News - Page 94
It's spring! This is the month when all gardeners have a bounce to their stride. It's hard to go indoors when the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the garden is alive with the year's first flowers. Enjoy!
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Test your soil before you sow as one of the easiest mistakes to make at this time of year is being too quick off the mark sowing seed outdoors.
Seed hunkers down to wait for better weather in chilly soil instead of germinating, putting it at risk from rotting or being eaten first. Sown in warmer conditions, though, they germinate quickly and grow away vigorously, often overtaking earlier-sown seedlings.
Every spring is different, and the da...
Prune coloured dogwoods to encourage a dazzling display of those vivid red stems again next year. Dogwoods are among the very best shrubs to choose for winter colour as their young growth has bark in vivid hues which shine out through the coldest months of the year, especially when back-lit by the low winter sun.
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Plant a bumblebee garden to help our favourite black-and-yellow insects as they bustle about the garden pollinating our flowers and vegetables. We wouldn't get far as gardeners without them: they're responsible for the glistening displays of berries from autumnal stars such as cotoneaster, beauty berries, berberis and pyracantha; and even more importantly, they pollinate about a third of the crops we grow.
Sadly they're going through a tough time at the...
It is Mother’s Day Sunday so don’t forget! Remember to treat your Mother to something nice to make her feel extra special! We have a lovely gift area in out centre in Thirsk where you will be sure to find her something.
You could choose one of our planted arrangements, handy tools kits for the garden, a sweet garden bench or even gift vouchers, but you must remember a card.
Why don’t you bring your Mum down to our centre for a day out? She...
The plants of the month for March are pansies and violas, among our best-loved bedding plants and always popular for their cheery easy-going nature. Take the time to look closer at their prettily-marked petals and you'll find there's more to them than you think: like little works of art, you can find varieties splashed, shaded, two-toned, striped and whiskered, in every shade from near-black to classy shades of bronze, copper and yellow.
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What to do in the garden in March:
It's the busiest month of the year – your chance to kick-start the season in style. By the end of the month windowsills are groaning with seedlings and the garden is bursting into life – so let's get started!
General tasks:
- Mulch bare soil in with lots of organic matter – well-rotted farmyard manure or home-made garden compost is perfect.
- Re-seed bare patches in the lawn ma...
Prune your roses York this month before the spring takes a proper hold and they're starting to put on new growth. Bush and shrub roses should be first on your list: climbers are usually pruned in autumn, and you should leave rambling roses alone altogether – they're pruned after they've finished flowering, in late summer.
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Build a composting area in a corner of your garden and you'll never regret it. In goes kitchen peelings, garden prunings and autumn leaves; out comes lovely, crumbly black gold, rich and ready to spread on the garden to feed your plants.
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Stock up on seeds for next winter's crop now as big, beefy brassicas like Savoy cabbages, Brussels sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli need almost a year to grow to full size.
Make the most of the great range of seed varieties you'll find here at our our garden centre in Thirsk by sowing two or three different ones for each type of veg. Sowing just one type of Brussels sprout, for example, can mean they all hit picking time at once, leaving you with a...
Show your loved one how much you care this Valentine's Day with a beautiful bouquet of fresh blooms from the cut flower range here at our garden centre in Thirsk.
You'll find traditional red roses, of course - always a romantic choice - but this year why not try something different by choosing seasonal spring flowers instead?
Combine a bouquet of sweetly-scented hyacinths, delicately-fragranced anemones and pretty yellow narcissi for a fres...
There are enough bright sunshiny days to get outside, just for a while, to admire the spring bulbs and put the first seeds in. It may be early - but it's definitely spring at last!
General tasks:
- Float a football on the pond to keep a small area free from ice so fish and other creatures can breathe and plants stay healthy.
- Invest in a shredder to turn woody early spring prunings into chips small enough to go on the...