With what was meant to be our warmest, driest month now behind us, March is the perfect time to plant your Asian style vegetables like cabbages, sweet peas, buk choy, coriander, spinach and spring onions. Because these vegetables like more even temperate conditions, March is the ideal time for planting.  

South Hort Trading Hours

Friday 21^st December 8am – 3pm

Saturday 22^nd December 8.30am – 4pm

Sunday 23^rd December 10 – 3

Monday 24^th December 8am – 3pm

Closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day

Thursday 27^th December 8am – 5pm

Friday 28^th December 8am – 5pm

Saturday 29^th December 8.30am – 4pm

Sunday 30^th December 10am – 3pm

Monday 31^st December 8am – 3pm

Closed New Years Day and January 2nd

Thursday 3^rd January 8am – 5pm

Friday 4^th January 8am – 5pm

Saturday 5^th January 8am – 5pm

Sunday 6^th January 10am – 3pm

Monday 7th January return to normal trading hours

As gardening in the winter slows down, we turn our attention to some of the other things that South Hort can offer to help with your gardening and maintenance needs. We supply a variety of aggregates, some of which will be beneficial to those of you who are establishing a driveway or are fixing up some potholes that have formed over the last few months.

With the weather getting colder, the days becoming shorter and Jack Frost on the way, you may want to consider adding mulching bark onto your garden to help retain moisture and keep the frost from penetrating the soil. This will help to create an insulation barrier and keep your plants at a warmer temperature.

Strawberries! Whether it is to put on top of a pavlova, sliced into a fruit salad or sprinkled with icing sugar, everyone loves a strawberry.

With what was meant to be our warmest, driest month now behind us, March is the perfect time to plant your Asian style vegetables like cabbages, sweet peas, buk choy, coriander, spinach and spring onions. Because these vegetables like more even temperate conditions, March is the ideal time for planting.

February is one of the hottest driest months of the year not that you would know that from the recent weather we have been having, so it is important to keep the watering up.  A great way to retain moisture in your garden is to mulch.  South-Hort Super Scree Mulching Bark helps to conserve moisture, reducing the need for frequent watering as well as maintaining a more even soil temperature.

January gardening is about reaping the benefits of all your hard work.  By now you should have lifted your Shallots and Garlic as well as your first onions and these will now be hanging in the shed drying for use through the winter.  Your tomatoes will be bearing fruit and it is important to keep the water and food up.  When watering your tomatoes try to water from the base and water early morning rather than at night.  This will help prevent fungal disease as well as stopping any fruit from rotting.  You should also be pinching out any laterals that start.  By doing this you will concentrate more of the plants energy into the fruit rather than sideways growth.  If the lateral is big enough you can replant it and it will keep growing producing more fruit for you.

As we look forward to the long hot days of summer consider what needs to be done in the garden.  Now is a good time to be Mulching this will help retain that much needed moisture for your plants.  South-Hort Super Scree is designed to conserve moisture, reducing the need for frequent watering.  It will also improve your soils fertility encouraging earthworm and beneficial soil organisms as well as maintaining a more even soil temperature for your plants.   South-Hort Super Scree should be laid at a depth of 100mm to suppress weed germination.  It is also beneficial to raise your lawn mower for the summer to aid moisture retention through the hotter days.  If you have any bare patches in your lawn top-dress with South-Hort Lawn Mix. This mix is free draining and open with high organic content.  Feeding your lawn is also very beneficial this time of the year.  South-Hort Lawn Fertiliser has been specifically formulated to promote the establishment and maintenance of a lush, green lawn. South-Hort Lawn Fertiliser contains nitrogen for dense leaf growth, phosphorous for strong root development, potassium for strength and disease resistance, iron for colour and moss control plus trace elements. Apply on overcast days or early evening at a rate of 50grams per square metre.  Always remember to water in after application.

Normally by November the frosts have passed and you can look at planting your Tomatoes and other frost tender plants.  Nothing tastes better than a fresh vine ripened tomato.

Try planting basil with your tomatoes to improve the flavor.   Tomatoes like a sunny location protected from the wind.  If planting into open ground make sure you add plenty rich organic matter. South-Hort Compost is the ideal product for this purpose.  Set your stakes into the ground prior to planting, this will prevent any damage from occurring to the roots.  If you are short on space tomatoes can be grown in pots or try growing them directly into a bag of potting mix.  South-Hort Patio Plus is our premium bagged potting mix; it has been formulated from our commercial grade potting mixes and contains extra Osmocote controlled fertilisers as well as water holding crystals and wetting agents.  South-Hort Patio Plus also contains Tricho protection to help prevent damping off as well as Coir a fully sustainable product that adds porosity to the mix which is beneficial in root development.   If you are growing in pots or bags choose a dwarf variety of tomato, Sweet 100’s and Russian Reds are also good.