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December 2007
Newsletter

Christmas Discount Day - 12 December

"A Garden by Design" Talk

New Local Orchard Group

New Book - Britain's Favourite Plants

Get your roses under wraps

3 for 2 plants offer

Skimmia magic

10 gardening jobs for December

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Buckingham
Garden Centre
Tingewick Road
Buckingham
MK18 4AE

Telephone:
01280 822133

Fax:
01280 815491

www.hedging.co.uk

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

Christmas 2007 – Special DISCOUNT DAY on 12th December

The amount of time to Christmas is decreasing rapidly and with the hectic lives that so many of us lead we will have to start thinking about making our houses ready for the Christmas parties and gatherings we will in no doubt be having. This year at Buckingham Garden Centre we have made great efforts to make this as easy as possible for you. We have everything you need to make your Christmas a truly memorable event, from the Christmas trees starting at only £10.99, but also going up to £49.99 for those who wish to have a large traditional cut tree, and there are, of course, plenty in between these two prices.

We have a fantastic range of new and innovative gift lines to cater for all tastes an ages. We also have an amazing array of seasonal food from chutneys to chocolates. You will also find our friendly staff always on hand with a warm welcome and ready to answer any questions you may have with planning your Christmas. There are many wonderful offers around the store so come along and take advantage and make your Christmas a truly memorable one - think Christmas think Buckingham Garden Centre.

On 12th December, the day of our Garden Talk and the launch of the Mid-shires Orchard Group, we are also offering a special 10% discount to all customers at the Garden Centre who purchase any outdoor plants, Christmas Trees and Decorations and planted Christmas houseplant arrangements. This will give you a chance to treat yourself to some new decorations and possibly get some outdoor plants for presents for your keen gardening friends, or even buy a few for yourself as well!

Also between now and Christmas there is a special offer on the purchase of our own Buckingham Garden Centre Gift Vouchers. For every £10 spent on vouchers you will receive a £1.00 voucher for yourself to spend during January or February next year – so a very acceptable Christmas gift and a bonus for yourself – so again we repeat - think Christmas think Buckingham Garden Centre.

“A Garden by Design” talk

We are pleased to welcome local Garden Designer, Mary Bullock, to our talk on Wednesday 12th December 2007 at Buckingham Golf Club.

Mary will be discussing the basic principles of garden design by illustrating these from her own hard and soft landscaping projects as well as explaining how she created a show garden at BBC Gardeners' World Live. Mary will discuss her favourite 10 plants which she wouldn't be without. Do feel free to bring along photos from your own garden if you have a specific design problems to discuss.

So, as we enter the start of the new gardening season, this presentation will certainly be timely to get you thinking about your own plot and any changes you might be planning.

To book, call the Customer Service Desk, by telephone on 01280 822133, or via our website www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk/talks. Entry is free to Discount Card Holders or £1 for non-members

Exciting New Local Orchard Group

On the 12th December at 8 pm at the Estate Office at Home Farm, Stowe the inaugural meeting of the Mid-Shires Orchard Group will be held. Two local ‘Apple Men’, Adderbury’s Andy Howard and Fathinghoe’s Marcus Roberts are the fathers of this group. They are on a mission to bring back traditional varieties of apple and other fruit, many of which are now endangered. They have searched out and hand-grafted dozens of heritage tree varieties from the region including dessert, cookers, dual purpose and cider varieties. We shall soon be offering a selection of these maiden trees to our customers, so keep an eye on the website, www.hedging.co.uk, where the descriptions will soon appear. At our recent Apple Day Event four ‘tasters’ spent a very happy time tasting many varieties of heritage apples to choose their favourites and some of these will be the ones we will soon have to sell.

The Orchard Group has already created an exciting partnership with the National Trust at Stowe Landscape Gardens. Here the new orchard group will have its base and its home orchard. The historic estate has one surviving orchard and a number of ancient fruit trees in the wider estate, as well as important historical links to the development of fruit growing in this country. It is intended that the new orchard group will have regular meetings at Stowe and that orchard and tree training can take place in and around the estate, participating in the conservation of the existing orchard and fruit trees and in creating a new reserve orchard. In the longer term it is intended that the orchards will be provided with interpretation and other activities such as the creation of an authentic apple store and traditional cider making will take place.

Many of you will know how committed the Garden Centre has been to promoting the planting of heritage varieties of apple, and will have watched with interest the work of the now well established Gloucestershire Orchard Group, so it is with great excitement that we can give you the news of this new local group. Do come along to the meeting on the 12th, or if you want more information please contact the plant information team at the Garden Centre.

New RHS Publication – Britain’s Favourite Plants

‘Britain’s Favourite Plants’ is a new paperback publication about to be launched by the Royal Horticultural Society. To quote from the introduction written by Carol Klein, “Britain’s Favourite Plants will certainly whet your appetite. Over 1,000 of the nation’s favourite plants are unveiled here for your delectation. Here you will find a collection of some of the best nurseries trading on these shores today, many of whom are top RHS exhibitors. Each one recommends their top plants, with growing advice and useful tips. All have something different to offer, and a dip into this book is sure to introduce you to a new dimension for your gardening.”

We were approached by the Royal Horticultural Society and asked to contribute to this book on the subject of ‘hedging’ which we were delighted to do. However, choosing just ten varieties to recommend did take a little thought but if you turn to page 150 of the book you can read about the ten we finally chose. The book will be for sale in our bookshop in good time for Christmas and its price is £14.99.

Other books we stock which could make good presents for Christmas are ‘Castle House’ by John Clarke and Julian Hunt, a fascinating history of Buckingham’s historic house. We have some of Alli Templeton’s signed copies of her ‘Going Green - Big Flavours without Meat’ cookery book. Also ‘Plants of Buckinghamshire’ by Roy Maycock and Aaron Woods. For anyone interested in wild flowers this is a fascinating publication by the Milton Keynes Natural History Society. These cost £14.95, £12.99 and £2.00 respectively. Other books with local interest can also be found together, of course, with loads of books on gardening and many other subjects.

Get your roses under wraps

This month is a good opportunity for planting or moving roses. We’ve a wide range of root-wrapped hybrid tea, floribunda (cluster-flowered), patio, climber and rambler varieties. Prices start from £4.99 each and offer excellent value for money.

Those plants arriving by mail-order, or bought at the Garden Centre, may have dry roots and should be soaked for 20 minutes in a bucket of water before planting. The same applies to bare-rooted trees and shrubs. Trim back any broken or damaged roots to healthy growth before planting. When moving established roses, it is almost impossible to get up all the long, wiry, deep-root system. Do your best and use a fork, not a spade, a spade will simply cut the roots.

Make sure the plant goes into an enriched hole containing bonemeal and compost, adding some Rootgrow and reduce the top growth by a half or more, to stop wind-rock and to give the roots a chance to fully re-establish. Also don’t forget to prune existing roses to prevent wind-rock.

3 for 2 plants offer

Don’t miss our excellent value Hillier 3 for 2 plants offer, running until the end of the year. We have a great range of hardy shrubs in the deal, including colourful stemmed dogwoods, brightly variegated euonymus, winter coloured leucothoe, kerria, variegated osmanthus and photinia. These shrubs make perfect gap-fillers for borders or useful centre plants for your containers and don’t forget discount card holders get a 10% off the price of the plants if they are purchased on a Wednesday!

Skimmia magic

Even on a cold, damp miserable day, skimmias always seem to bring a glow to pots and open borders with their warming characteristics and evergreen presence. Typically, it is Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ that is the perennial crowd-pleaser with its deep red flower buds, just holding back before exploding into white fragrant flowers come the longer days of February or early March. We suspect they will be in bloom much earlier this season, due to the odd weather conditions in the autumn. The new skimmia on the block this season is Skimmia ‘Magic Merlot’, some 13 years in breeding and development in Holland. It is unusual in that it has striking silver variegated foliage together with rich flowering and excellent colouration from autumn to spring.

So, apart from working generous amounts of ericaceous compost to your soil prior to planting, skimmia will grow well, yet slowly and never become a problem plant to the gardener. They are tough and are perhaps one of the most versatile plants around. Best of all, they tolerate shady areas and dry spots too. They also grow and look very attractive if planted in pots where ericaceous compost has been used. Tempted? Well, check out one today and we’ll guarantee that you will become smitten by them!

Catch Buckingham Garden Centre’s very own Chris Day on BBC Three Counties Radio on Saturday 15th December between 11am and 2pm on “The Greenhouse”, presented by Gill Gauntlett. You can ask Chris a question by phone, e-mail or text. See the BBC Three Counties website, www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties or, better still, come and ask him in person!

10 jobs for Late November and Early December

1. CLEAR up fallen leaves - especially from lawns, ponds and beds. You can make perfect leafmould by simply recycling your autumn leaves in four easy steps:-
   1. Collect the leaves using a rake or a special leaf blower vacuum.
   2. If the collected leaves are dry, moisten them by adding a little water.
   3. Bag up the leaves into a large black bin liner and punch holes to allow the air to circulate. Leave in the garden untouched for between 12 and 24 months. The longer you leave it, the finer the material will be.
   4. Once broken down, the leafmould can be used to mulch around plants, as a soil improver and older leaf mould can be used for composts and seed sowings.
2. PRUNE indoor vines after the leaves have fallen, and burn the old leaves to reduce disease. Ventilate well and keep the greenhouse cold. If there are no plants inside that could suffer, leave it open for a couple of months.
3. RAISE containers onto pot feet to help prevent waterlogging. Continue to re-vamp short-term autumn bedding displays with injections of colour by using plants such as skimmia, Christmas rose, pots of bulbs and heathers. Don’t forget to trim faded flower spikes on summer-flowering heathers. Be careful not to cut into old wood, as it won’t re-shoot.
4. COMPLETE tulip planting. Once the herbaceous plants have died down, you can get at the border soil between, to interplant with bulbs. Tulips can be planted as little as 4in (10cm) deep, where they are to flower and be removed again for summer bedding. For permanent planting, 7in (18cm) deep is better. Deeper planting helps to keep bulbs out of the way of mice and encourages better flowering of new bulbs.
5. VEG plot will benefit from some early winter digging if not already started. Remember to work to a crop rotation plan and add organic material to the soil where necessary. Cover brassicas with netting if pigeons are a problem.
6. ESTABLISH bare-rooted hedging and soft/top fruit now that the plants have become dormant. Prepare the soil and work bonemeal and plenty of compost into each of the planting holes. Dip the roots into Rootgrow Gel (a 360g pack will treat around 70 young plants) prior to planting them into the soil.
7. FRUIT Stop winter moth damage to fruit trees by using grease bands around the trunks. Remove rooted runners from strawberry plants. Pot them up, usually 3 plants to an 18in (45cm) diameter pot, using a gritty mix of John Innes No3. Pop these under cover for earlier cropping next year.
8. BE GARDEN-WISE Put out bird food to encourage winter birds into the garden. Provide a regular supply of water for bathing and drinking. During cold spells you should keep your birdbath free of ice using warm water. Don't be tempted to add standard anti-freeze to the water to prevent it freezing, but we are adding to our bird products range an anti-freeze safe for use in bird baths. If you have a garden pond, make sure that fallen leaves haven't clogged it up. Remove them carefully, trying not to disturb the other natural pond vegetation and its inhabitants.
9. GREENHOUSE Insulate the greenhouse from frost – bubble-wrap works well but be sure to leave a gap between the glass and the plastic for extra insulation qualities. As the greenhouse empties, do make sure you thoroughly clean and sterilize the glass, frame and benching to control any overwintering pests and diseases which may be lurking in the structure and pots. Then use the greenhouse to store some potted up bulbs, such as Greigii tulips and early Narcissi such as ‘January Gold’ and ‘February Gold’, to give colour a few weeks earlier than outdoor planted bulbs.
10. WALLFLOWERS can now be planted where this summer’s bedding has been removed and spaces are to be filled. Being members of the brassica family, wallflowers appreciate well-prepared soil, and a light dressing of lime if your soil is neutral or slightly acid. Generally wallflowers don’t like rich soil which makes them excessively vegetative at the expense of spring flowers. The plants may be put out in groups in mixed borders, in lines at the sides of paths, or in masses in any beds that are available. For the latter, separate colours should be kept together for best effect. Allow 12in (30cm) apart for the dwarf varieties, increasing to 18in (45cm) for the tall growing varieties.

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