Phew – a crazy week on the nursery. We have been literally rushed off our feet this week!

With the spring-like weather – we have been extremely busy on the customer front as everybody tries to get planting completed before the dry weather sets in – we are starting to run short on a number of items – particularly hedging – and soft fruit – so if you are looking for something in particular – it is worthwhile giving the office a ring to check on current availability. 

There have also been two courses this week.  On Wednesday – 17 keen gardeners joined us for a morning learning how to prune fruit trees – this was the last of the chilly days – so it was brisk up in the orchard to say the least!!  The next day was the absolute opposite – 17C – and this was the morning of the grafting course – which was all inside – so in an ideal world it would have been the other way round – with pruning out in the sun on Thursday – and indoor stuff on Wednesday – but that would take away all the fun of gardening and the British Weather!!!

Hopefully next week – we should have a shipment of large specimen plants arriving – it will take a while to get them processed and onto the sales areas – so watch this space next week to see what has arrived!!!

UNTIL THEN,

RICHARD

A popular theme among gardeners this year is to plant a tree to mark the Queen’s Jubilee – a tree is a more than fitting tribute to our Monarch since it has such grace and permanence.

The soil conditions are also ideal for planting at the moment – after the snow there is actually plenty of moisture in the ground – and trees planted in the next six weeks will root away before the usual Suffolk drought kicks in!!

We have supplied a number of Oaks to many parish councils in the last few months – and these will no doubt be gracing village greens and churchyards for many years to come.

Plans are afoot here at the nursery to celebrate the Jubilee in a number of ways – we will be announcing a Special Offer in due course on trees  - our Suffolk Show stand will also highlight this along with the Olympics – watch this space for more info!!!!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

RICHARD

A very different week on the nursery compared to last – today’s temperature is forecast to be 11C – compared to last week’s which was a heady -1C!!

There is still a little bit of snow laying around – but generally we have had a mild week.  It was though surprising how far the frost had got into the ground – the pots remained frozen solid until Tuesday.

Getting back to normal has allowed us to resume lifting of hedging orders – digging up plants revealed how much new white root growth there is on some items – quite surprising considering the weather.  But time is moving on - once we get into March there will not be very long left for planting bare-root items – so do not delay. 

Also this week – we had 17 intrepid people down for the first of our popular February PRUNING COURSES – this one was on SHRUB PRUNING.  Luckily the weather had just warmed up in time – otherwise we would all have been frozen to our secateurs – let alone pruned any plants!!

But a great time was had by all – learning about the different groups of shrubs and how to prune and look after them.   Next week will see the second of our PRUNING COURSES - this time on fruit trees – followed by a morning learning all about the ancient art of grafting – it’s a busy old time!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

RICHARD

What a week at the nursery!  From very mild temperatures last week to an artic blast – it has been a long and difficult week.

Apart from the usual hassle of the ice and snow – it means that our plants are all frozen into the ground – lifting of hedging and fruit tree orders has had to stop – causing a backlog in orders.

Fortunately we have tunnels that afford a little bit of warmth – so we can get on with one or two tasks  - and this is an ideal time to push on with those maintenance jobs that do not get done in spring when we are really busy – but really – like so many people – we are totally fed up with this weather – roll on spring!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME – STAY WARM!

RICHARD

We are proud and pleased to announce that our Online Shop is now up and running.

So many of our customers have asked us for this facility – and we have now begun – in a small way at first with a selection of ornamental trees and fruit – and if this proves as successful as we hope it will be – then we will add a much larger range of our products for autumn this year.

Please do let us know what you think of it – there may be a few teething troubles at first – but if you don’t tell us we cannot iron them out – so do let us know!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

RICHARD

Many years ago – East Anglia – and particularly Suffolk was the home of the Black Poplar – a wonderful majestic tree growing in river valleys – a feature of the landscape.  Sadly in the late 1960′s – many of these trees were destroyed – and as river valleys dried out – so the trees disappeared from our landscape.

However – as often – a few sentinels have survived – and we are pleased to be able to offer young trees – propagated from those survivors – that can be planted out to ensure the species once again grace’s the Suffolk skies.  We offer trees taken as cuttings from named clones throughout Suffolk – male and female trees that will either in the case of the male provide red catkins in spring – and if a female is nearby – fluffy cotton-wool like seedpods in summer.

These trees are available now – but only in limited numbers – so if you have space and a suitable site – why not help us to return the native Black Poplar to it’s rightful place in the landscape??

UNTIL NEXT TIME

RICHARD