Outdoors

The garden tasks to do during winter

Article by Your Home and Garden

Winter is the season to set the groundwork for the next growing cycle – from planting trees and garlic to preparing the soil

Chores for the month

As the cold bites, autumn’s mellow fruitfulness seems long gone, but it’s not forgotten because winter is the season for fruit tree planting.

What you plant will depend on your location. Feijoas, for example, can be grown throughout Aotearoa but South Islanders are advised to grow early-fruiting cultivars to avoid frost damage to buds. Apricots, on the other hand, need a winter far colder than Auckland’s. Most varieties require temperatures of between zero and seven degrees celsius for a long enough period to break down the growth inhibitors in their vegetative and flower buds. And while northerners can grow a wide range of citrus, if southerners are not prepared to spend a tree’s early years cosseting it against the cold, they are best advised to stick to Meyer lemons. Garden centres usually stock trees suitable for local conditions, but not always – notably in areas with a range of microclimates. A little research before buying pays off, especially when shopping online.

Sublime lime

Every few years or so it’s a good idea to spread lime over your garden to lower the soil acidity so your plants can better access vital nutrients. A pH of 5.5 or below is considered acidic. Some plants, notably azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, ferns, tomatoes, capsicums, chillies, potatoes, kūmara, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, like acidic soil, so do not add lime where these are growing. Rather, concentrate on spreading roughly a handful per square metre on those that like it, such as roses, gladioli, pansies, snapdragons, peas, beans, carrots, onions, brassicas and spinach.

Consider this

Consider this Come summer, your perennials will hopefully be looking gorgeous and lush. They may even be a little too exuberant or a little too relaxed, in which case they may benefit from gentle support in the form of a frame. Usually made from metal, these come in a range of shapes, from simple stakes and half hoops, which gather the plant into a cage to tame the fiercest growth, to towers and teepees designed for trailing vines. They’re best installed by early summer so the plants can grow up and through them, with no more worries about top-heavy flowers or flattening winds. We’re liking these handmade heritage-style supports from Terrascape.

How to do the Chelsea Chop

Although it sounds like a Carnaby St hairstyle from the ’60s, the Chelsea chop is in fact a method of curtailing the growth and controlling the flowering season of certain perennials.

In England, where it was popularised, its timing coincides with the Chelsea Flower Show in May, but in New Zealand the Antipodean chop is best carried out in early summer. Much like the pinching out of annuals to produce more flowers, the Chelsea chop, in which the plant is cut back by one third to a half, results not only in more numerous (and usually smaller) blooms, but also shorter plants and delay in flowering of up to six weeks. Some practitioners will chop the front half of the clump to stagger growth and thus lengthen the flowering season. Most suited to this method are achillea, aster, echinacea, campanula, helenium, michaelmas daisies, phlox and solidago.

Steal this look

We can’t all live in the balmy south of France or on a sun-drenched Greek island, but we can borrow some of that mellow vibe courtesy of large terracotta pots and considered planting and placing. The pots do not have to be identical – in fact a mix of shapes, sizes and ages will appear more casual, which is the essence of the look. Group the pots together against a wall or line them up some steps, always somewhere sunny. At least one citrus tree is essential, not least for their lush foliage, jewel-like fruit and divine blossom fragrance. Lemons, mandarins and kumquats take to pots well. To maximise the Mediterranean effect, limit any flowers to those in the yellow and orange range. Trailing nasturtiums, bushy calibrachoa, sturdy calendula, floaty Californian poppies, scrambling Chilean flame vine… the list of potential plants is long and the possible combinations are numerous. The secret lies in experimentation to get a look you love.

Landscape 101 Pots of Privacy

Lack of private outdoor space is one of the main bugbears of urban dwellers. As precious as they are, those bijou balconies, petite patios and tiny terraces are often overlooked by neighbours, which is no fun when you’re desperate for even a soupcon of the great outdoors in which to do your own thing. While walls, fences and screens can be installed, they are just another hard, lifeless structure in a zone full of the like. And in rented properties, it’s often just not feasible to put them in yourself.

What will give gardeners, nature lovers and aesthetes both privacy and beauty is living, breathing greenery – rustling leaves, swaying palms, shimmering grasses and bright blooms – and if you are renting or there is no available bit of dirt then pots are the way to go. Sizeable pots may be one of the best investments urban gardeners can make. While they can be a range of sizes, generally those smaller than a household bucket (10 litres) are less useful, while those larger than 80cm in diameter are unnecessary as this size can support quite large trees. By the by, for big pots it pays to plant into a large plastic bag that can be extracted so the plant and soil can be moved separately from the pot.

Into these pots you can plant near-instant hedges and shrubberies. Very many trees and shrubs take happily to life in a pot – just ensure you match them to your specific site, looking at sun, wind and climate in particular. Climbers are often fast-growing, clambering up trellis and other supports in a jiffy.

Spreading trees and palms are useful if your neighbours overlook you. Sometimes there is little hope that you will ever grow a tree tall enough to block their curious eyes, but a species with spreading branches will at least offer respite while you’re sitting under it with a cup of tea.

In brief

Prune pipfruit trees on clear, dry days.
Lily bulbs may be planted until September. A key to their success is planting as soon after purchase as possible so the bulb doesn’t dry out.
Dreaming of spring already? Assuage your longing by sowing annual flowers under cover, to be planted out when they have at least two true leaves (not just the first emergent leaves). Suitable candidates include alyssum, calendula, cornflower, lobelia, nemesia and stock. Your local garden centre may have seedlings of calendula, cineraria, nemesia, pansy, polyanthus, poppy, primula, snapdragon, stock, wallflower and others, which can be planted now for a head-start on spring.