We get to speak to many Auckland homeowners on our gardening travels and many think that they will never be able to have a proper vegetable garden due to their lack of space. Well this couldn’t be further from the truth, in fact, gardening in Auckland in a confined space is not only easier, it’s a lot less work too.

There are many ways that one can grow their own vegetables in Auckland and below you will find some truly great ideas that will have you eating your own produce faster than you had ever imagined. From fancy lettuce and herbs through to fresh summer fruit get ready to be impressed. All you will need is a few recyclable items and a few 123 dollar shop purchases to get you started in your very own suburban garden.

SPOUTING GARDEN

It don’t get any easier than this folks. This design can yield great harvests and as you can tell by the picture it takes up very little room. Simply acquire some lengths of old or new spouting and mount horizontally along the sunny side of your house. Once you have firmly mounted your spouting garden troughs simply fill them with soil and plant. These are best suited for growing lettuce, herbs, radish, chives, strawberries and other small plants that are not going to become too cumbersome when they start growing. Another added benefit with spouting gardens is that when positioned properly water dew will flow off the house surface watering them at night.

Tiered Hanging Gardens

Whenever you are low on space vertical gardening applications always work well. Setting up a tiered hanging garden is another way to make good use of limited space in your Auckland abode. You can use many things to make your tiered garden from such as old spouting, wooden planter boxes, old wooden crates, old clothes drawers old pots and the list goes on. Just get creative. The main thing to consider when constructing a hanging garden is weight. Always be mindful of the fact that your garden will weigh a lot more when it is wet or has been watered. Always make sure your hanging garden is well secured with suitable rope/chain and strong hooks that are not going to become loose or insecure once they get some weight put on them. This system also works very well with flowers if growing vegetables is not your strong point.

Shoe Organizer Garden

One of the easiest and simplest gardens you can create is a nifty shoe organizer garden. At gardening services auckland we have helped many people set up their shoe organizer garden and it continues to be a winner with those with very little space. Take a visit to your local 123 dollar shop and pick yourself up one of these handy little things. Simply fill each of the pockets that you would normally place a shoe into with soil and plant away. Great for herbs lettuce and even spinach. In the springtime they also look amazing when planted with strawberries. Best of all their are no weeds so this really is super duper low maintenance gardening at it’s very best.

Yay, it’s winter time which means it’s time to start enjoying the last of your most recently sown produce like your broccoli and carrots to name just a few as these veges will all be ready to cook and serve right now. It’s called the last of the Autumn crops. As professional gardeners the most common question we get asked this time of year is what can we grow now that winter is upon us. Many people are not too motivated to head out into the garden once it gets too cold but if you are keen to get a winter garden going then there are still a lot of great vegetables you can grow in winter.

What you can grow depends mostly on what kind of winters you have where you are located. For example if where you live mostly escapes the frosty mornings and evenings you will have great success with the likes of spinach, onions, lettuce and cabbage but you will need almost no frost at all to succeed.

For those of you reading this that get a lot of frosts our advice is to not waste your time planting anything as it’s just not worth the time and money. Plants do not like severe frosts and the ones that you plant that actually make it through the winter and into spring will nine times out of ten go to seed. If you do happen to get a lot of winter frosts there are still options available if you really wish to keep enjoying your homegrown veges throughout the winter months. A small glasshouse or any other improvised outdoor grow room will get you back in your gumboots before you can blink. This will open up a wide variety of growing possibilities you never thought possible during winter.

Herbs like Parsley, Thyme, Coriander all grow well in glasshouses as do Broccoli, Silverbeet, Spinach and Lettuce but there are a few catches to glass house growing during the winter. The two main catches are to always allow good ventilation throughout the glass house and make very sure to not over water the plants. Stick to these two rules and you will see good growth. Just be sure to shut off all ventilation before the sun goes down or the frost will creep into your grow room.

When shopping for your winter seed varieties always choose a variety that indicates on the packet that it grows well in winter, most varieties will have a strain that performs well over the winter period. This is kind of a must for successful winter harvests. And finally to those of you that prefer to hang up your gardening gloves during the colder months the best thing you can do is prepare your garden for springtime. For spring preparation we suggest a good fungus/bacteria spray on all your garden beds and plenty of good quality manure. Take the time to do this (Many dont) and you will see fantastic results as soon as your spring crops are planted. For further advice give gardening services Auckland a call for some good friendly advice.

Allotment Vegetable Growing

Herb Gardening
Deciding to plant your own herb garden is one of the smartest gardening things you can do for you and your family. Fresh herbs not only make a huge difference to your cooking, but have amazing health benefits, so what could be better than your own wonderful aromatic herb garden. Herbs are rich in vitamins and minerals that control or prevent inflammation and can guard against diseases. Another great benefit that herbs provide for you, are the antioxidants. These effect the free radical damage to cells that are prone to cancer.  So you see adding a small quantity of fresh herbs to your diet every day is definitely good insurance.

Basil: This awesome aromatic and tasty herb is a powerful stimulant to your digestive system. It will cleanse and tone your digestive glands, lower your cholesterol, help with your blood pressure and immune system and has also been found to be helpful in lowering blood sugar in diabetics.
Basil contains vitamins A, C and B complex, and antioxidant flavenoids. It is a documented fact that the oils in Basil inhibit some bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.

Parsley: Vitamins A,B,C and K are all present in parsley, which also contains iron, calcium, folic acid, manganese, phosphorus and potassium, wow, what an amazing line up of benefits. Parsley is an excellent appetite stimulant, and is also an anti spasmodic, prevents flatulence, and is a diuretic. This herb also has cancer fighting antioxidants, and has the potential to cut off the blood supply to tumors. Reducing the risk of heart attack and strokes is another outstanding benefit of this herb, so when you decide that herb gardening is for you then this herb is a must.

Thyme: Those of you that have difficulty with digestion after a meal that was a little too fatty will benefit greatly from thyme.  It also relaxes the muscles in your respiratory tract.  Another great thing about thyme is that it contains chromium, which is a necessary element for turning carbohydrates into glucose for our energy. As with most other herbs, it also has antiseptic and anti fungal properties. Thyme has the vitamins A, D, E, and K, magnesium, selenium, iron, and manganese. Its other claim to fame is it has properties that help to protect the brain from the effects of aging, it has been said that this may be due to the fact that it can reduce arterial plaque.

Sage: The biggest benefit from sage is the effects it has on the brain. It improves memory, and helps your concentration. Sage also helps in the aid of insulin which is beneficial in reducing blood sugar, it effects the lipid content of your blood also which reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Sage is one of the herbs that has excellent antiperspirant properties.

Rosemary: Having rosemary in your garden also provides you with a lovely flowering shrub that not only gives out a lovely scent but is a very beneficial herb. Another bonus with this lovely herb is that it will grow almost anywhere and requires very little care which is great news for some of us. The benefits of rosemary are its antioxidants, phyto nutrients and essential acids.

All of the above herbs can be grown indoors as well as out doors. Growing your herbs in the kitchen is a great idea for your culinary use but not all herbs do well indoors.

As professional gardeners, Gardening Services Auckland suggests to  plant a beautiful herb garden outdoors and the pot some of the ones that you use more often indoors. Some of the better indoor types to grow are Basil, Coriander, Chives, Mint, Oregano, and lemon verbena. There are of course other, types that you can grow indoors also and if you have a strong preference for a particular herb and want to grow it indoors then check with your garden center to see if  it is compatible with the environment in the area you wish to grow it.

Planning is important when you decide to create an outdoor herb garden. Give it plenty of thought concerning what you will plant and why you will plant it. For instance if you have any chronic health problems, then grow more of the type of herb that will be beneficial to that condition. The one trap that a lot of gardeners fall into, is that they plant and grow all these amazing herbs and then don’t use them all. You will agree that if you do not use parsley, then what is the point in planting it.  I was guilty of doing exactly this in my early gardening days, all I wanted to do was grow stuff but found that it was better to grow only what I used or needed so that I left room for plants that I really did want, when you start gardening it is all a learning curve and you get better at it as you go on.

So there you are, have fun with your new gardening adventure and enjoy the experience and don’t forget to get a free quote from Gardening Services Auckland if you need any help.