You can't beat the aroma and flavour of fresh feijoas! This hardy and robust fruit is easy to grow and provides you with an abundance of fruit from autumn to early winter. They can be used in muffins, cakes, loafs, crumble and made into chutney. If you're keen to grow your own, then look no further.
Did you know that you can make hedging using your feijoa trees? Hedges are a great option to create structure, provide privacy and give character to your garden. Make a statement using evergreen fruit plants like feijoas and create a hedge that is not only beautiful, but also delicious as it becomes laden with tasty fruit!
Tip: Autumn is the ideal time to plant feijoa trees as the roots will establish themselves over winter in preparation for a growth spurt over spring.
What you'll need:
Directions for planting an Edible Feijoa Hedge:
1. CHOOSE FEIJOA TREE VARIETY
- First things first, you need to choose the varieties of feijoa trees that you would like to use for your hedging.
- It's best to plant a mix of varieties to provide cross pollination and to spread the harvest season with early, mid and late ripening varieties.
- Top hedging varieties are: Anatoki, Apollo, Kaiteri, Kakariki, Mammoth, Triumph, Unique.
- Learn more about the different feijoa tree varieties that are available here.
2. SOIL PREP:
- Next you will need to get the soil prepared before planting.
- Dig in organic matter and compost to the area before planting. You can use organic matter like Tui Sheep Pellets.
3. PLANT:
- The best times to plant are early in the morning or late in the day so the plants are exposed to the hot sun straight away.
- Remember to space trees approximately 1m apart and alternative varieties.
- Soak trees in a bucket of Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic before planting to help prevent transplant shock and encourage healthy growth.
- Dig a hole approximately twice the depth and width of the root ball of your plant and partly fill with Tui Garden Mix. This has all of the essential nutrients your fruit plants need to get off to the best start.
- Place the plant in the hole, and fill in with Tui Garden Mix, ensuring the plant is no deeper than it was in the container or bag.
- Stake trees when planting.
- Water after planting.
4. NOURISH:
- If you feed your plants they will reward you well! Plants use nutrients from the soil as they grow, so replenishing the nutrients ensures your fruit plants will grow to their full potential.
- Feed your edible hedge with Tui NovaTec Premium Fertiliser for lush green growth and optimum fruiting.
- Don’t forget to water your hedge too – especially over the warm summer months as fruit forms.
Tip: Well watered, well nourished fruit will have a better chance of keeping insect pests and diseases at bay so give your feijoa trees the love they need to grow.
For more inspiration and tips check out tuiproducts.co.nz.
