A grand garden: Grow Landscapes & Lifestyle
Create an ambience and the garden of your dreams with fountains and gorgeous garden art from Grow Landscapes & Lifestyle. The gentle murmur of trickling water and elegant art sculpt a serene atmosphere for winter evenings, whether you’re admiring from your window or outside enjoying it. This is where a water feature takes […]
Overwintering plants
A way of protecting potted plants through winter, overwintering keeps plants alive and healthy and is sometimes essential for their survival. With consistent frosts and hard winds creeping in, this might be the solution to leave winter and enter summer with a lively, blooming garden. Plants can struggle with the temperature drop, such […]
Cold climate plants
Many native and exotic plants, shrubs, and trees available in New Zealand are tougher than they look, surviving low temperatures, droughts, frosts, poor soil, and occasional neglect or improper care. Seasonal changes bring challenges for gardeners, especially in colder climate areas such as Canterbury. The trick is to choose plants that survive and […]
Gorgeous winter colours
The best gardens are those that have colour of some sort, during all four seasons. I am a flower fancier, so need a plentiful supply to pick during spring, summer, autumn, and especially winter. From beautiful patterned bark, red berries, and colourful blooms, autumn and winter trees and shrubs add bursts of beauty […]
Here’s to radishes
Crunchy and peppery, radishes make a colourful addition to salads and sandwiches, and they’re great eaten raw, dipped in hummus, or on their own. More than 100 varieties exist, in a range of colours, shapes, and sizes, all with their own unique flavour and nutrients. From mild and earthy, to slightly sweet, and/or […]
Bountiful harvests
The season of plenty, autumn is the start of hearty soups, stews, and casseroles, and — like squirrels storing their nuts — a time to stock up for winter. New seasons bring opportunities to try different foods, and make the most of what is plentiful, one reason many restaurants change their menus with […]
Being biophilic
An increasing number of architectural and interior home designers are incorporating biophilic principles into their work, bringing nature indoors. Being at one with nature is often relaxing, tranquil, and can evoke feelings of wellbeing and peace, which is where biophilic design comes in; its goal is to bring traditionally outdoor elements inside so […]
Productive propagation
From hobby gardening, to cottage industry, propagating your own plants comes with the satisfaction of creating new life. Growing up, my mother’s hobby propagating orchids for export fascinated me. Hers was a world of petri dishes, test tubes, flasks and agar whereas when my time came, I stuck with cuttings in potting mix, […]
Flower farming for wellbeing
University-stressed and soul-searching Jaz Rule looked to nature for a spark during lockdowns. Instead, she found everything she’d ever needed to overcome anxiety and the pressures flooding her. Metropol Deputy Editor Nina Tucker finds out why. Lost and confused, deep into a degree in human services and sociology, Jaz pondered her purpose. Online […]
Bring on the basil
Basil is a culinary herb, with a variety of cultivars, used in cuisines worldwide. Easy to grow from seed or propagated stalks, it thrives in warm, moist conditions, thriving in gardens, raised beds, pots, and hanging baskets. In Western cuisine, the generic term “basil” refers to the variety also known as sweet basil […]
