News - Page 105
Plant your new potatoes now and you’ll give yourself the best chance of an early harvest. Timing your planting is a bit of a lottery as there’s always the chance of a late frost, but you can usually risk it by late March. Just in case, keep some horticultural fleece handy (you’ll find fleece at our garden centre here in Pickering) and throw a couple of layers over emerging foliage to protect it if the temperature drops.
Plant your tubers with the “rose...
Read more...Sow beetroot for delicious early crops within a few weeks’ time. Beetroot are among the quickest and easiest of veg to get going in spring, and are just as happy in a roomy container as in the ground.
Sow Beetroot
Varieties include traditional purple ‘Boltardy’ and unusual striped heritage variety ‘Chioggia’, but there are lots more, including golden ones which don’t ‘bleed’: browse the seed racks here at the garden centre in Pickeri...
Read more...Plant Asiatic lilies now for a fabulously exotic display later this summer. Asiatic lilies are among the easiest lilies to grow, and certainly the most spectacular. They tend to flower a little earlier than other lilies and include brilliantly coloured varieties in shades of copper, pink, deepest purple and pure white. For even more wow factor there are also two-tone and double types. Come over to the garden centre in Pickering and browse through ou...
Read more...Join in the fun for Garden Re-Leaf Day and raise money for charity! There's got loads going on at garden centres across the UK to mark this annual fundraiser – Show your support for Greenfingers.
This will be the sixth year for Garden Re-Leaf, held each March in aid of the Greenfingers Charity, which builds gardens for children in hospices and their families. So far they’ve created 51 magical outdoor spaces for patients to enjoy, with a further 15 promised th...
Read more...Clear green manure crops planted last autumn to cover soil over winter, like winter tares, field beans, or winter rye. These useful cover crops are invaluable in the veg garden, where they break up heavy soil and add nutrients to benefit your veg throughout the season.
Useful cover crops
About four weeks before you need the area for growing, get to work clearing them away to make room for your veg. Shear off the top growth close to the ground, and ca...
Read more...Plant gladioli corms in containers to grow on under cover in a cool greenhouse or conservatory for the earliest possible displays of showy blooms this summer.
Gladioli
lads are bang on trend right now, with seductive new varieties in shades of deepest purple, magenta pink or pure white to choose from. Growing them in containers is ideal if you have a patio to fill, or if your soil is on the heavy side, as they prefer drier, free-draining conditions.<...
Read more...March is such an exciting month! There are seeds to sow, new plants to choose, and spring to enjoy. Here are a few of the jobs you can get on with this month:
General tasks:
- Get flower beds ready for the year ahead by scattering general fertiliser between plants and mulching with well-rotted manure or soil improver.
- Treat lawns for moss by applying moss killer, available from our garden centre here in Pickering.
- Wait a few wee...
Plant a rainbow of colour to welcome in spring by packing patio pots and filling flower beds with primulas and polyanthus. These cheerful bedding plants offer great value, flowering their hearts out for weeks on end to brighten your outlook on even the dullest of days.
New varieties are continually being bred offering outstanding garden performance, larger flowers and better resistance to the vagaries of our weather. Although single-coloured flowers are alway...
Read more...Keep on top of weeds right from the start and you’ll not only make your garden look better – you’ll have fewer problems later in the year, since you’ll deny them the chance to seed around and spread.
Keep on top of Weeds
Hoe off annual weeds regularly – once a week is ideal – choosing a dry, sunny day wherever possible so the chopped-off weeds shrivel on the soil. Weeds that are not in flower or bearing seeds make great compost, too...
Read more...Install raised beds in the garden now and they’ll be primed and ready to plant once the season gets under way next month. Raised beds are great for vegetables but are also ideal for herbs and cut flowers.
Raised Bed Gardening
They’re good for your plants, too. They hold all the nutrients in place, making the soil so rich you can really pack them to overflowing. And you’ll easily be able to reach into the centre without treading on th...
Read more...