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Extend your growing season with a poly tunnel. How to set up, heat and manage a poly tunnel in NZ conditions for year-round growing.

Keep birds, bugs and frost off your garden year-round. How to choose and use net and frost cloth for NZ conditions.

Effective microorganisms can transform your soil and compost. What EM is, how it works, and how to use it in your NZ garden.

Composting worms thrive when their environment is right. Everything you need to know about worm care, whether you're starting out or troubleshooting.

A worm farm turns kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich compost and liquid fertiliser. How to set up and run a worm farm that works.

Garlic is one of the most rewarding crops you can grow in a New Zealand garden. It's easy, relatively pest-free, stores well, and a single clove planted in autumn returns a full, flavoursome bulb by summer. Whether you have a large vege patch or a few pots on a balcony, garlic earns its place.

Winter is the season your garden is counting on you. The right cuts now mean better roses, heavier fruit crops, and healthier plants come spring. And the right tools make every cut worth making.  

Naturalists use ‘wintering’ to describe the way animals survive the cold months. Some hibernate, others migrate. As tempting as these strategies might be for us, I think we better weather winter well if we truly engage with it. And that means getting outside, feeling the cold and absorbing as much of the weak sunlight as we can before returning to the fire to get cosy again. And we gardeners, more than most, are well poised to ‘winter’ well. There is no doubt that the garden is a slower, gentler presence in the gardener’s world in winter. But while the uninitiated might assume it slows to a stop, those of us who’ve planted bulbs in spring, or inherited a slipper orchid, or nurtured a daphne bush know there is still life and glory to behold in the midst of the coldest days. In contrast to the other seasons, with their bursting buds, flashy blooms and blazing colours, perhaps one of winter’s more precious gifts is to invite us to look a little closer, to pay a little more attention, to notice the finer details.   Instructions for living a life:Pay attention.Be astonished.Tell about it.— Mary Oliver For this gardener, as well as embracing the brisk morning wander to look for signs of life in the tulip bed, ‘wintering’ involves bringing the outside in, so we can pay attention and enjoy it up close. There are the bowls of dainty, blue iris reticulata – a true winter bulb, with swelling spears making their appearance from mid July. The single potted hellebore on the kitchen cabinet, whose antique hues change from cream through dusky pink and then green over six weeks or more. And the kitchen windowsill herb planters that bring the garden’s constant vitality front and centre above the kitchen sink. Other winter delights to bring close and be astonished by: Pick strawberry flowers (winter flowers steal your plant’s energy when they should be focussing on root development. Lucky us!) A branch of magnolia A vase of paper whites (always the first narcissus for me) and the first of each successive spring bloom Other petit bulbs in a bowl – Daffodil ‘White petticoat’ andcrocus are good options (make a note in your calendar to bowl-plant petit bulbs next autumn!) So get out in the cold, pay attention, be astonished, and bring some of it back inside to enjoy up close. We need both to winter well. How to grow windowsill herbs in winter LocationThe windowsill is the key to success here, as with all plants: light is life. I find my south facing windowsill works just fine with a 180° spin each couple of days to keep them growing straight. What you need: ● Sill-sized pot without a drainage hole (trough vases fit a sill nicely)● Small stones to line the base● Potting mix● Coconut coir● Small potted supermarket herbs● Liquid fertiliser How to do it:Submerge herbs in a bowl of water with liquid fertiliser added until bubbles stop ensuring they’re well hydrated Cover the base of your pot with small stones – this provides a degree of drainage for plant roots Mix equal parts potting mix and coconut coir, and add roughly 2cm to the base of the pot Remove herbs from their pots and if necessary, gently manipulate the root ball to fit inside the pot. Backfill around the plants with the soil/coconut mix, ensuring all roots are below the soil and water sparingly to moisten the additional soil. Note. Parsley often comes packed with 8+ plants, these will quickly crowd each other out so gently divide the ‘plant’ in half and pot the others separately to give away or out in the garden. Maintenance Being winter, watering requirements will be minimal, a weekly touch test to check the moisture in the soil will let you know if you need to add water or leave it be. In such close quarters competition for nutrition will require a fortnightly feed with liquid fertiliser – a dash in ½-1C of water will be sufficient. Basil is best harvested by snipping out the growing tips to encourage bushier growth, more leaves and a longer harvest period.  Initially mint is best harvested by snipping the growing tips, then once established, by cutting the whole stem back to the soil promoting new growth from root nodes.  Parsley is best harvested by snipping the outer leaves right back to the main stem allowing the new leaves at the centre of each plant to grow on. Chives can be snipped at the soil to promote new shoots. A note on coriander: being such a tender plant and not suited to transplanting, it is best grown from seed and can be grown as a microgreen on the sill alongside your other herbs.

A guide for understanding your options and discovering the most effective soil mixes and amendments for your garden. It's winter, when the trees are stripped bare and the flowers have long since set seed and drifted on the wind, that we become most aware of the earth beneath our gardens. Soil is often overlooked — sometimes considered a bit boring and, at this time of the year, muddy and messy. But, it is where life begins. Soil is the living, breathing heart of the garden — without it, there is no garden. And so, at this time of year, when the layers of the land are peeled back, it becomes the perfect moment to look more closely at what lies beneath. For many home gardeners, winter is a season of enriching existing beds and also of starting fresh. Lawns can be transformed into borders, raised beds are built and pots are filled in readiness for spring. With each new project comes a need for soil, and often a trip to the garden centre, where shelves brim with bags of compost, mulch and amendments — each promising something different. The choice can be overwhelming. In this article, we’ll look at how to make sense of these options and explore the best soil mixes and amendments for the best results to improve the soil health and structure in your garden. Compost — what is it? The foundation of any good garden begins with compost. Whether you’re starting a new garden or converting lawn into beds, compost is the one amendment that benefits every soil type. Nutrient-dense and rich in organic matter, compost sometimes resembles soil, but it isn’t soil. It’s the by-product of decomposed organic materials and plays a crucial role in feeding plants and improving soil structure. There are different types of compost available to buy, or ways to make your own compost pile! Bagged or bulk compost that is available from the garden centre or landscaping stores are usually made from materials like green waste, animal manures, bark, sawdust and fungi. Premium products can also include additional amendments like certified organic plant materials or gypsum. Mushroom compost is the spent substrate used to farm mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are harvested, the growing medium is collected and sufficiently aged until it can be bagged up and sold to gardeners. It usually contains a combination of straw, hay and chicken manure. It tends to be more alkaline so it could be a good option for gardens with acidic soil (rather than alkaline soils). How to use compost Compost is very dense and rich. Therefore, it should never be used on its own as a potting mix, for raising seedlings or for containers. The correct way to use compost is as an amendment, mixed into existing soil or together with other ingredients. When creating a new garden, you can mix compost through your native soil and it will help to improve the soil structure. If you have clay soil, the compost can help to break up the clay and improve drainage. If you have sandy soil, then the compost will add organic matter and improve moisture retention. Use this ratio as a guide for how much compost to use: 10cm of compost mixed through the top 20-30cm of surface soil for a new garden bed. Garden mix — what is it? If you are building a new raised bed this winter and need to fill it, then garden mix is the right soil for your needs. Bagged garden mix is made up of topsoil + compost (and can include grit — sand or pumice — depending on the brand). There can also be added ingredients such as bark to improve water retention and synthetic fertilisers, or just natural nutrients in the form of manure. It’s important to check with your local landscaping supplies store what their “garden mix” contains. Some suppliers label compost as “garden mix,” which means you may need to purchase both topsoil and compost separately to create the right blend for filling raised beds or bottomless containers. In the following years, you can simply top up the bed with compost, as the organic matter will continue to break down over time. For healthy plant growth, aim for a balanced mix of topsoil and compost — remember compost is too dense for plants to grow in alone, and this combination provides both structure and nutrients. How to use garden mix Garden mix is ideal for bottomless containers, raised beds or slightly raised garden edges — anywhere you’re creating a contained space for plants to thrive. Specialty mixes such as Vegetable Mix, Citrus Mix, Bulb Mix etc. can be used in conjunction with Garden Mix as these have specific NPK ratios (fertiliser) to cater for their intended use. To calculate how much garden mix you need, measure the length x width x depth of the raised bed / container to work out the total cubic m2. For example, a 1m x 1m raised vegetable garden will require 7x bags of 40L Garden Mix and 7x bags of 40L Vegetable Mix to fill the area. Potting mix — what is it? Potting mix is a blend made for pots that have a base and drainage holes. It has special additives that sometimes include peat, bark, coco fibers, pumice, sand and wetting agents. There are also slow-release fertilisers that provide nutrients to the plant for a period of up to six months. How to use potting mix Potting mix is designed to be incredibly aerated and free draining. Do not use it in a garden or raised bed as it does not have the capacity to hold nutrients for a long duration of time. Best used for houseplants and outdoors pots or raising seedlings. You will notice that potting mix generally has a life span of 3-6 months (depending on the brand). After this time, you will have to replace the tired potting mix altogether or ‘revive’ by adding in worm castings or compost. The best soil amendments Garden soil amendments are ingredients you can add to your soil to improve its structure, essential nutrients or moisture retention. These are especially helpful when dealing with more challenging soil types like clay or sand. For clay soils — This soil type is nutrient packed and has the ability to hold a lot of moisture which is however suffers from soil compaction. You need to loosen the compaction first in order to access those beneficial nutrients. Use gypsum to do this, which is a naturally occurring mineral containing calcium that helps to break up heavy clay soils and improve drainage. (It’s what GIB plasterboard is made from!) Lime is another amendment that can be added to clay soils to help bind the particles together, which improves the structure and drainage. Both these amendments encourage worm activity which also helps to increase and break down organic matter. For sandy soils — This soil type is difficult to work with as it is incredibly free draining and does not hold a lot of nutrients. It requires a lot of organic matter to build moisture retention within the soil. Animal manures, like well-rotted horse, sheep, chicken or cow manure in particular, are extremely beneficial due to their high organic matter content. Aged manure is best, as opposed to fresh manure. Mulch is hugely important for sandy soil. It helps to lock in that moisture and also prevent erosion. Choose an organic rich mulch, like aged wood chips or a thick chunky leaf mold mixed with decomposed seaweed. Stay away from anything too fine, like pea straw or dry leaves as these are too light and will allow moisture to evaporate. It is in winter, when the soil is exposed, that we’re given the chance to reconnect with the foundations of our growing spaces. By understanding our soil and choosing the right blends for our garden’s needs, it’s the best time to lay the foundation for healthy plants and abundant growth in the seasons to come. Whether you’re filling a new raised bed, amending tired ground or refreshing your pots, every garden begins with healthy soil. ________________________________________________ The Sage Journal Winter Gardening Series is supported by bugg®. Shop the collectionPlant & Soil Care