Tropical plant dome_4. Mt Coot-tha botanical Garden

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Perennial Planting New Zealand.

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Most gardens in New Zealand have perennials hiding somewhere within the shadows or recesses of the landscape. Protecting and caring for perennials over the cold winter periods can be very successful with some simple easy to follow gardening advice below: - Bring indoors any tender culinary herbs you have within your garden that you may want to keep from frost burn, place the containers somewhere with good light, provide free drainage and water in-frequently over the winter season. - Cover any plants within your garden that are tender to frost with frost cloth, Citrus when young in particular. Some lower growing perennials such as begonia will survive a hard frost using straw as a frost cover. Cover with a layer 100 mm thick, if possible remove the straw during the sunlight hours. - A gentle hose or sprinkler cover of all plants in a heavy frost can break any ice, WATER BEFORE SUNRISE!!! This may help avoid plants from 'melting'. - Shade cloth or weed mat can substitute as a s...
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Gardening NZ. Composting and Tiger worms. New Zealand landscaping ideas.

Composting is an excellent way to re- incorporate garden waste (leaves fallen from deciduous trees, kitchen waste, and garden trimmings etc.) back into the garden from which it came. Tiger worms are the best kind of composting worm to introduce into your compost pile or bins. With the addition of a hand full of lime from time to time, sprinkle and spread out over the surface of your compost pile. This will encourage the worms to feed more as they like the lime and will be encouraged to eat more to get to the lime. The addition of top soil occasionally will also help introduce healthy bacteria and organisms into your compost, also promoting faster composting. An easy, economical way to start your own worm farm is to gather several polystyrene boxes, stack them on top of each other with a Hessian sack between each layer. Fill the boxes with organic mixture as described above and add some worms and let them turn your waste into worm castings, a prime nutritional addition to your garden.
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Gardening - Rose pruning hints

Roses are dormant at this time of the year in the Southern hemisphere. Winter is the best time to prune roses, usually when leaves have fallen from the plant and there is no sign of any new growth. When preparing for winter pruning, ensure tools are sharp and sterile between cutting each plant. Prepare your spray solutions before pruning so you are ready to spray plants immediately after pruning. Copper sulphate spray and oil based sprays work well in combination to control fungal diseases and insects over winter. There are many copper compounds that are used as fungicides. The most common is Bordeaux mix. This is a combination of copper sulphate and hydrated lime.
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