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your interest we have an archive newsletter section.
Please note that any special offers and prices mentioned may not now be current.
If you cast your mind back to this time last year we had already
had three months of deluges of rain and here on the Nursery we were really suffering
from the excess of water in the soil. Working conditions were awful, we could
not get machinery on the land and nearly everything had to be done by hand. The
weather forecasters were predicting that the same might happen this autumn and
winter, so with this in mind we set to in the summer and did a lot a work on the
drainage in the field and also built raised beds for the bare rooted stock in
the Garden Centre. As is typical one puts in a lot of work to stop a disaster
which does not arrive, but the work was not wasted as customers coming to collect
their plants personally will see.
Hedging, Forest Trees and Fruit
All the hedging, forest trees and soft fruit are now displayed
in neat raised beds with albeit not mud free paths between them, but nearly clean
paths. We are very pleased with the results and when we did have a few days of
heavy rain we could see the enormous improvement. We shall be working on the area
where the top fruit and ornamental trees are displayed this summer so they will
have similar raised beds for next season. We shall still recommend that customers
wanting bare rooted stock wear 'sensible' shoes, but boots should not be essential
in the future!
Amongst the fruit trees our prediction that the new variety
Scrumptious would prove popular was true. The pot grown trees unfortunately did
not arrive in time for apple day last autumn, but not many people would have seen
them even if we had had them as the weather for that wonderful event was atrocious
- rain and wind nearly drove everyone away on the Sunday! However, the stock did
arrive soon after and all sold very rapidly. We have been able to get further
stocks in but we have nearly run out again of those on the semi-dwarfing rootstock.
There are some available on M9 stock.
This is the season for purchasing bare rooted plants - hedging
and young forest or ornamental trees. Purchasing bare rooted stock will cost far
less than pot grown plants. If anyone wants to get a hedge planted or is needing
more trees or even some ornamental shrubs, do pop in and pick up a catalogue or
ring in and we can send one to you. Our catalogue is also available on-line at
www.hedging.co.uk
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Seed Potatoes
We now have our seed potatoes in stock - the same wide range
as usual! A list of the varieties and a guide
can be found on our web site. If you can buy them in January or February and lay
them out in a cool frost free position you will get better results, especially
for earlies, and you will save money as the prices go up on 1st March to cover
the extra storage costs.
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New Products
Roll-on Fence Preservative
In our last newsletter we mentioned that we would be stocking
a new roll-on fencing preservative in the New Year. We cannot imagine too many
of you rushing over to buy it in this weather, but in case you do it looks as
if it will not be with us until March. It will be good when it does finally come!
Greenhouses & Wall Gardens
What is available now though is a new dark green version of
the very popular Wall Garden (greenhouse). Our show model is still the plain aluminium
but with very little imagination you will be able to see how attractive the coloured
version will be. The colour is achieved by treating the aluminium with a polyester
powder paint system which is bonded to the frame. This means it is permanent and
maintenance free, except for cleaning. The cost is higher at £259 with horticultural
glass or £319 with toughened glass but it does make this spacious little
Wall Garden a most attractive feature.
Another exciting introduction is the Halls Colour Range of
greenhouses. These are the Popular Glasshouses produced in Sage Green, Lavender
or Aubergine. They are available with horticultural glass, standard toughened
glass, single sheet toughened glass or polycarbonate. At the moment they are only
available in the 1326 x 1928mm size (approximately 4ft x 6ft) and prices range
from £219 for the horticultural glass to £359 for the single sheet
toughened glass.
We shall have a show model later in the season but in the meantime we have samples
of each of the colours and a leaflet illustrating them.
Wooden Swing Seats, Arbour Seats & Arches
For those who enjoy a ride on our swing seat on your way out
to the car park, we now have another version for you to try. The new one retails
at £250 so may be more tempting than the more expensive model. Soon we shall
also have a new range of wooden arbour seats and arches which are not so costly
as the very attractive Dandf range we currently stock.
Native Creation Candles
Another new product we shall have in stock in early February
will be a range of candles called Native Creations - Equatorial, Aboriginal and
Savannah. All will have candles, oils, incense and accessories.
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Wild Bird Food
You may be interested to know that at this time of the year
one of our fastest moving lines from the shop is bird food and products related
to our feathered friends. As great bird lovers ourselves and long time members
of the RSPB we are delighted that so many of our customers must share our interest.
We have quite a few feeding stations here at the Garden Centre as well as at home
and we have had great pleasure in seeing so many different species visiting the
stations. By far the most economical way to purchase seed and nuts is by the sack,
but if you do decide to do this be sure to have a safe place to store it as you
may inadvertently become a feeding station to less welcome visitors - rats, mice
and squirrels. They can get in through remarkably small holes so be warned! Also,
if stored in an unheated shed, nuts can get damp from condensation and go mouldy,
which can be harmful to the birds.
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Chimenea Competition
Our Chimenea competition was a great success with hundreds
of entries - the lucky winners received their Chimeneas in November. We were amused
to hear of someone recently having a power cut during cooking their dinner and
rushing out and completing the cooking of their meal in sub-zero temperatures
on their bar-be-q (no doubt a gas one) but it does show that these outdoor cooking
facilities are useful as well in the case of Chimeneas ornamental.
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Elizabethan Pumpkin Pie
On the subject of food, we hope that those who requested a
copy, or picked up a copy, of the Elizabethan pumpkin pie recipe all enjoyed the
pie - our family missed out this year as we sold all the pumpkins before I realised!
I must remember to buy mine earlier this autumn or grow some myself.
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Doggy News!
For those regular visitors to the Garden Centre you may have
noticed that Sasha and Ben have gained two puppy friends - Dave has a mini Sasha
named Becky and Charlotte a blond bombshell (a lurcher) named Saffron. Sasha is
a little possessive of her 'territory' and consequently keeps the puppies in their
place, but Ben thinks they are great. No doubt as they grow and she gets more
used to their presence Sasha will play with them as well, but in the meantime
she enjoys sneaking in to their beds and stealing toys, bones and other delectable
'doggy' things. The point of letting you know is to warn you that we now have
four dogs and a cat to be fallen over so keep your eyes open!
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Plants to look out for
Outside there are some unusual shrubs/small trees to look
out for in the coming months. Magnolia Goldstar which is similar to stellata but
the flowers are primrose yellow and is generally larger. Ptelea trifoliata Aurea,
known as the Golden Hop Tree. This has soft yellow foliage and racemes of fragrant
flowers. As is usual here more Lilacs, Syringa Royalty, a delicate looking shrub
with sweetly scented flowers from deep purple buds and chinensis Saugeana with
arching branches with large panicles of fragrant lilac red flowers, and also x
prestoniae Hiawatha with highly fragrant, loose panicles of purple red flowers.
As frequent visitors must by now know, Susan is very keen on Lilacs which is why
we always have many beautiful and less usual ones.
One further suggestion for those with sunny sheltered gardens
Poncitrus trifoliate which is a hardy citrus with wicked thorns and fragrant white
flowers and if the position is sheltered enough it will produce small orange fruits.
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Newsletter Supplement:
New Summer Flowering
Bulbs
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