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Letters from our readers.

OUR ODE TO OAK

Lynda Hallinan’s article on oaks (April) was beautifully illustrated and so informative. I am so pleased we chose to line our driveway with an avenue of pin oaks. In winter, the bare branches allow light on to the euphorbia and hellebores below, but when the leaves come, the driveway becomes an enticing dark tunnel. My favourite time is when the leaves unfurl in spring. They are the last deciduous tree to do so.

Our choice of tree goes well with the name of our house, Oakhampton Lodge, which has been used on all three houses we have lived in during 52 years of marriage. The brass nameplate was inherited from my husband’s grandfather whose trotting establishment of the same name (but in Christchurch), was home to six New Zealand Cup winners.

After a particularly wet year, we had thousands of seedlings that were impossible to pull out. Digging was the only remedy. Oak tree seedlings constantly shoot up around the garden and it is amazing how the leaves can vary so in their pinnate shape. The leaves that fall were always a headache but we have devised an easy way of using them as mulch: As they fall, they are sucked up off the driveway with the mower, which chops them up at the same time. They are then dumped in piles with lawn clippings to be used as mulch. I also throw on the wood ash from our fireplace to help with the decomposition. Jackie Watson, KAIAPOI

LOCKDOWN TREAT

It is day 2 of level 2 and my kids are playing and looking forward to school next week. I am sitting down in the sun and I realise that this is the first time I feel truly relaxed. I acknowledge we have been lucky though. Our simplified needs have been met and I’m so grateful for the subsidies that have kept our employers afloat. Over the 50-plus days, we have filled an alphabet scrapbook with pictures. Well-read copies of NZ Gardener have provided the goods for each letter. I’ve learned so many gardening ideas while my five-year-old discovered the alphabet. I grabbed the latest copy at the supermarket from a sparse magazine wall. It occured to me that as much as I have loved YouTube permaculture channels and reading online tips and tricks, nothing beats sitting down in the garden, listening to the chooks, kids busy, sipping strong coffee and reading your mag. This copy is of its time and I feel so connected by our love of gardening.

I love Jo’s point that gardeners believe their actions make a difference, that we can make things better and more beautiful. We have faith in a better future. These are comforting words to sit with. Thank you. I’m going to treasure this copy but who knows where it will end up eventually. Belle Laird, NELSON

MY FEIJOA LOAF (TIP 41)

It is next to my small vase of freshly picked wintersweet (tip 60 in the May issue). I also followed Lynda Hallinan’s advice and planted my garlic (tip 1), and as I picked silverbeet for dinner I remembered to twist the leaves off not cut them (tip 22). I love Lynda’s writing. Now I’m off to read what tips I can follow today in our first full week at level 2. Paulette Lloyd, ASHHURST

MY APPLE JELLY

Last weekend, I made the apple and herb jelly that was No 21 in Lynda Hallinan’s 60 lessons from the lockdown (May). Not having any viable herbs at the moment, I left it as apple jelly. It is the most delicious, sweet jelly with a delicate apple taste, wonderful on fresh bread!

Ann Nichols, LEVIN

THANK YOU, SHERYN DEAN!

We are renting and have a small courtyard. My edible garden is made up almost entirely of pots. I have been a little overambitious with several fruit trees, and when I read Sheryn’s article on fruit trees in pots (May), it was a light-bulb moment.

I’ll follow her advice on feeding trees continuously but not overdosing. I’ve been letting plant food and worm juice leach out so I’ll get some pot saucers. Now, I’m hoping I’ll be a year or two ahead with my cherry trees when we find the right house and I can get them into the ground! Kate Hutson, NELSON

DON’T CRY FOR ME…

My crops don’t seem to know there’s a lockdown and they should keep at least a metre apart! This year, I have grown a conjoined feijoa and a conjoined tomato.

The tomato is ‘Peron’, which came from Argentina over 60 years ago and we have never lost the seed in all this time. This fleshy beefsteak variety has a consistency inside not unlike a watermelon. In 1960, I planted my first ‘Peron’ plants and one fruit weighed 700g. Some 57 years later I moved and last season picked several 500g tomatoes.

Elaine Bell, WHAKATANE

MY HANGING BASKET LINERS

I ran out of time pre-Covid to collect sphagnum moss and coconut fibre to line my wire baskets to hang in the tree branches. Looking for a substitute, I found a robust protein-enriched substitute in the aerial roots hanging from our pōhutukawa. I wound the root fibre around the inside and wove the outside of the wire basket to form a formidable but attractive liner. Plants can easily be poked into the sides and it looks great.

Bilbo Hart, NAPIER

SUCCESS AT LAST!

I have tried to grow tuberose flowers for decades without success – until this year. I ordered five rhizomes and when I went to plant them I found conflicting planting instructions: On the bag they came in, the instructions were to plant 5cm under the soil; on the bulb planting instruction sheet, it said to plant them with the top showing like you do with nerines. I tried to phone but nobody was there on a Saturday. I decided to plant them 5cm deep in a pot with what I thought was free-draining potting mix only, but two of them rotted. So I decided to lift them out of the soil so they were half above the ground, and

I am so glad I did as they actually grew!

When one of them shot up a flower spike, I was ecstatic. It took ages to bud up and ages for the flowers to open, but it was worth the wait. The perfume was breathtaking, as I had forgotten what they smelt like.

I was in a bit of a panic last night though as I thought we were in for a frost so I raced out in my dressing gown at 11pm to cut the flower to bring inside and cover the pot with plastic. I’m determined to do my best to keep these special rhizomes alive. Christine Goble, MIDHIRST