our cooking.

2. WHAT’S BEEN GROWING?

Kaurilands School: This month we have filled our six new beds with broccoli, curly kale, mini cabbages, cauliflower, rosemary, sage, parsley, chives, two blueberry bushes, a dwarf lemon, pansies, viola and red geum. The children investigated what plants can be planted for winter and have done all the planting themselves.

Maoribank School: Our garden is just starting to grow but we have planted a number of different crops which we can use in the kitchen. Our favourite crops to grow are peas, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, carrots, strawberries, rocket, broad beans, cabbage and mint.

Garden to Table is a trust, running a gardening and cooking programme in schools across New Zealand. In the programme, seven to 10 year-old children spend time in a productive vege garden and home-style kitchen each week. There they learn skills that will last them a lifetime, and discover just how fun it is to grow and cook their own seasonal vegetables. Tui provides starter packs to each of the new schools, and seasonal packs during the year.

Kaurilands School

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TUI SPRING TIMES 2015

Maoribank School

3. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN EATING FROM THE GARDEN?

Kaurilands School: This month we are harvesting the last of the eggplants and beetroot. We had not planted a summer garden this year but plan to next summer.

Maoribank School: We haven’t started harvesting yet as our gardens are new. We have split the strawberry plants that were already growing and shared them out with the families of our class.

4. WHAT DAY TO DAY JOBS DO YOU DO IN THE GARDEN?

Kaurilands School: As they are new beds they need little maintenance other than watering every second day. At the moment the children are checking for the last of the cabbage butterfly white eggs or caterpillars!

Maoribank School: We have been weeding, watering and applying Seasol plant tonic to our plants. We had a problem with the birds eating our plants so we looked into different ways to stop them. We came up with using bamboo sticks with plastic bags tied on the top. So far it seems to be working well. We have also been putting Tui Pea Straw Mulch around the plants because we get very strong frosts here.

5. ARE YOU RECYCLING IN YOUR GARDEN?

Kaurilands School: We carry out a daily collection of all children and staff’s food scraps which are then put into one of the 11 worm farms or three compost tumblers we have on site. We have a designated team of Eco Warriors to do this job. We are also currently investigating corrugated iron water tanks.

Maoribank School: We have been composting the scraps from the kitchen and have got everything ready to start our worm farm so we can feed our plants worm tea.

Maoribank School

Kaurilands Sc hool

TOP SPRING GARDEN PRODUCT PICKS

Keep your piece of paradise in tip top shape with our spring garden product picks!

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

Tui Rose & Shrub Mix Grow vibrant, beautiful blooms and luscious foliage with new Tui Rose & Shrub Mix, a high quality planting mix containing the right blend of nutrients to provide your roses and shrubs with the best possible start and sustained growth.

Use in garden beds, pots and containers and enjoy beautiful blooms and luscious growth this season.

Tui Garden Trug Collect and carry your garden harvests in style with the new Tui Garden Trug.

This is an essential accessory in your garden this spring!

Petunia Sun Spun Orange Petunia Sun Spun Orange is an easy flowering petunia with nonstop vibrant orange blooms that do not fade. Its tight compact growth habit is suitable for in the garden, hanging baskets or pots.

Visit www.zealandia.co.nz to find out more.

Nitrosol For healthy plants and soil, feed your plants with Nitrosol Liquid Fertiliser.

Made from blood and bone, Nitrosol contains the essential elements and minerals for healthy plants. Nitrosol also contains natural growth promotants, which help grow bigger, stronger, healthier plants, along with stimulating plants to take up available nutrients and water from the soil.

Osteospermum Blue Eyed Beauty Unique buttery yellow blooms with a contrasting magenta eye smother this Osteospermum all summer. This easy to grow, early flowering variety is perfect for filling garden beds and containers, or edging sunny borders. Visit www.zealandia.co.nz to find out more.

Tumbleweed Worm Feast Recycle your kitchen scraps straight into your garden to energise your soil! The Tumbleweed Worm Feast is an easy to use in-ground composting system where composting and earthworms process food scraps and naturally fertilise your garden. Dig the Worm Feast directly in your vege or flower garden.

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CONCENTRATED PLANT PROTECTION Solve common spring garden problems with Tui’s Plant Protection Range.

Single Shot™ concentrates make up the perfect amount for a single application around the garden.

Ready-to-use spray bottle options provide a convenient option for those in smaller spaces.

Available at your local garden centre and hardware stores.

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FREE

PROTECT YOUR PLANTS FOR FREE THIS SPRING Claim a complimentary Tui Plant Protection product from your local garden centre or hardware store. (Choose from any of the Tui Plant Protection Single Shot™ range.)

Redeemable at Mitre 10, Mitre 10 MEGA, Palmers, Kings Plant Barn,* Nichols Garden Centres, Oderings and all good garden centres. Valid until 31 October 2015. Limit one per customer.

Valid only with a printed copy of the voucher.

*Available at Kings Plant Barn Silverdale, Howick, Takapuna and Henderson. Note to the retailer: Please post all redeemed vouchers together (as at 31/10/15) along with the receipt to Tui Products, PO Box 4404, Mount Maunganui to claim credit.

For more information please contact your Tui territory manager, or Tui head office on 07 575 2160.