News - Page 131
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Sow onion seeds this week – it's the perfect antidote to itchy fingers desperate to get gardening. Traditionally you sow onions on Boxing Day – but you can do it any time until the end of February. The earlier the better, though, as you'll need to give them a long growing season to produce the plumpest bulbs.
Exhibition growers swear by sowing onions in the coldest months of the year – and not just because it gets them out of doing the Christmas washing up. Y...
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Save your winter crops from becoming frozen so solid in the ground they're impossible to harvest by using the old technique of 'heeling in'.
This works really well on leeks, but it's also great for your Christmas dinner parsnips and celeriac. Start by digging up your whole crop on a mild day when the soil is easy to work, lifting the whole plant out of the ground roots and all.
Then choose a sheltered spot, preferably not far from the back door so you...
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Last shopping week till Christmas and if you're looking for the perfect present for the gardener in your life there's no better place to go than your favourite garden centre.
If you're a bit stuck over what to choose – here are a few ideas:
Flower shows: Treat your favourite gardener to a feast of fabulous design with a ticket to one of the big RHS shows. The daddy of them all, the Chelsea Flower Show, celebrates its centenary in 2013...
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Revamp your containers for winter for a quick gardening fix that gives you a fabulous scene to look out on over the Christmas holiday season. You'll find dozens of lovely winter plants now in stock in your favourite garden centre, so get yourself down there and take your pick: add a handsome container or two and your container displays can have as much winter wow factor as they do in summer.
If you're short of ideas - here are a few combinations you cou...
Plant raspberry canes from this month while they're on sale as bundles of bare rooted canes in your favourite garden centre. Buying bare-root in winter means you'll get a much better choice of varieties, and they establish incredibly quickly – because they're still dormant, they hardly know they've moved.
Raspberries come in two types: summer-fruiting, to crop from June till about August, and autumn-fruiting which take over after that. Both love the same rich...
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The countdown to Christmas has begun! With just a few weeks till the big day it's time to start thinking about that all-important decision: which Christmas tree to buy.
There's a great choice of Christmas trees now in stock in our garden centre, and they're snapped up fast so get there soon to be sure of a good choice. But don't be tempted to grab the first you find: Christmas trees come in textures and colours from deep green to steely blue and have ot...
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Many hanging baskets are just beginning to look at their very best - although it's not too late to plant your own up now if you still want to. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes from traditional wire baskets lined with moss to wicker horns and terracotta spheres - there seems to be almost as much choice as there are plants to put in them!
You may want to stick with traditional Fuchsias, Geraniums and trailing Lobelia but before you decide take a look...
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Time to prune your vines while they're completely dormant, as once the sap starts rising – from as early as January in southern areas – any cuts made to the plant bleed copious sap, weakening future growth.
There's a great variety of grapevines to choose from in our garden centre, from ornamental Vitis coignetiae with huge leaves turning brilliant purple and scarlet in autumn, to productive V. vinifera heavily laden with sweet wine or dessert grapes. 'Black H...
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June is really a very generous and abundant month, however along with our much-cherished favorites at their best, nature also provides us with the odd unwelcome garden visitor – the weed.
For some, an afternoon weeding and digging will be a lot more satisfying than using a weed killer - but not for everyone!
If you have a serious weed problem then you may need to use both resources, spend as much time as you can now weeding out young weeds before they...
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Last chance to get the garlic in: Garlic needs a good period of frost to get those fat cloves to divide into nice plump bulbs, so plant now to give them winter outdoors for really good results next year.
Don't be tempted to plant garlic from the supermarket: it's possibly carrying viruses, and is probably from somewhere much warmer than the UK so it'll suffer in our climate. Instead, buy good-quality bulbs such as those you'll find in our garden centre. There...
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It's National Tree Week next week so get ready to mark it by treating yourself to a new tree for your garden from the great range in our garden centre.
Everyone can grow a tree: even if all you've got is a balcony you can enjoy container-grown 'Minarette' apple or cherry trees, just a few feet tall but incredibly productive. In small gardens, go for trees that stay compact yet really earn their keep with a long season of interest. Snowy mespilus (Amelanchier...
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It's tulip time! November is by far the best time of year to plant tulips – a little later than most bulbs, to avoid the nasty fungal disease tulip fire causing brown spots and distorted leaves.
There's a dazzling array of tulips in our garden centre, and your choice is likely to be very personal to you. Some like planting in blocks of single colour for maximum impact: others pair two varieties with contrasting colours. Deep purple 'Queen of Night' with pure...
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