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A practical guide to identifying and pruning all hydrangea varieties in NZ. Know what you have before you cut, and get more blooms every season.

One job that we should never brush off as unimportant - particularly for fruiting plants and trees - is pruning. Why do we prune? We prune for health, for size, for beauty, for harvest and for pleasure. So yes, it’s quite important! In this blog we look at berry fruit specifically. At the very basic level, pruning lets in air and light and removes dead, dying or diseased branches. This helps improve the overall health of the plant and reduces the chance of diseases. Anyone who has seen an ignored raspberry bush will understand how crowded they can become, and we have all seen blackberries and brambles smothering other plants on the side of the road, left to their own devices. More specifically for fruiting plants, pruning helps to remove branches that will no longer fruit and are simply diverting energy from fruit production. It enables us to control the number of fruit (thinning) which improves the size and sweetness of the remaining fruit. Removing excess stems and branches also enables the maximum amount of sunlight into the plant or tree which is converted into food for the plant. The vital piece of information you need before pruning your berry plant is what year wood does the plant produce its fruit on. What does that mean? - First year wood means the fruit will only develop on new growth from this spring, e.g. blueberries, double fruiting / everbearing raspberries - summer harvest - Second year wood means the fruit will develop on wood that grew last spring, e.g. blackberries / brambles, currants, black currants, raspberries - single harvest, double fruiting (everbearing) raspberries – fall harvest - Third year wood means the fruit will develop on wood that grew in spring two years ago, e.g. currants Pruning It’s pruning time (after you make sure your secateurs are sharp and clean!). It's good practice to start by removing the 3 D’s: dead, dying or diseased. This will simplify your job going forward... Blackberries/brambles - Fruiting on second year wood, the long canes will die after fruiting, leaving a strong bud at the base of the dead cane or a completely new shoot from the base. Cut the cane back to the bud or remove completely if there is a new shoot from the base. Do this when they are dormant. Also remove excess new canes, leaving only six or so of the sturdiest and healthiest canes. Grow them against a support frame to enable control of the shape, enable easy pruning and easily access the fruit. Shorten the new canes to encourage side shoots which will fruit next spring. To help make pruning simple, you can train the first-year canes (next year's fruiting canes) in one direction along a trellis and have the fruiting canes trained in the other direction. At the end of the fruiting season, you can remove all those fruited canes, leaving room for the new canes. Blueberries - Fruiting on first year wood, in the first three years, the only pruning they need is removing dead and diseased wood. Highbush varieties will keep growing new stems / branches for 6 years, so the first step is to remove any stems more than six years old. After that trim back young or spindly stems to strong branches or buds and remove older twiggy growth. Rabbiteye varieties are more vigorous growers than high bush so prune them similarly but don’t cut them back too hard to avoid stimulating excessive growth. Black currants - They bear their best fruit on second year wood so when they are dormant remove the stems that have fruited, right to the ground or to a low, strong side shoot that will grow a new stem. Thin out one-year stems to the ground, leaving just 6 of the strongest, upright stems, to avoid crowding. Raspberries (single harvest varieties) - Simply remove the canes that fruited this season and leave the new canes to fruit next season. You can usually see where the berries have been attached or by the colour. The canes to remove are matte brown/grey. The canes to leave are green/brown. Double harvest varieties - These fruit at the tips of first year canes in late summer and autumn. These same canes will fruit the following season in early summer lower down the cane. You can remove the tips after they fruit the first time, leaving the lower cane to fruit again. After the second harvest lower down on the canes, remove the entire cane from the base. Leave the first-year canes. There are few foods that compare to the taste of homegrown, sun-ripened berries. Grow your own and as you learn how to care for them you will enjoy many years of delicious berries! Written for bugg® by Kelly Jean Reyland from Garden Advice NZ (www.gardenadvice.co.nz)

A well-kept lawn looks great and helps the surrounding area look better. And one of the ways to help your lawn look its best is to keep it weed free! One of the best pieces of advice you can take regarding weeds (also pests and diseases) is to deal with the issue when you first see it. The issue will only get worse with time; that's pretty much a guarantee! So, when you first see that patch of creeping oxalis, the prickly seed heads of onehunga weed or the distinctive rosette pattern of cape daisy leaves, do something about it. It might be just removing flower heads or seed heads so it can’t spread while you deal with the leaves and roots. Or it might be getting straight out there with some weedkiller to knock it dead. Don’t leave it there to spread and become a bigger problem! Follow this up by keeping the lawn well fed so it is thick and can easily compete with any weed seeds that attempt to germinate, and finally mow your lawn on a high setting, so the lawn is dense and helps prevent weed seeds finding a spot to germinate. Weed control Some weeds are easy enough to remove manually. The cape daisy is a good example. As long as the soil is moist, you can use a daisy remover to gently lever the entire long tap root out of the ground and in one go remove the entire plant. It makes sense to do so when you learn that all the little fragments of each cape daisy leaf created and spread by being run over with the lawn mower can grow into an individual plant. When a weed has appeared in the lawn in a small, isolated position, it is effective to carefully spot apply a non-selective weedkiller and once the weed is dead, resow the patch with grass seed. Once a weed has spread through the lawn, the most effective way to get on top of the issue is applying a selective lawn weed spray that is appropriate for the specific weed. Ensure that you follow the instructions for how much to apply to how many square metres of ground to avoid burning the grass. Be aware that most selective lawn sprays are hormone based which work by disrupting cell division or disrupting photosynthesis. It is really important that you don’t put the lawn clippings in the compost or as mulch around existing plants as the hormone will reside in the material for months to come and will affect other plants negatively e.g., putting the compost containing the broken down clippings on your vegetable garden or around your roses and the plants failing to grow or thrive with rolled up, curled leaves. It will state on the instructions how long the clippings need to be put in the rubbish before it is safe to resume doing so. You also need to be aware of the surrounding gardens when you apply the spray. A broadleaf weed spray will work on a ‘weed’ or a broadleaf plant, so you need to be very careful with spray drift. It is good practice to hose off any particularly special or important plants if there is any risk of spray drift after spraying. You also need to consider where trees and shrubs overhang the lawn as their roots will come into contact with the spray and it can knock them back in their growth. Weedkillers fall into two groups – selective and non-selective. Lawn spray is an example of selective where it will kill off broadleaf plants but not the blades of grass when applied at the correct application rates. Glyphosate is an example of non-selective where it will kill off anything it comes into contact with. Unfortunately, any grass weeds such as paspalum or twitch/cooch can’t be controlled by selective weedkillers as they are a grass rather than a broadleaf. They need to be controlled with careful application of nonselective weedkiller. Some professional lawn care companies do have sprays that control certain weed grasses in a lawn, but they are not available to buy off the shelf for home gardeners. If grass weeds are widespread in the lawn, getting a quote from a lawn company could be the most cost-effective way to get it under control. Within the non-selective group there are also contact and systemic sprays. Contact sprays will burn off the tops but leave the roots intact. Natural oil or fatty acid style sprays fall in this category. They are effective for very young weeds without established root systems but established perennial weeds will simply grow back from the roots. Systemic sprays will be absorbed through the leaves into the sap system and travel back through the roots killing off the entire plants. This is a much more effective method with established perennial weeds. Moss in the lawn Moss can be caused by several environmental factors. Poor drainage / excessive water, too much shade, soil pH being too acidic or poor soil fertility. These are things that should be addressed as well as treating the moss growth. If you don’t treat the cause of the issue, the moss will simply grow back. Poor drainage or excess water can be improved by adding gypsum to help improve soil structure or adding drainage to the area. In a shady area, you can look at a shady lawn blend which is better suited to the area or look at an alternative to lawn for ground cover. Acid soil pH can be addressed by regular application of lime and altering the soil pH can make nutrients in the soil more available for the plant to access and use. Lawn fertiliser with added iron sulphate will add nutrients to the soil and help control moss growth. Be careful not to get it on hard surfaces as iron sulphate will stain them. Maintain your lawn's good looks by keeping weed and moss growth under control. In combination with regular feeding and care it will be an asset to your property. For tips on lawn care, including sowing, watering and fertilising – see our blog on Caring for your Lawn. Browse some top Lawn Care products here! Written for bugg® by Kelly Jean Reyland from Garden Advice NZ (www.gardenadvice.co.nz)Shop the collectionLawn & Order

Autumn is a prime time to get your lawn looking its best. There is still warmth in the air and soil and there is moisture available in the soil for optimal growing conditions. If you are looking to sow a new lawn, now is the time! Get your seed spread as soon as possible before the winter cold halts growth. Smooth out the soil so you have an even surface and remove any weeds. Your preparation now will affect the finished lawn. If you have time to leave the soil bare so any weeds seeds germinate and you can spray them off and remove them, do so. This helps to ensure your lawn will have less weeds competing with your lawn seed as it starts to grow. If you can repeat that process a few times it will be an even better final result, but you do need to get that seed growing so be as fast as you can with winter approaching. If your soil is very sandy or heavy, spreading a layer of lawn soil is a good base to get the seeds started. You buy it bagged, it is weed free, has water holding crystals to help maintain an even soil moisture while seeds germinate, and it has some appropriate fertiliser. If you have an existing lawn and you have shallow dips that you need filled in to even out your lawn, lawn soil is an excellent option as it doesn’t settle at a lower level. Choosing the right lawn seed mix for your situation is important to get the finished result you want. It is uncommon to get a lawn seed that is one single type of seed other than Kikuyu for very sandy situations or perhaps a Chewings Fescue for an ultrafine lawn. Most seed blends have different combinations to give the finished attributes that you want in the lawn. Lawns where there are kids or dogs running around or vehicles driving on the lawn have a coarser blade of grass (such as brown top) which stands up to the wear and tear. If you have shady spots, a hot and dry situation, a desire for a super fine, trophy lawn or just a regular lawn, choose a mix that is suited for that purpose. These blends will generally grow strongly in the warmer months and very little over the cold months. If you are in a situation where the lawn gets hard wear and tear all year round and has the potential to turn into a mud pit in winter, look for an all-season blend that grows during the cold months as well. It does mean you have to keep mowing your lawn in winter, but any damage has a chance to be repaired and the lawn regrows at any time of year. This is the blend they use on sports fields. Once your lawn seed has germinated, ensure that you oversow to fill in any patchy areas and ensure a thick, even lawn. Watering your lawn Lawns can use up a lot of resources in terms of water, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Most people over irrigate their lawns which can cause plants in surrounding gardens to die from overwatering – especially on heavy or clay-based soil. Reduce your watering to a longer time and further apart rather than a light water every other day. The finer the blade of grass the more water it requires, so if you want to reduce your water use over summer, oversow with a more drought resistant, coarser blade of grass and leave it cut higher during the summer months. If your lawn is on an automatic watering system, regularly check if the soil needs watering. If the soil is damp, it's fine, it doesn't need more water. An automatic system can’t tell if it has rained, and if water is not needed. That’s up to you! Mowing your lawn The lower you cut your lawn, the higher the risk of damage or death over summer with high temperatures and minimal rain and the higher the risk of weed invasion. If you mow your lawn higher, it is more resilient to heat stress and there is more competition to keep weeds at bay. Maintain the blades on your mower and keep them sharp to ensure a clean cut of the grass. Feeding your lawn Be aware that a new lawn is very soft and easily burnt by fertiliser or weed spray so you need to use a fertiliser specifically for new lawns that will be slow release or use a gentle option such as liquid seaweed for the first six months. What type of lawn fertiliser should I use? The three main options are slow release, granular and liquid. All have pros and cons. Slow release options are expensive, however a little goes a long way and lasts a few months. As it releases slowly the grass is fed consistently over a long time and it is not wasted. Follow the application instructions to apply the correct amount to the correct area size. Granular options are inexpensive but they can burn if they are applied too heavily. They also release on contact with water (this is why you need to water them in) which gives them a big feed at once but also has a high chance of leaching away and therefore be wasted. Liquid feed is easily applied and taken up quickly – an instant boost – but it is also used up quickly, so it must be applied regularly over the growing season. It commonly has a weedkiller included in the formulation to kill off weeds and the fertiliser then encourages the grass to grow and fill the space. For tips on weeding your lawn – see our blog on keeping your lawn weed free. Our lawns are an important part of how our homes are presented and we use our spaces. Keeping them looking good and functioning well will make a positive difference in how we use them. Browse some top Lawn Care products here! Written for bugg® by Kelly Jean Reyland from Garden Advice NZ (www.gardenadvice.co.nz)Shop the collectionLawn & Order

When it comes to cultivating a thriving & happy home garden, there’s one easy practice we think everyone should try: cover cropping! It’s an easy technique that involves planting specific crops not for harvest, but to revitalise your garden soil. Cover crops (also known as green manure, green crops, or manure crops), are quick to grow, require very little maintenance, and improve soil structure & quality by replacing lost nutrients. Read on to learn about the benefits of cover crops, how to choose the right ones for your garden, and some simple steps you can follow to get started with cover crops in your garden. The Basics of Cover Crops Cover crops are typically planted during periods when the garden bed would otherwise be empty, such as after harvesting your main crops or during the ‘off’ season. Instead of leaving your soil bare, cover crops step in to protect and improve your soil. Once you’re done with your cover crops, they can be used as mulch and added back into the soil as valuable organic matter. The Benefits of Cover Crops Soil Enrichment: Cover crops act as natural fertilisers, enriching the soil with essential nutrients. Legumes, like clover and peas, even have the ability to fix nitrogen, providing an organic source of this vital nutrient for your plants. Weed Suppression: A well-established cover crop creates a living mulch that helps suppress weeds. By shading the soil, cover crops reduce the chances of weed germination. Erosion Prevention: The roots of cover crops help bind the soil together, preventing erosion. This is especially important in areas with heavy rainfall or sloping terrain. Pest Control: Some cover crops release natural compounds that can repel or inhibit the growth of certain pests. This can contribute to a healthier, more balanced garden ecosystem. Choosing the Right Cover Crops Selecting the right cover crops for your garden depends on various factors, including your location, climate, and specific needs in your garden (i.e. soil improvement or pest prevention). Here are a few popular cover crop varieties to consider: Legumes: Clover and peas are excellent choices for adding nitrogen into the soil, improving soil fertility, and attracting beneficial insects. Grasses: Annual grasses like rye and oats work well for suppressing weeds and adding organic matter to the soil. Brassicas: Plants like mustard and radishes have deep roots that help break up compacted soil while also providing pest-resistant qualities. Mixes: Plant a mix of cover crops to enjoy a combination of benefits. For example, a mix of clover and rye can provide both nitrogen fixation and weed suppression. You can buy cover crop seed mixes, or mix your own varieties depending on what your specific garden needs this season. Implementing Cover Crops in Your Garden When should I sow cover crops?Typically, cover crops are sown in late summer, or in autumn after harvesting your main crops. How do I sow cover crops?Spread the cover crop seeds evenly over the soil surface. Lightly rake or pat them into the soil to ensure good seed-to-soil contact. Maintaining your cover cropsOne of the best parts of cover cropping is the minimal maintenance required. Just keep an eye on your cover crops as they grow; if they become too tall or start flowering, mow or cut them down before they go to seed. Making way for your main cropsAbout 4-6 weeks before it's time to plant out your main crops again, chop down your cover crops and either dig/till them back into the soil or leave them as mulch. Make sure you chop them down while the stems are still soft and green. Giving the crops a few weeks to incorporate back into the soil before replanting is key! Cover cropping is a simple technique that can have a big impact. It’s a natural, easy, and affordable way to enhance soil fertility and contribute to a more sustainable and resilient garden ecosystem. So don’t leave any garden beds empty this “off” season, get some cover crops in to do the hard work for you! We have a pre-mixed Cover Crop blend available here. It has been created here in NZ to suit our environment, and contains a diverse seed mix that has been carefully selected for its nitrogen-fixing capabilities, robust defense against pests and diseases, and facilitation of organic matter breakdown.

Creating a garden from a blank slate is not common unless you are building a new house. And even then, depending upon the developer, you might find it's done for you before you move in! Whether you find yourself in the lucky position of a clean slate or you're working with an existing garden, here are some questions to think about and answer before you get ahead of yourself and start buying plants without a plan... Lifestyle What uses does the space have to accommodate? For example; outdoor entertaining with friends, play space for kids, pets, overflow car parking, growing your own fruit and veges, exercise space? What are some things you would love to have in the garden? For example, patio/deck for indoor-outdoor flow and BBQ area, water feature, big lawn/no lawn, plants to attract birds or bees, specific plants or colours you love, a vegetable or herb garden, a picking garden, a quiet space to sit, and the list goes on. What are the priorities of the needs and wants listed above and are they compatible with each other? Compromises may have to be made. How much time can you spare to work in the garden, and do you actually enjoy gardening? This will help determine the maintenance level for the garden and the planting style. Are there mobility issues to consider? For example, are changes of levels or materials practical, are the paths and gates wide enough, do garden beds need raising? Super important - what is your budget? Who is going to do the hard landscaping - paths, decks, raised planters and so on. Who is going to do the soil prep work and who will do the planting? Hard landscaping can add up very quickly so choose your materials and sizes thoughtfully. How long are you prepared to wait for your garden to reach 'design maturity’ i.e. when it looks established? If you are in a hurry, you will need to choose bigger plants and again, these can add up very quickly. If you are prepared to wait, you can use smaller size plants which are cheaper. Site Analysis Then we move on to questions about the site - this is called site analysis in the landscape design field. We are looking at the physical site and what we are working with. It can be useful to draw a bubble diagram over a site plan so you can see how different factors interact. Sunlight - How does the sun move across the site, where are the full sun spots and shady spots? Shape of the land - is it a simple flat site or are there levels that need to be dealt with to make practical spaces? Shelter - Where does the prevailing wind for your area come from? Does the wind tunnel through parts of the site and require filtering with plants? Soil - What are you working with? On a building site the topsoil is generally scraped off the whole site and then brought back on, but what is the base you are working with? Clay? Sand? A type of loam? If you are dealing with the extreme of clay or sand, you have the opportunity to improve the soil by adding gypsum over clay and plenty of organic matter in either situation. If you are creating a garden on a clay base or even with a hard pan, it is important to do plenty of preparation before planting. Ask your local garden centre who should be able to give you solid, local advice. Drainage - this is linked with the above topic; are there areas that water pools on site or water that travels over the site? It is a useful exercise to dig a hole at least a spade depth and pour a bucket of water in and see how long it takes to drain away. Anything more than 30 minutes and you are dealing with poor drainage. Access points - what are the different areas or features around your house or yard that you need to access and how are you going to move around the space - you can also call this 'circulation' within the space. Designing your paths and gateways is important to get right! Power points / Utilities - do you have any outside, what do you need them for and where should they go? This includes things like clothes lines, wheelie bins, compost bins and garden sheds. Surrounding properties / land - Are there any views you want to maintain, objects you want to block, noise you want to filter? Once you have answered these questions, you should have a solid understanding of the site you are working with. The different answers will help you make correct decisions at different points throughout the design process. They will also help you choose the right plants for the right places. Please take the time to do your homework. It will save you time and money in the long run! Written for bugg® by Kelly Jean Reyland from Garden Advice NZ (www.gardenadvice.co.nz)

There's no single answer to reducing water use in your garden, rather it's a combination of different factors that make your garden a waterwise space. If you're interested in caring for the natural resources you have available to you - starting with looking after your water use is a great place to start. Make your soil work with you Clay soil and sandy soil have very different attributes and behave differently under the same conditions. Clay soil particles are incredibly small and packed tightly together. They don’t drain well, and they often have plenty of nutrients, but they aren’t easily accessed. Sandy soil particles are large with lots of spaces which means water drains very quickly – often before the plant can use it and the water will usually take the nutrients with it, leaving soil low in nutrients. We improve our soil structure by adding organic matter and adding it regularly. Organic matter; aged animal manure, fallen leaves, kitchen waste, seaweed... It works by breaking up clay particles, enabling water to pass through and roots to grow and access the resources. Organic matter helps glue large sand particles together, helping to hold more moisture and stop the leaching of nutrients. Please be aware that this change doesn’t happen overnight or with one load of organic matter. You have to play the long game, adding organic matter regularly throughout the year. How does this help us be waterwise? If our soil can both drain and still retain moisture, you have the perfect balance. The soil will hold moisture-a bit like a sponge-that the plant can access later when it needs it. If the soil is also able to drain any excess moisture, there is still plenty of oxygen for the roots to thrive. We must irrigate more to get the plant adequate water while allowing for the losses if soil is too free draining. If the soil doesn’t drain, such as where peoples soil has a clay ‘pan’, the water has nowhere to go, and the plant roots sit in water for days often resulting in root rot and death of the plant. Planning your garden It is helpful to group similar plants together, into what are called ‘hydro zones’. This enables you to direct resources efficiently, rather than having to drag a hose around the whole garden or irrigate the entire garden. Consider grouping into these zones > Regular irrigation (i.e. your vegetable garden or potted plants): every 2-4 days > Reduced irrigation: receives irrigation every 4-14 days > Drought irrigation: only watered during dry spells after plants are established > No irrigation: not irrigated at all In an existing garden, draw a plan of your garden and consider what you have planted and how you can make it work better for you. This may involve removing some plants into a different area or replacing high maintenance/regular irrigation plants with tougher, drought tolerant plants in other areas. The right plant for the right place Get back to the basics - choose plants that suit the situation they will be planted in. Full sun – part shade – full shade. Drought tolerant – moisture loving. If you plant correctly, the plant will thrive once established, needing fewer resources to be regularly added. If you are planting in pots, you can of course choose the light level for where the pot will be located. The drainage is almost always free draining unless the drainage holes get blocked. Potted plants require regular monitoring for moisture levels. Irrigation Most people irrigate for too long and too often. Often an electronic timer is to blame as we ‘set and forget’. We fail to consider the timer can’t tell if it has rained or if the soil is still damp and doesn’t need more water; it just does its job. It's up to us to monitor the situation and irrigate when needed! Plants will recover from being too dry, but they will most likely succumb to root rot if they're kept too wet for too long. Always err on the side of caution if you are unsure whether to run the irrigation. Remember, it's better to water deeply, once or twice a week than a small amount every day. It is better to use soaker hoses or drippers so the water can soak into the soil rather than run off. The water goes on the soil rather than the foliage which helps prevent fungal diseases or burning. Lawns require more water than garden beds – leaving the grass longer in summer makes it more resilient to dry spells and you can choose grass seed that is more drought tolerant, so it requires less water overall. Consider what your soil type is and if it is a heavier clay soil, remember that the water won’t drain easily so check the soil before you run the irrigation again. What's so good about mulch? Mulch essentially mimics what nature does. Leaves and other natural material continually fall onto the soil and create a protective layer, holding in moisture and slowly breaking down to help improve the soil at the same time. For more information on why mulch is so good for your garden, check out our recent blog ‘What’s so great about mulch’. Written for bugg® by Kelly Jean Reyland from Garden Advice NZ (www.gardenadvice.co.nz)Shop the collectionWatering Cans & Garden Irrigation

Let’s look at this from two perspectives – firstly how to minimise pest and disease issues in your garden – prevention – and then what to do if they arrive in your garden – cure. The old saying goes ‘A pinch of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ and it’s very true! So, what can we do in our gardens to minimise or even prevent issues with pests and diseases? Let nature do the work for you and choose disease resistant varieties where possible when you are planting. Words like ‘High health’ or ‘natural disease resistance’ on description tags are a good place to start. Many hybrid vegetable seeds have an increased resistance to disease. You’re essentially choosing the plant with really good natural immunity. Practice crop rotation in your vegetable beds to avoid buildup of pests or diseases (read this blog for more info on crop rotation) Improve drainage and aeration by adding compost and raising planting beds on clay soil to help avoid root rot. Remove alternate host plants as much as possible. This removes infection sources. (The plant equivalent of ‘social distancing’). Follow a spray program for your pip and stone fruit trees, in wintertime for cleanup and protection, followed by different sprays just prior to and immediately after flowering for control of codling moth and fruit rot diseases. Avoid using Pyrethrum as this is very toxic to beneficial and pollinating insects. Maintain good hygiene, by removing diseased or insect infested leaves at first sign. This helps prevent the spread, as it physically removes the issue from your garden. Put it in the rubbish bin! This also applies at the end of the season, if you have had trouble with a fungal disease on your plants or insect infestation, make sure you thoroughly remove affected leaves and infested plants from the ground under the plant or even the plant itself and put them in the bin. Leaving them lying on the ground or putting them in the compost bin enables spores and insects to reinfect the tree next season, or even spread the spores around the garden, in the case of compost! In established plants, ensure good air flow through the branches by thinning out if necessary. Pests love sheltered warm spots to live in. Stressed plants - like humans - will catch diseases or insects much more easily. Ensure plants are in the appropriate growing position and water and feed appropriately throughout the year. Images: Curly Leaf on peach, Aphids, Black Spot on roses And how do we cure the disease or kill the insects if they arrive? One of the most important things you can do is to spend time in your garden regularly and pay attention to the plants when you're there. If you see the first sign of insects or disease and do something about it, you can literally nip the issue in the bud. As we said above – physically remove the first sign of pests or diseases and put them in the bin. Follow this up by a safe pesticide approved for the affected crop. *Super important step* - Repeat this spray following instructions on the bottle for number of days between sprays. Insects can reproduce incredibly quickly and in large numbers so you MUST break the life cycle if you are going to be successful in getting rid of them. If you have found a large outbreak, you may need to repeat the spray a number of times to get on top of it. For edibles where we are dealing with contact sprays that must touch the insect to kill it, you must be very thorough in your application. Pay close attention to the undersides of leaves and on the stems. All good places for them to hide. Add a ‘sticker’ to the spray such as a spraying oil that literally helps the spray to adhere to the leaves rather than slide or bead off shiny or hairy surfaced leaves. It will make the spraying that you do much more efficient and effective. If you are dealing with a significant infestation or a hard to kill insect (looking at you white flies!) it is useful to spray with different pesticides that have different ‘modes of actions’ i.e. the way they kill the insect and which stage of the lifecycle they target. For example, a spraying oil like Grosafe Enspray kills by smothering/suffocation. It is particularly good dealing with eggs and early stages of the life cycle. Neem Oil works both as an antifeedant - the insect stops eating and starves - and as a lifecycle disruptor - stops juvenile insects maturing into breeding adults. So, Neem works well on the older stages of the life cycle. When used together you have targeted all stages of the life cycle, and the insects are being killed in 3 different ways which increases the chances of them being killed. But let me repeat – Ensure that you repeat the sprays within the number of days on the bottle, so you are indeed breaking that insect life cycle in as many places as possible! Insect and disease infestations don’t go away on their own. Ignoring them is never a good option. Keeping your plants happy and healthy is the best way to prevent problems in the first place! Check out our range of Insect Pest Control and Plant Disease Control, or take a look at our Organic Garden range. Written for bugg® by Kelly Jean Reyland from Garden Advice NZ (www.gardenadvice.co.nz)Shop the collectionDisease & Pest Control

Weeds... defined as simply a plant growing in the wrong place! Unfortunately these plants are usually vigorous competitors, growing faster than the desirable plants and competing for light, moisture and nutrients. And they often give our homes an untidy, uncared for appearance. There are two broad categories of weeds: Annual weeds (short life cycle), which are mainly a problem in cultivated garden beds, and perennial weeds (long lived or hard to kill) which tend to compete strongly everywhere. When you move into a house or rental, have a look in the garden or even over the neighbors' fences to see what’s lurking. If there aren’t any aggressive weeds present – do whatever you can to make sure it stays that way. Vigilance is the key and regular inspection. Most of them grow lightning fast. They are not something that you wait ‘to get around to’ - deal with them hard and fast! If they are present… find another house (only half joking!). Make a plan to get rid of them as soon as possible and carry it out. Physical extraction is sometimes possible but usually a strong pesticide is required. With any weeds, the golden rule is don’t let them go to seed! Remember ‘One year seeds equals 7 years weeds’. Simply removing the seed heads and putting them in the bin is always a win as you have prevented many more seeds being spread to take the existing weeds place when they are removed. The second golden rule is ‘little and often’ - small weeds are much easier to kill and can usually be knocked out with cultivation or organic pesticides. Once they get established, they are harder to kill. Keep on top of your weed control regularly and stop a small problem turning into a big problem. To keep vege and flower gardens controlled, regular cultivation or hand weeding is very effective but time consuming. Utilising mulch is a very effective way to suppress weeds so use a combo of the two methods that is most effective for you. In the shrub bed, plant densely and mulch each year to keep weeding to a minimum. Weed mat can be used which does allow water to pass through but it does make fertilising more difficult and it doesn’t help to improve the soil. If you are using stones as a mulch please use weed mat. Future you, who has to remove the stone for some reason in the future will thank you for it! Images: Oxalis in flower and about to set seed; Convolvulus; Dandelion in flower before setting seed. Mulch is an excellent option - check out our other blog ‘What's so great about mulch’ to find out why. In lawns, if you keep it thick and don’t mow it too low, the weeds will usually be suppressed. Feed it three times a year to maintain it. There are a few weeds that tolerate regular mowing so they will need a broadleaf lawn spray that will kill the weed but not the grass. A word of caution - ‘broadleaf’ basically includes any plant that isn’t a blade of grass so be very careful where you spray and how you spray. Avoid spray drift and spraying under large trees and bushes whose roots can be affected by the spray. Unfortunately, there are no selective sprays available to the home gardener for grass weeds such as paspalum and kikuyu. Any herbicide that kills them will kill grass. Professional lawn care companies do have sprays available to them so if it is widespread and you don’t like the idea of spraying off your entire lawn and starting from scratch, it may be worth your while contacting them for information and a quote. Hard to kill weeds These are the cockroaches of the plant world. Hard to get rid of and stay rid of. Weeds like Convolvulus, Wild onion, Bamboo, Oxalis, Arum lily, Blackberry and moth vine. These need specific powerful herbicides to knock them out or even to just keep them under control so please get some expert advice from your local garden centre and pay attention to the dilution rates. These powerful herbicides will often have a residual action – where it prevents seeds from germination and stops any plants from growing there for a certain period of time. This is obviously a problem when the weeds are growing amongst desirable plants. Think carefully about how you will apply it carefully and effectively. Mixing up the herbicide as per instructions and then painting it carefully but directly on to difficult weeds is one way to do it. Dipping the growing tip of a weed (especially good for weeds like convolvulus or moth vine with long tendrils) into diluted weedkiller is another option- this carries the herbicide back through to the roots which is especially helpful in gaining control. Whatever you do, keep at it. Or they will return. Organic vs Chemical options For young weeds, organic options that use dilute vinegar or a fatty acid will burn the top off the weeds and kill them. For any established perennial weeds with developed root systems, the top will simply grow back so this is where a glyphosate based option is a more effective and affordable option which will kill the roots but won’t reside in the soil. For harder to kill weeds, glyphosate is less useful unless it has a penetrant such as Grosafe Ecospread added which will greatly improve its effectiveness. Nature doesn’t like to leave soil bare so it sends plants to cover the soil. Plant your own choice of plants densely, utilise plants with a ground cover habit or cover the ground with a mulch to help prevent weeds growing. Written for bugg® by Kelly Jean Reyland from Garden Advice NZ (www.gardenadvice.co.nz)