Saturday 9th May, 2020
Hi
Wairere drive through, it's a first for us!
I have to thank both of the techno geeks (and I say that in the nicest way) that help us with our systems as with very short notice they had to organise a lot of changes to our systems... new picking list reports for hold for pick up customers, dates and time frames added for clients to be able to click and collect, new reports on who had been here each day as per the Govt. requirement to trace all contacts and all this so we could become the first drive through garden centre in the Tron, possibly even in NZ! A new phone system with soft phones that can be answered by those working from home, not to mention printers that suddenly die just because some ants have decided to keep warm for the winter. Most importantly it's a huge thank you to all our clients who keep supporting us with their online orders and contactless collections. I know that you are all being incredibly patient as you wait for your orders, and as we deal with the huge influx of emails and phone calls.
Aramax, or as I still refer to as Fastways, have been nothing but outstanding in picking up larger than normal volumes and who must surely have been absolutely stretched with the crazy volume of orders from all sectors... Courier Post have been overloaded as well causing longer than normal time frames for our rural deliveries. We are holding those back until we have indication that the wait for delivery is acceptable for carting live plants. If you are rural and wanting to order then perhaps choose a town address for now if you are wanting them soon.
I am also extremely grateful for and offer heartfelt thanks to my amazing team who are working diligently to ensure your orders get processed with the least amount of downtime both for dispatch around New Zealand and for the new drive thru click and collect process. It's quite the task to try and catch up on all those missing weeks and to physically pick all the plants in readiness for pick up or dispatch, not to mention all of the new incoming plants that also need to be processed, put into their allotted areas and made ready for sale.
As the season keeps rolling on and plants, that were held up through lockdown, have started to rock in it is becoming quite a balancing act, what with less than usual spare space in the nursery due to the number of orders being held. We have received a large portion of the new seasons
Camellias,
Rhododendrons and
Azaleas. You can see them all on our web page as these have now all been received into stock and made available to buy via the web. Click the bold words to be taken to their menu on our website. Of course they are all split into lovely menu options on the web, nicely sorted by type and name, it's a bit harder doing that on the ground but once Level 2 is announced you will once again be able to find them alphabetically in the nursery.
Garlic just arrived in and have we got any spare... no apparently it's all pre ordered but the good news is that we have more coming so if you are wanting to plant garlic, either Printanor or Elephant, then I suggest you get your orders in, I've already had my order halved for Elephant garlic as they don't have enough, at the moment, to send more. Now's a great time to prepare your beds for planting it once it arrives.
Strawberries... Pre order for bare root bundles of 10
It always seems a tad harsh to be planting the little slips in the deep of winter but they really don't mind in the slightest. This year though I have a plan. If you want bareroot strawberries, then you need to put your hand up and pre order. They don't keep overly long as bareroot slips in mint condition so happy to have these in bundle for those who really want them, but otherwise we will pot the balance and sell as singles. So do the math, 10 per bundle, bareroot, $9.99/bundle or potted singles at $3.99ea. Once the pre orders are dispatched that will be it for bareroot this season.
Prepare your space prior to their arrival as Strawbs like good rich soil that is usually mounded up. The slips are planted at around 20 to 30 cm apart. I usually clean any of the wet, brown matter away making sure that the plant is nice and clean. If you look at the plant you will see almost a line dividing the roots from the leaves and this is where you plant to. Many will add some straw mulch to under the leaves to keep the fruit and foliage nice and clean.
The sale that never happened and we need the space!!!
Pittosporum Wrinkle Blue There was a small window of opportunity yesterday that I had to begin reblocking some areas of the nursery to make way for some new stock and I come across a large patch of Pitto Wrinkle Blue that need to be planted. These are a quick growing hedge with attractive blue/green leaf with a cute wrinkle. Planting for a hedge would have spacing at 70 to 100 cm apart. Nice tall plants at around 90 cm high. These are normally $18.99 but I will let these go at just $14.99 ea or take 100 of these for just a sweet $13.00 ea.
Current season roses are all 25% off, that's all bushes and climbers, pillars, weepers and still an awesome range of standards.
Standard roses do just that, standout in the garden. Great for giving some height in the garden, plant down the side of the driveway or near a path, use either side of a gate or entrance to the house. There are still some quiet good numbers of Trumpeter, Loving Memeory, Aotearoa, Jack Frost,
Lest we Forget,
Lichfield Angel.
Pillars and 1.8m weeper for that feature in the garden. Pillars are 1.5m with many buds grafted up the stem so you can imagine in 3 years a huge pillar around two metres wide and 2.5m tall will be just an amazing sight. 1.8 metre weeping roses could be that small feature tree on the front lawn. Our
Crepuscule behind the receiving office always amazes people when they realise the gorgeous flowering tree is in fact a rose.
Fruit trees...
apples,
pears and remaining
plums all 25% off don't forget to check out the
How to's on pollination partners if you are needing info on what you need to make sure you get fruit on your lovely new trees.
I guess that we were all watching the screen yesterday at 1 pm anxiously awaiting news on what level two is going to offer, and hooray, it will mean for many small retail businesses a return to sales. I imagine that our new 'normal', for sometime now, is going to remain with social distancing of 2 metres and the recording of who has been in and around our nursery on a daily basis.
Will have to get my favourite techies onto it, yet another report to produce and a means to record all of our visitors. It's a bit like "Where should I position my barcode?"
Lots to do in the garden now, preparing for plantings, blowing leaves and cleaning the vege patch. Enjoyable while the weather is still good, if it's not then there's lots to checkout online on the website so have fun and all the best, Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team
