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1 week ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
With the weather we are currently having, has lead to a slow but sure, continual growth of weeds. I was quite surprised how the weeds in my vegetable plot had advanced in the last couple of weeks when I checked the area the other day. Sufficient rain, along with soils temperatures still reasonable, vegetables are growing nicely, but so are the non-wanted plants called weeds. By the way what we call a weed, is really a plant that you don’t want growing where it is.
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2 weeks ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
Yes readers it’s that time of the year when we once again plant our garlic cloves and dream of big fat bulbs in December/January to harvest. That once was a normal pattern but has, in the last few years, gone from a dream to a nightmare as a dreaded rust commonly known as ‘Garlic Rust’ invaded New Zealand with devastating outcomes at harvest. Small bulbs with tiny cloves not worth the effort of peeling to use.
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3 weeks ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
Many of my weekly readers will know that I do gardening programs on Reality Check Radio with Rodney Hide and from what I understand many readers visit the web site and register to see me live or look at the recorded sessions. The latest one you can listen to is here. The programme invites people to ask me gardening questions and problems that they may have and for this week’s article I thought I would share with you some of these questions and provide my reply to them… So here we go…. Q.
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1 month ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
Wallys Unlocking the soil (ULS) is designed to work in the soil, increasing the mineral content to the benefit of the health of the soil and plants growing there. Used on food crops means your produce will have greater nutritional value and taste. ULS contains over 60 minerals and elements and is specially selected for its natural energy (paramagnetism), this energy is what gives the soil it’s vitality assisting in the nutrient uptake of plants.
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1 month ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
May and June might be slower times in the garden with plants and weeds in a more dormant state, but its this dormancy that can make gardening a busy time still. Over the next few weeks many of the dormant or semi-dormant plants become available in garden centres. This includes; roses, strawberries, lillies, garlic, shallots, fruit trees and deciduous ornamentals. Some of these will already be available and others will quickly follow.
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1 month ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
There are a few worthwhile fruit trees that ripen their fruit in the autumn/winter period after most other fruits are finished for the season. The best fruiting trees or plants are the ones that have little or no problems from pests and diseases, so don’t require spray programmes, to ensure a good crop of lovely fruit. Another big plus in my book is fruit that do not attract birds or if they do, can be picked and ripened off the tree, avoiding losses to our feathered friends.
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2 months ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
There are only a few plant diseases that many gardeners worry about because they make their plants look unsightly or blemish their food crop’s appearance. These diseases have common names such as rust, black spot, powdery mildew and curly leaf. These are normally mild diseases which do damage, but seldom threaten the life of the host plant. They are maddening diseases to a gardener that likes perfect flowers and foliage with unblemished produce.
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2 months ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
Autumn is a great time for planting out gardens and besides the planting of vegetables and flowering plants, you also have a great range of shrubs and trees you can add to your garden. It is still early times for new seasons deciduous fruit and ornamental trees or roses but orders can be placed at your garden centres for collecting of, later on, in winter. Lets have a look at the various areas starting with the vegetable garden.
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2 months ago | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
Over the years it has been my pleasure to introduce new and innovative gardening products which solve the various problems that us gardeners have. For instance I was the first one, many years ago, to introduce Neem Oil and Neem Cake products. I have noticed a aspect in this world and that is when you introduce something that is successful you suddenly get a number of people that jump on the band wagon to make money.
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Mar 29, 2025 | 
dailytelegraph.co.nz | Wally Richards
We have a lot of garden waste from the average size garden and all of it can be put to good use rather than been tossed to the tip. Waste comes from lawn clippings, leaves, weeds, pruning and tidying up plants. All of these can be re-used back into your garden to benefit. Lawn clippings likely are the biggest continual green material to dispose of. Clippings can be mulched around existing trees and shrubs to suppress weeds, retain moisture and feed the existing plants.
