NEWSLETTER
ARCHIVE
January 2007
Newsletter
Potato Day 2007
Seed Swapping Table
Stand by your veg plots!
Bring on the plants
Camellia heaven
Sale Prices
Gardening Talk for February
Free Tea and Coffee
Job Vacancies
10 gardening tasks for February
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Buckingham
Garden Centre
Tingewick Road
Buckingham
MK18 4AE
Telephone:
01280 822133
Fax:
01280 815491
www.hedging.co.uk
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For your interest we have
an archive newsletter section.
Please note that any special offers and prices mentioned may not
now be current.
 Potato
Day 2007: Weekend 17th/18th February
Come and join in with our second POTATO DAY EVENT.
Last year we launched our first Potato Day event and were pleased
with its popularity, so we are arranging another for this year on
17th/18th February. It will be a good week-end for all the family
so do put a note in your diary.
Colin Randall from Thompson and Morgan will be with us all week-end
to answer any questions you have, not only about potato growing,
but any other vegetable queries. He will be giving talks at various
times throughout the week-end, and we will also have our local potato
guru, Bernard Stopps, who will show you that you do not need a large
garden to produce some really tasty spuds throughout the year.
There are over thirty six varieties of loose seed potatoes, plus
nine varieties of Thompson & Morgan prepacks with detailed growing
tips if you are inexperienced at growing potatoes, and also two
Sarpo varieties which have outstanding blight resistant. Plenty
to choose from!
For CHILDREN we will have a room devoted to potato
activities. This will be run by Field House Day Nursery who are
just down the road from us on the way into Buckingham. They cater
for children from 6 weeks to 5 years with a staff team of qualified
and well experienced people to care for the children in a safe,
calm and stimulating environment. Their ethos is to promote the
children’s language, self-esteem, self-confidence and citizenship.
We are, therefore, confident that they are more than well qualified
to amuse and look after any children (of any reasonable age!) who
would like to have a go at potato printing or making potato cress
heads. This should be good fun for children and parents or grandparents!
Seed Swapping Table
A new venture for this year will be a Seed Swapping Table. The
first Seed Swap event was held in Brighton in 2002 and Seed Swapping
events have rapidly grown in popularity inspiring the organisation
of seed swaps all over the country. As far as we know the nearest
to here is at Oxford, but more events are sprouting up each year.
The idea is to bring along vegetable, flower, herb, medicinal
plant, tree or other seed to swap. Seed can be home saved, or may
come from leftover packets, even half used ones if not too old.
Seed should be brought in packets with type, variety and year of
collection marked.
We will start the day with a collection put together by staff of
the Garden Centre then anyone is invited to swap seed they bring
with others on the table. If you do not have any seed to bring for
swapping but want to take seed away we will have a ‘charity
box’ for people to give donations. The charity to benefit
will appropriately be the Heritage Seed Library run by the Henry
Doubleday Research Association, now known as Garden Organic.
In the past 100 years we have lost over 90% of our vegetable varieties
in the UK, many of which are the unusual, local, heirloom or home-saved
varieties sought after by gardeners. The Heritage Seed Library holds
a bank of many of these ‘lost’ varieties and members
of HDRA can apply for seed of six varieties to grow every year.
A few of these heritage varieties will be available at our seed
swap but hopefully others will become available from visitors to
the seed swap – we will have to see what comes in!
Seed swaps are great places to talk to other enthusiastic growers
where ideas, experiences and tips can be exchanged. We shall look
forward to seeing lots of experienced gardeners at the event and
also those just starting, as this will give them a chance to get
advice to get started – and once started growing and eating
their own, we are sure they will never stop!
Stand
by your veg plots!
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Growing your own fruit and vegetables is going to the buzz phase for 2007 with
the BBC having kicked off earlier this month with Gardeners’
World veteran presenter Carol Klein presenting a new BBC series
called aptly enough Grow Your Own Veg (BBC2, Friday nights
at 8.30pm). The six episodes will cover the following topics:
Breaking New Ground (introduction to the series) Feature vegetable
– Potatoes, Roots, Legumes, Brassicas, Salads, Onions
& Chard and Pumpkins & Squashes.
Carol Klein takes novice vegetable growers through a gardening
year to learn how to get the best out of their space from
the RHS experts at Rosemoor and Harlow Carr. Carol rediscovers
the joys of growing organic vegetables for the first time
in 20 years. She also helps a first-time gardener and her
family see just how easy it is to grow their own, and shows
that whatever size your patch - from a balcony to a suburban
back garden - anyone can grow veg.
At the Garden Centre and through our Internet web site,
www.hedging.co.uk, we are looking to improve the range and
variety of young vegetables plants on offer this season –
watch this space for further details and special offers. |
Find out more about Carol Klien's book on Amazon's web site |
Bring
on the plants
The potted bulbs - crocus, dwarf iris, narcissi and tulips - amongst
others are now pushing through the compost with renewed vigour as
the days begin to lengthen. We’ve increased the range of spring-flowering
bulbs this year, so if you’ve spaces to fill in the border,
or gaps to plug in your pots, there should be a pot or more of bulbs
to plant and provide that welcome splash of colour over the next
few months.
It may be January but spring is just around the corner as far
as the gardening season is concerned.
Due in at the beginning of February is our new supplier of young
baby plants, KinderGarden Plants. This Spalding-based company works
closely with top-notch seed and bedding plant breeders Ball-Colegrave
Seeds and they offer a fantastic range of both seed and vegetatively
propagated material.
KinderGarden net pots, which the young plants are grown in, are
now made from rice husks – the natural waste by-product of
commercial rice production. These pots are fully degradable so can
be added to the compost heap – so much better than the plastic
equivalent. In addition, all KinderGarden products are now produced
using 40% reduced peat compost.
Amongst the 114 varieties there are plenty of novelties to look
out for including Begonia ‘Million Kisses’ (pictured),
Calibrachoa ‘Cabaret Series’, Cuphea ‘Firecracker’,
Impatiens ‘Fanfare Pink Sparkles’ (pictured), Oxalis
‘Sunset Velvet’ and Verbena ‘Aztec Light Pink’.
Camellia
heaven
 Yes,
it’s that time of the year when the beauties of winter literally
bloom into the scene with their cheery colour and distinctive stage
presence. Camellias are perfect patio plants, highly prized for
their luxuriant evergreen foliage and exotic coloured flowers, and
perfect for growing in pots, in sheltered shady areas of the garden.
We are stocking a wide range of camellias grown down in sunny
Devon, where they enjoy higher light levels, especially through
the winter months, which is essential for the production of good
camellia plants.
We’ve a fantastic range of colours available from the popular
‘Adolphe Audusson’
with those large semi-double red flowers to the carmine rose blooms
of ‘Inbricata
Rubra’ (pictured) and the ruffled edged double flowers
of ‘Margaret
Davis’; there’s a camellia to suit every colour
taste. All plants mentioned are priced at a reasonable £12.95
and are supplied in 3-litre pots. We have 20 plants available in
our mail order range - click
here for more details.
Sale
Prices
 At
the moment we are happy to offer some excellent genuine bargains.
Probably the best is the sale furniture. We are offering 50% reduction
on certain lines where we have only limited stock from last season
which we will not be re-stocking this year. There are children’s
chairs and picnic sets, very comfortable sun loungers, some metal
sets and some wooden sets and chairs. It is a genuine end of stock
sale so cannot be repeated. It may seem a little foolish buying
outdoor furniture when all one can think of is sitting in front
of a warm fire indoors, but you may kick yourself in the summer
if you can only get the same quality at a much higher price.
A more topical line which we do have on special offer at the moment
is the Haxnicks Oak Cold Frame which normally retails at £99.99
and could be yours for £79.99. Also the Haxnicks Oak Plant
House on offer at £149.99 instead of the normal price of £179.99.
As both these items are attractive they would not look amiss on
the patio, and they are invaluable for protecting all the early
seedlings.
If you feel you need something a little larger we have a greenhouse
offer running from the 1st to the 28th February. If you purchase
any Halls 4x6 Greenhouse you will received one paraffin heater model
300w free of charge. This heater has a recommended retail price
of £24.99. With greenhouse and heater you will really be able
to get going with those early sowings.
Last but not least, for all you keen vegetable growers we now
have a wonderful selection of Onions, Shallots, Mushrooms and Garlic,
and the new range of Italian vegetable seeds from Thompson and Morgan
which complement the very popular collection of Italian seeds we
have from Franchi. Makes your mouth water just to look at them!
Gardening
Talk for February: The A-Z of Fool-Proof Gardening
As you will have read in last month’s Newsletter we are now
arranging a monthly talk at 10.30 on the second Wednesday of every
month. Buckingham Golf Club, just opposite us, has kindly given
us use of their lecture room and those who attended the January
talk all agreed what a splendid venue it was, with a comfortable
room with wonderful views across the course to the river in the
valley below.
On the 14th February Chris Day will be talking on The A-Z of Fool-Proof
Gardening. This is a whirl-wind canter through the alphabet on how
to get the best from your garden and your plants. Short-cuts, practical
grow-how and topical advice. All in all an informative and fun talk.
As last month there will be a free raffle to be drawn back at
the customer service desk at about 12.00. Last month’s prize
of a fruit tree, and booby prize of a grow-bag were well received
by the winners.
Free
Tea and Coffee
Wednesday is a good day to visit the Garden Centre as for some
unknown reason, it tends to be a quieter day, so our staff have
more time to help you with any gardening advice or queries. Also
the team in the bare root area are not so busy with customers so
you should not have to wait for others to be served.
To encourage customers to take advantage of the mid-week lull
the restaurant manager has offered to entice any holders of our
discount card in for a free cup of coffee or tea on any Wednesday
mornings between 9.00 and 11.00am, so if you are coming to the monthly
talk you will have time for a coffee before heading off to the Golf
Club.
Job
Vacancies at the Garden Centre
We have a number of vacancies at the Garden Centre at the moment
in the plants department, the outdoor landscaping and sundries department
and for a maintenance person and delivery driver. For more information
please see our website - www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk/jobs
or telephone Martin Griffiths on 01280 827917.
10
gardening tasks for February
- Most gardens look untidy at this time of the year when the
leaves have fallen from shrubs and trees and the herbaceous plants
have died down. If the weather allows, now is a good time to go
round the garden and tidy everything up – cut or tie back
plants that are overhanging paths or the lawn. Remove canes and
other supports left in the beds and clear away containers standing
empty or, worse still, full of dead plants! However, when tidying
up don’t forget about hibernating animals, birds and insects.
Creatures such as hedgehogs will have curled up for the winter
in protected places so make sure you do not disturb them. Piles
of leaves in hidden corners of the garden can harbour insects
and other food for birds so some untidiness can be a good thing!
- Now is a good time to mulch established fruit trees using one
of the J Arthur Bower’s soil conditioners or mulches, or
if you have any well rotted compost in your compost heaps now
is a good time to spread that around as a mulch.
- Even in winter containers of winter bedding such as pansies
and ivies may need watering in dry conditions, especially if they
are in the shelter of a porch or overhanging roof. If you have
tender specimen plants (such as olives, palms or citrus) protect
them from the cold with horticultural fleece. You can also use
bubble wrap insulation around pots to keep the warmth in. However,
do make sure that the pot’s drainage is unaffected by wrapping
this material around the plant – the pot must remain free-draining,
especially through the winter period.
- Houseplants, both foliage and flowering, will benefit from
increased amounts of humidity as temperatures can be erratic indoors.
Misting is the most instant and effective way of adding valuable
moisture particles to the atmosphere. Make sure the sprayer is
topped up with water and is kept in the same room as your plants
– so the water remains at room temperature.
Avoid wetting the leaves of hairy stemmed and leaved houseplants,
such as African Violets, Gloxinia and Streptocarpus. For these
plants, stand in saucers filled with gravel or lightweight, expanded
clay aggregate (sold under the brand Hydroleca). This material
absorbs up to 30% of its own weight in water and then slowly releases
it to plant roots.
- There is still time to prune late-flowering clematis as well
as apple and pear trees. When pruning always make the cut above
a bud, sloping away from it.
- Inspect plants in pots for vine weevil larvae. These white crescent-shaped
grubs lodge in the rootball and if they are not spotted they will
eat away the entire root system. Gently knock each plant out of
its pot and pick off any weevils by hand. Apply Provado Vine Weevil
Killer as a drench – although for many untreated pots this
may be one treatment too late.
- Some weeds will continue to grow and seed if conditions are
mild. Choose a dry day and hoe the soil to loosen the surface
and this will get rid of the weeds and give the garden a ‘cultivated’
look.
- Check on trellis and all structures supporting climbers and
carry out any repairs that are needed. If you find it necessary,
untie the plants and remove them from their supports, as this
is much easier to do while the plants are dormant, for a large
climber in full leaf can be very heavy. Before plants start growing
actively, check on the ties that secure them to their supports.
Replace any ties which have rotted and add extra ties if these
are required (try our innovative Velcro ties).
- Clean and sharpen mowers, shears and other tools.
- Hygiene is crucial in the winter greenhouse, otherwise grey
mould (Botrytis) may infect over-wintering plants. Pick off old
flowers and dying leaves and dispose of them. Don't over water
plants. It's worth using a fan in the daytime to improve air circulation.
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