IN THE GARDEN - 29 AUGUST 2024

Excellent range of deciduous ornamental trees and deciduous fruit trees in stock at the moment – 68+ varieties of fruit trees, plus all the berryfruit range (blueberries, raspberries, etc), and 57+ varieties of ornamental trees. 

And we are the experts on fruit tree pollinators, end-use choice of trees, fruit tree care and pruning, so come in and take advantage of this expert knowledge when you chat to Kathryn who is both very knowledgeable and happy to give advice on all trees, pollinators for fruit trees, fruit tree care and pruning etc.

 

If the leaves are yellow but the veins are green, the tree is lacking iron, small mottled leaves show a lack of zinc, mature green leaves with an inverted green shape have a magnesium deficiency, mottled dark and light green leaves show a lack of manganese. 

But an overall yellowing at this time of year signals a general nitrogen deficiency; this happens because the Trifoliata rootstock is actually deciduous and slows down in winter not absorbing nitrogen, so in Spring a good mulch of compost around yellow citrus will give them a good boost. Plus a dose of Citrus Food.

Very good stocks of Strawberries at the moment in 6 varieties, both in single plants and in the 6 pack option. The key to success is plenty of water (esp in raised beds) + feeding regularly and of course full sun.

Colour for the summer – slowly but surely the weather seems to be warming up week by week and most bedding plants, both flowers and vegetables, can go in now.   And if you want to emphasise your colour scheme just pop a colourful glazed birdbath or pot in the flowerbed.

Our bedding plant range gets bigger every week and we have lobelia, petunias, geraniums, Iceland poppies, godetia, and plenty of choice in the lettuce department and next week the first varieties of the tomato range and courgettes will come in. 

 

Courgette Leader is an upright but compact grower, producing copious quantities of easy to pick shiny dark green courgettes. Excellent virus and mildew resistance. Now is the time to start sowing seeds with the weather warming up and plenty of seed raising mix in stock - this mix has good anti-fungal properties to ensure healthy seedlings.

Put seeds in a seed tray of mix and keep them damp but not saturated and in a good warm spot for quick germination.

The Constant Gardener tells me the germination rate from the ‘Mr Green Seed’ broad bean seeds she used was the best ever.

 

 How’s that lawn looking?  Certainly ours at home is growing and looking very green but it needs a de-thatch so I’ll be hiring a machine and giving it a good grooming to take out all the dead brown thatch just above soil level. Then a spray with Kiwicare Lawnpro Turfclean Ultra to take out the weeds (including hydrocotyle, docks, prickleweed, buttercups etc) followed by Lawnpro Mossclear where necessary), or the Ezyfert lawn food which is non-burning, slow-release, gives a rich green colour, and is used by professional greenkeepers.

 

 These 2 are the classic definition of how different fertilisers can be.  The lawn fert on the right is high-nitrogen for leaf growth, and the rose fert on the left is high-potash for roses and flowering plants.

Feeding Feeding Feeding!     Plants are about to enter their strongest growth of the year so maximise the growth by feeding now. The fertiliser will have reached the roots by the time the growth spurt happens so nothing will be wasted. 

Remember that ‘leaf only’ plants like lawns, leafy vegetables, hedges etc love high-nitrogen fertilisers but flowering plants need high-potash fertilisers.  If you’re not sure what to use just ask any of our staff and we can help you and explain what the NPK reading on the back of the bag tells you about nutrient levels. (N = nitrogen, P = phosphate, and K = potash/potassium). Phosphate is important for root crops like potatoes.