Contemporary
Perennials for the Modern Garden
With Christmas round the corner
we want to make sure the garden not only looks
beautiful and well stocked for Christmas Day
but also that we come back from our holidays
to an attractive, relatively weed free garden
we can enjoy for the rest of the summer.
In this issue we've focused on
doing just this through using modern perennials.
Topics covered include
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THE
MODERN PERENNIAL BORDER
Perennials have been favourites
of gardeners for hundreds of years, even as
fashions change and we are certainly seeing
a mini revival in interest and planting of
flowering borders and gardens. They are the
mainstay of the summer garden providing a
succession of colour for months.
Planting a new perennial border
can quickly improve your garden, as the plants
are faster growing and softer in form than
shrubs. And, because of the way perennials
grow, the garden will not stay the same all
year round as it will change with the seasons.
Perennials are also great value, forming
clumps which can be divided in future years.
I'm enjoying seeing the perennials at the
Garden Centre, including many not seen elsewhere
these days, coming into flower and providing
real interest for our customers.
As we rapidly approach summer, we suggest
you start work on your summer borders very
soon. Choose a site with the maximum amount
of sun and make the border as deep and long
as possible to accommodate many different
sized plants with a variety of flower shape
and plant forms.
We can help you work out the best way of
doing this for your conditions, so come in
and talk to us if you'd like some help with
this.
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GOOD
PREPARATION
Before you start though, a new garden always
benefits from good preparation.
So, dig it over first (one to two spade depths
if you can) removing all the weeds, and then
dig in lots of organic material. If you have
heavy or very sandy soil, incorporate gypsum
with the compost and dig in to a depth of
30cm. We've got bags of gypsum in stock and
can advise you as to how much you need.
Most perennials enjoy free draining soil
so sand or fine gravel could also be added
at this time. Finally, fork through Burnet’s
Gold Growmore fertiliser.
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PLANT
SELECTION
Now, start selecting your plants.
For the modern border, look for plants that
are bolder and with stronger colour than the
dainty 'cottagey' types used in the past.
Begin with a few non-perennial plants to give
the border structure. Some of our NZ natives
are ideal for this such as the smaller varieties
of flaxes and the new cordylines – Cordyline
‘Red Fountain’ or Cordyline
‘Cardinal’ or even grasses.
Take a look at tall types of grass like Miscanthus
‘Zebrinus’ or Lomandra
longifolia. I would also consider using
Muehlenbeckia astonnii for its interesting
airy texture.
Then add plants with large leaves - Ligularia
‘Britt Marie Crawford’, L. reniformus,
or the very bold Canna ‘Tropicana’.
Weave drifts of your selected perennials
between these larger plants. These groupings
should be irregular and quite large to give
the garden a feeling of movement and look
alive, full and lush.
A few things to remember:
• Select plants with different flower
forms and shapes. Look for spires (verbascums
and foxgloves), globes (alliums & euphorbias),
plates (achilleas) and dots (Verbena bonariensis).
• Light coloured flowers will fade into
the background so the quantity of these should
be greater than the drifts of those with vivid
colours.
• If you have a colour clash say red/pink
separate them out with a buffer
of grasses or foliage plants like heuchera.
• Use fewer varieties in larger, bolder
drifts as this will reduce maintenance.
• Mulch well after planting with Mulchpost
- don't forget this helps keep down the weeds
and locks in moisture. And of course we've
got that deal of three bags for $24.00.
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NEW
PLANTS
A couple of newly introduced plants have
really caught my eye
• Buddleja ‘Silver
Anniversary’
One of the best looking silver plants we’ve
seen for a long time. It is a cross between
Buddleja crispa and Buddleja loricata. Its
striking silver foliage will look great
all summer in any mixed planting in the
sun. The clusters of white flowers have
a mustard eye, sweet honey scent and are
loved by butterflies and bees.
• Verbascum ‘Royalty’
One of a new range of compact verbascums
growing to 30cm. A very hardy and robust
plant for the full sun. It has masses of
strong spikes of purple flowers all summer.
• Heuchera ‘Lime
Rickey’
A lovely contrast plant to light up a shady
garden with moisture retentive soil. Leaves
emerge chartreuse in spring, but mature
to lime green in summer. Tiny, white flowers
appear in spires in late spring to early
summer on slender stems rising above the
foliage mound.
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There has much information in the media
about vegetable gardening. We are seeing
the results of it here with lots of new
gardeners asking for our advice as well
as buying plants and seeds.
Come in and pick up the Kitchen
Garden Guide put out by Tui who
have also introduced two welcome additions
to our range of growing media - a 40ltr
bag of Vegetable Mix and 30ltr Tomato Mix.
These are specially formulated to give you
the best results, particularly useful if
you are limited to growing in containers.
To those of you new to vegetable gardening,
don’t despair if you haven’t
planted your tomatoes yet!
It is still early for planting summer crops,
as they need protection from cold winds
and the occasional low night temperatures
(as experienced last weekend!).
In fact, if you plant runner beans seeds
too early they won't germinate in the cold
soil but rot instead.
Note, we always get in vegetable seedlings
at the time we consider to be the best for
planting out - dependent on the weather.
For example, we have punnets of Basil this
weekend, but we would advise you to keep
it inside in pots at the moment.
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FUN AT THE GARDEN
CENTRE!
We're really enjoying ourselves at the Garden
Centre this spring as new plants arrive every
day and with the build up to Christmas. If
you would like help designing your summer
perennial border or with general garden design,
do give us a call or come in and see us. If
you can, bring some photos with you.
And, of course, don't forget to let us know
what you'd like to see us cover in the newsletter
and what information you'd like to see on
our new website.
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