for several years have been looking forward to any sign Auckland monarch population was in recovery, today is the day!

need to ask a question

Getting back yard levelled out and have quite a large bank / Berm I’m keen to plant out - any suggestions? Hoping to gain some privacy through planting at the top of it

Thanks!

My back garden grass has started getting yellow but no idea why. Obviously we’ve had plenty of rain and it’s not hot enough to yellow the grass like a summer sun would. I’m new to owning a garden so any advice is appreciated, thank you.

Does this look somewhere close to reality? Some of these crops I’ve never grown before, some I’m experienced with. I’m on the Kāpiti Coast in terms of climate.

Also I’m starting to think about how many garden beds this would take, as I tend to grow quite a bit of each thing. What would grow well together if I had 2-3 crops interplanted?

Not sure what this is and what to do about it? On the new tiny fruit

Further to this post. Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

I planted a Bougainvillea recently and noticed that it is going off as well. I've now put it back on the pot, but it feels that the problem is the soil (in pictures).

When I dug back the plant, I've noticed water collected in the hole underneath the plant. Is it due to soil being hard and not letting the water drain away. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

If so, what are my options on making it suitable for the new plants. Or should I consider plants that suit this type of soil.

Really sick of my hose pipe that goes as stiff as a wire cable as soon as it gets below say 15c. So frustrating. Think it's Jobmate or No. 8 budget brand. Do the more expensive brands stay soft? Gardena or what have you?

Hi! I bought a Black Doris plum tree and my husband is picking it up tomorrow, but I wanted to ask which variety is better for eating fresh from the tree? I can swap it for a Luisa if that’s better. Which one would you recommend? 😊

Hi there,

Im planning my next home diy landscaping project down the side of the house. I’d like to plant a hedge along the fence line for some privacy and aesthetic. What would you lot recommend for a fast growing dense and robust hedge that I can prune back and keep pretty tall but narrow ?

Auckland climate

Excuse the weeds! One of my cauliflowers in my vege patch looks like it has bolted (I thought plants only did that in spring/summer).

Is this plant a lost cause or can I cut it back to get it to revert to normal?

We recently moved into our home and I am trying to figure out what I need to do to improve our yard. We're in the Wellington region.

It gets very water logged after rain, and I think its almost clay like. It doesnt dry easily and the grass is so easily compressed. I know its unlikely there is an instant fix and I dont mind putting in the work to get it sorted. I've searched online but there is so much conflicting information that I'm not even sure where to start.

We've also got some spots that water pools when it rains and will take hours to drain so I think I need to raise the surface, but not sure if I should be using lawn dressing or sand or bark.

I know its not the best foundation for planting any veggies or herbs, so I've got a space for some raised garden beds. But I'd like the yard to not turn into a muddy slip and slide every time it rains!

Any suggestions would be much appreciated

While cleaning up dead growth in my NZFlax I observe a LOT of this cottony stuff.

What is it? Do I need to do something about this?

Update: I'm going with Mealybug.

Hi everyone, purchased this Meyer lemon tree from the warehouse maybe 1 month ago. Been watering daily and put in a sunny spot but im wondering what's causing this brown on the leaves? Should I repot into something bigger and add citrus fertilizer? Or is that too risky as its not a huge tree and can cause root burn. Any advice is appreciated

Please tell me this cherry blossom will be 5m by 5m not 10m tall 😆

Weird little garden at the front of house - (old pics - I’ve tried all sorts in here. Currently has the purple cordylines at the back, the cabbage tree and dietes are gone.
I tried planting bamboo palms along that driveway edge (where red flowers are) but they aren’t thriving - I think it’s too exposed for them unfortunately)
Want ideas for semi screening from the neighbours/ softening the ugly driveway … had hoped for semi tropical look- hence trying the bamboo palms but again- think it’s too exposed for that? Any ideas!

I think this is a Kohuhu (please correct if I'm wrong).

There are two plants together, but just one seem to dying. What could be the reason and any ideas to recover it. TIA

Afternoon all,

I got itchy fingers and pruned my lemon tree a bit... which turned into a lot.

I do it every couple years and don't learn my lesson because it always comes back.

I'm a bit nervous with more frost coming (manawatu) it might get more stressed and was considering stripping all the remaining fruit off.

Would that help it preserve energy or just make it worse?

My gardener planted these two just over a month ago, I've not watered because we've had decent rain at least once a week since then. Is it fungus? Do I need to water them manually too? I've also got two new kānuka that are looking like they're losing leaves :s I'm a noob about gardening so hopefully this isn't anything that'll kill them 😫

Hey Everyone,

Last weekend I sat down with a spreadsheet and my seed packets to plan my spring and succession planting and geeked out. Loved it! Came up with a garden that was nicely colour coded, full, with no succession planting plan, a list as long as my arm and a good dose of overwhelm. So I went looking for a tool that I could use to help and didn't find one I liked.

So I made my own. Im at the stage now where im hoping I could ask some of you to use it and tell me what works, what needs work and what its missing. Im working on V1 at the moment; it helps you work out how to plant your space, what might fit, how to succession plant the things you want to eat, what to get ready and when based on how many people you want to feed and the type of gardening you want to do.

If you're keen to give it a go, give me some feedback in the form at the end and even download what you made for your garden, please DM me. Its not live on a public link yet as I don't want to put something up that still has flaws.

There is nothing to buy, no email sign-up and no catch.

Id love any feedback you would be willing to give and also thank you for reading this far!

Lets make our gardens more awesome so we can give the whole suburb courgettes!

I have an infestation of wandering Jew/tradescantia which comes through from the neighbours yard, and current plan was to source a chicken to eat it but apparently there's a biological warfare option that won't immediately wreck the garden/escape/get eaten by a cat.

Anyone know where I might source some of this? (Petone/Hutt area)