Grochar

1. GroChar by Carbon Gold -When plants decompose or are burned they release excess carbon into the atmosphere. We collect plant matter char it in a closed kiln and capture its carbon as biochar. Fo you to bury and lock into the earth, removing it from the atmosphere where it does harm and putting it in the soil where it does good. Biochar builds soil structure and helps roots take up more of the nutrients they need to grow. Ingredients: Biochar – from certified sustainable sources Mycorrhizal Fungi – to maximise nutrient uptake Wormcasts – full of beneficial bacteria Seaweed – rich in trace minerals for plant health and disease resistance.
Buy £9.99

2. Grochar All Purpose Biochar Compost by Carbon Gold
Buy : £8.99

3. GroChar Seed Compost by Carbon Gold
Buy £4.99

Biochar at Harrod Horticultural

GroChar BioChar Concentrated Soil Enhancer 1kg - £6.95
The carbon-rich biochar in Soil Association approved GroChar BioChar Concentrated Soil Enhancer helps keep carbon in the soil for up to 50 years with only one application required – ever!The GroChar biochar’s effectiveness is further enhanced by the seaweed wormcast and mycorrhizal fungi ingredients which provide an attractive home for beneficial micro-organisms and stabilise nutrients in the soil so root growth and plant development are accelerated. This completely natural soil improver is made by turning waste plant material into charcoal through clean technology placing carbon in the soil and not into the atmosphere. Use GroChar BioChar Concentrated Soil Enhancer as a soil improver compost additive or apply directly under trees or vegetable transplants.

New products at GreenFingers

Carbon Gold BioChar Complex | GroChar Soil Enhancer 1kg £8.99
This concentrated Biochar Soil Improver is a 100% organic and effective soil enhancer which is ideal for propagation use. A great way of beating the summer drought Biochar is proven to reduce the need for watering by holding water in the upper layers of the soil where your plants can reach it. The revolutionary formula increases the productivity of most soils. It provides all you need for stronger healthier plants and crops with long term benefits for your soil.Take a look at the extra image to see for yourself the benefits of using Biochar. The raspberry canes on the right hand side were planted using the Biochar complex and as you can see they were not only taller but visually healthier and more likely to produce a strong harvest. While this product cuts out the need for costly and environmentally damaging fertilisers and also reduces the need for irrigation.Click to view our potting department. Check out the video below for more information.

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If it’s still raining where you are and you really want to get some seeds or plants out then you can try a cloche.
Put the cloche in place a few days before you want to sow or plant to let the soil dry and warm up.
Put the plants or seeds in as normal and replace the cloche.

The worst of the weather will be kept away and the plants will finally be in the ground!

Harrod Horticultural have lots of cloche options

1m Square Cloche – 1m Square Cloche with PVC Cover – GDN-875 £26.95
The 1m Square Cloche will offer essential plant protection to young vegetable plants seedlings and ornamentals in open ground vegetable plots seed beds and even raised beds – the simple to assemble cloche fits very snugly inside one of our 1m square and we’ve even made a available!The tough plastic cover of this spacious garden cloche does sterling work protecting vulnerable plants and is securely attached to the tubular metal frame by velcro ties. Full length side zips allow easy access to the snug plants inside and the plant protection cloche comes with ground pegs to anchor down the frame. Simple push-in connectors allow the tubular metal frame sections to be assembled in minutes and with a 2mm x 1.4mm mesh size Insect Mesh Cover available for summer pest control the crop protection cloche is likely to be a key player in your garden plant protection team! The 1m Square Cloche measures 103cm in width is 103cm wide and stands 65cm in height (39 x 39″ x 25½”).”

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Sneeboer Weed Gouger
is only £17.95

Hand-made in Holland, each Sneeboer tool has been hand-forged in the finest stainless steel. It is individually shaped, polished and sharpened by hand before being fitted with a fine quality cherrywood handle. Anyone who has a Sneeboer tool will never want to use anything else…
• Measures 39cm overall
• Handle length is 13cm

Harrod Horticultural also have this more expensive tool for getting dandelions out.

Sneeboer Dandelion Weeder/Bulb Planter - £84.95
Get two garden tools for your money and improve the look of both your lawn and borders with the Sneeboer Dandelion Weeder/Bulb Planter – an invaluable ambi-dextrous garden assistant! The 18cm (7) deep by 3cm (1″) diameter stainless steel cone – complete with foot peg – is deep enough to remove unwanted dandelions tap root and all from lawns and borders with the minimum of fuss whilst smaller bulbs can be planted quickly in the hole the Sneeboer Dandelion Weeder/Bulb Planter creates. The ash handle is fitted with a Victorian-style 33cm (13″) wide ‘T’ art the top to allow the relevant pressure to be applied and the Sneeboer Dandelion Weeder/Bulb Planter measures 103cm (40½”) overall.”

Strulch – is a straw based mulch.
Like all mulches it covers the soil and helps protect it in a number of ways.

It acts as a blanket for tender plants. Essential for protecting plants during the winter.
Keeps moisture in the soil.
Apply mulches after rain rather than on to dry soil for best effect.
Allows rain to penetrate the soil but protects the surface of the soil.
Encourages earth worms.
These are nature’s diggers and when they’re happy your soil gets better! Strulch creates a protective layer for the worms to come up to the soil surface more. The surface will be warmer as it’ll be like having a blanket on. The worms will pull bits of strulch down into the soil enriching the soil as they do so.
It’ll help suppress weeds. Annual weeds are often light activated so blocking the light stops them from germinating.
Strulch is lightweight which means it’s easy to apply. The bags aren’t heavy so you can move them about the garden.
You don’t need a deep layer of strulch. Just 3cm depth is enough.
It’ll last two years which means it’s good value and you don’t need to apply more every year.
It enriches the soil as it breaks down, feeding nitrogen to the soil.

Order your strulch now at Harrod Horticultural

Strulch Garden Mulch – Single 100 ltr bag £9.95
Strulch Garden Mulch is used by famous sites such as RHS Wisley Ryton Organic Gardens The Eden Project and has been featured on BBC Gardeners World at Berryfields. A light and easy to use mineralized wheat straw garden mulch which reduces weed growth by up to 95% enriches soil helps to retain moisture and offers protection around plants.Also featured on ITV’s This Morning Programme – 4th March 2008

Find out more about strulch
Strulch is made from organic shredded straw that has been treated with minerals

Amazing garden gadget at Harrod Horticultural.
This cordless pond pump is a great idea.

Pond Pump - £14.95
This powerful little pond pump is perfect for draining ponds water butts and other garden water containers and because of its novel slimline design it really can go where no pump has gone before! Perfect for easily emptying water butts with limited access this cylindrical battery operated water pump can also be used to drain petrol diesel and other non-corrosive liquids at rate of 350 litres per hour. Take this handy little 64cm long 4.5cm diameter (10cm at the outlet point) garden pump on camping trips and use around the home for emptying aquariums as well as small ponds and patio water features -

• Pond pump measures 64cm L
• 10cm wide at hose outlet point, 4.5cm diameter handle
• 2.5mm diameter at bottom
• Ideal for reaching into enclosed spaces
• Maximum flow rate 350 litres per hr
• Novel slimline design alllows easy access to otherwise undrainable water butts and tanks
• Cordless
• Simple one button operation
• Runs on 2 x D batteries (not supplied)
• Ideal for use around the home e.g. Aquariums
• Multitude of garden uses
• Great camping accessory
• Use in caravans and boats
• 12 month guarantee
• 65cm long discharge tube

Great products and help for gardening in the drought at Harrod Horticultural.
We’re still in drought and even though it’s raining heavily in some parts of the UK it’s not enough to bring us out of drought justyet.

Parts of the south need lots more rain yet.
We’ve had about 18 months of rather dry weather. This means that whilst the rain seems to be heavy it’s got to replenish an awful lot of ground water.

I’d like you to think about using less water in your gardening where ever you can. There are lots of reasons for this – the main one that will be of interest to most people is the work element. Watering plants is time consuming, tedious and can be hard work if you have to use a watering can. If you garden right you can start to reduce the amount of water your plants need.

If you’re buying new plants then look for ones that will manage during a dry spell. Plants in the ground need less watering than tubs, baskets and troughs, so aim to buy plants that you can put in to the soil.
Mulch! It’s a great way of helping the soil keep more water in too.
Mulch after a spell of rain to ensure the soil is wet. Use mulches that allow water to soak through. Using plastic sheeting can seem like the best way of keeping weeds at bay but it stops water getting to the soil which damages plants and means ultimately the weeds can get the upper hand.
Water well when you do water. Don’t just drizzle a bit on, give plants infrequent soakings.
Don’t waste water on the lawn – unless of course you’ve just laid new turf. Lawns will survive being really dry for quite a long time. They look bad when they’re yellow but they will bounce back.

Gardening During A Water Shortage DVD - £2.95
Presented by Oaklands College old boy and Telegraph gardening columnist Tom Petherick
This Gardening During A Water Shortage DVD covers a variety of methods of storing excess water including water butts tanks underground wells and bore holes. A range of measures to help conserve water in the soil by using mulching and shading plants are also covered as gardening during a water shortage and extreme weather conditions are presenting real challenges to vegetable growers with the very real prospect of a drought in some parts of the country again this year. Sale Price Now Only £2.95- SAVE £7.00!
A bargain and well worth buying if you want to find out more about wells and bore holes as well as simple easy tips for getting the most from your garden for less water.

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Harrod Horticultural have some great deals on butterfly netting and cages to help you protect your fruit and vegetables from butteflies and other pests.
Quote APRILNET to get a Free pack of Butterfly netting (4m x 3m) worth £8.70 with your next order or

Quote APRILMESH to get a FREE pack of Fine Insect Mesh Netting (2m x 5m) worth £12!

These two offers valid for 7 days only ends on 1st May.

Butterflies are beautiful to look at but when they lay eggs on your veggies and the caterpillars eat your entire crop it can be really depressing. The easiest thing to do is stop them from getting to your vegetables.
Butterflies lay eggs on specific things – cabbage whites lay eggs on cabbages and other brasiccas. You don’t have to worry about red admirals as they love nettles!
There are lots of moths that can damage fruit trees too, and other pests like birds can devastate crops too. Pigeons love cabbage and will eat as much as they can get. A structured net system that keeps them off the plants is best. Loose laid netting can be stood on so they can peck through. Good quality netting like this at Harrod Horticultural can really help prevent pest damage.

Our allotment suffers a lot from pigeon damage – when they get at young plants they can eat the whole plant, or damage it so much that the plant can’t survive. Maturing crops can also be eaten – and you don’t fancy a cabbage after it’s been half eaten by pigeons!

Heavy-Duty Butterfly Netting – Per Metre £1.55
Heavy-Duty Butterfly Netting – Our Heavy-Duty Butterfly Netting is made from an extruded black polyethylene netting with a 7mm mesh and is the perfect butterfly netting for protecting your vegetable crops. You can now save even more cash too! – up to £55 – with our new EXTRA VALUE 10m 25m 50m and 150m butterfly netting packs – see below for full details!

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Clay breaker at Harrod Horticultural

Clay Breaker - £6.95
The Clay Breaker could be your knight in shining armour if a heavy clay garden soil has almost convinced you to throw in the gardening towel; this pelleted organic soil additive rides to the rescue in autumn and turns sticky unworkable and often compacted clay soil into a more manageable growing medium.The agent in the clay breaker makes the soil easier to work and improves drainage and can be applied to lawns as well as vegetable plots allotments and herbaceous borders; simply scatter the pellets onto a roughly dug plot in autumn and enjoy cultivating your soil in the following seasons.Supplied in a 2.5kg box the clay breaker won’t affect the soil ph and can be used as a top dressing on lawns also in autumn.

Apply to a rough dug plot in autumn.

Clay breaker ideal for making heaviest of clay soils easier to work
• Will not affect soil ph levels
• Improves drainage and enhances soil warmth for earlier cropping
• Supplied in pelleted form
• Comes in 2.5kg container
• Apply in autumn to roughly dug soil
• Can also be applied as an autumn top dressing to lawns
• Blend of organic matter and gypsum
• Apply at rate of 200g per sqm
• Completely natural and organic
• Suitable for vegetable plots and ornamental beds and borders

You can also help break clay down by mulching soil as much as possible and incorporating as much organic matter as possible to soil.

Harrod Horticultural have biochar as a soil supplement or as a compost for seeds. It’s made from plant material and enriches the soil.

GroChar BioChar Concentrated Soil Enhancer 1kg - £6.95
The carbon-rich biochar in Soil Association approved GroChar BioChar Concentrated Soil Enhancer helps keep carbon in the soil for up to 50 years with only one application required – ever!The GroChar biochar’s effectiveness is further enhanced by the seaweed wormcast and mycorrhizal fungi ingredients which provide an attractive home for beneficial micro-organisms and stabilise nutrients in the soil so root growth and plant development are accelerated. This completely natural soil improver is made by turning waste plant material into charcoal through clean technology placing carbon in the soil and not into the atmosphere. Use GroChar BioChar Concentrated Soil Enhancer as a soil improver compost additive or apply directly under trees or vegetable transplants.

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What is strulch?

Strulch is a straw based mulch – this is a mineralised straw garden mulch. It’s light and easy to use. It’s a nice looking dark brown colour so it won’t stand out like some mulches can.
Use around frost tender perreniels for protection.
Add it to a depth of 3 cm.
Lightweight so easy to move bags about whilst putting the strulch on the ground.

Strulch has a neutral pH and can be used throughout the garden on borders, raised beds, around cultivated fruit and on vegetable plots
Strulch can reduces weed growth by up to 95%, enriches soil and its structure and helps retain moisture around plants
It’s good value too as it lasts up to two years,spreading the cost, saving water and fertiliser, making your plants grow healthier and stronger and giving you more time to relax.
• Mulching with Strulch is good gardening practice because it provides a protective covering for the soil, assists in the retention of soil moisture so that nutrients are more easily absorbed by plant roots and also protect roots from heat stress.
• Being biodegradable and will break down over time, adding valuable organic matter and nutrients to enrich your soil, improve drainage and make your plants grow healthily.
• Encourages earthworm activity by acting as a long term food source for surface feeding species, which makes your soil even better.
• Strulch is made from renewable and local resources which do not harm the environment
• Strulch has been used at the following prestigious gardens and sites RHS Wisley,The Eden Project, Ryton Organic Gardens, Helmsley Walled Garden – the gardens of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland and The Duke and Duchess of Westminster’s estate at Eaton Hall in Cheshire and Strulch has featured regularly at Berryfields on BBC Gardeners World.
• Supplied in 100 litre bags which will cover up to 3 square metres.

New lines today at Harrod Horticultural

Strulch Garden Mulch – Single 100 ltr bag £9.95
Strulch Garden Mulch is used by famous sites such as RHS Wisley Ryton Organic Gardens The Eden Project and has been featured on BBC Gardeners World at Berryfields. A light and easy to use mineralized wheat straw garden mulch which reduces weed growth by up to 95% enriches soil helps to retain moisture and offers protection around plants.Also featured on ITV’s This Morning Programme – 4th March 2008

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