A hobby for all seasons

By SARAH FOY - Taranaki Daily News

It was a year when home, heirloom and hot colours grabbed our attention. Chat about homemade cleaning products became commonplace: Wendyl Nissen, the journo I used to associate with trashy women's magazines, began a domestic column in NZ Gardener. She swapped celebrities for chooks, cleaning and wholesome cultivation.

Our own celebrity, Lyn Webster, became famous through her Saturday feature, also aimed at domestic do-it-yourself stuff. Titled Pig Tits and Parsley Sauce, it canvassed everything from shopping on a budget to the wonders of baking soda.

In our gardens, we also continued our focus on homespun stuff.

Growing veg wasn't a new thing. Two years ago, when we contacted garden centres, locals were snapping up edible plants. The collaboration between food and growing things was, back then, becoming established. We were also hogging herbs and purchasing fruit trees. But many still wanted native shrubs - particularly those with colourful foliage - as well as pretty flowers.

Last year, a garden centre ring- around revealed similar trends. This time vegie seeds got a mention, the theory being that gardeners were getting a little more confident.

And in the past 12 months, those horticultural trends just got more entrenched. Few garden centres mentioned natives - except when it came to riparian planting or those with colourful leaves. Instead, like a broken record, they trotted out two things: fruit trees and bright colour. Everyone wanted an apple, plum, apricot, feijoa or citrus tree. Or they wanted traditional flowering shrubs and perennials - hydrangeas and roses being the pick of pretty things.

Vege seedlings and seeds came a close second. Berries were third.

Don Rothwell of the garden centre at Mitre10 Mega reckoned every home in New Plymouth must have a feijoa tree by now, because the store has sold that many. Berries were also phenomenal sellers.

"People have always bought an apple tree and a lemon tree and those basics, but it's the other stuff they would not normally buy - now they're buying blackberry bushes and raspberries and blueberries. It's incredible."

Blueberries and strawberries led the demand, he says, adding that the store had sold more berries this year than any other time he could remember in his 13 years on the job. Claire Francis, from Mitre10 in Hawera, echoed his comments.

"I think people are experimenting. They have made a start on the veges and are now going a bit further."

Fairfields garden centre boasted 48 varieties of apple in 2009; now it's down to about 11 - although don't rush out and buy one, because every good gardener knows summer is not the time to plant trees of any sort. However, you could order for autumn; the centre is already receiving orders from gardeners determined not to miss out.

Adrian McLeod, of Fairfields, says it's the heirloom apples that garner interest: Bramley's, Monty's Surprise and Reinette du Canada.

"I think it's the flavour and the resistance to disease like black spot. More and more people are getting chemical conscious and keen to grow organically."

The "H" word also sneaked into tomato purchases. Gardeners wanted heirloom tomato seeds for similar reasons.

"People are getting more adventurous. I think it's the cooking programmes and articles - they give people ideas," Adrian says.

Sue Comrie of Te Kahuri Nurseries in Eltham says that this year, the Heplina apple was a good substitute for Monty's Surprise because it's purported to have the same properties.

"All fruit trees have gone off the scale. People are very excited about having an orchard for the family and having a hand in their food production.

"We are getting back some of the control we lost to supermarkets."

However, she and her staff continued to be staggered by the lack of knowledge.

"We have people come in and they don't understand what a deciduous tree is or they don't understand when summer is here, it's not a good time to plant because it's too hot."

Aside from trees, there was more interest in riparian planting. Te Kahuri does mail order around Taranaki and further afield, so its clientele are interested in smaller grade shrubs in bulk.

"It's became a real fashion, but it will change the face of the province. In several years, we will have thriving bush around streams and a more vibrant bird life," Sue says.

At the Girlz Garden Centre, staff noted customers are attempting to grow asparagus for the first time because they felt they'd mastered standard veges and now wanted to try something different. Rainbow coloured seeds were also a hit - the red or white carrots, for example, or the multihued kale.

Colour reigned supreme in the flower-buying arena. Blue, white, pink and red hydrangeas were a winner, along with roses. The "fluffy things" - or cottage garden stalwarts like lavender - were favoured, suggesting some gardeners are going back to traditional perennial borders.

Brights also took the cake as newbie gardeners discovered old standbys like the drought-tolerant gazanias. New choices, such as Gazania Montezuma, a pale yellow flower bred for an even longer flowering season, ensured different hybrids were coming through for gardeners seeking something other than the garish brights traditionally associated with gazanias. Smaller-growing dahlias bred by Keith Hammett were also a sure thing with their dark foliage and rainbow flowers.

As well as veges being "huge" in terms of sales at Big Jims garden centre, strawberries flew out the door. Hydrangeas starred partly because they now come in a bigger colour palette and smaller growth habit, co-owner Ann Walker says.

All up, there was no sign of recession in the retail nursery trade.

"Garden centres traditionally do well during harder times because people stay home and garden," Ann says.

Not only were dollars dictating purchases, but also flavour, says Grant Corkill at Palmers Gardenworld. "A lot of people want to be more healthy, they want to know what they are eating and they want to get taste and flavour."

Over the past few years, he's noticed more interest from young married couples, a trend he can only see continuing.

At Woodsy's Garden Centre in Hawera, a host of perennials got snapped up this year: lavender, heuchera, Federation daisies and nemesia were hot favourites, says Phyllis Malcolm, who suggested the inexpensive smaller grades were the reason.

"It [the trend for colourful perennials] started last year, but it's really taken off because they're reasonable. You can get two for $10 and people are thinking of their money."

Colour also swayed the purchase of two popular shrubs: Coprosma Golden Glow and Lemon and Lime. Both boast glossy foliage that varies from season to season.

The trend for edible stuff and roses extended to the Garden Edge garden centre in Hawera. In addition, says staffer Marilyn Frost, people sought out what she called more permanent stuff, suggesting the days of quick makeovers may be behind us.

"I think people are realising that they want to do the job once and do it right, because they don't have a lot of time."

Among those permanent purchases were shade trees and shrubs with beautiful foliage.

Michelle Hight at Colson Road Garden Centre pointed to increasing interest among schools and community groups for shared gardens.

"We hear people say, when the children are growing things, they learn to start eating them."

But good old annuals like impatiens and petunias were also winners, particularly as Christmas loomed and homeowners started tidying in preparation for the festive season, she says.

"We are finding a lot of people want to put colour back into their gardens and after winter, we do get a bit drab." Recession may equal drabness, but not when it comes to Taranaki backyards. Apparently we've spent just as much time and money this year on plants - swapping trips away or flash consumerables for old- fashioned toil in the soil. Still, gardening is never likely to stray far from our thoughts in Taranaki, says Don of Mitre10.

"New Plymouth is still full of good sized sections. We garden here, we work in our sections and we have the right conditions for it."

That fits neatly with a global awareness of environmental matters, suggests Sue of Te Kahuri nursery.

"I think we are getting our culture back. How a culture feeds itself in the off-season impacts on the rest of its society.

"We have the one planet once and people are realising that."