The Sweet Pea Project: Building a Trellis for My Growing Sweet Peas
Hello friends,
It's been over a month since my sweet peas were sowed, and the ones that germinated are growing strong, so strong that building a trellis for them became an urgent priority.
On the same day that we set up the trellis for the grapevine, we also made the trellis for the new sweet pea space. We had about 4 metres of wire netting left over, so we stretched it out over the left side backyard fence as far as it could go.
With that job done it was time to plant out the sweet peas that had germinated. Unfortunately a lot of the older sweet pea varieties didn't germinate, so there were only about 50 sweet pea plants to plant out.
With the plants all set out along the garden fence, they had only taken up 1.5 metres of the garden fence, which left a huge gap of the fence line bare. Luckily my seed sowing space in the glasshouse was now set up for spring seed sowing, so I pulled out some long trays, and sowed another 100 sweet peas.
I sowed the following varieties:
- Sapphire
- Burlesque
- Blue Butterflies
- Blue Reflections
- Brilliant Fragrance
- Spanish Dancer (new variety from Egmont seed order)
- Appalachia (new variety from Egmont seed order)
- Nimbus
- Swan Lake
- Original
I really hope that all these varieties germinate well, so I can get them out into the garden as soon as possible. If there is still a large space remaining in the sweet pea trellis, I'll direct sow more sweet peas in about a month. The bonus of this is that the sweet pea harvests will be staggered in spring and summer.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
Tidying Up the Grapevine and Adding a New Trellis
Hello friends,
Our grapevine grows in the southeast corner of the backyard, trailing along a fence that has definitely seen better days. The fence has developed quite a lean away from the garden, and I'm fairly sure the only thing keeping it upright at this point is the grapevine itself.
Our eventual plan is to replace the east-side fence and hedges and build a new fence along that entire property boundary. This would give me a new section of usable garden—aka somewhere else to plant even more dahlias. Unfortunately, that's not a project we can tackle at the moment, so for now we're making the best of what we have.
With the fence at risk of falling and taking the grapevine with it, I allowed some of the new shoots growing from its base to develop last season. My plan was to establish a second section of grapevine along the southern fence as a backup. This fence gets full sun throughout the day, which should also provide better growing conditions for the grapes.
With the young vines lying on the ground for most of the winter, it was time to get them established along the southern fence. Hubby and I headed to our local Bunnings and picked up a 10-metre roll of wire netting. On a sunny winter afternoon, we unwound the netting along the fence and secured it in place with staple nails and a hammer.
After carefully untangling the young vines, it didn't take long to tie them up in three rows along the new trellis.
And I'm very pleased with the result. We now have a backup plan for the grapevine if the east-side fence eventually falls down, and in the meantime, the new vines should give us more grapes. It's a small job, but it has given our grapevine a much better growing space and hopefully a more secure future in the garden.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
A Winter Reshuffle in the Shade Garden
Hello friends,
Over the winter I've done some rearranging in the shadiest part of the backyard. A couple of years ago I planted two hostas, 'Purple Heart' and 'Sleeping Beauty', beneath the magnolia tree, and beside a colour-changing Hydrangea macrophylla. As the hydrangea has grown, it has completely smothered both plants, so it was time to move them to another shady spot in the backyard, beside my wasabi plant.
It didn't take long to dig up the hostas and transplant them into their new positions beside the wasabi plant. With a little more space and less competition, I'm hoping they'll be much happier in their new homes.
With that job completed, I noticed the space on the other side of the magnolia tree was looking pretty empty, apart from a single peony that wasn't particularly happy in its current position. It didn't take long for an idea to form. By moving the peony to a better location elsewhere in the garden, I'd have the perfect spot for another hydrangea.
I'd been wanting to add another hydrangea to the garden for some time, so I decided to have a look around a few local garden centres to see what was available. Winter isn't the best time to shop for hydrangeas, but sometimes you get lucky.
As it turned out, I was very lucky. The first place I visited, our local Mitre 10, had exactly the hydrangea I was hoping to find, 'Bridal Bouquet'.
'Bridal Bouquet' is a beautiful white-flowering hydrangea prized for its mop head blooms. The flowers open creamy white before gradually ageing to soft green tones, providing interest over a long period. Like many white hydrangeas, it brightens shady areas of the garden and combines well with a wide range of other plants. Its blooms are excellent for cutting and can also be dried, extending their usefulness long after the flowering season has finished.
It didn't take long to dig a hole and plant my new hydrangea. With its new home prepared, 'Bridal Bouquet' was finally settled into the garden.
Because the soil in this part of the garden is quite compact and filled with decorative schist stones, I decided to add a bag of Tui Mulch & Feed around 'Bridal Bouquet' and along the garden bed. I even had enough to spread it all the way along the bed to my other hydrangea. Whenever I add a new permanent perennial to the garden, I like to add mulch and feed around it. Over time, this helps improve the soil across the whole wider garden.
With all these small jobs done, this shady area of the garden feels much tidier, and the plants are now in positions that should suit them much better. I'm looking forward to seeing how they grow this coming spring.
Have a wonderful day,
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
July In The Garden - 2026
Hello friends,
July is the depth of winter here in Otago, New Zealand. Frosty mornings are a familiar sight, the garden has settled into its winter rhythm, and much of this month's work has been focused on preparing for spring. Although everything feels a little slower at this time of year, there are still plenty of signs that a new growing season is on its way.
Here's what July has looked like in my garden...
What's Flowering:
Surprisingly, the first yellow daffodils are already flowering in my backyard. Their foliage began emerging in early June, with the first blooms opening in early July. For now it's only a handful of flowers, but the main display will begin in August and continue right through until October.
There are still a few calendula flowering in the garden. Over the years I've found they provide flowers for almost the entire year, and their cheerful blooms always brighten the cold, dreary days of winter.
And finally, my young 'Perfume Princess' daphne has been flowering over the past couple of weeks, and its fragrance is intoxicating, filling the entire backyard on sunny still days.
What's Growing:
The lemons on my 'Meyer' lemon tree are beginning to ripen, and I'm looking forward to harvesting them over the coming weeks and putting them to good use in the kitchen.
I'm overwintering some sugar beet plants for seed saving, and they've taken all our winter frosts in their stride. They've remained completely hardy and continue to grow without any problems. It is still another 9 months until I can save seed from these plants, and no doubt I'll have to corral them to stop the seed heads from falling over in summer and autumn.
And finally, I gave my strawberry bed a tidy-up by weeding, removing
the older plants, and replanting it with fresh runners. In the process, I
increased the number of plants from 24 to 40, which should mean a much
bigger strawberry harvest this summer.
Nature Notes
Bird life is abundant at this time of year, with many birds searching for food throughout the garden. As always, the blackbirds have been busy digging up the lawn, vegetable garden, and flower beds in search of worms. Tauhou (also known as silvereyes or waxeyes) have been flitting between the few plants still in flower, searching for nectar, while a pair of pīwakawaka have made themselves at home, darting about in search of insects.
I even managed to photograph one of the pīwakawaka as it followed me around the backyard one sunny afternoon—a lovely reminder that even in the middle of winter, the garden is full of life.
I usually put bird feeders out in the front garden over winter, but with the recent arrival of bird flu in New Zealand, I decided to follow the advice of our local ecosanctuary, Orokonui, and take them down. Hopefully it won't be too long before it's safe to welcome the birds back to the feeders.
July has been surprisingly mild. We've had a total of 19 frosts, with temperatures ranging from –0.1°C down to –2.6°C. For the coldest month of the year, that's quite unusual. In a typical July we would normally expect at least a few frosts of around –6°C, along with plenty of mornings below –4°C.
Every day it seems I'm outside in the early evening throwing frost cloth over my citrus plants, wasabi plant, and seedings growing in my glasshouse. My citrus plants look like ghosts in the garden the next morning...
Our biggest weather event this month occurred on 5–6th of July, when a severe winter storm swept across the South Island. Many areas were blanketed in snow, but unfortunately the air wasn't quite cold enough here. Instead, we received torrential rain from the east, prompting MetService to issue a Red Heavy Rain Warning for Dunedin.
Whenever we get this type of weather pattern, it almost always leads to flooding in our backyard, as well as more widespread flooding across Dunedin. On the 5th of July we recorded 113 mm of rain in just 24 hours, followed by another 80.3 mm on the 6th of July.
As usual, the path leading to our woodshed flooded, so we built a temporary flood barrier using bags of potting mix to keep the water at bay. We keep meaning to fix the problem properly, but this particular weather pattern only comes along every few years, so it never quite makes it to the top of the to-do list.
I took a trip out in the pouring rain to check out our local stream. Luckily it stayed within its banks, even though the water was so swift that even the local ducks didn't want to go anywhere near it.
Luckily, the torrential rain eventually came to an end and the garden began to dry out. We've since enjoyed a run of crisp, sunny winter days, making it much easier to catch up on jobs around the garden.
As July draws to a close, the garden is slowly beginning to wake from its winter rest. My seed orders are on their way, and I can't wait to start filling the glasshouse with trays of seedlings. It won't be long before another growing season is underway.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
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