Lay of the Land

Gardening tips? Easy to roll out a few seasonal “what to do now”s, or “which plants look good in May”, like every other advice column.

I’m not convinced that approach is interesting to anyone other than people who already garden. What about those who don’t?

An anonymous quote reads “Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years”. How true. Get excited and grow things! It doesn’t matter what, just enjoy the sheer thrill of watching nature in the raw.

Ok, so there is a little bit to learn if you want to do it well, but don’t worry because help is always on hand if you know where to look. Heck though, what’s the worst that can happen? No-one dies, but the plant. If you want to give it a fighting chance buy it from someone who can tell you where and how to grow it.

Janet Kilburn Phillips famously said “There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments”. So what if it doesn’t grow? Plants are cheap, and as long as you learn something from the experience…..

Hang on a minute…plants are cheap? Yes, of course.

A rose bush costs less than a decent bottle of supermarket plonk, and can easily bloom well for over 20 years.

A tree costs less than a week funding a 15 a day smoking habit. What’s more it will benefit the atmosphere for generations.

A primrose costs less than a bar of chocolate.

Need I say more?

So now you can enjoy a wonderful cup of artisan roasted coffee whilst you ponder your purchases, or sample a freshly prepared snack or homemade cake at our new Cafe in Lay of the Land.

Cooler days, chilly nights and trees dressed in their russet, orange and fiery red shortly to depart leaves all herald the end of summer and the coming of winter. Autumn, traditionally, was the time to plant. This was largely due to many plants being sold as ‘bare roots’ which are better lifted and replanted in cool damp conditions, as they start to go dormant, which allow the roots to recover without the danger of drying out. However, although bare root planting will result in some casualties, (no plant really likes having it’s root system completely disturbed) it remains the most cost effective method of planting large numbers of small plants, such as those for a hedge, where the odd failure makes little difference.

These days the advent of container grown plants, means planting is possible all year round, though plants should never be inserted into frozen or waterlogged ground, and those planted in summer heat will need a drink every day for at least the first couple of months.

Autumn though remains a great time to plant. The soil is still warm and workable and the winter rains will enable the plant to concentrate on creating a good solid foundation of roots, before throwing up their framework later on in spring. All manner of plants can be planted now, and don’t forget the fantastic array of spring bulbs, many of which can be planted right through Autumn and up until Christmas. A little effort now for a fabulous spring display!

Our 2014 Christmas shop is now open offering lots of decorations, lights, artificial tree’s and all sorts of giftware for your favourite gardener. Our beautiful Christmas trees are on order and will arrive on the 28th of November and as ever we’ll have a fabulous range of cut and pot grown tree’s of all shapes and sizes.

In the meantime, why not have a look at our behind the scenes christmas video…

I haven’t personally counted them, but over 400,000 species of plant exist in the world, which are known by somewhere around 1.5 million scientific names.

At Lay of the Land we regularly get asked for plants which are native to the UK. Well apparently only about 47 are considered so, but hundreds more ‘garden’ plants have now also established themselves in the wild. A few of them, Japanese Knotweed being the most infamous example, are considered overly invasive, causing harm to our eco systems.

In November last year we attended the Garden Retail Awards down in London, we were finalists in the Best Business Development Category. We didn’t win but we were highly commended, here’s a video of the announcement!

Garden Retail Awards 2013 - Best Business Development from Lay of the Land on Vimeo.

After all the hype, preparation, hard work and celebrating there it is – gone again.  Bye, bye Christmas! We had a good one, and hope that all our customers, friends and acquaintances did too?

Back to the grindstone tomorrow, as the garden centre is open 7 days a week again for the rest of the year.  We have been open selectively in between Christmas and now, but we also needed a little down time to re-charge batteries, and prepare the shop with it’s “post Christmas” look.

Next focus I guess is spring, although all our new season stock of both flower and veg seeds arrived this week, and sowing time is looming.  Start thinking about what you might like to sow this year.  Make sure your seed trays and pots are all clean and sterilised (or buy new ones if you need them). Check you have sufficient good quality seed compost available.  Where will you sow your seeds, and how will you keep them warm?

It’s a good month to stay tucked up indoors, but spring will be here before you know it.  Don’t be caught out!