Otago Daily Times: Gardening

Popular show for 60 years

Gillian Vine — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:29:00 +1300

An Outram gardener is getting ready for the town's annual flower show. Gillian Vine reports.

No scent but still magic

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Androsace lanuginosa - there are several variations on the pronunciation of this name, any one of which ends up sounding like a Harry Potter levitation spell.

What's on: February 11- February 17

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Saturday, February 11
Sawyers Bay Garden Club birthday bus trip. Bus departs hall, Station Rd, Sawyers Bay 10am. Note correction to time.

Growing onions not a crying matter

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Vegetables
Onion seed sown this month will withstand the winter, then mature into good-sized bulbs for harvesting next summer. Prepare soil with wood ash if you can get it, lime and some garden compost, or a general garden fertiliser.

Mix and match for the best veggie patch

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:27:00 +1300

Vegetables
There is a good case for mixing vegetables with flowers to get the best production from gardens, especially those that lose the sun early. This is particularly true for south-facing properties or gardens overshadowed by high trees.

Pretty in pastel

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:27:00 +1300

Looking particularly good in the white herbaceous border at Dunedin Botanic Garden is a plant smothered in a mass of flowers.

What's on: February 4- March 8

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Tomorrow, February 4
Tour some of Alexandra's special homes, noon-4pm. Grahame Sydney talk at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm at Henderson House.

Plant life: Powderpuff flowers putting on a show

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Bright pink fuzzy flowers are putting on a fantastic display at Dunedin Botanic Garden.

What's on

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Be the lily queen (or king)

Gillian Vine — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Lilies are not difficult to grow from seed. Gillian Vine gives tips on creating your own hybrids.

Your garden: Make your own liquid manure mix

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

'Honest' home built for practical living

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:29:00 +1300

Standing on a raised section above Lake Wanaka, this concrete and timber home was a winner in the recent Southern Architecture Awards.

What's on: January 21- February 7

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Weekend, January 21-22
Lawrence Summer Arts Festival. Floral art workshop by Marilyn Davis, of Timaru. Saturday 4pm-6pm, modern sculpture. Sunday 4pm-6pm, traditional pinned leaved bowl. Cost $45. All materials supplied. Register with Frieda Betman on (03) 485-9328 or email the.ark@xtra.co.nz.

Camellias enjoy canopy cover

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

During the summer the main focus of the Dunedin Botanic Garden's camellia collection is in deep shade under the leafy canopy of European beech, Fagus sylvatica.

Sowing seeds a chancy matter

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Vegetables
Keeping the soil hoed at this time of year not only keeps down weed seedlings but also gives vegetables an effective mulch of broken soil that prevents loss of moisture lower down in the ground.

Antipodean Kerry

Gillian Vine — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:29:00 +1300

Two Irish gardens remind Gillian Vine of home.

Making its presence felt

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

In the Rhododendron Dell at the Dunedin Botanic Garden, one of the stand-out herbaceous plants at the moment is Rodgersia pinnata, or "Superba". Although it is not as tall or even as robust as many of the plants around it, it certainly has a strong presence.

What's on: January 17- 22

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Tuesday, January 17
Sawyers Bay Garden Club meets at 7.15pm in the Emmanuel Church hall, Station Rd, Sawyers Bay.

Preparing your winter garden

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Vegetables
Although winter is a long way off, most winter greens should be planted by the middle of January, although Brussels sprouts generally give better crops if planted before Christmas.

Straw house proves worth

Lynda Van Kempen — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Neil and Joyce Jubb left behind the bush clad hills of Titirangi, in Auckland for the wide open spaces of Central Otago. Lynda Van Kempen finds out why they chose a straw bale house.

Earthy feel makes dirt top chocie

Catherine Pattison — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

As the world enters a more environmentally-aware era, sustainable building resources are back in vogue. Catherine Pattison talks to two Lake Hawea brothers, who realised long before it was fashionable that they really dug dirt and were so captivated by it as a construction material that they have both built houses out of this natural resource.

In a healthy home-made pickle

Ellie Constantine — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Making his own chutneys, jams, and pickle is not new to Rory Harding, who loves utilising his well-stocked vegetable patch.

Rustic, raw and individual

Rebecca Fox — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Walk into Kevin Tattersall's Signal Hill home and you are greeted by a series of photographs covering each step of its construction. Rebecca Fox finds out more about the passive solar home that has changed the Tattersall family's life.

Taking on a tall order

Allison Rudd — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +1300

Who would buy a steep, scrub-covered, pocket handkerchief-sized slice of rural land with no water supply? Ian and Fliss Butcher would. Allison Rudd talks to the couple transforming their difficult plot into an oasis.

Power to the people

Allison Rudd — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:25:00 +1300

Company Bay couple Michael and Edith Laba have taken control of their living environment. They generate almost all their own electricity, get most of their hot water from the sun and are always warm and cosy in their super-insulated home. Allison Rudd visited the house they say they never want to leave.

Living a good life off the grid

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:25:00 +1300

Living "off the grid" is not always easy and the start-up costs can be prohibitive, but there is an immense satisfaction to be found in generating your own power, Dunedin writer Edith Leigh discovers.

Dwelling + ticket office + clinic = crib

David Loughrey — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:28:00 +1300

The Bourke family's Harwood property is not a holiday home, nor is it a bach - it is a crib. David Loughrey finds it lives up to that name to the point it could almost be used as a definition of the Southern family getaway.

Home where the heart is

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:25:00 +1300

After more than 30 years living and working in places as diverse as Ethiopia, Indonesia and Auckland, Roy and Jan Johnstone have come home. Allison Rudd visited them at their ecofriendly house, nestled below a patch of native bush on a South Otago hillside and overlooking what they call their hidden valley.

Pastime grew into obsession

Ellie Constantine — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:25:00 +1300

A woman of two worlds, Debbie Pettinger switches from heavy packs and muddy boots to bright fabrics and creative patterns with ease.

Well worth waiting for

Dylan Norfield — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 05:25:00 +1300

Have you got a dry, 1m-wide spot in the garden where little else will grow? Does a plant with blue-grey foliage that lasts 10 years with little or no maintenance and has a spectacular 3m-high flower sound good?