Adding to your garden at this time of year doesn't have to be a horticultural death sentence, writes Justin Newcombe.

What's in a garden? Well plants for a start, some paths and a bit of lawn, sometimes water but all together that doesn't make a garden. The one thing a garden always has in it that the natural world doesn't necessarily, is people.

Each week the Te Whanau O Waipareira Trust gives out 65 food parcels of rice, flour and tinned food. There's no fresh fruit or vegetables, but that's about to change with a community garden.

As far as useful plants go, nothing is quite so maligned as the poor old common mint. The connection between the plant and the phrase implying something is near new or "flash"

I love how the festive season gives us license to let loose and be creative in all sorts of areas. Some people bejewel their homes with fairy lights; most tackle the interior in some way to evoke Christmas for family and guests.

Today's lesson is about tree training. If you lop off a branch so your gordonia doesn't scratch your car as you back down the drive way, you are tree training.

Wrigglers turn food waste into black gold for the garden, writes Meg Liptrot.

Justin Newcombe admits the error of his ways and gets rid of a nuisance tree in his garden.

For superior-scented lavender it helps to tweak growing conditions to imitate that of Mediterranean foothills, notes Meg Liptrot.

A good lawn makes a good garden, so it's worth a bit of hard yakka, says Justin Newcombe.

Landscape gardener and Life columnist Justin answers your questions.

Good companions will join forces to weed out the nasties, says Meg Liptrot.

Justin Newcombe shares his sure-fire methods for making black spot and blight walk the plank.

Alexia Santamaria rounds up some of the Auckland eateries serving up what they grow.

A Kiwi summer is about getting out in the backyard. Danielle Wright discovers that can mean a lot more just having than a sausage sizzle.

Clusters of themed pots can lift your garden's mood, says Meg Liptrot.

Justin Newcombe works out the secret to a healthy of crop of beans, to be eaten fresh, or dried and stored for winter.

Landscape gardener and Life columnist Justin answers your questions.

Anyone who has ever spent time in South Africa knows meat plays a key part in its national cuisine. Smoked, roasted, dried, fried, whatever - meat is king.

Meg Liptrot gives her fruit trees a shoulder to grow on and reaps a generous crop.

Landscape gardener and Life columnist Justin answers your questions.

Justin Newcombe attempts to grow a tea bush in order to create his own perfect brew.

You don't need heaps of room to make a go of gardening, writes Meg Liptrot.

Summer means salads - and lettuce is the ideal start in your garden, says Justin Newcombe.

Whether you’re inland or on the coast, in the city or the country, Danielle Wright discovers there are spring flowers in bloom all around us.