By Frank and Muriel Newman

Gardening off the smell of an oily rag should not just be about practical edibles like cabbage, cauli’s and carrots. For fun - giant fun - in the garden, why not try your hand at growing giant pumpkins!

Following this week’s tragic news concerning recent cases of Legionella infection (legionellosis) in Christchurch, Nursery and Garden Industry New Zealand (NGINZ) endorses Ministry of Health guidelines on safe gardening.

Oregano is super easy to plant. Got a corner in your vege garden that looks a bit empty? Simply dig a little hole and plant your oregano seedling. You don't even have to wait for oregano to grow to harvest from it, although I would advise against doing that.

If you're garden is still looking a little post-winter dreary then you need to plant asters.

These retro looking daisies come in a wide ranging selection of colours including blue, purple, red and pink, and will add the vibrancy your garden needs.

Despite the rain, dozens of people turned up to the Daltons School of Gardening workshop this past Saturday the 17th of December.

I'm going to put myself on the line and say cosmos are one of the easiest plants you can possibly grow. They don't attract aphids. They don't catch diseases and they'll grow in just about any weather conditions.

In my humble opinion, thyme is a must have for any herb garden.

According to that most reliable source of information the World Wide Web the general rule of using herbs in cooking is if in doubt use thyme. So if theres one herb every edible garden needs, its this one.

By Frank and Muriel Newman

Forget about slug bait let me introduce beer bait!

Simply, cut the top off an empty fizzy drink bottle, leaving approximately 10cm of plastic from the lid. Make sure the lid is tightly screwed on.

If you got your hands on the Sweet Williams I recommended last month, you might well be seeking out a trusty companion. If that's the case, look no further than the Iceland Poppy - an extremely attractive plant that yields large, bowl-shaped and lightly fragrant flowers.