Plant care
Our plants are all grown in UK specialist nurseries to the highest standard ensuring perfect plants every time. We give each and every one all the loving care and attention they need to start a healthy and fruitful life. You can be confident your plants are coming from a great home.
Once your plants arrive
It can be very exciting to receive your plants so make sure you check and unpack them carefully. There will be a delivery note inside your package, telling you what you have.
Larger plants will have labels on for identification. Plug plants are labelled on the outside of their mini greenhouses, using the letters A-F which are embossed on the side with the label. We suggest you write labels out for them at this stage, before opening.
If you cannot plant straight away, keep bare rooted plants in their root bags, keeping the roots well watered – a litre of water in the bag is fine. Keep cool, but frost free. They will keep like this for 2-3 weeks if needed.
Plug plants can be kept in their mini greenhouse they arrive in. Simply pop the tray open, and put a little water in the bottom around each plant. Keep the pack upright, but open a little to allow air in and sit on a windowsill – they will be fine for 2 weeks.
All potted plants can be left outside, and provided they are not allowed to dry out, will be fine for several weeks.
Specific plant advice
Fruit Trees – bare root
The fruit trees supplied are "bare root" – they are dormant, with no leaves on, and the roots out of the soil. This is the traditional way to supply. Before planting, soak the roots of each tree in a bucket of water for at least 2 hours, overnight is better.
If planting into the garden soil, select a sunny spot, sheltered form wind if possible. Dig a hole, twice the width of the roots, forking over the bottom to loosen it. You are aiming to plant at the same depth as the soil mark on the tree. Add some fertiliser, such as Fish, Blood & Bone (wash your hands after!), and holding the tree straight in position with one hand, backfill the hole slowly. Gently shake the tree, so the soil falls back around the roots. Once completed, firm down the soil to ensure good contact around the roots, by using your heal to firm down a foot out form the trunk. In exposed spots, use a tree planting stake and soft tree tie to provide support. You only need to support the bottom half of the trunk, so with 1.2M stakes, push 40cm into the soil. With the soft tie, make a figure of 8 around both the trunk and stake, and fasten off.
Our trees are also suitable for growing in large pots – you can take them with you if you move house. Heavy Duty 30L Pots are ideal. The minimum diameter is 35cm (14"). Place some old cracks, stones or gravel in bottom 5cm for drainage and ballast. Use the best compost you can buy –TREF Professional mix is particularly good. You are again aiming to plant to the depth of the soil mark on the tree. Firm down as you fill, and press down hard when pot is full.
In both cases, after planting, water in with 2 litres (about half a typical watering can full) per tree. Do this weekly, especially in dry weather, for the first 8 weeks or so. When the soil and air warm up from late March onwards, you should see leaves and blossom emerge. Do not allow to dry out in first 4 Months after planting. Once established for one season, they will become much more tolerant to less water, as the root system develops.
There is no need to prune your tree for the first 2 years. Whilst a lot is talked about fruit tree pruning, the best advice is to prune to shape and size you want. Prune in summer removing weak shoots, and cutting out those that cross over each other, to create an evenly spaced bowl. Use good sharp secateurs.
Raspberries:
Supplied as bare root canes, soak overnight in water before planting. They can be planted in rows, along walls or fences, or in beds, where further support form posts may be needed. Plant about 60cm (2ft) apart. They can also be grown in large pots (40cm+ diameter), potting 3 – 5 canes around the edges and water well after planting. New green shoots appear at the base in spring, and will provide the canes for fruit next year. If you purchased long canes, do NOT CUT DOWN! These long canes will give you pounds of fruit in summer.
Once a cane has fruited, each year in autumn, cut it back to ground level to remove it. New canes each year will keep the cycle going.
Strawberries and Pineberry:
These will be supplied either as "runners", which are small bare-rooted plants, or as "tray-plants", with a root ball of compost – this is shown in each product. Pineberry is supplied in 9cm pots. Both can be planted out in the garden, in strawberry tubs or in grow bags. Plant about 20-25cm apart in rows in the garden at any time of the year. Ensure runners are soaked in water before planted, and kept wet in dry spring. Both will crop in their first season, and for 4 years afterwards.
Each plant throws out more runners in summer. Cut these off, so the plants focus on putting energy into fruit. Feed with high Potash Feed when flowers appear, which helps set and swell more fruits.
Bare root Roses and Shrubs:
Both are supplied as trimmed bare-root bushes, dormant and ready for planting. Soak in water for a few hours before planting. Dig a hole twice as big as the root ball, loosening the bottom. Put a handful of organic fertiliser in the bottom of the hole, and slowly backfill, ensuring soil makes good contact with roots. Firm down well after planting by treading down. Give each plant about a litre of water after planting.
Roses should be planted about 1-1.2M apart, shrubs a little wider (up to 2M), although they can be pruned to size more readily.
Bulbs:
Bulbs are very easy to deal with, and once planted pretty much look after themselves. Whether planting into pots or garden borders, the simple rule of thumb is to plant at twice the depth of the height of the bulb, and 4 times its width apart. So a 5cm tall bulb would be planted 10cm below the surface, and 20cm apart. Specific requirements will be printed on your bulb packaging. Please check the perforated polythene bag the bulbs are packed in!!
Plug plants
Our bedding plants are supplied as robust plants, but do need some protection from cold weather and frosts. We suggest they are potted on into 8-10cm pots and grown on for 4 - 5 weeks – maybe on a windowsill, or in a frost free conservatory or greenhouse. They can then root through and grow on, perfect for planting out into hanging baskets or tubs when frost risk has passed.
If you don't have a greenhouse, they can be still planted out direct into baskets from late April, but do keep an eye out on those weather forecasts for late frosts.
Potatoes
On receipt of your seed potatoes, stand them in an egg box in a cool, light room, so they can begin shooting or "chitting" as it is known. Leave them for 3-4 weeks, and short dark shoots will emerge from the eyes. Take care not to damage these when handling or planting. With our potato pots, put 10cm of good compost on the bottom of the pots, and place the 5 tubers of one variety spaced out on this compost. Add a further 10cm to cover, and firm down, adding a sprinkling of potato fertiliser and water in well. After a month or so, the leaves will emerge from the top of the compost. Add sufficient compost to bury these leaves and a little more, and allow them to grow again. Repeat covering the leaves until the pots are full. Allow them to grow for a further 5-6 weeks. When the leaves begin to die back, you can harvest. Simply empty the bucket out, and break open the root ball, and collect your delicious fresh crop.
If you are planting direct in the soil, dig a trench about 20cm deep, and plant tubers in the bottom, and "earth up" by covering them as the leaves grow, building up into a ridge about 15cm above ground level. The more stem you cover with soil, the heavier the crop will be. Water all potatoes well in dry spells, as this will have a major increase in crop yield.
Stella Cherry 'Multi-Branched' 'Bare Root' Tree
If you only have space to grow one fruit tree, grow this one! Stella Cherry 'Multi-Branched' Bare Root Tree is 'Self-Fertile' (which means it does not need a second variety of cherry tree to pollinate it) and is a really heavy, reliable cropper because it has good resistance to late frosts. Unlike most other sweet cherry varieties, it will thrive in slightly exposed locations but can also be grown in a pot on your patio. The sweetly flavoured dark-skinned, plump and juicy, aromatic fruits will be ready to pick from mid – late July each year and from the third growing season onwards you can expect upwards of 11lbs / 5kg of sweet fruits per tree, which will save a small fortune compared to paying supermarket prices! Additionally, the beautiful 'Cherry Blossom' which appears from early March, will brighten your garden and mark the beginning of spring. Our grower quality 'Multi-Branched' bare-root trees have been grafted on to Colt rootstock to provide a compact and manageable habit which in this case will reach 6-7 ft / 2– 2.3m tall.
Supplied as a grower quality 'Multi-Branched' 'Bare Root' tree. Grown on a dwarfing root stock. Approximately 1.5m tall upon arrival. Height after 10 years - 6-7 ft / 2– 2.3m. Fully winter hardy.
Blueberry Collection 3 Potted Plants
Blueberry Collection 3 Potted Plants – 1 each of Northland (early), Bluecrop (mid), Jersey (late)
This veritable 'super food' is believed to carry all manner of health benefits and is recommended by health experts and dieticians accordingly. Packed full of vitamins and minerals as well as antioxidants, they are not only really good for you but they taste great too! Blueberries provide true season-long interest and will produce wonderfully fragrant tubular blossom in spring, followed by delicious fruits that form and colour up ready for picking from June onwards. This collection will provide 3 months of harvest from June until August with each bush providing up to 5kg (over 10lbs) of fruit per season once fully established. Blueberries make brilliant patio plants and will grow perfectly in pots – do remember to use 'ericaceous' (slightly acidic pH) compost though as all blueberries are lime intolerant. In autumn, the foliage will provide a bright flourish of scarlet colour before falling off for the winter. The collection comprises 3 varieties, selected for their wide harvest period and ease of growth in your home garden. They will be supplied as potted plants in 9cm square pots and will grow to around 1-1.5m (3-5ft tall).
Northland – the earliest cropping variety and a heavy cropper with fruits of a good size but with a wild blueberry flavour – delicious!
Bluecrop – a popular and tasty, mid-season cropper providing big crops of juicy sweet fruits.
Jersey – the latest cropper within our collection providing a big crop of delicious berries – it is one of the most popular varieties and a real favourite of chefs!
Gerainbow Trailing Geranium
Gerainbow Geraniums produce much larger and more colourful flowers than any other similar variety, and have incredible season-long vigour that ensures the display keeps on coming! The strong-growing plants will trail beautifully but will be smothered in the brightly coloured, weather-resistant flowers from top to toe! Perfect for hanging baskets and window boxes – in fact anywhere they can freely trail; they are a complete picture when grown as a geranium only display in mixed colours. As with all geranium, they are very low maintenance and will withstand a sun-drenched spot, but do occasionally 'Dead-Head' (remove faded flowers) to keep the display at its best for the longest time. Our collection comprises 4 colours to give a fantastic range of bright colours!
Supplied as 12 Jumbo Plug Plants – 3 each of 4 varieties. Varieties included Red, White, Pink & Purple bi-colour. Flowers from May until the first frosts in the autumn. Trailing – perfect for hanging baskets, tubs & window boxes. Not frost hardy so keep protected until the last frost.
Dwarf Buddleia Blue Chip 9cm Pot x 2
Buddleia Blue Chip is the amazing new phenomenally dwarf 'Butterfly Bush' everyone is talking about –it's so special because it stays very compact yet still becomes smothered in thousands of beautifully sweetly fragrant blooms throughout the summer months. As is the case with its larger cousins, it will attract dozens of beautiful butterflies to your garden at any one time so you can sit back on your patio and watch them come and feed on the sweet nectar they find deep within the flowers. However, unlike other buddleia varieties Blue Chip will not 'Self-Seed' and cause a problem by spreading itself around your garden! It's perfect for growing in a pot on your patio but equally impressive as a low-growing fragrant hedge – just imagine walking up your garden path and being greeted with a cloud of heady Buddleia fragrance! Easy to grow, incredibly low maintenance and a great garden performer!
3 x 9cm potted plants supplied. Height after 5 years – approx 75cm (21/2ft). Spread after 5 years – approx 1m (3ft). Flowers from late-May – early-September.
Primula auricula x 12 Plants
This lovely and relatively rare primula has its origins in mainland Europe, but will thrive in UK gardens. It is hardy and perennial and will flower each year from March through to early June. Once planted it will quickly form evergreen clumps erupting with beautiful bright-eyed blooms that stand proud of the foliage, so plant them 20cm (8in) apart. They will thrive in a well drained spot in sun or partial shade; you can even plant them in pots on your patio! For an exquisite 'posy' carefully cut several stems and display them in a vase in your house where they will be sure to command interest from everyone who sees them.
12 Jumbo Plug Plants supplied in mixed colours. Height 15-20cm (6-8ins).
Candelabra & Drumstick Primula – 3 Plants of each
The perfect partnership, these two forms of much loved Primula species have the look of connoisseur plants but can be easily grown in almost any garden.
Candelabra Primula originates from the hillsides of the Himalayas and has evergreen foliage from which the impressive candelabra-like flowers emerge in late spring in to early summer. The will thrive in a damp shady spot and are completely winter hardy. Height 15cm (6ins).
Drumstick Primula - These exceedingly pretty plants have flowers that look just like drumsticks that burst forth in early Spring. The flowers will come in a multitude of colours from lavender, pink, white, lilac and rich purple. They are also completely winter hardy but will die down to ground level each autumn, emerging in the midst of late winter – normally in February. They will establish and give bigger and better displays each year.
Supplied as 3 Jumbo Plug Plants of each type – 3 x Candelabra and 3 x Drumstick Primula Jumbo Plug Plants.
Oriental Lily Bulbs x 20 PLUS 5 x Lily Landini
This super collection includes 20 fabulous 'Oriental' lilies – in shades of pink with star patters these will include some of the much loved Stargazer. Perfect for pots on your patio or for planting in your beds and borders, they will establish and provide an annual display of sweetly fragrant flower from June to August each year. Plant them in a well drained spot 10cm (4ins) deep and 10-15cm (4-6ins) apart. If you plant them in a windy spot you will need to provide plant supports when they are in flower. The bulbs are guaranteed to be of flowering size. Winter hardy and perennial. Height 90cm (3ft).
In addition to the Oriental lilies in mixed colours you will also get 5 bulbs of Lily Landini – this simply exquisite variety will produce stems carrying masses of majestic florets that are almost black! It will look stunning in pots on your patio as well as in beds and borders but will provide an opulent cut flower display indoors! The bulbs are guaranteed to be of flowering size and will be in bloom in July-August. Winter hardy and perennial. Height 90cm (3ft).
Important note:
Even if the box your plants in arrives looking a little crushed, please check the contents, as all the plants, bushes and trees we ship are incredibly robust, and will almost certainly be 100% fine. If you do have any queries please call bid Customer Services on 0844 811 66 11. Please do not send any return backs without prior authorisation from Customer Services.