 For
your interest we have an archive newsletter section.
Please note that any special offers and prices mentioned may not
now be current.
What's New?
 If
you are looking for a super-fast climber, reaching around 2.5m (8ft)
in just one season, then take a look at a new golden hop (Humulus)
called ‘Golden Tassels’.
What makes this variety special is the abundant crop of hop cones,
produced annually, that gives the plant a rather traditional rustic
feel. What’s more, it’s an easy plant to grow and requires
no pruning or maintenance, except cutting back last year’s
growth before new growth appears in spring. It will quickly cover
walls and other screens.
Given the magazine and TV coverage and hype, it is interesting
to see that herbaceous clematis are finally being given the necessary
lip service they need to become popular and mainstream.
Not quite convinced? To tempt you we have Clematis recta Warrensii
(creamy white flowers in July-September), Clematis x eriostemon
‘Hendersonii’ (nodding purple bells flushed plum, July-October)
and Clematis recta ‘Purpurea’ (white scented
flowers, July-September, against purple foliage) to whet the appetite
and we are convinced more will follow on the strength of these unique
varieties. Herbaceous clematis die back to soil level each autumn,
and, more importantly these clematis don’t climb, which makes
them more appealing compared to their clambering cousins! The other
consideration is where to actually grow these plants – they
meander through perennials and shrubs. Remember, all these clematis
forms benefit from hard pruning in the autumn.
Big plants continue to dominate our sales… including the
huge 65-litre Air Pot trees featured in our last newsletter, and
new for this season, containerised Box and Yew. We’ll have
a wide range of ball-rooted stock from November onwards.
 Another
giant, but not quite on the same scale as the trees and hedging,
is a new ornamental grass, purple millet. You may well have seen
this on the TV, as it was seen for the first time at the Chelsea
Flower Show a few weeks back. Yes, it’s a brand new plant
(developed in the USA) and has now arrived at Buckingham Garden
Centre.
Its name is ‘Purple Majesty’ (pictured) and the tufts
of upright, grassy purple foliage grow to roughly 5ft (1.5m) high
and 20in (50cm) wide. During the summer each plant produces several
heads similar to the well-known sprays of budgie seed that you see
on sale in pet shops, so it’s bound to prove attractive to
wild birds such as greenfinches. It isn’t a difficult plant
to grow, and it’s good for beds and borders or containers,
but it needs a sunny spot to develop its full colour - in shade
it turns more of a bronzy green. What’s more, it’s worth
looking out for as it goes well with all sorts of bedding plants
such as Nicotiana sylvestris, dahlias or sunflowers – we predict
we’ll be seeing a lot more of it around before long. Expect
to pay £4.99 for a 2-litre pot.
 Catch
us at Chenies Manor...
Yes, it’s coming around to that time of the year again when
hoards of keen plant buyers will descend on the Plant & Garden
Fair at Chenies Manor, Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire on Sunday
18th July 2004. We shall be doing our bit at this great venue and
building on the huge success of past years’ shows.
This year’s theme to our garden/selling display will be
the New Romantic Garden (inspired, in part, by Chenies’ own
wonderful gardens which we urge you to visit), bringing together
popular favourites but with a modern twist. We’ll have some
great offers on the stand, plus some plant introductions (see What's New) as well! We look forward to seeing you at Chenies and do come
and say hello!
Tasks
for July
SOW TIME Crack on and make a start of sowing some
of the popular spring-flowering biennials such as Wallflowers, Sweet
Williams, Mathiola (Brompton stocks) and Myosotis (Forget-me-nots).
Either sow them into individual cell trays, or sow thinly into a
standard seed tray containing multi-purpose compost. Move them on
swiftly as soon as they have germinated. Don’t let the seed
trays become too hot; a slightly shaded location will yield the
strongest seedlings. Do this and you will have robust seedlings
ready for planting out in their final quarters by September.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Keep those successional sowings
going on the vegetable plot, especially salad crops. Try the ‘cut
and come again’ lettuce varieties if you’re looking
for something different for late summer salads. Winter brassicas
need to be established soonest, so plant plugs or seedlings of Brussels
sprouts, Calabrese, Savoy cabbage etc. Also Spring Cabbage should
be sown from seed in July and early August.
MORE BERRIES Now is the best time to build up
your stocks of strawberries by pegging down some of the vigorous
runners and rooting some new plants. All you need is some 9cm (3.5in)
pots filled with potting compost (either John Innes No2 or Multi-purpose).
Plunge these around your strawberries where the runners would naturally
fall. Simply peg down the runners into the pots where they can easily
root. Use a u-shaped piece of wire to create the peg and make sure
you keep the compost in each of the pots moist, to encourage fast
rooting in the runners’ new homes. Come September you should
be able to lift and detach the runner from the mother plant and
plant out a new row of newly rooted strawberries – delicious!
PATH WEED KILLERS If you still have weedy paths
we have a ‘buy one get one free’ on all sizes of Pathclear
sachets, while stocks last. Why not take advantage of this unrepeatable
offer? This product is being withdrawn, but you have until September
2005 to use it up.
 BUILD
UP STOCKS July is a great month to take lots of cuttings,
including pinks, carnations, and pelargoniums (bedding ‘geraniums’,
(pictured), fuchsias (including hardy types), and penstemons,
amongst others. Good gritty compost is what these subjects like,
so make sure you add at least 10% horticultural grit to your John
Innes Seed & Cutting Compost.
NEW PATIO If you have been busy creating your
own patio heaven this year, don’t forget to add a few essential
magical ingredients to complete the picture. Citronella candles
not only illuminate your area but they also help keep away mosquitoes
and other uninvited pesky visitors.
Both low-voltage and solar lighting are a worthwhile investment
- especially if you need to link your paved or decked area to the
garage or other parts of the house.
Finally, don’t forget to plant a few highly perfumed subjects
to enhance the atmosphere. Consider Lilies, Nicotiana sylvestris,
Chocolate Plant (Cosmos atrosanguineus), Pinks, Heliotrope
(cherry pie), Patio Roses (miniature) and Ten-week Stocks.
GREEN SWARD Give your lawn a well-earned liquid
feed if it’s looking tired and parched. Apply it through either
a watering can or a hose-end dilutor. You will find feed applied
in this way is unlikely to scorch the lawn which can be a problem
with granular feeds if they are not applied carefully and you over-dose
an area. However, now that we have had some rain to get the weeds
growing again, it is a good time to apply Evergreen Complete feed,
weed and moss killer. If you prefer a liquid formulation try Vitax
Green Up Lawn Feed and Weed, but please note that it is now illegal
to apply weed killers using a hose end diluter so it is best to
use a watering can.
INVASION TACTICS Aphid numbers have been huge
this summer, so do keep on top of their control by regular spraying.
One of the best products is PBI’s Organic Pest Control. It
contains organic biodegradable fatty acids and it can be applied
to all plants. It works on contact with the pest, so a thorough
application is essential to hit the adults. You need to apply this
product regularly – around 5-7 days is best.
It is similar in effect to the traditional horticultural soft soap
which is sometimes recommended for this purpose. Unfortunately soft
soap does not have clearance for use as a garden insecticide (by
the government department DEFRA), so its use is actually illegal.
Using washing up liquid as an insecticide is also illegal for
the same reason, and it could actually damage the leaves and flowers
of your plants if not correctly diluted.
If you want to use something non-organic and more persistent try
Ultimate Bug Killer. This effective systemic insecticide will also
control difficult to control pests like mealy bug and whitefly.
Plant
Special Offers
Build up your stocks of fabulous fuchsias by taking advantage of
our ‘buy one get one free’ deal on all 8cm and 9cm pots
of fuchsias. The offer includes basket, bush and hardy varieties!
You don’t have to be Gordon Ramsey (- not that you would!)
or Jamie Oliver to enjoy herbs in the kitchen. We’ve put together
a great deal so you can get even better value from our wide range
of plants. Buy any 5 herbs for just £6, that’s a saving
of £1.45 (29p off each plant). Hurry – both of these
offers are subject to availability and the selection may vary over
the promotional period.
Very soon now we shall be having a sale of stock plants from our
herbaceous perennial department. There will be some exciting bargains
available, so do come and have a browse if you want some really
wonderful plants to fill gaps in your garden.
Cats
off
Just a reminder to get your Scardy
Cat plants (Coleus canina) into key positions. We’ve
found it’s best to grow them in pots (rather than directly
in the border) and then you have the greater flexibility of moving
the plants around to where the offending cat is creating the problem
and bother! Ideally, use a well-proportioned pot (6-9in (15-20cm))
in diameter and pot into multi-purpose compost. Plant growth through
the summer is rapid and we’d recommend giving the plants a
regular liquid feed using Phostrogen or Miracle-Gro.
Remember it is both the leaves and the blue flowers that produce
the pungent oil that the cats react to, so feeding will also encourage
plenty of flower as well.
Feeding
wild birds in summer
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the British
Trust for Ornithology (BTO) recommend that wild birds should be
fed throughout the year. Previously it was thought that birds could
find enough natural food for their chicks and that artificial food
would be harmful. Recent research has shown that this is not the
case, provided that certain precautions are taken. Birds will generally
find natural food for their offspring where it is available, but
artificial food can be invaluable in keeping the adults going.
Peanuts From April until September, whole peanut
kernels must only be fed from wire mesh feeders that will not allow
sizeable pieces of peanut to be removed, as chicks can choke on
whole peanuts or large pieces. Do not use nylon nets, as birds can
catch their feet or tongues in them and be killed or seriously injured.
Suet Based Feeds. These are available in various
forms including ‘fat balls’, blocks, fat filled half
coconuts and granular ‘treat feasts’. These are high
in energy but they include a range of other useful nutrients. They
are particularly useful in cold or windy weather when birds use
a lot of energy. These foods have been endorsed by the BTO for feeding
throughout the year. The RSPB leaflet ‘Feeding Garden Birds’
says to avoid feeding fat in spring and summer, but this does not
apply to commercially produced products of this type from a reputable
source. Problems can arise when people feed fats such as dripping
or margarine, or make their own blocks from unsuitable ingredients.
These can melt and then soil the birds’ feathers. Even with
suet based products it is wise to put them in a shady place in very
hot weather to stop them going rancid. Always remove the nets from
fat balls so that the birds cannot trap their feet.
Other Foods. A wide range of other food can be
fed in the spring and summer, including mixed bird seed, sunflower
seed (black is better than striped), niger seed and various types
of fruit. Sunflower seed is an excellent choice as it is nutritious
and attractive to the birds, but the husks are not eaten, which
can be messy. Why not try ‘sunflower hearts’ (dehulled
sunflower seed) which avoids this problem? The RSPB advises against
feeding bread in spring or summer.
New
Garden Sheds
In the past the sheds we have sold have all been individually made
locally which means everyone can have the exact size and design
they want, but the downside has been that the waiting time is sometimes
as long as five to six weeks in the busy time. To overcome this
we have taken on another range supplied by Halls/AGL, our greenhouse
suppliers, and these will be delivered within two weeks even in
the busiest time. They are standard sizes and designs and cheaper
than the bespoke sheds, but the price does not include erecting.
If you need a shed in a hurry, these are certainly worth considering,
but the individually made ones are still available for our more
patient customers.
New
StoneFlair Paving and Accessories
We are pleased to announce that we are now stockists
of StoneFlair quality paving. StoneFlair is the most exciting, fast
growing independent brand name in the decorative landscape products
marketplace. Numerous creative design combinations are available.
StoneFlair’s innovative products have won medals at the RHS
Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court and BBC Gardeners’ World
Live. StoneFlair has assembled teams of craftsmen from all over
the UK, who have produced quality reproduction paving products from
original old masters that have been specially selected for their
character and authenticity. The Purestone paving range, which as
its name implies is natural quarried stone, has been sourced personally
from well-managed resources and has been hand selected for its dimensional
consistency and quality.
We are holding in stock the following products in various
sizes from the StoneFlair range:
- Yorkvale paving (Colours: Cotswold Brown and Weathered Stone)
- Rivenstone paving (Colours: Antique Gold and Burnt Sienna)
- Purestone paving (Colours: Desert Sand and Greyfell)
- Patio kits (from the Rivenstone and Yorkvale ranges)
- Stonewood (Sleepers, setts and stepping stones, pictured above)
- Spheres, Millstones and Planters
- Stepping Stones and Pathwinders (Co-ordinating colours)
- Edging Stones
- Moorland Walling (Colours: Antique Gold and Burnt Sienna)
In addition, we continue to stock a wide range of aggregates, pebbles,
cobbles and rockery stones that will complement StoneFlair’s
extensive range. Should you require further details about the products,
please pick up a brochure and price list from the Garden Centre
or ask a member of staff for details. Products can be collected
at the point of purchase or alternatively delivery can be arranged
(standard delivery charges apply and an additional charge may be
made to cover difficult sites or additional shifting of stone).
Aquatics
We have just had in a new batch of 5-7cm Japanese Koi, which are
really beautiful colours. Possibly the most eye catching are the
grey/silver ones with a silver dorsal fin which really appears to
flash as they swim around. There are also gold and orange and silver
fish – all very colourful and striking in their colours.
Summer is traditionally the season for holidays, but if you have
a tank with fish in this can pose a problem for those who do not
have family or neighbours who are willing to take over the feeding
whilst you are away on holiday. Do not despair, you can go away
for up to two weeks, as you can leave your fish with either a 3
day or 7 day pyramid fish feeder, or a mechanical 14 day feeder.
These are suitable for tropical, coldwater or marine fish. There
is also a l4 day pond fish feeder available.
Just ask anyone in our aquatics department and they will give
you advice about holiday care.
One new product we have had in recently which we consider a great
new line as far as safety is concerned is a Shatter Proof Aquarium
Heater. This will automatically turn off if it is out of water.
Anyone who has experienced a heater exploding when accidentally
being lifted from water for whatever reason, will realise what an
advance this is and for those who have not had this unfortunate
experience, by investing a very small amount of extra money, they
will never have to!
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