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Winter in the garden is a time to savour. Mother Nature has taken a chill pill, creatures great and small are hibernating, there’s no rush, take your time, observe the garden in all its naked glory. Amongst the fallen leaves little treasures will emerge and the silhouettes of bare branches will add a quiet beauty to the landscape. Winter flowers will be greeted with delight, with any splash of colour being a welcome sight. It’s time to reflect, clean up, cut back, chuck out and renew.

Wairere’s Top Tasks for Winter

• Pruning – Winter is traditionally the time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs. Any pruning is best done on a dry day to ensure the pruning cuts seal over quickly thereby preventing disease. Your pruning tools should be sharp and clean. If you want to make pruning a pleasure check out our range of ARS tools – really well made and always really sharp.

• Roses – Most roses are pruned in winter around about July. After pruning a clean-up spray of Conqueror Oil or Neem Oil can be applied and this will take care of any rose scale or other pests. Winter is also the best time to select and plant new roses and here at Wairere we have thousands to choose from and all the expert knowledge to help you grow them well.

• Specimen Trees – Think about where you would have loved some shade in the hot summer months – is there room for the perfect specimen tree? Winter is when the nursery has the best selection of deciduous specimen trees.

• Hedging – A well grown and trimmed hedge adds structure and form to any garden. Choose from evergreen, deciduous, tall or small. You’ll be surprised at the range of plants suitable for hedging and edging. Planting in winter will give you a head start on spring. Make sure you incorporate some slow release fertilizer at planting time – we recommend organic Bio-Boost or the Burnets range.

• Fruit Trees – Prune pip fruit i.e. Apples and Pears but leave any pruning of stone fruit i.e. Nectarines, Peaches and Apricots until summer to prevent ‘Silver Leaf’. Check out our Pruning guide (see below) for more information.

•Grapes – Winter is the only time to hard prune grape vines while they are dormant.

• Vegetables – Time to plant Garlic - usually planted on the shortest day of winter and harvested 6 months later on the longest day. Onions can be planted at this time of year too along with Asparagus and winter Lettuce. Towards the end of winter sow your first crop of peas. Continue planting Brassicas e.g. Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage etc.

• Perennials – Finish cutting back and dividing perennial clumps. Give Bearded Irises a side dressing of Lime and gently pull any dying leaves away from the rhizomes to avoid rot.

• Winter Colour – There is still time to plant out Polyanthus, Primulas, Pansies and Poppies for a splash of winter colour. Remember that Polyanthus are gross feeders and love lots of organic matter such as Blood and Bone or Sheep Pellets.

• Go Shopping - If you’re feeling tired after all that pop the kettle on, make a ‘cuppa and spend some time browsing the Wairere web-site for plants you didn’t even know you wanted and remember:-

“A garden gives back what you put into it.”
Thalassa Cruso

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Wairere Nursery
826 Gordonton Road, R D 1, Hamilton 3281 Ph: (07) 824 3430 Email: