Articles by Ruud Kleinpaste
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Spectacular plants in autumn
Saturday, 27 April 2024, 12:58PMDo you want something to think about? Something that sets fire to your garden? Go and visit your local Botanic Gardens,...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Fertilisers in Autumn?
Saturday, 20 April 2024, 11:09AMLet’s concentrate on the N, P and K. Nitrogen is the stuff that makes plants green; this molecule provides the building...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Bird Science
Saturday, 13 April 2024, 11:25AMDespite the nice week or two in Canterbury (noticed the Temperatures in the high twenties, this week?) there comes a time...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Soil Conditioning and Blackbird vandals
Saturday, 6 April 2024, 1:38PMIt’s time to start thinking about winter and looking after your soil. We all know that garden soil thrives when you add...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Passionvine hoppers in Christchurch
Saturday, 30 March 2024, 12:29PMThe Garden City is becoming more and more the home of that Aussie sap-sucking pest we knew so well in Auckland, and it shows...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Autumn holes in the ground
Saturday, 23 March 2024, 1:08PMA few days ago, we celebrated our Autumn Equinox; that was on Wednesday 20th March at 16:06 to be precise. It really has...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Tomatoes till the end
Saturday, 9 March 2024, 1:30PMI remember Jack telling me he’d harvested his tomatoes in February and was pleased with the crop. I reckon that —especially...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Paper wasps and their nests
Saturday, 2 March 2024, 12:16PMIn NZ, we have a number of wasp species that can cause a few problems: 1) German Wasps (arrived after WW2) Vespula germanica 2)...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Psyllids – Exotic and Native
Saturday, 24 February 2024, 12:27PMYou may have caught me talking about Psyllids, from time to time. Especially the Tomato-Potato Psyllid. This is an insect...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Termitical Wood destroyers
Saturday, 17 February 2024, 11:54AMAs I was cutting firewood for the 2024 winter, I came across some brilliant tunnels in the timber and larger branches. Drywood...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Overwatering and pruning back your plants
Saturday, 10 February 2024, 12:19PMDry conditions? Honestly, watering yourself silly is always an expensive exercise (especially in Wellington! Bottles of water...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Vigilance and early action
Saturday, 3 February 2024, 12:48PMHad a great “break” around Christmas? No doubt a fabulous, lazy time with whanau and grand kids. The problem is: often some...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Watering the Botany
Saturday, 27 January 2024, 12:33PMAfter a great summer with scorching temps on the Port Hills, the plants started to suffer a wee bit – away from home for...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Holiday highlights for Nature Nerds
Saturday, 16 December 2023, 1:20PMI have always loved travel, especially to great Natural Environments. We all have favourite destinations and I have been...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Parasites are everywhere
Saturday, 9 December 2023, 11:37AMParasites… Bodies everywhere!!! This is the time to take a good look at the small critters in your garden. You may go on...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Growing tomatoes
Saturday, 2 December 2023, 12:41PMGrowing tomatoes is one of the big hobbies of New Zealanders, especially males! It’s great to have a go at these fruit –...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Kokako
Saturday, 18 November 2023, 11:45AMBefore I get into the story of this magnificent bird, I need to remind everyone that has rung me in the past 36 years on...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Birds' nests on your property
Saturday, 11 November 2023, 12:00PMIt’s breeding time for birds! As a bird nut (and a registered bird bander) I have a nest box for little owls. Further down...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Cucurbits
Saturday, 28 October 2023, 12:00PMCucurbits: melons, squash, pumpkins, courgettes, zucchini, gherkins and… cucumbers. A bit “touchy” —don’t like cold spells...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: My Nemesis - Passionfruit
Saturday, 14 October 2023, 1:09PMYou started it, Jack! Last week you mentioned that dreaded word: Passionfruit vine. It’s not that I don’t like passionfruit...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Flowers and Pollinators and Water-cleaners and parasitoids
Saturday, 7 October 2023, 12:37PMI’ve recently been reading a few books about Bees and Bumblebees; in the past I worked on mosquitoes and beneficial pest...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Planting for Lepidoptera
Saturday, 30 September 2023, 12:44PMThis program is increasingly becoming a Community Information Resource that assists our native plants and critters – no apologies...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Rare Beauties
Saturday, 23 September 2023, 12:13PMThis is the time for planting. I’ve never been so busy as last week in the vegetable garden – even got to catch up with some...
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The country's first VegElection
Saturday, 16 September 2023, 11:43AMThis is what I got in my inbox a week or so ago: As New Zealand prepares to go to the polls, the reputation of the country’s...