Labour Weekend is traditionally a time of year when many New Zealanders get out into the garden for the first real time in months. Others get on to projects around the house or property.

With warmer than average weather over many regions this spring some readers are telling us they’ve been planting since the end of August! (still winter!)

Labour Weekend is usually a good line in the sand to begin gardening for the summer with soil temperatures warming up, more sunlight than darkness each day and daytime temperatures climbing into the 20s. Snow, frost and sub-zero temperatures are far less likely (although still possible in some pockets, as we saw in some sheltered South Island places at the very beginning of this long weekend).