Another month is almost gone – and we are about to move into September  - and into autumn.  I love this time of the year – there is no point moaning about the end of the summer – because September is often a combination of the best of both worlds – warm days and cool nights.

Conditions are hopefully going to promote excellent autumn colour in the trees.

We are already pushing ahead with our new catalogues – the new Hedging 2012-2013 catalogue is available at the nursery – and is available to download online.  Ornamental trees and fruit will soon follow.

Our Online Shop has had a revamp – and is now bursting with a new and exciting range of Ornamental Trees – these can be ordered now for despatch in November when dormant.  Do have a look – we have some really nice stuff on there this year!  Our popular Mixed Hedging Packs can also be ordered online – and a range of fruit trees and soft fruit will follow very shortly.

The planting season is not far away – make sure you get ahead this year!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

RICHARD

The arable farmers are enjoying the current hot dry spell of weather allowing them to get on with the harvest – and we have just begun our own harvest here at the nursery.

The first of the new English apples is always something to look forward to – it seems a long time ago that we threw away the last of the Granny Smith and Sturmer Pippin from our Apple Store!

But now we have the first apples of a new season available for tasting in our Apple Shed – they are slightly later than I would normally expect – but that is the weather for you!   Beauty of Bath and Discovery are the two in season at the moment – Discovery is one of my favourite apples – it has a decent flavour – and to be able to eat it straight from the tree when it is still warm from the sun – well that is surely one of those little pleasure’s that make life worth living!

As the weeks go by – more and more varieties will appear in the Apple Shed for customers to taste – and if you like what you see – you can buy a tree and have your own!  A real Try before you Buy!!

We are set for the hottest weekend of the year – 31c is expected – the irrigation system is on a three-times a day programme – and we are trying to keep out of the tunnels in the afternoons – they went to 96F yesterday!   Amazing – just a few weeks ago we were under water – with the nursery flooded by a monsoon-like storm – but that is the British Summer for you!

UNTIL NEXT TIME – PASS THE SUN SCREEN

RICHARD

Have you noticed how good the buddleias are this year??  They seem to have extra large flowers – particularly on the variety ‘Pink Delight’.   We have a whole section on our shrub sales area devoted entirely to these lovely shrubs with six different varieties.

However – they are also known as the Butterfly Bush – since they attract so many of these lovely things – but we have seen hardly any – other than the Cabbage White – and that is hardly welcome!   No doubt the awful weather has put paid to a lot of them – a real shame – it ain’t summer without them!!

On the nursery this week – the weather could not have been any different to the week before!   We ran our Summer Pruning Course on Tuesday 24th  - and in all honesty it was far too hot – no really – it was!  31c is just too much!   But the following Wednesday – the 1st August – was 17C!!!   Is it any wonder the plants do not know which way to turn!!

It is making life interesting with the irrigation of all the plants at the nursery – during the heat – everything dried out like crazy – and we ran a three-times a day water schedule to cope – this week – they are now too wet – so that has been reduced to once a day – that is a third of the water they required just 5 days before!!

It does seem to be a good growing year though – we have potted up many of the cuttings that were taken earlier in the year – and the success rate is excellent.  The growth of freshly-potted trees and shrubs has been astonishing – we are able to turn plants round from potting to sale in about three weeks at the moment  - which is not bad

However – the pest and disease issues are some of the worst ever seen – particularly on fruit – plums are really suffering at the moment – with aphid – brown rot – bacterial canker – and just about everything else!   Our next newsletter – with our tips on how to deal with all these problems – and more – will be out next week.  If you are currently not receiving our newsletter – and would like too – please drop us an email.

UNTIL NEXT TIME – PASS THE UMBRELLA!

RICHARD