Christmas Trees and Poinsettia




Quality Christmas Trees Now In At All Our Garden Centres!!



Well it’s really starting to feel very festive now at Golden Acres. The weathers finally got colder, I heard the first Christmas tunes on the radio over the week-end and we’ve taken the first deliveries of our Christmas trees! We pride ourselves on sourcing the best quality trees with the lushest growth. Each tree is unwrapped on delivery so that we can check every single one for quality, a lovely job that leaves you smelling all Christmassy. We’ve also held the first of our Christmas open evenings which are always a joy, a real family affair with great atmosphere. We have bell ringers and choirs to entertain and complimentary mulled wine and mince pies that won’t fail to warm you.

Our beautiful Poinsettia

The obvious plant for this week is Poinsettias. We source these from family run nursery in Wiltshire and they really are the best we can find, the plants are chosen for their strong healthy growth and really rich vivid colours – The guys at our Cadnam centre were so proud of theirs they sent us some photos to show you!

Poinsettias will last you a good couple of months if you don’t let them catch a chill – so keep them out of draughty areas, away from doors and windows – give them a reasonable amount of light, keep them moist but not wet and don’t forget to feed them regularly.

Get Planning!

On the damper, darker days when you can’t get out into the garden theres still much planning to do for next year. Its a great opportunity to stay in the warm researching new plants you may want to try next year deciding which ones didn’t work for you, what to replace them with and to plan what look you’re going for in your planted containers or in an area that needs a make-over. We do the same in the Garden centres. Planning what plants to stock, which ones will be popular next year, which ones didn’t perform well and what displays we can create to help inspire you. The next few months are busy busy as we see suppliers to source the best quality and most exciting new items for you, plan promotions to save you money, train and learn to keep the advice we give you up to date and struggle to control ourselves as we get rather passionate about the products we sell and it is so exciting when you find something special!

Roses

The next few months are not always the best for spending time outside but there is still much enjoyment to be had on the sunnier days getting outside to tidy up dead foliage and leaves, preparing the soil and replenishing nutrients for the next season with a light fork over and a good thick mulch of a quality soil impover such as manure or garden compost that will ensure your plants grow strong and healthy next year. It’s also a great time to plant hardier stuff such as shrubs, roses, fruit and trees giving them time to establish themselves for the coming year. The fresh air and some light exercise outdoors also does wonders for the soul.

It’s a great time to plant roses. Availabilty is best now when the new season’s stock is just becoming available. Roses are usually field grown and cannot be lifted until they go dormant when the weather gets cooler. They are then potted for you to take away easily and to keep them tip-top until they get back into the ground or a larger container.

Hellebore Plants

We’ve taken delivery of the first new seasons Hellebore plants over the last few weeks at our Landford centre. We especially love the Harvington strains which are bred on a specialist Nursery in Harvington, Worcester. Allthough Hellebores are considered bit of a connoisseurs plant they are real plantsmans favourites for good reason and are really very easy to grow if given a good moisture retentive soil and a bit of dappled shade gradually growing into large clumps of evergreen foliage. Cut the foliage back in the late winter to reveal the new buds pushing through that by February will have developed into the beautiful anemone shaped flowers that are so prized by gardeners and come in many shades and shapes. Doubles, speckled and picotees... Crisp whites, delicate yellows, as many shades of pink as you could imagine through to deepest - almost black - red.... Stunning when little else is in flower and especially good when partnered with snowdrops and miniature daffodils in freshly mulched soil.

Plant Of The Week

Now we’ve had a frost we can’t put off doing something with pots and hanging baskets for the autumn and winter any longer. Now is the perfect time to get re-planting with Violas, Pansies and Primroses. To add a bit of structure to your winter containers try adding small shrubs and conifers, an ivy or two and even the odd heather or evergreen perennial such as euphorbia, heuchera or hellebores. I like to underplant mine with small flowering bulbs such as crocus or daffodils for a surprise in spring when I’ve forgotten that I’ve put them in! Don’t forget to water them, containers often don’t collect enough water on their own in the winter and to encourage tough growth and flowers try feeding with tomato food.

My favourite bedding plant at the moment is the Viola. They come in a huge array of colours and their pretty little faces cheer up the most grim winters day. Violas are surprisingly tough even when hit by a severe frost they can look a little sad early in the morning but soon perk up as the daytime temperature rises.