Tomato planting time is here again - and who can resist the temptation to eat sweet cherry tomatoes picked straight from the plant and still sunshine warm?! At Nichols we have a all types of tomato plants: the ever faithful Money Maker, the giant fruit producers, the newer varieties, and perfect lunchbox size varities.

Welcome to Spring! September marks the beginning of Spring and holds the Spring Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. This means, the daffodils start coming out, Spring blossom is abundant, the days are getting warmer and brighter, and they all contribute to the sweet, fresh spring scent in the air and all the possibilities that the warmer weather entails. Lets get gardening! 

Fruit trees provide delicious fruit full of health benefits and antioxidants but they can often also perform additional functions, such as shade in summer, blossom in spring and sometimes coloured leaves in autumn. Such a beautiful addition to any garden, and many can be grown in most areas, while a few have more particular requirements.

If left to themselves, fruit trees will quickly overgrow and become a scraggly mess in your otherwise pristine garden. The key to keeping them attractive and productive is annual pruning - which isn't as complex or scary as many make out.

Once upon a time fruit trees could be found in every New Zealand garden but with today’s smaller gardens it is more difficult to find space. With careful selection, however, and knowing where to plant these trees can be accommodated and can thrive.

August can be an interesting month; if the weather warms up it is ideal gardening time, however, you can get stung by an about-face from Mother Nature sending us back to winter mode. All things going well though, August should be all about getting back into the garden, preparing for spring planting and having a general tidy up.

Azaleas and Rhododendrons are the most popular, decorative evergreen shrubs, with their vivid display of flowers from late winter to early summer. Blooms in many different forms and sizes including tubular, starry, bell and bowl shaped, large and small, and even fragrant.

Here in the south, late July is rose pruning time! After the worst of the frosts and before the new growth begins is the best time to prune so all...

Don’t let the task of pruning your roses become daunting. It’s really very easy with the aim being simply to keep the centre of the bush fairly open and airy by removing overcrowded canes.

June is all about new season's roses arriving in store. Most flower gardeners consider it unthinkable to create a garden without roses as they can easily lift your garden out of the ordinary. Simply by situating them so...

With the hustle and bustle of summer is over the great autumn clean-up should be in full swing as autumn breezes flurry fallen leaves into little damp heaps and bedraggled plants are in need of a good tidy up. Tidying up the garden is a great way to start composting too!

Celebrating the end of winter, vibrant spring flowering bulbs give maximum effect for minimum effort.
There is no limit to the number of bulbs that can be planted to give late winter and early spring colour and, with a bit of careful planning, there could be bulbs flowering in your garden right through to late summer.