Budget doesn’t impress
The Budget, which among other things introduced Kiwisaver and 4 weeks annual leave, failed to excite the nursery trade, according to our ring-around. ”It didn’t address the bigger issues of the increasing interest rates, the high NZ dollar and the high Government spending,” said NGIA president Lance Bills of Harrisons Gardenworld. Others commenting were Andrew Boylan of Incredible Edibles, Gary Irwin of LA Irwin, Geoff Davidson of Oratia Native.

Vandals attack Botanic Garden
Vandals attacked specimen plants in the rock garden at the Auckland Botanic Gardens in the early hours of Sunday May 20. Plants were pulled out or snapped and two memorial seats valued at $2000 were damaged. One was broken and the other hurled into the lake.

Geoff Richards back to head NGIA Australia
Geoff Richards of media company, Richgro Garden Products in Perth, Western Australia, has been elected for the second time as president of the Nursery & Garden Industry of Australia (NGIA) at its AGM in May in Queensland.

A lingering Autumn keeps the tills ticking over
Throughout the country, contented garden retailers report steady sales. Commenting were Trish Hosking of Sciadopytus in Whangarei; Darryl Pierce of Palmers Rotorua; Jacqui Dann of Nichols on North Rd Invercargill, Peter Whitehead of Touchstone Gisborne; Christine Smith of Kaikoura Mitre 10.

Copper ion fertilisation -- a new weapon for root fungus
Hans Holtz of Auckland-based Novozone has begun importing Aqua-Hort machines which deliver copper ion fertilisation, a relative newcomer in horticulture and proving to be an effective, economical and environmentally-friendly technique for control of pythium and phytophthora. We report on how and why in Comm Hort June issue.

New fungicides to target citrus disease
New Zealand’s citrus growers now have two new weapons in their battle against diseases affecting their fruit. Teldor, which is mainly used for the control of botrytis in grapes, has been granted a new label claim for controlling the disease in lemons and mandarins. And Flint, used to control disease in grapes, kiwifruit and apples, can now be used to control citrus scab. Both are from Bayer CropScience, Auckland and we have more details in Comm Hort June issue.

New software links stock control to the net
John Liddle of KingGrapes has combined with Marjo Gisberts and Paul Stewardson of InfoServices of Lincoln to form ToucanLogic. This has developed the inventory sector of InfoServices HortBase nursery management software so it can upload directly on to the internet.

New marketing man for Living Earth
New marketing co-ordinator at growing media, compost and fertiliser company Living Earth, Auckland, is Andrew Bramston.

Personality Profile
Our personality this month in Comm Hort many not be a nurseryman or a garden centre owner, but Peter Arthur of Touchwood Books, Hastings, is certainly one of the industry’s characters. We profile just a little of the colourful life and interesting career of the bookseller from the Hawkes Bay.

Décor Gardenworld – 40 Years Young
Using the catchcry, “Forty Years Young”, Dave and Ginny Clark, with Dave’s parents Laurie and Lois Clark and 70-80 guests, held a party on 7 May marking the exact day of the opening of their family garden centre, Décor Gardenworld in Bethlehem just out of Tauranga, 40 years ago. Also present were Bob and Jean Banyard who founded the business with the Clarks and stayed for 14 years. “Even my accountant of 37 years was there,” Laurie says.

IPPS Mountain Conference – Part 2
Kerry Johnstone concludes his report on this four-day conference in Taranaki. We have pictures and coverage of visits to Sandra and John Michielsen’s Tree Nursery; Ian Cassie’s Nursery where camellias, rhododendrons and magnolias reign supreme; and Ian and Robin Fankauser 1.5 hectare Lowlands Nursery. Last on the day’s visits was Mark and Abbie Jury’s large garden and nursery, Tikorangi.

Feature Nursery – Michielsen’s Tree Nursery
This open ground Taranaki nursery grows mainly deciduous trees and ships its hardy stock to customers throughout the country. “We decided from the outset to grow deciduous trees because you don’t have to root prune with a spade, you can undercut with a machine and these trees are what we grew and knew when we were contract growing for D&D years ago, “ says John Michelsen. “We’ve continued to add more plants over the years, but we tend to stick to different lines and grades from the other nurseries in the area. For instance, we’re one of the few around growing cherries.” There’s a 5-page feature in June Comm Hort.

On Tour With Colin Campbell
Well-known Aussie garden commentator, Colin Campbell, a New Zealand expat, recently took a group of keen gardeners on a tour of some of Queensland’s outback gardens and sent Comm Hort this report -- an insight into gardening in adversity

The Chelsea Flower Show 2007
Full report from Jacqui and Robin Stubbs. “Some years at Chelsea I have felt that the Show Gardens were fantastic but more akin to a theatre set but this year nearly every garden had ideas that could easily be transposed to real gardens . . .”

All About Fruit And Seed
Fiona Eadie continues her series on plant basics. ”Flowering plants differ from cone-bearing plants in that they produce fruit. It is generally thought that it is the presence of this fruit, protecting the developing seed within, that has led to the flowering plants domination of our planet,” Fiona says.

John Stanley Says . . .
This Comm Hort article describes how garden centres in the UK, USA and South Africa are selling gardens as complete packages. “At B&Q stores in the UK gardeners can buy ‘design kits’ for model gardens and have them installed on their own properties.” A South African garden centre is offering Gardens in a Box. John says retailers must look at different ways of presenting plants to their customers.

Above is a synopsis of articles printed in one issue of Commercial Horticulture - Magazine of the Nursery Industry.

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