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

Love is in the air

With love featuring so prominently with Valentine’s Day approaching, our focus is plants with a loving name; and there are many to choose from!

The first is a beautiful shrub that looks gorgeous in a coloured container, called Hebe Valentino. Hebe 'Valentino' has deep pink flowers in late spring and summer with deep green foliage turning to burgundy in winter. The second is a deciduous shrub called Hibiscus Red Heart or more commonly Rose Mallow Red Heart. 'Red Heart' has an upright habit, with lobed dark green leaves. The single flowers in late summer can stretch to 10cm in width and are pure white with conspicuous deep red centres.

The remainder of our suggestions are the typically associated flower of love, the rose!

There are four hybrid tea varieties that should be noted; ‘Lovely Lady’, ‘My Valentine’, ‘Simply the Best’ and ‘With All My Love’. Hybrid Tea varieties have shapely large single blooms on a stem which makes them ideal for cutting. ‘Lovely Lady’ has rosy pink blooms and is fragrant, ‘My Valentine’ is lightly scented with glowing red blooms throughout the summer, it is a taller than Lovely Lady, growing over 90cm (3ft)tall. ‘Simply the Best’ was Rose of The Year in 2002 and is unusual with its burnt orange flowers and lovely perfume whilst ‘With All My Love’ has rich salmon vermillion flower with a hint of orange and a slight fragrance, both are stunning.

For those of you who prefer a floribunda type rose (one with large clusters of flowers from June to November ideal for flower beds) try Rose Valentine Heart with lilac pink flowers with a hint of deep scarlet and a sweet scent.

Finally if you are all in a muddle and don’t know which to choose try the climbing rose ‘Love Knot’ with crimson flowers from top to bottom!

All these plants make fantastic Valentine’s gifts and unlike cut flowers they will grow and flower year after year – like love!  All the varieties listed in this article are grown by St Bridget Nurseries and are available to buy in both our Exeter garden centres one in Old Rydon Lane and the other on the Sidmouth Road at Clyst St Mary.

Plenty of time left to plant bare root trees and roses,

Now the Christmas and New year celebrations have been and gone,you still have plenty of time to plant field grown trees and roses,so why not get out into the garden in between the rain and plan over the next few weeks to plant a tree or some  roses both of which we grow at St Bridget's, whether it's an ornamental or a fruit tree contact either of our garden centres to check availability of sizes and prices, or ring to book a place on our tree field tour on Saturday 18th Jan. and pick your own tree on the day and we can label it for you for collection or delivery later in the month.

You can also still order your bare root roses for collection or delivery.

see our website for varieties available and prices

http://www.stbridgetnurseries.co.uk/index.cfm/plants/roses

Sale now on

Our MASSIVE January sale started today and our centres are full of great offers.

up to 75% off clearance items
60% off Christmas
50% off calendars
50% off Gruffalo kids wear (Clyst St Mary only)
50% off Laundry products e.g. washing lines (Clyst St Mary only)
50% off pet products (Clyst St Mary only)
40% off selected garden tools
33% off chimeneas
33% off glazed pots
33% off water features (Clyst St Mary only)
33% off National Trust birdfood
33% off Christmas themed foods
25% off solar lighting (Clyst St Mary only)
PLUS garden furniture offers at Old Rydon Lane and aquarium and pond pump offers at Clyst St Mary.
Plant offers:
End of season sale: look out for shrubs with a yellow label, selected shrubs £3.50 each or three for £10

All offers end 31st January.

New gardening year

With the New Year fast approaching, why not plan to plant a tree or a new rose bed in 2014

St Bridgets have a good selection of Field grown trees available, one reason to plant open ground  trees are a larger selection of sizes are available than container grown, from small 1 year olds upto larger 4-5 year old standard trees.

We also have a great selection of roses in our rose fields so you can order bare root ones now for collection / delivery in the New Year.

You can order from either of our garden centres or ring 01392873672.

Check out our latest garden column in our local newspaper for great autumn planting tips

Four local schools received a bundle of tools from St Bridget Nurseries in Exeter yesterday (20^th November) as part of a recycling project called, “Tools Shed” run by The Conservation Foundation.

Broken and unwanted gardening hand tools were donated by St Bridget Nurseries’ customers at their Sidmouth Road, Clyst St Mary garden centre. The donated tools were then sent to Dartmoor prison where they were repaired and refurbished by prisoners. The finished tools were given away to Clyst St Mary Primary School, Lady Seaward’s Primary School Clyst St George, WESC Foundation, St Peter’s High School Exeter at a special presentation event held at the garden centre. Further bundles are going to be presented to Topsham School, Sampford Peverell Primary School and Hazeldown Primary School Teignmouth in due course.  

The tools were handed out in ‘starter packs’, a mix of eight different tools including trowels, hand forks, spades, rakes and hand shears, by the Tools Shed South West co-ordinator, Richard Leatherby and St Bridget Nurseries Director, Tammy Falloon. The schools intend to use the smaller tools to help teach the children as well as using the larger tools for grounds maintenance and green scheme projects.

Mel Davis, Garden Centre Manager at St Bridget Nurseries co-ordinated the company’s participation and was delighted from the response customers – recycling at its best. The project is ongoing so if readers have any unwanted hand tools please drop them into the garden centre at Clyst St Mary, Exeter and they will be recycled for further schools to benefit from the scheme.

Since the pilot scheme with HMP Wandsworth in 2006, the project has helped hundreds of schools and community groups create and maintain green spaces and saved many tools from being sent to landfill. The Foundation currently works with HMPs Dartmoor, Wandsworth, High Down, Northumberland and Edinburgh and Morton Hall IRC in Lincolnshire. Cardiff and Parc Prisons join the scheme in November 2013.

Photo: WESC Foundation: Caroline Burkie (Fundraising & PR Manager), students Maurice, Dan, Patrick and Rhys) and staff enabler Pam.

Photo below of St Peter's High School pupils Toby Island and Caleb Bishop both age 11 in year 7 and two of their teachers, plus the Tools Shed co-ordinator Richard Leatherby.

 

National Tree Week

National Tree Week is fast approaching,
St Bridgets can offer a large selection of trees for planting now,
Ornamental and fruit trees can be ordered bare root from our tree fields at either of our garden centres or on the 22nd November we are holding another Tree Field Tour where you can look around and pick your own tree, we can then label it for you and arrange collection or delivery.
Ring our garden centres or office to book a free place.

National Tree Week 23rd November - 1st December
St Bridgets are offering 20% off all trees purchased, either from our garden centres or from our nursery tree fields.
If you can't make the Tree field tour you can ring and arrange a visit at other times by ringing and making an appointment for a more personal tour where you can discuss your requirements and get some advice with Phil our Nursery Manager Tel 01392873672.

Bare Root Roses

Bare root roses grown on our nursery in Exeter can be ordered for collection or delivery now.
We grow a large selection of varieties Hybrid Tea,Floribunda, Climbers, Ramblers and Shrub all in a large selection of colours, a lot of which have good scent.

Visit our websites to view the full list of roses we grow and ring or visit one of our garden centres to order, for a fabulous dispaly of roses next summer.

http://www.stbridgetnurseries.co.uk/index.cfm/plants/roses

Trees looking good in autumn.

Why not plant a Malus (Crab Apple) tree in your garden, they give a fabulous display in spring with flowers and with fruit in the autumn.

A selection of varieties available include

Floribunda

Hupehensis

Profusion Improved

Royalty

Tschonoskii

Dartmouth

Evereste

Golden Hornet

John Downie

Red Sentinal

White Star

These are available in various sizes as bare root trees from November to order and now as containerised  trees in our garden centres.Please contact us for a full list and availability