December – the start of the beautiful New Zealand summer!
It’s the perfect time to fill your garden with colourful, new, and nutritious summer vegetables.
We’ve put together some helpful tips to help you enjoy bigger harvests and more flowers this season!
Garden Maintenance
Trim hedges, small trees, shrubs, and lawn edges.
Deadhead flowers regularly for more blooms and a tidier look. Pick roses, lavender, cosmos, etc. Put fresh flowers in vases.
Stake your roses and tomatoes early. Some days can be windy.
Mulch around your plants and stay on top of weeds.
Keep watering consistent during very hot days.
Make your checklist of varieties to plant this season.
Popular Edibles
December is an excellent time to transplant summer favourites such as cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies, watermelons, rock melons, sweet corn, and passionfruit.
You can also try asparagus and artichoke in early summer. Grow your own super foods -- bitter melon seedlings from Awapuni Nurseries are now available.
Gardener Secrets for Growing Tasty, Healthy Tomatoes
Our customers have generously shared their best tips for growing amazing tomatoes:
Remove lower leaves so they don’t touch the ground. Snap out the leaf axils (suckers) between the stem and main leaf.
“Epsom salts and sheep pellets when planting in the hole. I plant mine on their sides for better root growth and stability.” – Sue JN
Plant basil generously around your tomatoes.
“Crushed eggshells for calcium.” – Megan KB
“Pony poop, lime, and regular watering.” – Tamzin C
“Fish frames, wood ash, compost, mulch.” – Chris A
“Great soil and regular feeding.” – Verna P
“Healthy soil, 2–3 basil plants per tomato, consistent watering, and a monthly Seasol feed.” – Kathleen S
“Buy healthy plants.” – Verna P
“Seaweed fertiliser regularly.” – Margaret W
“Potassium water from banana-peel tea. I have metre-high tomato bushes!” – Kelley H
“Sheep and chicken pellets with regular feeding.” – Nik H
Tomato Support
Stake your tomatoes early—ideally within a month of planting or before they reach 30 cm (12”). Tomato stems are soft and easily damaged, and because they produce heavy crops, early support helps prevent breakage and keeps plants growing upright.
What Is Blossom End Rot — and How to Prevent It?
If you notice brown, leathery patches forming at the bottom of your tomatoes, you may be seeing blossom end rot. It can also appear on eggplants, melons, capsicums and other fruiting vegetables.
Common causes include:
Calcium deficiency during fruit development.
Over-fertilising with nitrogen, which can prevent calcium uptake.
Inconsistent watering, especially during hot summer days.
How to reduce the risk:
Add calcium-rich fertilisers or compost.
Water consistently at the base of the plant.
Mulch to keep soil moisture stable.
When to Harvest Garlic
Garlic is best harvested in late December to early January. When the lower outer leaves turn yellow or brown, it’s ready. Loosen the soil gently and pull the bulbs out.
Timing matters: harvesting too early can shorten storage life. You can eat garlic immediately, or leave it on the ground to dry for a couple of days. If storing, tie the bulbs into bundles and keep them in a cool, dark, dry, well-ventilated place.
Summer Is Basil Season
Summer salads and desserts shine with fresh herbs!
Awapuni Nurseries offer eight basil varieties: lemon, bush, Thai, sweet, Red Rubin, cinnamon, Greek mini, and mixed. We especially recommend lemon basil for its bright, citrusy flavour and fragrance.
Other Summer Herbs
Summer is also ideal for planting lemongrass and rosemary—both wonderfully fragrant, excellent for cooking, and helpful for pest control.
We also have chives and garlic chives available now. For something new, try lemon bergamot, oregano and watercress (another super food!).
Flower Gardens in Bloom Across New Zealand
This season is perfect for planting gaillardia, lavender, impatiens, petunia, gazania, gardenia, statice, zinnia, cosmos and marigold.
For something a little different, try lupins, salvia, delphiniums.
Add height and structure with tall flowers like sunflowers for a layered garden effect.
Forestry
Awapuni Nurseries offer a wide range of forestry varieties in bulk and affordable packs:
Christmas Tree Pines - Grown from Proseed’s Special Controlled Pollinated seed, these pines are specially cultivated for exceptional branching, making them ideal for premium Christmas tree production.
Cupressus Macrocarpa (Monterey Cypress) is a perfect hedge, feature tree or container plant for small gardens.
Sequoia Sempervirens - Californian Redwoods or Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) Native to Northern California.
Cupressus Lusitanica is an evergreen, beautiful tree with a dense, conical crown; it can grow up to 35 metres tall - native to central America.
Happy Gardening!
Enjoy the sunshine, try new varieties, and make the most of early summer planting across Aotearoa. Let us know what you’re growing—we love seeing your gardens thrive!
