Garden And Gardener

Everything for the Gardener and their Garden

Archive for March, 2010

New products at Unwins Seeds and Plants

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Unwins Seeds & Plants just added this new product

'Water Retaining Gel & Feed-All Plant Food'
‘Water Retaining Gel & Feed-All Plant Food’ £5.90
SAVE £2 with this super money saving combo pack! Combo pack contains: Water Retaining Gel (250 gms) -Specially formulated water-retaining gel for all your containers and hanging baskets. Hold 400 times its own weight in water Releases water to plant roots as required Reduces plant stress through lack of water retaining flowers longer Crystals re-absorb at each watering

New products at Suttons Seeds

Friday, March 12th, 2010

New lines added today at Suttons Seeds

Raised Bed Veg Kit Pack of 69 Plants (as listed) + FREE Seeds - Vegetable Plants
Raised Bed Veg Kit Pack of 69 Plants (as listed) + FREE Seeds – Vegetable Plants £29.95
Grow a bountiful harvest in just 1 square metre of your garden.This fantastic raised bed kit includes everything to get you started.A quality Link-a-board raised bed measuring 1 metre square, creating an easily accessible, perfectly drained area for growing. 69 healthy veg plants of:18 Multi-coloured Beetroot, 18 Lettuce, 18 Spinach, 15 Pea.PLUS FREE seeds to sow after harvesting your plants: Mung Bean, Broad Bean and Radishes.PLUS a FREE simple, easy to follow plan, showing when, how and where to grow your veg ensuring harvests from May to early winter.. Pack of 69 Plants (as listed) + FREE Seeds. With full growing instructions.. . . .

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Slug Killer – nemotodes

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Nemotodes kill slugs

Nemotodes kill slugs

Nemaslug Nematodes: Slug Killer
All vegetable gardeners know that the slug is one of the worst enemies in the garden. You can try all the beer traps you like, the gravel, and the copper tape but the slugs will still get to the plants and munch away at your newly planted seedlings.

What you need is something really effective like nematodes. Nematodes are microscopic organisms that kill slugs above and below ground. They are completely harmless to all garden wildlife as well as pets and children. They make your garden safe to as she won’t need to use slug pellets, so this is less chance of you poisoning your soil.

It’s perfectly safe to use on crops you’re going to wait. You should apply it just once every six weeks as this is how long the protection masts. It isn’t washed away by rain, but it does need the sort to be warm enough. You can order it now and they will send it out when the weather is warm and warm enough.
This pack can treat up to 40 m². There are also other packs designed to treat for other pests such as onion fly, caterpillars, directs, moths, carrot root fly, cabbage root fly and many other things. If you grow vegetables, then you know just how destructive these pests complete your crop. By investing just a small amount of money in the Nemesys products you have a simple pest control solution.

Price reductions at GreenFingers

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Reduced products at GreenFingers

Hampton Double Pot Holder
Hampton Double Pot Holder was £7.99 now £3.99
Can

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New products at GreenFingers

Friday, March 12th, 2010

New items today at GreenFingers

Hand Held Wind Up Radio
Hand Held Wind Up Radio £7.99
Perfect for people on the move this Hand Held Wind Up Radio is both lightweight and portable. This wind up FM radio includes earbud headphones and is energy saving too. Requiring no batteries just one minute of winding up will give to 25 minutes of power. 5.5 x 2.5 x 10cm high

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Price reductions at Crocus

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Reduced items at Crocus

Freesia Frenzy + Free Chocolates
Freesia Frenzy + Free Chocolates was £34.99 now £29.99
Save £5.00 was £34.99Sweetly scented freesias, petite spray roses and button carnations are just a few of the flowers that have been combined to create this colourful, yet naturalistic bouquet that is reminiscent of a cottage garden in spring. It looks and smells divine and comes with a free box of chocolates.What you get for your money5 stems pink freesia 5 stems lilac freesia 5 stems white freesia 5 stems yellow freesia 5 stems pink spray carnations3 stems pink spray roses 3 stems pink gypsophila 1 box of 12 chocolates

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New products at Crocus

Friday, March 12th, 2010

New lines at Crocus

Bougainvillea Sanderiana - Saturday
Bougainvillea Sanderiana – Saturday £24.99
save £10.00 was £34.99Position: in summer move it outside where it gets lots of sun, then move it to a bright, heated conservatory in winterSoil: loam-based potting compostRate of growth: average Flowering period: July to September Flower colour: magenta-pinkHardiness: tender (needs winter protection)Magnificent clouds of magenta-pink floral bracts from July to September are the highlight of this strong-growing, evergreen climber. Great for growing inside a conservatory or in a tub on a sunny patio. While it can be moved outside during the summer months, it must be moved to a frost-free spot, such as a conservatory or temperate greenhouse in autumn.This plant is mini standard (it has a short, straight stem topped with a compact ball of foliage) and comes in a 3 litre pot. It will be aproximately 50cm tall.Garden care: Bougainvilleas are long-lived, and can last for over 50 years if given the correct care. They much prefer a heated conservatory and tend to go dormant at around 10°C, at which point they will lose all their leaves and flowers. Temperatures below this can be fatal. Once dormant, keep them on the dry side until they come back into growth. When they are growing well, feed weekly with a balanced liquid fertiliser and lightly prune to keep the plant bushy. Water moderately during the growing season, and re-pot or top-dress in spring.

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Growing onions

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Things you should know about growing onions. Onions are mostly grown from onion sets. That is onions that have started to grow still kind little bulbs. They can be heat-treated which discourages them from bolting. You can grow onions from seed, and some varieties have only grown from seed, that a spring onions usually. Lots of different types of onions but there are a few names that come up time and time again as being good growers.

Onions will grow in most areas in your garden, they’re happy in most soils especially if you’re adding in the first flights to keep them happy. They prefer good drainage, and the rich soft soil.

When you plant them, you plant the sets so they are just below the surface of the soil and only a tiny bit the onion bulb shows. This bit is very inviting to birds, who want to investigate and pull out the onion sets. It’s best to check that they were all covered up still on a vacant basis until they have started growing among the birds can’t pull them out. You can of course use netting to keep the birds away from them, or even use a cloche. Don’t plant them when it’s really wet, but plant them as early as possible so they get a good long growing season. You could also start them off in some potting soil in doors, this encourages them to have a good root system.



Spacing is something you need to watch carefully. You really do want to be able to home or out the onions using a hoe rather than having to hand weed. If you plant the onions too close together, then they are also competing more for water and nutrients and may not grow as big as they should. You might find it useful to use and marker when you are planting them to ensure that they are equally spaced.

They will need regular weeding throughout the growing season, as well as regular feeding. Because of the upright nature of the leaves, this means that they don’t suppress any weeds on the ground around them like other plants mark.
Onions are ready when they leave starts yellowing dieback, let this happen naturally rather than bending the leads over to speed it up. When you harvest them, if it’s dry warm and sunny, then you can just put a fork under them to lift the roots and break these, and leave the onions out in the sunshine a day or two. Those onions with a thick neck needs using first as they do not store as well. Allow the onions to dry for a couple of weeks in a well separated area, a wire tray or an area spread with newspaper will be good for this. As they dry you can push dirt and excess skin off them, do not remove the golden skin as this will protect the onion. You can learn to string them together so you can hang them up somewhere, or you can store them in an onion now. You need to make sure they are completely dry before storing, any damp leaves on the plants will cause them to rot. The onions will last 3 to 6 months, but in good conditions they may last longer.

If you’re onions rot in the ground, then this could be onion neck rot. Onions can also be affected by fungal growths, onion flies and onion thrips.

By buying from reputable sellers and not growing onions in the same spot from more than two years at a time, you should avoid some of these pests.

Onion Fertiliser

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Onion Fertiliser

You get a 2.5KG bag for £12.99

To plant onions you need to prepare a bed for them. You will need to rake it smooth and flat and then plant the onions at the recommended distance apart with just the tips of the bulbs showing.
The idea is to plant the onions in rows that are easy to hoe between. If you can’t be onions to close, then you will disturb them trying to get in between them with the hoe. If you have to hand weed them, then it will take a lot more time, so it makes sense to get the spacing right.

One of the problems you will have when you have planted your onions is that the birds will come and investigate the tiny little tips showing through the dirt. You can even net them over, use a cloche, or use Bird scarers.

This onion fertiliser is designed for using before you plant unions. You should apply it at the recommended rate, perhaps stopping to work out the area of your onion bed and how much fertiliser you will need for this and weighing out the right amount. You should leave it a few days before planting your onion sets. After you have planted your onions and once growth has started, at 10 to 14 day into force you should top dress with this fertiliser at the recommended rate. Don’t get the fertiliser on the foliage though and water in well.

The NPK ratio is 13:28:19

Freemans Garden Shop

Thursday, March 11th, 2010



Freemans catalogue now have their garden shop open online!
They have plants, tools and accessories as well as some really nice seating for relaxing.
Forest Caledonian Raised Bed Planters as well as a Treated solid 20mm timber construction raised bed for £30.
They’ve got seed carpets (Unroll and water!) Plus other fruit plants including a Dwarf Growing Apple and Pear Collection!

Plus a sheds section with a great value Space Saver Greenhouse and some bigger ones too as well as a garden room! Freemans’ Greenhouse Starter Pack has staging which holds up to 12 standard seed trays and is made from galvanised steel. And a Parafin heater has a burning capacity of 100-150 hours on one filling of the 1.7 litre tank so you can start off seedlings earlier in your greenhouse! Complete with 6 seed trays.