Friday 28th June, 2019
Hi
OMG! I can't believe he forgot to write the newsletter.
Lloyd came in around morning tea time and I had to admit that I couldn't find the newsletter that he would have written for today's mailout? He gave me a most dumbfounded look and said "OMG I forgot!" I have to give it to him, he has been seriously inundated with things to get done or organises, not to mention helping with the potting of the trees, but to forget... WOW, I might have to take a while to savour this one. Soooo... it's me again, Cathie, having another go. A tad too close to my first try to be comfortable, but feeling like I can do it, especially after all the positive feedback I got from my first attempt, thank you!
It has been an extremely busy few weeks, what with the number of truckloads of bare rooted trees that converged at the nursery on the same day. Lloyd threw some pics on facebook of the first truckload, after they opened up the side and saw the first of our
new season trees. It truly is a sight to behold and just like the roses these all need to be counted, inventoried, measured, identified, labelled, root pruned and potted. You'll notice he's still smiling in these pics, I think he lost the smile after the 3rd truck delivery.
Hats off to the potting team, who have worked diligently to get through these trees as quickly and efficiently as possible while giving each tree it's due care and attention. More trees are expected to arrive over the next couple of weeks and once they are all potted we will be able to get them sorted alphabetically into their groups. These consignments are predominately
fruit trees but also a small range of ornamentals including
Acers (Maples),
Cornus (Dogwoods) and
Magnolias,
Malus (Crabapples),
Prunus (Flowering blossom trees) with loads more still to come. The email process is underway for notifying everyone of their available plants.
It is a slight case of the proverbial 'needle in the haystack' at the moment as only a few of the staff know where to look to quickly find the trees you will be wanting. If you have been notified that your trees are ready for pick up then do let the staff know when you arrive that you are collecting your order so they can arrange for your trees to be found while you look around the nursery. It helps also if you bring the order number with you so we can expedite your order quickly.
Thank goodness evergreens come already potted.
Of course bare rooted trees aren't all that arrived, we also had some lovely
Feijoa trees arrive this week including the dwarf variety
Bambina. These get to only around 1.5m tall and wide so great for the smaller aspect and just as useful as the larger varieties for hedging. They are smaller in every aspect including leaf, flower and fruit. As with all Feijoa, planting 2 or more varieties will lengthen your fruiting season and improve your crop through cross pollination. Click the link (
varieties) to see a chart of ripening times and variety information. Some other varieties of interest are
Mammoth for it's extra large, sweet fruit, or if you like the smoother textured varieties try
Unique or
Apollo, both are sweet and smooth.
Blueberries are a high health food and they are easy to grow in the right soil. They need acid soil, so no lime for these babies, but luckily soil is predominately acid in New Zealand if it hasn't had lime added. If you are already growing healthy maples, camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons, gordonia, daphne, cornus,gardenia, alstroemeria or blue hydrangeas then your soil should suit your blueberries. There are Rabbiteye and Highbush varieties. Rabbiteyes aren't that happy about the cold so are great for the warmer areas and aren't as fussy about the acid soil while highbush prefer the cooler areas, particularly the Northern Highbush varieties as they need around 700 chill hours to set their fruit. Blueberry bushes give autumn colour, spring flowers and summer fruit, they are easy to grow and need little maintenance, just an occasional trim to keep their shape, good organic mulch for water retention in the dry and a good supply of water while they set their fruit.
Feijoa
It it always a worry when ordering plants years ahead of time as there is a need to ensure they will physically fit the available space. If more roses than normal are ordered, as was almost the case this season due to the knowledge that D and S Nursery were going to be making their last delivery this year, then something has to give somewhere else in the nursery. It might be less fruit trees or ornamental trees, or a lesser amount across the range to ensure that when the big orders arrive we can actually give them the room they need. Each plant needs breathing room to stay healthy and grow well. There is also a consideration of irrigation. When all the plants are on the black matting, laid throughout the nursery, we know the sprinklers will cover them in their cycle of watering. Ange will definitely say something if there are too many plants not on the mat as hand watering is so very time consuming. We finally fit on the matting with the roses so a huge sigh of relief on that score. Of course that may change when we need to spread them further apart once they start growing. It's the trees turn now, we will see if I got the numbers right!!!
The
Waikato Rose Society will be here again on Thursday! They have had a good response so far and are so happy to answer questions about roses and their care. There will be one more weekend after this so check out the dates and register your interest on
facebook or send us an email to let us know if you are coming. There's a mid week date for those of you who are already booked for the weekend.
We have had some mighty frosts just lately and it's actually starting to feel like winter might finally be here but I have to say I'm loving these lovely clear dry days though I know we will be getting rain soon enough so make the most of these lovely days.
Have a fabulous weekend
Cheers
Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere Team
