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Coming soon: Caladiums, which have been extremely rare and expensive for the last few years, will be available in Kings Plant Barn from October 19.
While sports and entertainment activities have taken a hit during Auckland’s lockdowns, gardening is one activity that appears to have benefitted from peoples’ enforced confinement.
Kings Plant Barn marketing manager Natalie Allen puts the surge in interest in gardening down to the fact that people have had more time to look around their home and garden and, as a result, have been motivated to make improvements.
“Planting and tending the garden is a low-cost way to spend time together as a family on the weekend,”
Natalie says. “We’re also seeing interest from younger customers, who are coming into the store to ask for tips and advice on how to get started in the garden, which is wonderful.”
Natalie says the interest in edibles, which began in Level 4 lockdown, was still going strong post-Level 3.
“With the onset of spring, of course, it was always going to go up, but even in the first three weeks of
September we sold as much in the Kitchen Garden category as we did for the full month last year.
“Every month since May, demand for edibles has been much stronger than the same time last year, so it seems like people are a bit more into growing their own food. This may also be due to people seeking food security in a time of uncertainty. By growing some of their own food to avoid too many trips to the supermarket, they realised it was enjoyable and not as difficult as they had assumed.”
Dry times ahead
As summer draws near, gardeners are reminded of the importance of mulching. It is crucial to both suppress weeds and retain moisture in the soil during the hotter months.
Commercial mulches such as pea-straw and bark-based mulches are popular because they decompose slowly, but leaves, yard trimmings and shredded newspaper also make excellent summer mulch.
