Author Archives: Tammy Falloon

A Guide to Compost

Our compost guide

All plants are different

All plants have different needs with regard to composts. There are many specific types of composts that fulfil the criteria of what you are growing, however, multipurpose composts can often be adapted to work similarly. This compost guide will work through the common plants, the properties of compost that they need and how to modify multipurpose compost to do a similar job.

To sow seeds

Seeds need a fine compost to help roots spread out and with holding water properties, however not so fine that the water holding becomes water logging. It is best to put this fine compost in tiny cell seed trains.

Adapting multipurpose compost; sieve the compost to remove any coarse lumps and make it finer, also add vermiculite which is a fine particle that helps to keep roots healthy by letting air into the root zone.

To grow cuttings

You need a free draining and coarse growing media here.

Adapting multipurpose compost; to ‘open up’ compost is to make it more free draining by increasing the porosity of it. This can be done by incorporating coarse ingredients like coarse grit or perlite.

To grow house plants

A good balance of drainage is needed for house plants. Drainage that is too free can lead to the plants drying out however if the drainage isn’t free enough then accidental overwatering can easily kill the plants. There are numerous specialist composts in this area and many designed for set sub groups like cacti or orchids (see below). Luckily they all come in small bag sizes perfect for 1-5 plants.

Adapting multipurpose compost; the best combination for house plants is a ratio of 80:20 of a peat substitute or peat to perlite. Also add some fertiliser and ground limestone too.

To grow orchids

A pink flowering orchid They need a very free draining media because they are not specially adapted to living in soil and their roots are hugely sensitive to water logging. Naturally they live in the branches of trees so the best mixes are actually very chunky.

Adapting multipurpose compost; to create this really coarse media you can add bark and even pieces of synthetic sponge to your multipurpose.

To grow trees and shrubs

A rose shrub These require both good aeration and good drainage. Using fine compost here does not work because it is left for a long time, over this time the finer materials decompose and settle which is known to close air spaces and cause disease or even drown the roots. This is easily prevented by adding in coarse ingredients and loam.

Adapting multipurpose compost; open up the compost with bark chips and also add lime and fertiliser. In this case, it may be best to go with John Innes compost which will be much easier. You can buy multi-purpose compost with added John Innes.

To grow seasonal bedding plants in pots

Summer bedding plants This is where you don’t really need to adapt the multi-purpose compost. It does the job nicely, however you may wish to add some water retaining crystals so the compost does not dry out too quickly.

To grow acid loving plants (like Camellias, Rhododendrons, Leptospermums, heathers etc)

A camelia You need an ericaceous compost for these plants.

Wildlife in May

The beauty of May and it’s wildlife

May holds a place in everyone’s heart- if it isn’t the excitement of the new leaves and greenery, the colours of the fresh flowers or the promise of warmer weather then it must be the birdsong and buzzing of bees that epitomises May. Make sure that whilst you give your garden all the TLC that it may have missed out on over the winter that you don’t neglect the wildlife as it is the whole ecosystem that gives May the feeling that we all love.

Looking out for wildlife and how to help

Bird feeder with a garden robin perching on the edge

A little garden Robin feeding from a bird feeder.

– Check your hedges and shrubs for nesting birds before you trim them
– Maybe give your bird bath a spring clean.
– Making sure that your garden offers clean drinking water and food will attract birds who are trying to feed their young at this point, for this reason we recommend not filling the bird feeders with anything too large such as peanuts (which can act as a choking hazard for baby birds)
– Also regularly cleaning the bird feeder to avoid the risk of bird pox.
– To really offer birds a luxury stay in your garden it is nice to also provide nesting material, for example fur from any long haired pets will be gratefully picked up or hair from your hairbrush, so just ball it up and leave it on the lawn or in a fat ball holder.

Night time Wildlife

The beauty of May’s wildlife seeps into night time and bat watching at dusk can be a great activity. Unfortunately the bat population is coming under threat in the UK due to loss of habitat and pollution yet encouraging bats to come to your garden can benefit you as they feed off several unwanted insects such as mosquitoes and midges. Encourage bats by turning off your garden lights when they’re not in use, growing some plants that will attract moths overnight and by avoiding using pesticides where possible. If you want to build a bat box, the best placement for these is somewhere undisturbed and with some sun as bats love warm places.

Pests and disease control

Getting ahead with pests and disease control

There are more and more pests and disease around our gardens. Therefore it is important to not only take preventative measures but also actively identify and combat problems as soon as possible.

Prevention is better than cure

On a preventative level it is important to check plants before you buy> You can even monitor them for a few days before planting out. Whilst any good nursery will check its stock before selling plants, from time to time even the experts can be caught out . Luckily for really bad and sinister diseases there are lots of rules and regulations on the transport of plants. In fact plants even have to have a passport if being exported/imported! At St Bridget Nurseries we follow stringent internal quality checks and our nursery is inspected annually by DEFRA. Currently there is a great concern in the industry about a disease called xylella fastidiosa which is a very harmful bacterial plant disease. There have been recent severe outbreaks in Europe and Britain is on high alert.

The importance of local growing

Because we grow nearly 85% of the plants we sell, we keep things local and fresh giving you the confidence of receiving high quality plants that have not been shipped from abroad.

The benefits of having your plants grown locally are numerous. Firstly, they are likely to thrive when you take them from us as they have been grown in the local conditions and are therefore acclimatised to the local climate. Secondly,(with regard to disease) because we nurture our plants right from seeds, they absorb many vital nutrients and become stronger and therefore more resistant to disease. Finally, there is of course no concern about foreign pests.

Avoiding spreading disease

Most pests and diseases you will find on your plants though are most likely already in your garden. Some great tips to try and avoid spreading diseases are as follows;

-keep up good garden hygiene by cleaning tools
-using disinfectant
-covering water
-dealing with garden waste appropriately
-prune in dry weather
-mulch around plants such as strawberries to deter pests and keep leaves and fruit away from soil.
-try to avoid watering overhead when possible, always try to aim your water onto the soil surrounding your plant.

Following all of these tips will be great for disease prevention. However it is equally important to be able to identify problems by regularly checking and watching the health of your plants. It is also helpful to know the symptoms of disease.

Our garden centres have a wide range of control methods including chemical, organic and mechanical options. Please ask our friendly team for advice on the options that are availably to you.

Garden checklist

General garden checklist for May

We know it’s hard to keep on top of everything, especially when there is so much to do. To kick start a prosperous growing season this summer, we have compiled a handy garden checklist, full of tasks to get you going. Why not print it off and try to complete these little tasks throughout the month of May? Read up on our other blog posts for why and how to do many of these jobs.

Garden Checklist

⃝ Hoe off and hand weed frequently to stay on top of weed growth. Weed prevention is better than cure so consider installing weed poof membranes and mulches to your borders.

⃝ Feed your lawn with a spring feed fertiliser.

⃝ Mow your lawn weekly and start to gradually reduce the height of the blades with each cut.

⃝ Prune early-flowering plants to promote next year’s growth.

⃝ Begin sowing any outdoor herbs that you will be growing as annuals.

⃝ Plant hanging baskets for summer, our centres are bulging with suitable pot and basket plants.

⃝ Plant summer bedding, make sure to harden off more tender summer annuals first and add slow release fertiliser when you plant out for best results

⃝ Don’t let cool temperatures fool you, regular watering is always necessary for new plants. Most pots dry out from wind/air flow.

⃝ Planting strawberries? Place straw under the plant to prevent contact with the damp soil leading to rotten fruits

⃝ If you are growing tall growing plants be sure to put supports in place before the plants grow too tall

⃝ Harvest fully grown rhubarb by pulling the stalks, take care not to harvest more than half at any time

⃝ Start harvesting any fully grown asparagus

⃝ Check for early aphids and begin pest control, think about insect mesh and slug and snail control for particularly vulnerable varieties.

⃝ Check for nesting birds before trimming and pruning hedges

⃝ Put up bird boxes for summer migrants to nest in

⃝ Top up birdfeeders to support tired bird parents whilst they feed their young.

Strawberries in hanging baskets

Switching it up with your strawberries

Strawberries make the perfect summer fruit and are one of the most versatile crops. Now you don’t even need a kitchen garden to grow them in!

Hanging Baskets

Strawberries are a tasty summer favourite and can be grown in several different ways!

This season how about growing your strawberries in a hanging basket? With the fruits growing over the edges, they look great and the fact they will have plenty of air circulating around them eliminates the likelihood of mould and mildew occurring. Additionally, because they are off the ground, they are completely safe from the wrath of slugs and snails. If you don’t want to reach for the heights, strawberries will grow brilliantly in terracotta pots or even in window troughs.

Top Tips

Our tips for growing strawberries in containers are;

– keep them well fed and watered.
– don’t worry about the lack of soil, it isn’t a problem as strawberries only have shallow roots.
-whilst feeding and watering we recommend trying to keep water away from the leaves to avoid fungal diseases.
– try this popular feeding trick- to use a liquid tomato feed (like Tomorite) every couple of weeks once the strawberries have begun to flower. This works well due to the high potash content in the feed.
– hang your baskets or place your pots in a sunny spot which is ideal to encourage the swelling and ripening of fruits.

Strawberry Varieties

With 7 different varieties being grown here at St Bridget Nurseries, all with different qualities such as yield size, harvest times, disease resistance, flavour and plant shape. There will inevitably be one to suit your garden needs. Speak to our experts if you need more information about the specifics of each variety of strawberry!

Other ‘edible baskets’

If you love this hanging basket idea, it is also adaptable to tumbling tomatoes, chillies, cut and come again salad and herbs! What will your next edible basket contain?

Getting the lawn ready for summer

Getting the lawn ready for summer- lawn care tips

Lawn care in May

A lovely looking, well kept lawn is a great feature in the garden.

Now we are firmly on the way to summer and safely (we hope) out of the frosts; May is the month to get the lawn ready for its summer glory. If the weather scuppered your lawn care last month, there is still plenty of time to fertilise the lawn and apply a high quality spring lawn feed (we have some suitable feeds for sale in both our Exeter garden centres).

Now is also the time to repair any lawn bald patches, edges and thin areas. Repairing these patches will not only make a huge difference to the eye, but it will help lawn health and reduce weed germination. To repair patches either sow seed or buy some turf. For optimum growth and recovery do this before the end of the month. For an all over patchy or sparse lawn it may be advisable to look at fully re-laying the lawn or starting a complete lawn maintenance programme. We have a great selection of turf in our stores, and our experts will be able to advise you on which turf is best for you and how to care for it.

Routine care

Regular lawn mowing is a must, with several health benefits for the grass. How much and how regularly you cut the lawn depends on what work you have done to it recently. For freshly sown lawns or meadows of wildflower, we recommend to wait roughly six weeks after sowing before mowing.

Aeration

Another technique that you can now start to incorporate into your lawn maintenance is aeration. Although it is too late in the year to begin slitting the lawn, it is a great time to use some kind of aerator, be it special studded sandals or a rolling aerator. Aeration can in fact enable the lawn to use rain showers more efficiently and prevent water logging; it can also keep the grass nice and green for longer. If this is too much of a job on your lawn, it could be useful to simply aerate the areas that get a lot of use, such as a pathway, with a garden fork.

Potatoes- what on earth?

Potatoes – what on earth?

We often hear the phrase ‘Earthing up’ whilst speaking about potatoes, especially around this time of the year. It is much simpler and more useful than it may sound!

Earthing up

Earthing up or ridging as it is sometimes known, is simply drawing up soil into a ridge above the row of planted potatoes. You can do this as soon as foliage emerges above the surface.

Why?

it protects the early foliage from any frost damage.
it blocks light from reaching the tubers which can have the adverse effect of turning the tubers green and making them inedible. To make sure this is always happening, we recommend earthing up in stages.
finally, the piled up soil can help to lock in moisture which allows the tubers to ‘swell’ and grow.

For container potatoes

Maybe you have decided to grow potatoes in sacks or containers, if so the process of earthing up still applies- simply add layers of compost in stages as the stems begin to grow. Carry on until you reach the top of the container. A good heap of about 8 inches / 20-cm should be enough.

Don’t rush

After all your efforts with earthing up, don’t give in to the temptation of harvesting your crops too early. For early potatoes be sure to wait until the flowers are completely out and for the main crop variety you can hold back until the foliage begins to turn yellow.

Time for tomatoes

Tomatoes – tips for your best harvest yet

Tropical Tomatoes

Rows of tomato seeds being grown into tomato plants for sale in the garden centres.

Tomatoes being grown in the nurseries

Originally from South America, tomatoes tend to prefer a warmer climate and suffer when the temperatures drop below 10°C. Consequently, take care not to plant your tomatoes outdoors too early. This will prevent a number of problems such as catfacing (malformation and scarring of the fruit), brown leaf spots and leaf curling. A tomato plant can usually survive these issues and recover in the warmth. However, if it was a surprise frost that caught your tomatoes then the damage is usually permanent and it is best to start over.

Getting the best results from your tomato plants

For best results we recommend covering the tomatoes until you are sure that the weather will be warm enough. A great indicator for this is usually when the temperature remains above 10°C overnight, so buy yourself an outdoor thermometer to check when you next pop in to one of our garden centres. Next, choose the warmest spot possible in your garden. Ideally keep your tomato plants in a greenhouse or plastic grow-house. Make sure that the spot is also aerated and a fair distance from your potatoes because blight can travel and flourishes in humid conditions. Another option to try out is planting your tomatoes in pots in the sunniest part of your terrace or balcony for great fruit and decoration!

After planting;

Stake or cage all your plants (except if you are growing trailing varieties in a basket or small bush types).
Tie the main stem to a vertical bamboo cane (again not for bush or hanging basket types).
Remove side-shoots regularly- when they get to about 2.5cm long (again not for hanging basket types).
Water consistently– tomatoes grow most successfully when they have consistent moisture. With all watery fruit (like berries) you will get bigger juicier ones with lots of watering. To avoid diseases do not water the foliage but instead aim your water straight onto the root zones and the compost. Irregular watering is the cause of many common problems including cracked fruit and blossom end rot.
Remove the growing point of the main stem two leaves above the top truss (stem with small green fruits). This should be done once your vine tomato has grown to have seven trusses if grown indoors, or four trusses if grown outside.

Feeding

Feeding tomatoes should start after the first truss (stem with small green fruits) has set in. We recommend the product Tomorite as it has been a gardener’s friend for decades. It is ideal for other plants too including flowering plants due to the high potash content. It contains seaweed extract which supplies many micro-nutrients and produces full flavoured tomatoes. Outdoors you feed every 7 days, in a greenhouse feed twice a week.

Harvesting

Start picking when fruit is ripe and fully coloured. At the end of the growing season if you have some green tomatoes still on the plant, we recommend this delicious green tomato chutney recipe.

Varieties to choose from

We sell numerous tomato varieties throughout the growing season available in batches as they are ready from the greenhouses. Without a doubt our top selling varieties year on year are;

Gardeners Delight: a flavoursome cherry tomato known for heavy crops and great to grow in tomato bags or pots.

Shirley: an early maturing tomato that is known for heavy crops and also shows excellent disease resistance. Ideal for growing in a growbag or as a greenhouse cordon.

Moneymaker: grown as a cordon (vine) this variety produces smooth, medium salad tomato sized fruit that are delicious in flavour.

Fun Fact

Tomatoes are often treated as a vegetable in cooking and in deed our classification on the garden centre beds. However, the tomato is actually a fruit since its seeds are inside.

New radio advert- your favourite garden tasks

Our new radio advert

For our radio adverts this year, we want to know YOUR favourite and least favourite aspects of gardening. Asking around proved hugely entertaining and comforted us with the knowledge that here at St Bridget Nurseries we can often alleviate the pain of your most dreaded gardening tasks!

Listen here

Listen to our radio advert here, or tune in to Heart Radio Exeter to hear it live!

Plomping

Our conversation with this delightful lady introduced us to an unusual least favourite task; planting and ‘plomping ‘ the plants in. Whilst we searched high and low for the meaning of ‘plomping’ all we could find was a non-dictionary definition ‘to plomp’ as to sit down after a long and exhausting day. Despite no mention of planting, or in fact proof that the word exists, we have keenly adopted the word ‘plomping’. It is already a firm favourite in our St Bridget garden dictionary!

Tammy’s favourite jobs

We also asked Tammy, our managing director, to share her most and least loved jobs in the garden.

Although Tammy really shouldn’t have favourites, when asked she replied this;

“Dead heading flowers is my favourite job, I find it so therapeutic and great for stress relief. My least favourite is definitely forking into heavy and hard clay soil, I always shout for help when it comes to that job!”

What about you?

We’d love to hear what you love and hate doing in the garden, let us know on our FaceBook page by using our brand new hashtag #welovegardening.

For all those jobs you don’t love like “bending over and plomping” in the plants, our garden centre teams can help you find something to make these jobs a little more lovable!

Find the lucky clovers

Saturday 17th March is St Patrick’s Day and we love all things green. Our Sidmouth Road team have turned into Leprechauns and discounted lots of items across the store.

Find the bargain

Can you find the lucky clovers? Find the clover, find the bargain. Clovers are hidden around our garden centre. In addition, we will have

25% off all bulbs

25% of all seed potatoes and

25% off selected watering cans.

St Patrick’s Day menu

There will also be a special Irish menu in our 1925 Kitchen. Choose from either a

St Patrick’s Beef & Guinness Stew at £7.95 or

Homemade Leek and Potato Soup with fresh baked roll and Irish butter £4.50

This event is taking place at our Sidmouth Road, Clyst St Mary garden centre, Exeter on Saturday 17th March 2018.