Learn to recognise wild natives among your weeds, and weeds among your trees and shrubs
Do you recognise the native wild plants and the destructive weeds presently growing wild in your garden?
The cost and effort of saving your garden and buildings from tree, shrub and vine weeds can be avoided if you recognise the weeds early. The largest, most costly invasions all started as wild seedlings introduced by wind or birds, as ornamental plantings before the plant's invasive quality in NZ was widely recognized, or on neighbouring properties.
The impact of these plants only becomes obvious once they overrun your hedge, driveway, plantings, or buildings.
Group learning sessions can be arranged in a Reserve or private garden, to help you recognise both the free native wild plants and the destructive weeds on your own property.
As plants and demonstration of manual control methods need to be seen close up, and all participants need to be able to ask their questions, each group will be limited to 3 to 6 people, at a cost of $20-30 depending on numbers.
If you would like to subscribe to one of these sessions, please email jenny@northshorewilds.nz, message me here at www.neighbourly.co.nz..., or phone 021485994.
Let's get those weeds cut, piled and safely composted while we have the wet conditions ideal for decomposition!
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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