RSC Garden Centre

14/04/2026

Avocados $2.20 each and Walnuts 1kg $12 at the Rural Service Centre Takaka. Avocados are from Bay Subtropicals Takaka and the Walnuts are grown in the South Island.

12/04/2026

Free seed potatoes at The Rural Service Centre!!

We have some sprouty seed potatoes that need to go in the ground asap! Free to a good home, come and grab your free bag. They will need careful planting but otherwise will grow fine in frost free areas or the greenhouse for a super early spring crop. Mostly Agria but some other varieties available too (Desiree / Jersey Bene / Ilam Hardy / Rua / Maris Anchor / Maori Types)

10/04/2026

Garlic, dried blood, bulk dwarf peas & lupins in store now!

Garlic Printanor 4pk $11.50
Garlic Elephant 4 Cloves $14.50
Red Shallots 6pk $10.50
Blue Lupins 1kg $12
Dwarf Peas WF Massey 500g $8.50
Dried Blood 2kg $15

09/04/2026

10% OFF ALL PLANTS IN STORE
(Excludes Seedlings)

Plants For Winter Colour – Jay Allen
The cooler weather is finally setting in, hopefully accompanied by an increase in rainfall making perfect conditions for planting. Autumn, in my opinion, is the best time to plant most shrubs and trees. The soil still has some warmth in it and the rainfall is usually plentiful, which allows plant roots a few months of growth before winter sets in. Winters in this region are fairly mild and root growth will continue over winter, although more slowly, giving plants a good head start before the drier summer weather arrives.

Our NZ natives are brilliant for providing food for birds and an evergreen backdrop for the garden but sometimes a splash of winter colour or fragrance in the garden really does raise the spirits!

For pots and garden beds my all-time favourites are violas and pansies. There are some fantastic new ‘Wave’ varieties available now which grow quickly with bushy trailing stems. Violas also have the added bonus of being fragrant. Winter stocks and wallflowers are also winter hardy colorful, fragrant and in store now.

Deciduous shrubs and trees are often overlooked in NZ but provide brilliant autumn colours. We have a range of ornamental Maples in store now. Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’ has stunning fiery autumn colour followed by bright orange stems and Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ has deep purple heart shaped leaves which turn a vibrant orange red in Autumn. Cornus alba varieties also have bright red stems which make a stunning winter display particularly when combined with evergreen plants.

For gorgeous evergreen winter colour Loropetalum ‘China Pink’, Nandina gulfsteam (Heavenly Bamboo), Leucadendron spp. Phormium ‘Evening Glow’ and newer Horopito culitavars (Pseudowintera colorata ‘Winter Fire’ or ‘Red Leopard’) are hard to beat.

And let’s not forget the old favourites like Camellia, Rhododendron and Daphne that provide flowers and fragrance during winter into early spring. My favourite evergreen for fragrance is Sweet Box (Sarcococca confusa) which has highly fragrant deep green leaves and cream flowers in the dead of winter, perfect for shady areas near entrances.

09/02/2026

🌿 Happy Birthday, Jay! 🌿
Wishing our wonderful Garden Centre guru a fantastic day today 🥳
Jacqueline Allen

19/12/2025

Avocados from Incredible Edibles now in store at The Rural Service Centre, 64 Meihana Street Takaka. We have Cleopatra ($79), Hass and Reed ($65) varieties available.

Cleopatra is a fairly new release and is a compact avocado tree, ideal for smaller gardens. It also has the bonus of being a pollinator for the Hass and Reed varieties!

18/12/2025

18/12/2025

Cucumbers in new eco pots! I'm trialling new plantable pots, especially for cucurbits as they can suffer from transplant shock when their roots are disturbed, $5.50 each. I'd appreciate any feedback about how they perform. If it goes well I'd like to do them all like this next year.

Remember too that cucurbits can be planted right up to their seed leaves as they form roots all along the stem up to that point. This also help protect them from the wind / weka!

09/12/2025

The Country Store are now stocking Golden Real Fruit Ice Cream!
Ice Cream, Yoghurt and Vegan options available 🍦

13/11/2025

Anyone interested in protea plants? I added two to an order I had from another customer. Varieties are Protea nerifolia 'Ruby' & Protea nerifolia 'Pink Ice'. Both are $89 each. Available at The Rural Service Centre Takaka.

22/09/2025

Spring is coming and thoughts have turned towards the garden. I am often asked about which fertilizer is best for what plant so, I thought I’d give a brief introduction to the different nutrients contained in fertilisers to help you decide on what to buy!

Plant nutrients can be split into macro, secondary and micronutrients. The macro nutrients supplied though the soil are Nitrogen ( N) Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). All of these must be supplied in fairly decent quantities to maintain healthy growth. These nutrients are listed on fertilizer packets as NPK values. They can be supplied chemically (made in a laboratory) or organically from animal, plant and mineral resources such as manures, composts, blood and bone, fishmeal and naturally occurring mined minerals such as sulphate of potash. In addition, these inputs can be ‘Certified Organic’ which guarantees that the inputs used are free of chemicals such as wormers and herbicides, or contaminants such as cadmium. Organic fertilisers also add food to the soil for beneficial fungi and bacteria which also helps plants and soil to remain productive and healthy.

The secondary nutrients are Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Sulphur (S) and are needed in moderate quantities. Again, they can be supplied chemically or organically. Dolomite lime, mined here in the Golden Bay, is a combination of magnesium and calcium carbonate and AgLime is just calcium carbonate. Which kind of lime you need can be determined by a soil test, but if you don’t have a test, I usually recommend Dolomite. Lime is also used to raise the pH of acidic soils. Most plants prefer a pH of around 6.5 to grow well. Sulphur is most commonly applied as part of another compound such as sulphate of potash, but it can be applied on its own as a powder.

Iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper and molybdenum are micronutrients which are needed in very small quantities by plants, much like we need vitamins to function correctly. Most of the micronutrients are essential for forming various enzymes within the plant which perform chemical reactions within cells, without them plants cannot grow properly. Again, these can be supplied chemically (laboratory synthesized) or organically from mined sources. They need to be applied very carefully as excess application can poison soils. Most soils in Golden Bay are deficient in all of these micronutrients, except for iron, which in some areas is very high (Ironworks Road)! Seaweed is a good way to add micronutrients, but it is not a complete fertilizer as it is lacking in most of the macro nutrients listed above.

We stock a range of chemical and certified organic fertilisers plus various composts, soil conditioners and liquid feeds, including chloride free formulas suitable for Avocados. Pop in and have a chat with me to see how we can help your garden grow!

Jay :)