Advice. Ideas.

Inspiration

Anita’s Garden
Volume 3, Issue 37 2 April 2021

Useful Links Editorial

Webpage

Blog Welcome to the thirty-seventh issue to loosen the soil quite deep down to
of my newsletter for Volume 3. ensure that your carrots don’t end up
Newsletter back issues forked
I hope you are all well.
Facebook  Plant herbs. Coriander, dill,
Mum and I are still on holiday at our parsley, thyme, rosemary and
Instagram bach in Tauranga Bay, in the far oregano can all be planted now.
Twitter north. It is good to see from the
weather forecast that our garden in  Plant winter bedding annuals,
Linkedin Auckland is finally getting some rain! including pansies, viola and poly-
It has also been raining a lot here, anthus
Pinterest which means lots of time indoors for
 Sow poppies this month for a
reflecting on our garden and of course
beautiful display in late winter
writing my weekly newsletter, which I
and spring. This year I’m grow-
Contact me really look forward to.
ing Iceland poppies for the first
I’m afraid this week’s issue won’t time.
 Feedback
have any pictures in it because I’m
away from the garden and don’t have  Plant spring bulbs, including daf-
 Newsletter input
any new photos. I like to take photos fodils, dutch iris, freesias and
(tips, recipes, gar-
every few days, and just what I con- gladioli nanus. If you live in a
den photos etc)
sider to be the best ones, so that what warm climate, leave anemones,
 To be added to my I have is a recent collection of pictures ranunculus, tulips and hyacinth
mailing list to include in my newsletter. Some- for planting next month. It may
thing else I have gotten in the habit of pay to pop them in the fridge for
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com
doing is writing my newsletter to- six weeks so they are chilled
wards the end of the week rather than when you go to plant them. This
in advance, as I used to do in spring helps the bulbs to flower better.
because I was so busy in the garden.  Remove runners from your
Inside this issue: This ensures that all my news is fresh
strawberry plants so that they
and I can include the most recent up-
are ready for re-planting next
dates from the brands I collaborate month. May is the time of the
with, which are in the list of links in year that commercial growers
P ot te r ing aro u nd 2
the right hand column.
Anita’s Garden plant their strawberry plants
Now that it’s April, what should you
 Keep on top of weeding so it
be doing around the garden?
Top 5 gardening tasks 2 doesn’t get on top of you!
for the week  Plant winter veggie seedlings,
Useful links
such as broccoli, broad beans,
cabbage, cauliflower, kale, let-  Italian Seeds Pronto
News 2 tuce, rocket, mesclun, spinach
and silverbeet. Prepare beds  Awapuni
well beforehand by mixing in
lots of compost and sheep pel-  Bulbs Direct
Establishing a garden at 3
lets and turn them over.
your holiday home Kind regards,
 Sow carrots direct to where you Anita Kundu
want to grow them. Remember
PAGE 2
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
I’m afraid I don’t have any pic-
tures of my garden this week, be-
cause I’m away from home at our
bach and not able to take any.
Here are a few new gardening
tasks I have added to my list from
last week:
 Plant pea seedlings. April
is a good time to sow peas
as it’s a bit cooler. They’re
best sown direct, but some-
times this doesn’t always
work well, as I have found.
This season, I have raised
Giant Alderman, Snow Pea
Goliath and Petit Provencal
in punnets for transplant-
ing along our fence line
 Plant lettuce in containers.
Before I left for our holiday,
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Plant broad beans
They grow quite tall, so stake
them at the time of planting for
support, so you don’t damage the
roots later on
2. Plant lettuce
For winter salads, pop in some
lettuce seedlings. I like growing
mine in containers for easy care.
News
A few fun facts about Italian Seeds
Pronto:
 Franchi is the oldest family-
run seed company in the
world
 The seeds in their range are
all heirloom
 Seed is not chemically treat-
ed
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
I transplanted many lettuce seed-
lings from small punnets into seed
raising trays, for planting out into
larger containers when we return
 Plant thyme in plastic buck-
ets. In last week’s column, I
included a photo of the two
large thyme plants I grew
from seeds kindly given to
me by Gillian from Italian
Seeds Pronto. These are
happily growing in one litre
pots and they are ready for
moving on to their final des-
tination, 9 litre plastic buck-
ets. I wanted to wait until
we returned home before
doing this as they’ll need
quite a bit of water to get
them established.
 Pot up parsley seedlings
3. Sow poppies
April is the perfect time to sow
poppies. It’s a lot cooler and the
ground is more moist thanks to the
rain. Scatter seeds directly to
where you want to grow them and
cover lightly with soil.
4. Plant bedding annuals
For a beautiful display for your
borders, hanging baskets and
In addition to stocking a fantastic
selection of bulbs, Bulbs Direct
also offer a great range of garden-
ing accessories. Choose from ferti-
lisers, pest control, soap, healing
balms, gardening tools, bits and
pieces for your hose, pots and
plant labels. They also stock a
beautiful range of locally made
garden sculptures.
V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 3 7
into 10 cm pots. I sowed Italian
(flat leaf) parsley and a curly vari-
ety called Darki, which is suitable
for growing in containers. I pur-
chased it from the Egmont Seeds
Commercial Catalogue. They will
eventually be planted into plastic
troughs. We have found that our
parsley has grown even better in
deep plastic troughs than it has in
the ground. It’s also much easier
to care for.
 Check on oregano seedlings.
The last time I was in our
patio, I noticed that I had a
lovely plant growing from
seeds given to me by Gillian
from Italian Seeds Pronto.
It was only a small seedling
but it might have grown
since then. I might have to
move it to the greenhouse.
containers, plant pansies, violas
and polyanthus.
5. Plant spring bulbs
Now that it’s cooler, it’s the perfect
time to plant daffodils, dutch iris,
freesias and more. If you haven’t
already ordered your spring bulbs,
Bulbs Direct have a great range at
affordable prices and deliver direct
to your door. They also offer a
friendly and efficient service.
Awapuni are having an Easter
native special. Natives are 30% off
over the Easter weekend. Now is
the perfect time to get your Na-
tives planted.
Note that this deal does not apply
to Native combos.
 V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 3 7
Establishing a garden at your holiday home
While on holiday at our bach, my
cousin’s husband (who also owns a
place here) asked me if I’d like him
to help me establish a garden at
our holiday home. I graciously
declined, because our bach is an
escape from our garden in Auck-
land, which occupies nearly every
waking moment of our daily lives.
When I come up here, I am free
from it and return refreshed and
ready to get back into it again.
But it did get me thinking. If I
were to set up a garden here, how
would I go about it and what could
I plant? We are not here very of-
ten, which presents a number of
challenges. Here are some things
you may wish to consider before
digging up your (coastal property)
lawn.
Whether to have a garden at
all
If you work very hard at home,
your bach may be a place where
you just want to relax and do noth-
ing, like us. And if you have a
very big garden at home, you may
enjoy simply having a break from
it. Gardens are great but they are
a lot of work. Also, if you’re not at
your bach very often, it can make
establishing and maintaining a
garden difficult without some help
from a local. There is a lot of care
involved in planting, nurturing
and maintaining new plants. You
may not be able to do this alone.
New plants (even fruit trees and
shrubs) require a lot of water in
order to become established. Most
people are at their bach over the
warmest months when it scarcely
rains, making this difficult. Most
people are also on tank water at
their holiday homes, so ready ac-
cess to water can also be a prob-
lem, unless you have a bore.
Fruit trees can be very productive
but before planting them, think
about whether you will be there at
harvesting times so you can enjoy
the fruits of your labour.
If you plant ornamental and fruit
PAGE 3
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
trees on the border of your section, constantly need to be sowed, plant-
be aware that the branches will ed, harvested, removed and re-
encroach on your section and may planted. If you simply must have
block your driveway, requiring edibles at your bach, stick to easy
constant pruning. You also don’t care perennials such as rhubarb
want to annoy neighbours with the and herbs.
same problem.
Here’s a list of ideal plants for
Ground conditions your holiday home:
The soil may be different and not  Protea
as good as back home. Ours is
very sandy. Be prepared to spend  Hydrangea
a lot of money, time and effort
 Vireya
building it up with compost, sheep
pellets and fertiliser so it is ready
 Gardenia
for planting.
 Hibiscus
Pests
 Cactus
Coastal gardening presents chal-
lenges that may not exist back  Camellia
home. Possums, rabbits and puke-
kos are all eager to munch on your  Osteospermum
crops! Something my cousin and
her husband have done to help  Palms
protect their fruit trees and keep
 Ornamental trees
pests out is surround them with
weed mat stapled to wooden
 Natives
stakes. If you grow veggies, you
may need to cover crops with bird  Flax
netting to protect
them from rabbits.  Orna men-
You can drape net- “If you work very hard at tal grasses
ting over tunnel home, your bach may be a
place where you just want  Avocadoes
hoops and secure it
with pegs to do this. to relax and do nothing,
 Guavas
like us. And if you have a
Suitable plants very big garden at home,  Bananas
you may enjoy simply
Don’t expect what having a break from it”  Passion-
you can grow at
fruit
home to thrive at
your holiday home. On the same  Tamarillo
token, you may find that things
you have struggled to grow at  Feijoas
home thrive on your coastal prop-
erty.  Rhubarb
 Parsley
If you’re hardly ever at your holi-
day home, like us, avoid growing
 Mint
annuals as they require a lot of
work. You need to be there to sow  Rosemary
or propagate seedlings and trans-
plant them, care for them and re-  Sage
move them once they have fin-
ished. Perennials are lower-care Have a good weekend
and a better bet.
Happy gardening!
Veggies are also hard work and