Groundwork - Builderscrack and Natives

Greetings!

Spice up your landscape

This issue explores simple ways to spice up your garden over the winter months. We introduce you to Builderscrack™, new friends of ours from the mainland, Nick talks native planting, Sandra shares insight on the best seat in the house and our newest expert Tod from Awapuni Nurseries tells us how to add colour to our winter gardens. There's a few great deals on flights and coffee to be won when you tell a friend about us - enter as many times as you like - All the good stuff to keep you motivated to create your ultimate landscape.

Last week we had a flood of responses to my article about growing your own veges. We have something in the pipeline so stay tuned and please feel free to offer your suggestions, favorite vegetables and tricks of the trade. It's like a whole generation of knowledge has been lost. We don't get an Edmonds Cook Book or a Yates Garden Guide anymore for wedding presents - what's up with that. We created a new forum topic this morning - no one has broken the ice yet - why not give it a try, you might fall in love.

Exterior Living - sitting pretty in a busy world

As our lives get busier and busier, we look for places to retreat, relax and unwind. Your outdoor space has the potential to become a peaceful comfortable place, furnished with comforts once only relegated for interior spaces. Everyone can live comfortably outdoors these days, provided you have thought through and provided some functional key design features such as choosing the right exterior furniture for your outdoor room. Read more ...

New Zealand Native Plants in the Garden

Now is the time to re-invent native planting.

The 1980s saw what I like to call the 'early period' of native planting design. It was based on the 'DoC Visitor Centre' idiom - a bushy thicket of mixed vigorous shrubs and trees with a scattering of sedges or grasses at the edges - oh, and plenty of flax. This would be 'leaning' against the building or neatly bordering the garden lawn as if it were a visitor centre picnic area. This kind of planting has its value, without a doubt, but unfortunately became a little jaded and, like all trends was overtaken by other ideas in garden design. In the 90s we brought a little more scientific knowledge to bear and did authentic replanting of bush and wetland and alpine gardens and tried out our natives in traditional garden roles like clipped hedges and topiary. Although recent books and magazines have often shown New Zealand plants superbly, we need to re-invent native planting in the garden - to find way to make it exciting again. Read More...

The Secret Ingredient for Wondrous Winter Woodlands

It's that time of year when even the most dedicated gardeners start to contemplate an indoor hobby. Temperatures are dropping, the days are shorter and even your garden seems to be in denial.

But before you pack up all your gardening tools and head inside to hibernate, gardening guru and landscaping expert, Tod Palenski of Awapuni Nurseries, has a tip for creating a cheerful garden woodland in a dreary winter wasteland.

"Annuals and perennials are the perfect ingredient for curing bleak bare gardens. Mix in a smattering of bulbs, add a dash of compost and mulch, and you've got a recipe for a 'winter gardening sensation'."

Click here for Tod's failsafe instructions for planting bulbs, annuals and perennials to ensure your trees look fantastic during winter, and that your garden produces vibrant and diverse blooms all year long.

Tod is the latest gardening expert to join the Landscapedesign.co.nz team. Look out for his informative monthly column on topical and helpful gardening subjects.

The Trees for Survival Trust is organising a campaign with the aim of planting one million trees in New Zealand in 2007, the local effort towards the world-wide Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign - promoted by UNEP.

We encourage you to pledge your support by planting trees and committing to their future care, or work in conjunction with your local school or community group.

Inspirational Galleries

Check out this great new feature to our site. On our home page you will see the addition of an Inspirational Galleries menu.These have a fantastic selection of images to inspire your creativity. Click here to see an example of one of our current Galleries.

Check out this great new website

Duck and Spring Onion Pancakes

Ingredients

250g flour
60g butter
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 bbq duck
4 spring onions
hoisin sauce

Method

Put flour into a basin and make a well. Warm butter, salt and milk until butter has melted. Break eggs into the well and add milk mix. Whisk until smooth and refrigerate for 2 hours before using.
Remove meat off duck and finely chop. Chop 2 spring onions and add to the duck meat, add enough hoisin sauce for the mixture to hold together.
Heat a small pancake pan and grease with a buttered paper. Pour a little mix into the pan and swirl to coat, cook for 1 minute and then flip and cook the other side. Repeat this process stacking pancakes with a paper towel between each.
Place filling in pancakes and tightly roll. Just before serving cut into bite size pieces and arrange on a platter with spring onion for garnish.

On that note... see you in a fortnight

OK, that's all for this week. I hope you've found Groundwork informative and stimulating.

Remember to send us your comments and feedback, and keep posting messages to the forum. That's what community is all about. If you have somthing to say so it now!

Regards,