Plants Kapiti

01/04/2021

Time to buy your Spring Bulbs and the Parkinsons Society will be selling tulip bulbs at the market tomorrow. Come and support this worthwhile charity.

26/02/2021

Abyssinian Banana Palms $25 each at the Waikanae Community Market tomorrow. Look for the Red Van in the carpark.

18/10/2020

Today is the start of National Gardening Week!! Come along this Saturday - Val always has a lot of colour on her stall, Beverley and Anoinette have some great posies and unusual plants, Red Van Plants has a wide range of old fashioned cottage garden perennials and Terry and Val have you covered for all those tomato plants and veg seedlings!!

06/10/2020

Interesting reading! Going to try this on one of my big dahlias that is always a bit straggly. Hoping it might help to keep it compact.

Topping dahlias diagram and information courtesy of www.easytogrowbulbs.com

Pinching or "topping" dahlias results in shorter, sturdier, fuller dahlia plants that produce more blooms. This is true for the dwarf dahlias, the dinner plate dahlias and every style and size in between.
Pinching back your dahlias should be used in two ways. First, when your plants are 12-16" tall, pinch off the top of the plant just above the 4th set of leaves, as shown in this diagram to the right. Pinching off the top of the plant is referred to as "topping" your dahlia plant.
Top your dahlia plant cleanly, using shears, scissors or your fingers, taking care not to tear the stem.
Removing the top of your dahlia plant temporarily refocuses the plant's energies from producing flower buds, and instead the plant develops more stems and more foliage - capable of producing and supporting many more blooms. You and your garden will benefit from topping your dahlias for months!
At this stage, your dahlias are growing quickly, rapidly recovering from the pruning.
As your dahlia plant grows, and sets flower buds, continue to pinch back new growth for more bloom production. Where multiple buds are formed, pinching back a few buds will result in larger blooms for those that remain.
Cutting dahlias for your vase will have the same effect as pinching back your dahlia plants.
Dead head your dahlias. As dahlia blooms fade, pinch back the spent blooms. Known as "dead heading", removing spent dahlia blooms prevents production of the seeds the plant is producing to aid in reproduction. By removing the spent blooms, you are causing your dahlia plant to produce more blooms in its quest for reproductive seeds. ( for those interested, this post information works for chrysanthemums too )

14/09/2020

Just started making this and using it on my houseplants, but apparently great for tomatoes, capsicums, zucchini, etc. Will be interesting to see the results. Anyone else using it?

Banana peel fertilizer is a superfood for your plants. And it's so easy to make. Plus, there are many more uses for banana peels in the garden.

08/09/2020

Gardening doesn't have to cost the earth. Here are some practical ways to put more joy and less money into your green spaces.

04/09/2020

14/08/2020

09/08/2020

Anyone want these? If not they'll be going to the tip shop later in the week.

06/08/2020

I have been given heaps of envelopes of all different colour poppy seeds. If anyone is interested, please pm me and you can pick up from the Waikanae Community Market tomorrow or from me in Te Horo.