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.

Autumn Is Here

After the unseasonably warm September its a relief to feel a nip in the air – This is such a lovely time of year when the whole feel of life seems to change over-night from the intense bright colours and warmth of late summer to the cooler nights, crisp mornings and earthy tones of Autumn. The urge to tidy up the garden and prepare for winter before the cold sets in hits us in the garden centres too. We are also busy sweeping up leaves, top dressing and trimming the hardy plants and trying to find a minute to enjoy the plants that look their best at this time of year – It’s all about leaf colour, fruit and berries.

Crab Apples are looking especially lovely at the moment. An under rated small garden tree they offer good year round interest in any garden. Different varieties vary in habit from neat and upright to round or pendulous. In the best years branches are laden with small ornamental apples from yellow to dark red in the Autumn – a bit too sour to eat but some varieties make a good jelly. Then in the spring the blossom can really give a garden that ‘wow’ factor.

Plant Of The Week

Our plant of the week isn’t strictly a plant but plants - Daffodil bulbs. Bought now in packets they are relatively cheap and very easy to use. Making a really cheery addition to any garden these plants flower in succession (dependent on variety) over late winter and into the spring just when the dark winter months feel like they’ll never end. Plant now in the garden or try the shorter varieties in your tubs and look forward to a splash of colour in a few months time.

The Christmas Team

We have had an extremely busy couple of weeks getting our Christmas decorations out on sale. A dedicated team of buyers and merchandisers have been planning our hand-picked ranges since February this year and all that thought and hard work has certainly paid off with some beautiful displays full of inspiration. Our Christmas elves will still be washing glitter out of their hair for a few weeks to come!

Plant Of The Week

My plant of the week this week is the Evergreen Azalea. These plants are perfect for those of you in the forest & around the Ferndown area. The acidic Heathland type soil is just what these plants need to grow well in. Evergreen Azaleas add year round structure to your garden but really come into their own in the spring when they flower their socks off!

WI Group

We had another busy week at Golden Acres last week. At our John Browns Garden Centre we held an afternoon for the Absolutely WI group from Ferndown on Thursday. The ladies enjoyed a tour around the centre & to find out a bit about what happens behind the scenes to get the products on the shelves & benches, then a delicious cream tea to set us up for a Gardeners question time session afterward. Pete Wood our Plant manager from West Parley & one of our favourite suppliers from a nursery on the Isle of Purbeck, Bob Hollister, joined me on the panel where the ladies really put us through our paces with some tough questions. Pete & Bob both spent a few years in training at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew so no pressure for me then! I think I held my own reasonably well...

Wildlife In The Garden

A representative of the Hants and IOW Wildlife Trusts will be visiting Cadnam Garden Centre on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th October 2011.

The Wildlife Trusts group is the only charity solely concerned with the conservation of all wildlife both on land and sea and they will have details on how to encourage wildlife into your garden. More information can be found on their website http://www.hwt.org.uk/