It’s November! Early birds and those who have been doing succession planting have already been harvesting lettuces, beans, brassicas and more. It’s very exciting to see the spring blooms posted on social media! Now let’s get ready for the many things to do this month. Many customers are happy about this year's range of vegetables and flowers on offer online!
Garden Maintenance
Weed, weed, weed
Check greenhouse ventilation
Prepare for dry spells, water-saving techniques
Deadhead flowers
Feed roses
Watch out for slugs and snails
Practice succession planting
Vegetable Garden
This is our busiest season! There’re so many more options now: tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies, pumpkins, capsicums, eggplants, beans, zucchinis, kumara, lettuces and more!
You may want to use bamboo sticks to act as frames and stakes to guide your plants to grow upwards. This way, you have more space for other plants in your garden beds. Staking tomato plants earlier will prevent root damage as they grow. Plant basil, spring onions, lettuces in between spaces.
Herb Garden
Basil is a top plant to grow this month. Awapuni Nurseries has six basil varieties you may want to consider. Basil is a great pest deterrent. It produces a wonderful fragrance in your garden and you’ll be spoiled with freshly made pesto-based dishes! This is the month to grow herbs that liven up the flavour of your meals. You may also want to try coriander and chives! We now have rosemary, dill, sage too!
Flower Garden
The flower season is here and all over New Zealand, gardens are blooming with pride giving delight to many gardeners.
Awapuni Nurseries has at least 14 Petunia varieties, single and double-petaled delights as well as colour-variegated blues and reds. Petunias are low-maintenance flowers and great for borders, beddings and also hanging baskets.
We recommend planting flowers near your garden beds to encourage bees and beneficial insects to visit the vege garden. Marigolds, petunias, lavenders are available throughout the spring-summer season. It’s important to have flowers around the time your veges are flowering for higher chances of pollination.
If you are thinking of growing something different, you may want to consider delphiniums and salvias. These are pollinator magnets.
We now also have a great selection of impatiens - bright summer colours - orange, red. You may also want to consider generous bloomers like cosmos and chrysanthemums. Scabiosas, daisies and dahlias are now available online and have been quite popular this year, too.
Lastly, it’s the month to start Zinnias. Zinnia flowers from summer through to early autumn. It's good for planting in bedding, edging or as cut flowers. Awapuni Nurseries has 6 zinnia varieties available at different times. If you see something you like, please add yourself to our notifications list and you will get an email as soon as it becomes available.
Remember that summer is nearly here and gardeners need to watch out for many dry spells. Start researching and listing your ideas for water conservation and storage. Drip irrigation systems may help with tomato plants as they require slow but deep watering.
Happy gardening!
