For your interest we have an archive newsletter section.
Please note that any special offers and prices mentioned may not now be current.

Garden Design Day

Let me start with a date for your diary - on Sunday March 25th we shall be holding a 'Garden Design Day' here at the Garden Centre. We shall have about six Garden Designers here covering many aspects of garden design, from hard landscaping, tree surgery through to actually designing a garden. It will be your opportunity to 'pick their brains' for ideas and if you feel you need their services for your own garden you will have a chance to compare the work of different designers and decide who is the most likely to answer your needs. They will be here from 10.00 until 4.00 on the 25th, so take advantage of this mini-exhibition of talent!

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Frost Warning!

I cannot seem to write a Newsletter without mentioning the weather! This time it is a word of warning as the buds on many plants are swelling and there will still be many cold spells and heavy frosts before Spring is really with us, so it is always wise to have a supply of horticultural fleece at hand to protect plants or early blossom from the vagaries of the elements. It is not an expensive product so a small outlay may save many plants from damage. We have a range of fleeces on sale in the garden centre, by mail order and on our internet site hedging.co.uk. Prices start at £3.99 for a 10m pack.

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Bare Rooted Hedging, Fruit Trees & Soft Fruit

If you are hoping to get any fruit trees or soft fruit planted this spring you need to get the ground prepared and the trees planted in the next couple of weeks as the buds will start swelling very soon. The same applies to any bare rooted hedging plants especially such varieties as quickthorn which come into leaf early. Another job which should be done before plants break dormancy is pruning of fruit trees (except plums which should only be pruned in summer), and trimming deciduous hedges. Birds will be starting to build nests soon so it is important to get the trimming done immediately so you do not disturb the hedges in the nesting season.

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"Instant Cheer"

If you have any containers which you did not plant up for the winter you can make an 'instant cheer' effect by filling them with pansies, polyanthus and pot grown bulbs. These will last through to the summer bedding season and then the pansies, polyanthus and bulbs can be planted out into the garden to make room for your summer display.

If your garden is looking dull at the moment it is a good idea to take time wandering around a garden centre to see what plants are looking good at the moment as it may be possible to find a spot for some to give your garden a lift. Things which come to mind are Cyclamen coum, Jasmine nudiflorum, Ribes laurifolium, Mahonias, Hellebores, Garrya elliptica, Ribes Red Pimpernel, Skimmia reevesiana, Sarcoccoca humilis and Euphorbia Redwing. There are others, of course, but this will give you a few ideas. Also for the person who cannot wait for plants to grow we are very soon putting together a display of specimen plants. These will obviously be considerably more expensive but they will satisfy the desire for instant effect. We took some of these to the Milton Keynes Garden Show last week-end and they caused considerable interest.

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Rhododendron Inkarho

For those who love Rhododendrons but are unable to grown them except in containers as the soil conditions are wrong we have a Rhododendron Inkarho on trial here in one of the display beds at the Garden Centre. This variety is reputably lime tolerant, so we shall be watching its progress with great interest.

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Organic Gardening

There is increasing interest in organic gardening, and a large number of organic products are coming onto the market. As usual, many duplicate each other or are similar to existing products, but there are some worthwhile new products. Already selling well is Arthur Bower's New Horizon Organic Multi-Purpose Plant Food at £3.99 for 2.5kg. There are also a Vegetable and Fruit Plant Food and a Rose and Flower Plant Food in this range. These all have specified N P K fertiliser contents, so you can rely on them for consistent results, whereas in the past some organic fertilisers have been rather variable and unpredictable. However, in my opinion, the real breakthrough is Natural Earth Planting and Potting Compost. This is made by Gem, who have a good reputation as a compost manufacturer, and not only is it organic, but it is also peat free, so it is doubly environmentally friendly. It is approved by the Soil Association and the Henry Doubleday Research Association who run the organic gardens at Ryton near Coventry. It does not contain sewage sludge (bio solids) which is comforting given the adverse publicity about possible contamination of soil with heavy metals and disease organisms. And last but not lease it is reasonably priced at £3.99 for a 60 litre bag with the usual quantity discounts. Well worth a try!

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Wolf Multi-Change Tools

We are now stocking a range of Wolf Multi-Change tools. Many of you will know of these tools and will not need to be told of their advantages. If instead of buying a range of complete tools, you buy one handle and a range of heads, you save a lot of storage space, which so often is at a premium. The handles range in length from 16cm for small hand tools to a 4 metre telescopic handle for tools such as pruning saws and loppers. Many small tools such as trowels, weed forks and patio knives usually have short handles, but can be more convenient when used with a long handle, especially for the disabled or wheelchair bound. Also by having several different length handles, one tool can be comfortably used by a 2 metre tall husband and his l.5 metre tall wife - not at the same time of course but that is a different story! We stock 8 different handles and 23 different heads. They are totally compatible with each other, although only a small proportion of the 184 possible combinations make useful tools. There are many other tools and handles in the range, which we can obtain to special order, usually within a few days.

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New Paving Displays

When you come to the Garden Centre you will see that we have taken away our display of paving from the main selling area and replaced this with an extra display of pots and ornaments. This means that the range of pots and ornaments is even larger than before which is good news. And even better news is that we have a far better range of paving now available. This is now displayed at the rear of the car park amongst the sheds and garden buildings.

The paving is now being handled by D & A Sheds who have been building sheds and garden buildings for us so successfully for several years. It is a natural extension of their business as they so often get asked to lay a patio outside a summerhouse which they are erecting. Paving sales will go through the Garden Centre as normal, the difference will be that the stock will not be held in the selling area so if you want just a few slabs to take away in your car we shall go and fetch them for you from 'the yard'. The one down side for Garden Club members is that we shall not be able to offer your normal discount, but as the slabs are considerably cheaper now you will be better off! The display area should be completed very soon so you will be able to see the wide and interesting range we now have.

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New Season Roses

For rose lovers you will be pleased to see that the new season's roses have arrived, albeit is slightly more colourful pots than we would prefer. I guess we are old fashioned in preferring traditional black pots, but the contents of the pots is obviously the important thing. Fragrance is back in fashion and the name conveys this with the new variety Scentimental. We have many of the old varieties such as Belle de Crecy, Sweet Dreams and Madame Isaac Pereiré. There is also a good selection of celebration roses such as Golden Wedding, Ruby Wedding, Silver Anniversary, Wedding Day, Rememberance, Greetings etc.

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Pond Advice

If you are a pond owner it is a good idea to take some actions now to prevent problems later in the year. If you sometimes have problems with 'green water' or blanket weed it would be sensible to introduce some barleystraw now as it takes a while to become active. It works by slowly rotting and thereby releasing natural enzymes into the water helping to kill single cellular algae and blanket weed.

As the weather warms up keep a careful eye open for fish parasite infections and fungal infections. It is recommended to treat your pond this time of the year with anti-parasitic and anti-fungal treatments as a preventative measure. Those of you who have been feeding your fish with wheat germ feed during the winter can continue with this for a little longer until the water temperature warms up, and then when it does it is best to change to a higher protein food.

One final word of advice on ponds is that those who thought to raise the position of your pump during the colder months should not forget to lower it again as soon as the water temperature rises. Pond plants and pond fish should be arriving here shortly as soon as the weather is a little warmer, so if you need to do any replanting or restocking this will be possible.

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