Dahlias, Cannas and Large Flowered Begonias

Once the first frost has blackened the foliage of dahlias it’s time to carefully lift the tubers for overwintering in a cool but frost-free place. Remove any loose soil and hang them upside down for a few days to drain any water in the stems. Then remove all dried soil, label and store them in just damp compost. The tubers of cannas and large-flowered begonias will also need lifting. Canna tubers are also stored in just damp compost, but begonias should be stored dry in nets.

Soft fruit plants available now

Create your own fruit garden – now’s an excellent time to plant fruit trees and bushes, and we have a superb range available.
To ensure bumper crops, plant with plenty of organic matter and slow-release fertiliser. Make sure you train bushes where necessary, and use stakes and ties for fruit trees. 
Our 2014 soft fruit range is now in stock. Imagine all the blueberries, currants, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries you could grow for tasty treats next year - yum yum!

Composting

Don’t throw away your spent bedding plants, kitchen waste and other plant material – turn them into valuable compost for improving your soil and mulching your beds.
Fallen tree leaves can be turned into leaf mould – the perfect soil improver and mulch, especially for rhododendrons, azaleas and other woodland plants.
Making good compost and leaf mould is easy with our wide range of compost bins, compost and leaf mould accelerators, leaf rakes and collectors. We sell everything you'll need at our Exeter garden centres and new this year at our Old Rydon Lane garden centre are composter aerators - a hand tool that enables you to turn and mix your composter easily.

Brrrrr it's getting cold - time to wrap up

Tender plants won’t appreciate being kept out in the cold – so move them somewhere protected from frost and cold winds.

We have an excellent selection of cold frames and heaters to give protection and beat off the worst of the winter weather.

Plants that are hardier but still sensitive to winter cold will appreciate a thick mulch of bark around their stems to keep the soil (and therefore their roots) warm. You can also cover plants with fleece and bubble wrap in the coldest weather. Make sure you don't wrap them in with any pests.

We've got all the equipment you need at our garden centres and many are on sepcial offer at the moment.

Remember all our tender plants come with a pink (rather than a white) label. Unfortunately our tender plants don't come with our plant guarantee so make sure you wrap them up.

Pest Watch

Although most pests and diseases are less active in autumn and winter, be vigilant for problems, and deal with them as soon as they’re seen.
Houseplants and plants overwintered in greenhouses and frames are especially susceptible to pests, but can be quickly helped with a pesticide spray.  Maintaining a high humidity around most foliage houseplants – especially those in centrally heated houses – will help keep them strong and healthy and help reduce red spider mite attacks. The reverse is true in greenhouses and frames where high humidity can lead to problems with grey mould and other diseases.

Plant hedges now

Hedges are the perfect solution for providing a colourful, natural-looking boundary to a garden. There are lots of plants suitable for providing a hedge, barrier or screen – whether you want evergreen or deciduous, formal or informal.  Now’s also a great time to plant an inexpensive hedge as there’s a wide range available of bare-rooted hedging plants – such as privet, beech, hawthorn and hornbeam.

When it comes to planting a new hedge it’s important that the soil is prepared well. Start by digging out a trench, fork over the base and incorporate plenty of organic matter. Mix the excavated soil with lots more organic matter and some bonemeal or controlled-release fertiliser, then re-fill – firming the soil as you go.

Before planting, water the plants well; always place the roots of bare-root plants in a bucket of water for half an hour. Then plant at the right distance; most types should be planted about 18 inches apart (48cm), although conifers and more vigorous types can be planted two to three feet apart (60cm). Then after planting water them in well, and water during dry spells for the first year.

Our garden centres have a wide range of hedging available just call 01392 873672 or pop in to discuss your requirements.

Plant of the month: Cyclamen

Our homegrown cyclamen are looking fantastic and are exceptionally good value.

Whilst we grow larger cyclamen to have as Christmas houseplants, the type of cyclamen I am referring to here are hardy cyclamen for outdoors.

A delightful tuberous perennial (plant once but it will reward you with colour year after year) that provides colour when little else is flowering. Cyclamen flower mostly in autumn and winter but can extend into early spring. Hardy cyclamen are ideal for naturalising under trees, on banks or in a shady border and planted in association with other early-flowering woodland plants such as snowdrops and primroses.

As a winter plant they don't mind the cold and personally we love them for brightening up containers and providing low level colour at the base of trees and fronts of borders.

 

At £1.99 each or 3 for £5 they are a bargain!

                   

Free tools for Farms for City Children

Here's a photo of local farm manager Lee from the charity Farms for City Children. We were delighted to hand over several bundles of recycled tools to the charity from our scheme with the organisation Tools Shed.

 

Our customers very kindly donate their old, rusty unwanted gardening hand tools. We then pass these on to Tools Shed who take them to Dartmoor Prison where the prisoners recondition them and make them as good as new. We then get the tools back to pass on to local community groups and charities.

 

As you can see Lee is over the moon! If you are a local community group that could benefit from this scheme then do contact us by e-mail and to find out more about the brilliant Farms for Children then please visit http://www.farmsforcitychildren.org  

Halloween

Have a goulish Halloween this year – we’ve got everything you need to ensure you have a devilishly good time on October the 31^st. How about a besom broom to complete your witch’s costume and why not pick up some pumpkin seeds so you have home-grown pumpkins next year?

 

In addition, our Clyst St Mary garden centre has Pumpkin Mollys as their fish of the month, a great price of £5 for 5 fish plus buy in half term week to receive a free packet of Haribo Halloween sweets!

Indoor Azaleas & Cyclamen

 

Indoor azaleas and cyclamen are hard to beat for providing colour and a warm, cheery sight on a miserable autumn or winter’s day – but they do need to be cared for if you want the best flowers and a long flowering period.

 

They need a cool position in the house – and certainly well away from radiators and other sources of heat. They also need good light, but not in direct sunlight. Another important success factor is to keep the compost moist at all times – don’t let it become dry or waterlogged. Watering little and often is usually the best way to get good results. When watering cyclamen it’s important that the tuber doesn’t become too wet so we always water from below by standing the pot in a saucer and topping up the water until the top of the compost becomes moist and remember to use lime-free water (rainwater) for azaleas.

 

Just ask a member of staff in our houseplant area for helpful advice.

Half hardy bedding plants

Lots of customers have asked how to look after their half-hardy bedding plants over the winter.

 

Half-hardy bedding plants include fuchsias, surfinia petunias, geraniums, osteospermums and the other summer bedding plants we rely on. They’re not cold and frost hardy so they need to be kept frost-free during the autumn and winter.

 

The best place for them is a heated greenhouse or warm conservatory, but a cool spare bedroom or even a garage or shed will do  – providing it has a window and doesn’t get too cold.

 

You should start by cutting back excessive leafy growth, remove dead, dying and diseased leaves and any flowers, trim the roots and then pot them up into a pot just big enough for the roots using fresh compost. Don’t forget to check them over for pests too before you bring them indoors.

Autumn and Winter Colour

Because this time of year can be a bit dull in the garden we’ve been asked how to create masses of colour for autumn and early winter.

 

We think that one of the easiest ways to give colour and structure is to plant evergreen shrubs. If you choose carefully you can also have some welcome winter flowers. So, try mahonia, sarcococca, Viburnum tinus (see below) and winter-flowering heathers.

 

Once you have a backbone of shrubs you can plant herbaceous and bedding plants in the gaps. Asters will often flower well into late autumn – as will Japanese anemones. Further colour comes from planting hardy cyclamen, hardy chrysanths and winter-flowering pansies. Don’t forget the value of berries and autumn foliage colours. Just have a look around one of our planterias and you’ll see there’s a wealth of ideas to turn your garden into an autumn and winter wonderland.

Nursery Manager's Special - Patio chrysanthemums

Our bronze coloured patio chrysanthemums are looking fantatic and very autumnal.

They are fresh from the nursery and a bargain at £3.99 but you can buy two for just £6.50!

Please note other colours (such as yellow) are available but not on the special offer.

 

National Conifer Week

It's National Conifer Week - a time to big up the often overlooked conifer.

Conifers have many advantages for today’s modern garden;  good aesthetic qualities, they are low
maintenance, they provide interesting shapes and colours all year round, and can provide an instant colour or design effect. There are many different types of shapes and colours for any garden situation.

From a small balcony with room for a container, to acres of grounds with space, conifers can add something truly special to any garden. Conifers are also a wonderful way to bring gorgeous colour, structure and drama to a garden all year round, whether as a backdrop, a standalone feature, or in a border with other plants.

A potted conifer can be used to brighten up a doorstep or

balcony, whilst planted conifers can create height and add fantastic accent pieces to any garden.

We grow 69 varieties on our nursery in Exeter so we're bound to have a conifer just right for your garden!

Houseplant care

Now’s the time to give your houseplants some tender loving care. Most houseplants will need less water than in summer and you can stop feeding foliage houseplants. Autumn and winter-flowering houseplants will benefit from feeding with a high potash liquid fertiliser every 7 to 10 days. If your plants have been enjoying the summer outdoors bring them back inside before the weather deteriorates.

Summer bedding cuttings

Take cuttings from all your half-hardy bedding plants, such as fuchsias, bedding geraniums, marguerites and osteospermums, to ensure you have plenty of plants for next year. Take the cuttings just below a leaf, remove the leaves from the lower half of the cutting and dip the end in hormone rooting powder or liquid. Then insert the cuttings in pots of cuttings compost. Cover the pots with a polythene bag or put them in a propagator and place somewhere warm and sheltered. 

Don’t forget to pick up everything you need for successful cuttings, including pots, compost, dibbers, rooting hormone, labels and propagators from one of our garden centres in Exeter.

Autumn is here!

Autumn is the ideal season to plant all kinds of things in the garden from vegetables, seeding lawns, shrubs and perennials to evergreen, fruit, and deciduous trees. Yet when it comes to planting, many gardeners mistakenly think this should be done in Spring.


The ideal period for autumn planting is regarded as six weeks before the first hard frost so September and October is the perfect window for gardeners. Rather than let your garden lie dormant over winter, it can be rich with colour from oranges to reds, vibrant pinks and purples, blues to evergreens.

Autumn is a great time to plant as the soil is warm and the rain is frequent, providing plenty of moisture. This will give the plant the best start in life and encourage root growth. The plant will have time to put down roots before winter so that when spring arrives it will have a real head start. The plant will also require less watering as it will have already started to establish.
When planting, water well and remove the pot. Plant in a hole that's approximately around 5cm larger all round. Back fill with soil mixed with multi purpose compost and gently firm. Water again and repeat regularly until established.




Popular plants for the Autumn include:

Heuchera 'Palace Purple' and ‘sanguinea' Plant together for an eye-catching mix of contrasting colour making stunning borders and pots in the Autumn.
Choisya ‘Ternata' An evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green leaves, and clusters of fragrant, pink-tinged white flowers in late spring
Viburnum ‘Davidii' ‘Tinus' and ‘Eve Price' An evergreen shrub for winter interest with dark green foliage and white star shaped flowers from winter to spring.
Helleborus Provides a long winter season of interest with pink or white flowers that are produced continually through winter and early spring.
Sedum  ‘Autumn Joy' and ‘'Ruby Glow' - Easy to care for perennial that creates a colourful display with red/pink flowers that lasts well into winter.

Winter flowering containers

To get the best displays from your winter and spring hanging baskets and containers, plant them now.

Plants to use include ivy, dwarf conifers and dwarf shrubs, winter-flowering pansies, hardy primulas and polyanthus. Add bulbs to extend life and colour of the display.

We have a fantastic range of ready made containers and hanging baskets in our garden centres or if you prefer to make your own you'll find everything you need from pots to compost to stunning homegrown plants.

Compost

Recycling and making your own perfect crumbly compost is a great way of being green. First you’ll need a container or compost bin to keep all the contents together which helps build up the temperature needed for the material to rot down. Make sure you have a good mixture of material – all grass clippings for instance will just make a horrid gooey mess, so add kitchen waste, spent bedding plants or even shredded newspapers and make sure everything is well mixed together.

Don’t compost cooked food, the roots of perennial weeds or weeds that are in flower or are seeding. Make sure all the material are in small pieces to aid the decomposition process. Try to fill the bin in one go with lots of plant material as this will help build up the high temperatures. Cover open bins and heaps with plastic sacks or even pieces of carpet. If you have a lot of tree leaves then it’s a good idea to compost these separately or mix them with grass cuttings to make a lovely material called leaf mould – which is perfect as a soil conditioner and mulch.

Tree Field Tours - FREE to attend

If you are considering adding ornamental or fruit trees to your garden then come along to one of our free tree tours.

Held behind the scenes on our nursery in Old Rydon Lane, you will be shown the open ground tree field and we will explain how we produce trees and help you understand terms such as rootstocks, tree shapes and fruit pollination groups. At the end of the tour you will be free to wander the field and order from the field for collection or delivery later in the season.

Tree Field Tours are at 10.30am on the following days:
Wednesday 22nd October
Saturday 8th November
Wednesday 19th November
and Friday 21st November

To reserve your place please e-mail office@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk or call 01392 873672.

Force bulbs for Christmas

Now’s the time to buy your prepared hyacinth and other bulbs to guarantee flowers for Christmas. Plant them in pots or shallow bowls, leaving the neck of the bulb just exposed above the compost.
Then place somewhere cold and dark for 10 to 14 weeks. 
They can be moved into the light and warmth when the flower buds start emerging.

We have a fantastic range of bulbs in both our garden centres in Exeter.

 

Autumn garden plans

Start planning that new garden border now. Look for plants with a long flowering period and those that have two or more seasons of interest with flowers, fruit, colourful stems and/or interesting foliage. Choose plants with different foliage colours and shapes, and remember that while evergreens help bring structure and winter interest they may need livening up with deciduous plants. Use winter and spring bedding plants to increase the seasons of interest, and plant bulbs for extra splashes of colour.

 

Fruit and Vegetables

The harvesting season is now in full swing, so make sure you pick crops that are ready. Leave them too long and they’ll lose flavour and tenderness. Now’s a good time to sow endive, radish and spring cabbage for next year plus winter varieties of spinach and maincrop turnips.

Having spent lots of time and effort growing your fruit and veg to perfection, protect it with fleece or small-mesh plastic netting – or, if you have a large area, put up a fruit cage.

 

Ericaceous plants

Rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas are all acid loving plants or ericaceous plants. They will be setting their flower buds now to bloom next year, so it’s important that they never go short of water at this time of year or the flower buds may fail next spring. Feeding will also produce more and better flowers. Mulching with bark or similar products will help maintain soil moisture levels and insulate the roots from damaging high temperatures.

 

Pest Watch

Pests and diseases thrive in hot weather, so check plants regularly for tell-tale signs. Mildews and red spider mite are always worse in warm, dry conditions and these can soon get out of control. Earwigs eat the leaves and flower buds on plants like clematis, dahlias and chrysanthemums, and even slugs and snails can be on the prowl at this time of year. If your plants have a problem, just ask one of our friendly staff to help you choose a suitable product to deal with it or ask us via blogger or St Bridget's Facebook page

 

Spring Flowering bulbs

Start planting up some spring bulbs. We have lots in both our garden centres to choose from, including favourites such as daffodils and crocuses. For colour now, add evergreen shrubs such as rosemary and euonymus, winter-flowering pansies and primroses to give you interest through autumn and winter. Remember when planting your containers to underplant with bulbs.

Garden Furniture

There’s still plenty of time to really enjoy your garden this summer. Make the most of it by investing in a new furniture set – perhaps you need something with more chairs and a bigger table – or a large parasol to create extra shade. Or how about a swing seat or hammock to relax in? Remember to pick up any care products you need for wooden furniture too. Our garden furniture showroom is located at our Old Rydon Lane garden centre. Visit now for some fantastic offers which can be found on our website too St Bridget Nurseries Special Offers

Architectural plants, a hint of the exotic…that’s ornamental grasses

More than at any other time, the garden is a refuge now.  As a place to escape from offices it can’t be bettered and in these recessionary times, leisure destinations that are as economical or rewarding are very hard to find.

If you’re looking for a plant with architectural qualities, a hint of the exotic and very low requirements for care, then ornamental grasses could be your answer.  Flowering grasses provide a spectacle in the garden that far outweighs their demands for care, or their initial investment.  Many, including Imperata and Pennisetum are said to be ‘trouble free’ and they can bring pleasure year after year.  They’re also fantastic for softening up hard landscaping, perhaps on a new-build site.

The range of ornamental grasses available these days means that you can find something for every situation.  In even the smallest garden you should be able to plant specimens of several different species/varieties.  The taller species and varieties offer the promise of sensory reward from the movement and sound as breezes sough through the leaves.  Shorter grasses are suitable for container planting.

 

Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’, also known as the ‘Red Baron’, is a spectacular grass.  It’s a clump-forming plant and the leaves are short, at about 40cm, but they turn red from the tips of the stems downwards, almost as far as the base.  Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln' is a charming, deciduous grass that forms a compact, low mound and produces long-lasting, soft, pinkish, brush-like flowers in late summer that resemble squirrel tails. The bright green leaves turn yellow in autumn. It’s a fairly undistinguished plant until the flowers appear, so use it alongside spring bulbs or early-flowering perennials.  

Ornamental grasses combine well with other plants.  Autumn flowering plants, for example, asters, helianthus or chrysanthemums make good partners, but foliage plants can also be effective alongside more subtle grasses.  For example a side-by-side blend of the foliage of Imperata and Elaeagnus can be a delightful and understated combination.

Most grasses are easy to grow and will thrive in even poorer soils, though they do tend to need a full sun position.  Once established they will perform year after year with the minimum of intervention and have low water requirements, making them perfect for drought-prone areas.  However, if you want to do your best by them, feed in spring with a general purpose fertiliser.  They’re sufficiently sturdy to survive the odd ball being kicked through them, which makes them the ideal choice for a family garden.

All grasses mentioned in this article are sold in both are garden centres for only £6.85 each.

Lawn preparation for September

September is the best time to sow a new lawn or lay turf, but it pays to prepare the area now.

To beat perennial weeds, spray with a weedkiller containing glyphosate (always read the label first and follow instructions).

Once the turf has been removed, work over the soil to a depth of 9 inches with a fork and spade, removing weed roots and large stones, and incorporating compost or composted bark.

Rake and level the soil, walk over it to settle it, rake again and then leave it bare to allow weed seeds to germinate. These can be sprayed or hoed off ready for sowing or turfing next month.

 

St Bridget's Rose of the Year

Each year we ask visitors of our rose field to vote for their favourite rose. It is clear from the results that what is beautiful to one person is not to another as we had numerous different varieties. Whether it is name, fragrance, colour or foliage everyone has their favourite!

 

However, despite so many different votes there was one rose that received more votes than any other and that is our Rose of the Year...the Hybrid Tea rose Twice in a Blue Moon.

 

This is an improved variety from the previous Blue Moon and has the same gorgeous lilac flowers but improved disease resistance and more vigour.

 

This rose is available from our garden centres or can be pre-ordered as a bare root specimen to collect in the autumn. Our potted price is £9.49 or bare root is £8.49.

 

New Rose Varieties

Visitors of our 2014 rose tours were priviledged to get a sneak peek at our three new rose varieties for 2014/15.

We have what will be Rose of the Year 2015 and as launched at Hampton Court Flower Show, "For Your Eyes Only". This is a healthy shiny foliage rose and virtually continuous flowering with a mixture of pink and apricot salmon single open flowers with a dark eye. This is a floribunda rose so will produce large clusters of flowers and ideal for bedding.

 For Your Eyes Only

 

In addition we have another floribunda rose called "Ebb Tide". This is a deep purple opening to smoked plum flowers with a strong spicy fragrance. It has a compact habit.

 Ebb Tide

 

Finally there is the unusual HT rose "Rock and Roll. Splashed and striped flowers in burgundy, cherry and cream. Fruity perfume. Compact growth.

 Rock and Roll

 

You can order roses now as bare rooted specimens for collection or delivery in the autumn. Alternatively they will be available as containerised specimens in our garden centres from late autumn. 

Garden Furniture

Gardens are for enjoying – and the summer is the best time to do it. So make sure you sit back, relax and enjoy your garden this year from the comfort of your own garden furniture.

 

We have a dedicated garden furniture showroom at Old Rydon Lane and a small range at our Clyst St Mary garden centre.

Semi-ripe cuttings

Now’s the time to take semi-ripe cuttings from some of your favourite shrubs like Hebes, Rosemary, Weigela, Ceanothus and Hydrangeas. Take the cuttings from the current year’s growth just below a leaf, remove the leaves from the lower half of the cutting and dip the end in rooting hormone. Then insert the cuttings in pots of cuttings compost.

Cover the pots with a polythene bag or put them in a propagator and place somewhere warm and sheltered but out of strong, direct sunlight. They should be ready to pot on in a few weeks.

Don’t forget to pick up everything you need to ensure perfect cuttings including pots, cuttings compost, dibbers, rooting hormone, labels and propagators when you visit one of our Exeter Garden Centres.

 

Herbs

You don't need a big garden to grow a few plants...
If you love cooking indoors or are spending the long, sunny days and evenings barbecuing, then you’ll appreciate having plenty of herbs. If you don’t have room in the rest of the garden, then plant up a pot with all your culinary favourites so they’re easily to hand when you need them. From Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme to Basil and Mint we have all the herbs you’ll need for a potpourri of scents and tastes.

Weeds

Weeds can soon take over the garden and not only do they look unsightly, but they can smother your prized plants, steal valuable water and nutrients from the soil and become hosts to pests and diseases. Now’s the time for an all-out assault on them using a hoe for annuals and small weeds, mulches and planting membranes to keep beds and borders permanently weed free and weedkillers to stop even the most persistent weeds taking over. Use a weedkiller based on glyphosate for persistent, deep-rooted perennials but remember to always read the label carefully on all chemicals. For a greener garden, we have a number of biological/mechanical alternatives.  If you need any advice – just ask we’re here to help.

Plant recommendations

Make sure your garden is bursting with colour this summer with our plants of the month. There’s plenty to choose from for long-lasting interest including Fuchsias, Roses, Penstemons, Lavatera, Lavender and Spiraea. And don’t forget our huge range of summer-flowering herbaceous perennials. Bring your garden to life with our plants of the month.
 

Flower beds and borders

We’ve been asked what maintenance beds and borders need at this time of year.

Well many plants that have produced their first flush of summer flowers, especially the bedding plants and the roses, will produce even more flowers if you regularly remove the faded flowers and seed heads or pods. Many herbaceous perennials will also produce a second flush of flowers if the flowering stems are cut right back to ground level. Those with faded or damaged leaves can also be tidied up by removing this foliage. And after cutting back, feed them with a high potash liquid fertiliser to help encourage strong growth and further flushes of flowers. Anything that was planted from last autumn onwards and all bedding plants will benefit from a good soaking once a week during hot and dry weather. Finally, by adding a thick mulch of bark, cocoa shell or gravel to moist soil you will help conserve soil moisture and help keep weeds away. A mulch has the added bonus of insulating plant roots so they don’t become scorched.

Propagation

Some customers have been asking if there are any plants they can propagate at this time of year? Well now’s the perfect time to take semi-ripe cuttings from a wide range of shrubs such as Hebes, Rosemary, Lavender, Weigela, Ceanothus and Hydrangeas. You need to remove 4-5 inch long cuttings from this year’s growth, pop them in a plastic bag to help prevent them drying out. Then prepare the cuttings by trimming them just below

a leaf. Carefully remove the leaves from the lower half of the cutting and dip the end in hormone rooting powder or liquid. Then you can insert the cuttings up to the lower leaf in pots of a gritty, cuttings compost. Cover the pots with a polythene bag or put them in a propagator and place them somewhere warm and sheltered but out of strong, direct sunlight and they should be ready to pot on in a few weeks. Plants that can be difficult to root – such as Rosemary and Lavender – are best propagated from heel cuttings. Carefully tear off a sideshoot about 4-5 inches long from the main stem ensuring there’s a small sliver of bark – or heel, then treat the cuttings in the same way as we’ve just discussed.

Drought tolerant plants

Britain is seeing evidence of climate change in the garden and we are getting drier, hotter summers. Lots of our customers are interested in growing drought-tolerant plants and there are numerous plants that can tolerate dry conditions and make excellent colourful garden features. Now these plants have developed ways of coping with drought conditions – including fleshy, hairy or waxy leaves, silvery or grey leaves and even reduced thin grass-like leaves or thorns. So this means good plants include Ceanothus, Ceratostigma, Cistus, Cytisus, Euonymus, Hebe, Lavender, Rosemary, Red Hot Poker, Catmint and Sea Holly among many, many others. What you need to bear in mind though, is that nearly all of them only become drought tolerant once they are established. So, it’s important to water them in well after planting - giving one good soaking every week or so rather than little and often - to ensure they become established as soon as possible. Applying a thick mulch of bark, cocoa shell or gravel after planting will help insulate the roots from hot, sunny conditions and maintain soil moisture levels. But it’s important to ensure the mulch is only put down when the soil is already moist. Also, don’t forget that planting membranes can also be used to help keep moisture in, too and you could even add water-retaining gels to the soil.

Lawn care

Lawns can look tired at this time of the year. The quickest and easiest way of bringing lawns back into perfect condition is to feed them. At this time of year we suggest a liquid feed. This will act quickly giving an immediate greening-up effect and as a liquid it’s less likely to scorch the grass. If the lawn is plagued with weeds or moss then a liquid feed and weed or feed, weed and mosskiller will help get these under control too. But tricky, persistent weeds are best sprayed with a selective liquid lawn weedkiller. You should also continue to mow regularly – whenever the grass is growing and needs a short, back and sides. Don’t forget to edge the lawn – it’s amazing how much this little job improves the overall appearance. Providing you mow regularly you can leave the small clippings on the lawn as they will help mulch the soil and so conserve soil moisture, but when the soil becomes really dry you may want to give the lawn a good watering. If you don’t there’s a good chance it will turn brown, but more likely than not it will green up again in the autumn.

Growing tomatoes

It seems like everyone is growing tomatoes these days and they certainly are a favourite home-grown vegetable as you can grow them in a greenhouse, in the veg garden, in pots on the patio or even in hanging baskets! A little care and attention now will ensure bumper crops throughout the summer. You need to make sure the plants are kept well and evenly watered – if the soil or compost dries out then the crop is reduced, the fruit may split and even suffer from blossom end rot – now that’s when the bottom of the fruit turns black. Crops growing in growing-bags are always the worst affected as the compost dries out so quickly. A drip watering system will help get over this.

 

Tomatoes are also hungry feeders, and need a weekly diet of liquid tomato fertiliser – this not only improves the crop, but it improves the flavour too! Make sure your plants are well supported – so tie them in regularly to their supports, which should be strong and sturdy. Finally, always remove sideshoots from upright cordon varieties – this isn’t necessary with the smaller bush varieties – then remove yellowing or dying leaves and watch out for pests and diseases and treat accordingly.

For all your tomato and gardening needs, visit one of our Exeter garden centres.

Rose Field Tours

For those of you who have been waiting for our rose field tour dates to be published, the wait is over!

This year they will be held at our Old Rydon Lane nursery on:

Friday 25th July 10.30am

Saturday 26th July 10.30am

Wednesday 30th July 10.30am

Friday 1st August 10.30am

The tour will start from the plant information hut in the garden centre, you will then be guided up to our rose field by company director and 4th generation of St Bridget Nurseries, Tammy Falloon. 

We will explain how we produce roses and demonstrate rose budding (not on the Saturday tour) before letting you wander freely through the thousands of roses to compare their beauty and fragrance.

Visitors should wear appropriate footwear (you will be entering an open ground field). The tour involves a fair amount of standing and walking. Free to attend but numbers are limited on each tour so please call 01392 873672 or e-mail office@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk to reserve your places.

Pond Plant availability list

Grant in our aquatic department has been busy getting lots of new varieties in for sale and this week we have the following pond plants, all looking fantastic:

Marginal Pond Plants 1 Litre

Water Forget-me-not "Myosotis Palustris"

Bowles Golden Sedge "Carex elata"

Arum Lily "Zantedeschia aethiopica"

Yellow Flag Iris "Iris pseudocorus"

Yellow Flag Iris variegated "Iris Pseudocorus" (Roy Davidson)

Houttuynia "Houttuynia Cordata plena"

Water Mint "Mentha aquatica"

Variegated Forget-me-not "Myosotis vatiegata maytime"

Water Horse tail "Equisetum fluviatile"

Rough Horse tail "Equisetum hyemale"

Lizards tail "Saururus cernuus"

Hedge Hyssop "Gratiola officinalis"

Yellow Musk Flower "Mimulus luteus"

Sword Leaf Rush "Juncus ensifolius"

Dwarf Water Lillies 2 Litre

Helvola (Yellow) "Nymphaea pygmaea Helvola"

Dwarf Alba (White) "Nymphaea pygmaea alba"

Perrys Baby Red "Nymphaea perrys baby red"

Dwarf Water Lillies 3.5 Litre

Dwarf Alba (White) "Nymphaea pygmaea alba"

Floating Pond Plants

Water Hyacinth "Eichhornia crassipes"

Water Lettuce "Pistia stratiotes"

Water Chestnut "Trapa natans"

Oxygenators (Bunched)

Elodea "Lagarosiphon major"

Fish Availability at our Sidmouth Road, Clyst St Mary garden centre this week (w/c 16th June)

 

 

Tropical Fish

Zebra Loach "Botia striata"

 

Coldwater Aquarium Fish

 

Blackmoor Goldfish (small)

Pearlscale Goldfish (small)

Black Ranchu Goldfish (small)

Red Cap Oranda Goldfish (small)

Panda Moor Goldfish (small)

Rosy Red Minnows "Pimephales promelas"

Gold Ring Loach "Sewellia lineolata" 

 

Pond Fish

 

Nova Red Goldfish 5-7cm

Nova Red Goldfish 10-15cm

Sarasa Comet Goldfish 7-10cm

Shubunkins 7-10cm

Shubunkins 10-15cm

Yellow Canary Goldfish 10-15cm

Golden Tench 10-12cm

Rams horn snails (Excellent Algae Eaters)

 

We're back!

Sorry to all our loyal followers who may have thought we'd disappeared over the last 4 months. We haven't but the busy spring season diverted our attention and let's face it who wants to be stuck in front of a PC when you could be outdoors enjoying arguably the best garden season of the year?!

Lots has been happening for our company though including winning the best trade exhibit in the flower and garden show at this year's Devon County Show which sadly was only open for two of the normal three days. We've had propagation tours and are now planning rose field tours (I'll do a separate blog on that) and we've finally progressed into the realm of social media and have a twitter (StBridgetExeter)

and facebook page (www.facebook.com/stbridgetnurseries).

 

Anyway, do engage with us so we know you're out there!

 

Best Wishes

Tammy Falloon

Company Director