Summer is here and our sunny warm days are spent outdoors enjoying nature, family BBQs and, of course, tending to the garden. It's now time to be planting our winter greens and getting them all sown before months end to allow enough time for them to reach full maturity before the colder months halt growing.  

Aside from getting the garden looking spick and span for when all your relatives come visiting over the Christmas period, there are certain, more mundane, things that need to be taken care of during these lovely mid-summer days. 

November is action stations for the seed-sowing vegetable gardeners. So much has to be sown to keep us going through autumn and winter and is a good time to plant your favourite summer vegetables such as courgette, cucumber, peppers, pumpkin and squash all of which need long hours of full sunshine.

If you want to harvest tasty sweet peppers and fiery chillies this summer, here are some quick an easy growing tips and tricks:

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...