Garden charm: Grow Landscape & Lifestyle
Refresh your outdoors with ease, thanks to the plethora of ever-evolving new season stock at this Moorhouse Ave store. Every week at Grow Landscape & Lifestyle beautiful new pieces and plants arrive to help improve the ambience of your garden. Fountains, corten steel garden art, and towering feature plants are elements of awe […]
Bring back butterflies
New Zealand butterfly enthusiasts are concerned some varieties may be headed for extinction. In Britain, the charity Butterfly Conservation called on its government to declare a “Nature Emergency” because of the decline of butterflies in that country, and some in New Zealand fear we may be headed down the same path. The British […]
Allergy-friendly flowers
Pollens fill the air at this time of year, exacerbating hay fever, sinus conditions, and breathing problems such as asthma, amongst others. Spring and summer are prime seasons for flowers so there’s more pollen in the air than usual. Despite that, it’s possible to enjoy a colourful garden without sneezing, itchy eyes, and […]
Holistic homes: Studio Wren
A home is more than just the physical bones of a house or the nature residing in a garden. Rachael Farthing, owner of Studio Wren, Christchurch’s newest landscape design company, believes that a home is created as elements of architecture, interior and landscape come together. Each “reflects different parts of the owners, connecting […]
Beautiful bonsai
Bonsai is an ancient horticultural art form. Originally developed in the Orient almost 2000 years ago, today it is an art practised throughout the world. Shape, harmony, proportion and scale are all weighed up carefully in creating bonsai. Just planting a tree in a small pot is not bonsai; it has to be […]
Creating predator-free properties
To create a sanctuary for native birds and other wildlife in your backyard means managing predators. Stoats, rats, weasels, possums, cats, and hedgehogs prey on birds, including their eggs and nestlings, and on other small creatures. If you want to keep the birds flourishing, and other wildlife enjoying your property, then controlling pests […]
Going native
Attracting native birds into your garden may be as easy as planting a few specific tree species, adding a bird bath, and providing the right food. Tui, fantails, kererū, and even kingfishers will visit regularly if garden conditions are right. Many native bird species face extinction, or are already extinct. As urban jungles […]
Name your poison (plants)
A surprising number of plants, including many indoor species, are toxic and even poisonous in one way or another, having developed chemical compounds to discourage predators from eating them. A toxic plant can cause harm through various means, such as skin irritation or inhalation, while a poisonous plant is specifically dangerous if ingested. […]
Get down and dirty
Winter is a great time to have a clean-out in the garden. Wait for a crisp fine weekend, sort a green waste bin, rug up warm and head outside. By now, most of the deciduous trees will have shed their leaves, so rake them up and add to your composting, or bin. Bare […]
Growing healthy soil
Achieving healthy, nutritious food relies a lot on where you grow it, not just how you care for each plant. Strip it back to the base and look at the health of your soil. Understanding your soil takes time. It is important to consider your location, how you nourish it, and its moisture […]
