It’s July! Summer is well and truly here and your garden should be looking it’s very best by now….if not come on over and we can help you to achieve that summertime abundance look!
Here a the Kitchen Garden Shop we are constantly renewing our stock of plants – evergreens, perennials, climbers, bedding – you name it and we’ve got it – and our knowledgeable staff are only too happy to give you all the advice you need.
POND PLANTS
We are also very excited to announce that we now sell a range of pond and aquatic plants and we have a resident aquatics expert who can answer all of your questions.
Here are our top tips for creating a stunning pond…
1, Use the correct soil when planting up pond plants – Ordinary garden soil is usually ok, provided that weed killers or excessive amounts of fertiliser have not been applied. Aquatic compost is however particularly beneficial for special plants such as water lilies.
2. Use slow-release tablet/clay ball fertilisers to give a “boost” to lilies and other prized plants.
3. Use appropriate containers – the best ones are those with holes in the sides (lined with sacking or cloth) allowing roots to grow through.
4. Once planted, cover the soil with a layer of washed gravel (not ornamental types which may comprise of limestone etc which may adversely affect the water quality).
5. Aim to cover a third of the surface of the pond with plants as this will provide cover from sunlight
6. Use a wide range of plants to help maintain the health of your pond:
Oxygenating plants: These plants prevent the water from turning green – aim to fill one third of your pond with these types of plants.
-Floating plants: These plants shade excess sunlight from the pool and again help to stop the water from turning green.
-Marginal Plants: These plants are grown in the shallow water within the margins of the pool.
-Waterlilies: These plants are grown to provide surface cover and specular flowers during summer months.
Deep Marginal plants: These plants give additional shade and may be used as an alternative to water lilies (eg Villarsia Nymphoides (Waterfringe) has small lily type leaves and small yellow star like flowers) .
WORKSHOPS
We are also very excited about the return of our workshops! In May and June we ran successful sessions on hanging baskets and herb containers. These were great fun and we had a lot of positive feedback from the participants. We are also planning to bring back our popular Garden Club in September – so if you are interested in coming along on a Thursday afternoon to learn more about how to Garden then give us a ring to register your interest! and as if that wasn’t enough – we are also running two crafts workshops – Lino Printing on 12th and 23rd July and Beeswax Wraps on 16th and 19th July. It’s good to be back!!
IN THE SHOP
Here in the shop we have a wide range of hand tools and garden sundries for all of your summer gardening needs, including lots of organic solutions to the ever present slug problem!
We also have a wide range of indoor and outdoor plant pots – for your summer arrangements and a selection of great gardening gifts for that gardener in your life. Why not come on over and have a look – and if you can’t decide what to have – then you can get a coffee in our cafe whilst you ponder…..
Gorgeous Garden Gifts
In your garden you should be keeping on top of the weeds right now to prevent them from taking over – on a warm dry day, hoe annual weeds and leave then on the surface of the soil to shrivel up. Perennial weeds will need to be dug out by hand I’m afraid. You should have planted out all of the your fruit and veg by now and you will be beginning to get a harvest – peas and strawberries are amongst the welcome early arrivals!
July is also the time to sit back and have a nice glass of something in the sun – and just enjoy your garden – hopefully all of your hard work throughout the year will have paid off and you can relaaaaaax!
