Posts by Emma Emmerson
Onion Sets in stock now
Our autumn planting onion sets have just arrived and we are selling these loose by weight, so you can purchase as few or as many as you would like.
Choose from Autumn Champion or Red Winter.
Our recommended shallot for autumn planting is Shallot Jermor, and that is ready too.
How to Grow Autumn Onions
Onion sets are small immature onions, which have been grown from seed in the previous year, and then harvested early so that they can be planted out a later date. Autumn planted sets will provide the grower with a distinct advantage of an early harvest in the following year.
Onions can be grown in beds or containers. Growing onions from sets in containers is ideal for those who want a small, steady supply of bulbs as and when needed, with any surplus being dried and stored for later use. Make sure that the pots selected have good drainage holes, and raise them up on pot feet to prevent waterlogging. Fill large pots or containers with good quality compost such as Growmoor Vegetable Compost. Firm the soil surface and apply water with a watering can and rose attachment. Use a dibber or gently push the sets into the soil, at 10cm spacing, so that only the tips are visible. Place the container in a sunny position.
Prepare planting beds, usually after other main crop vegetables have been harvested, and incorporate plenty of organic matter. Onions will grow best in well-drained soil in a sunny position. Rake the surface soil to a fine tilth and firm with the back of a rake. Push the sets into the soil so only the tips are showing. Space each set at 10cm apart in the rows and 30cm between the rows. If the birds pull them out, just keep pushing them back in until the roots are sufficiently formed to anchor them on place.
If the autumn is mild then the sets will begin to show signs of growth with green shoots appearing. Onions are very hardy but if early hard frosts are forecast then ensure these young shoots are protected with frost fleece. Water sparingly and only if the soil dries out, otherwise they should over winter without any problems. Water as normal when temperatures rise during late spring.
Over winter, the onions will be dormant and pests and diseases will be less troublesome. Come the spring, look out for signs of yellowing leaves, rust, mildew and mould. Avoid feeding young plants with nitrogen-rich fertilisers. Onion fly is a known pest but rarely affects plants grown from sets.
Autumn planted onion sets should be ready for harvesting from early June in the following year, which is 2-3 months ahead of spring planted sets. Store in a cool dry place.
Grow Your Own Garlic
Our first batch of garlic is also now in stock – Elephant Garlic in pre-packs. If you haven’t tried growing garlic before, here is our How to Grow Garlic Guide
Other varieties will become available in the next few weeks. We always sell out of these very quickly so don’t delay.
Gardening Tasks for September
The wonderful summer weather has been a joy to us all, but also a challenge for gardeners as our plants begin to flag in the absence of significant rainfall. This has really emphasised the need for feeding and mulching, in order to keep plants strong and healthy during stressful dry periods, and to trap as much moisture in the soil as possible. This is something to remember as we edge towards autumn and winter as mulching is just one of the gardening tasks for September.
New Planting Season
September is a very busy month in the garden, and marks the start of a new season of planning, tidying up and planting for autumn interest. Perennial plants such as heathers and heucheras put on a good display in the later part of the year and, supplemented with bedding plants like violas and pansies, will make a colourful splash in the autumn and right through to the spring. Bedding cyclamen are also looking good at this time of year, but bear in mind that these are not hardy in the Scottish Borders, and will die off when the first frosts arrive.
Plant up Winter Pots
Now is a good time to plant up autumn and winter pots. Dwarf conifers are a good option as a centre-piece in pots as these come in a variety of leaf forms and shades ranging from blue-grey to deep green and are very hardy. Remember to use fresh compost as the old compost will have had nutrient depletion throughout the summer. Make sure that drainage holes in the pots are open by raising them on pot feet and putting crocks or stones in the bottom of the pot. At Woodside we recommend using Growmoor Multi-purpose Compost with Added John Innes – it’s the one we use for all our re-potting.
Care for Summer Bedding
Summer bedding plants in hanging baskets and pots will keep going until the first frosts. Hopefully you have been keeping up with watering and feeding them over the summer – if so, they will still be looking good. Remember to continue to feed them with a liquid feed and to keep dead-heading them. My pots and hanging baskets at home have never been better – they have really enjoyed the summer sun, and weekly feeding has ensured that there are always fresh flowers.
Refresh your Perennial Borders
Out in the garden, it’s a good time to assess whether you have enough late-flowering perennials to keep the garden looking good, and to provide a nectar source for pollinating insects into the autumn. Any gaps can be filled with Sedums, Echinacea and Rudbeckias which can all be planted at this time of year. Congested clumps of perennials, such as hardy Geraniums and Hemeracollis can be lifted, divided and replanted to keep them heathy and fresh.
Plant Spring Bulbs
September is a good month for planting spring flowering bulbs, such as crocuses, snowdrops, daffodils and fritillaries, both in the garden and underneath autumn bedding plants in pots. Why not try planting up an Allium border? These are members of the onion family and have striking rounded heads of flowers, usually in blues and purples and sometimes in white, which are loved by bees and other beneficial insects. The foliage can look very scruffy, so I’d always recommend to plant them amongst perennials which will hide the foliage but allow the flower spikes to emerge above them.
Vegetable Garden
In the kitchen garden you can still plant hardy greens, such as pak choi, kale, broccoli and spring cabbage – remember to protect against pigeon damage by using micromesh or netting.
Prune out all the fruited canes of summer raspberry canes by cutting them right to the base and tie in thenew canes to supports.
Plant fruit trees like apples, pears and plums while the ground is warm – making sure to water all new plantings in well.
More Vintage Garden Products in Stock
We’ve been to three auctions in the last seven days, so Stephen has a lot more of his salvage and vintage garden range of products available now.
We are particularly pleased with a pair of late 18th Century/early 19th Century carved sandstone urns which are absolutely gorgeous, with excellent weathering, and have a really good look about them. We hardly ever get the chance to purchase urns of such age and quality and they came out of a farm garden near Carlisle where they had been for as long as the owner could remember. These are priced at £1850 for the pair. For more information about the urns click here.
Look out too for a vintage railway bench of approximately 3m in length which could comfortably seat six people. Its a Colebrookdale style bench in the branch form, with timber which could do with some renovation, and is currently painted in an attractive bright blue. It’s priced at £650. To see more of our vintage garden furniture, click here.
From a private garden in Northumberland we have purchased a pair of cast iron urns on plinths which are a real statement piece, standing around 1.5m high in total. They are really stunning and would work in a small courtyard as well as in a grander scale garden. We have these at £1950 for the pair of urns and the matching plinths
For a smaller budget we have also got lots more tools and knick-nacks for the garden shed, so do pop in and have a look in our blue shop to see the full range. There’s bound to be something that will come in useful!
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Grocery Expands Product Range
We’ve been asked if we can stock cheese and milk along in our grocery, so we’ve listened to you and have selected a whole new range of delicious chilled food items for you to choose from, including:
Milk
Snowdonia Cheese
Yorkshire Wensleydale (being a Yorkshire girl I couldn’t resist!)
Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding
Salmon & Mushroom Pate
Smoked Chicken & Duck
and a range of Italian cured meats including Proscuitto, Salami, Mortadella, Pancetta and Speck.
With our range of non-chilled foods including Laprig Valley Apple Juice, Greenknowe Honey and scrummy Keswick Ketchup, and our frozen ready meals, you’re all set – you can shop for tea whilst you’re buying your plants!
Don’t forget that we also stock fresh bread on Saturdays and Wednesdays, local free range organic eggs, and a great range of fruit and vegetables. Do come in and have a look. I can highly recommend the British grown cherries!.
Hooray for Herbaceous Plants
It’s the time of year when our gardens are looking bright and colourful, with many herbaceous plants at their best. They are doing particularly well this year after enjoying a warm and sunny spring and the early summer rain.
At Woodside we have a great range of herbaceous plants – these are flowering plants that die down for the winter and then come back year after year. Some of my favourites are recommended below:
Hemeracollis – Day Lilies. These are some of the easiest plants to grow and have masses of showy lily like blooms. We have available Cathy’s Sunset (Orange), Parden Me (Crimson), Edge Ahead (Pink) and Stella d’Ora (Yellow). Plant in a sunny spot in any garden soil that doesn’t waterlog.
Hardy Geraniums – these are looking wonderful in my garden at home just now, and are a perfect trouble-free plant for all gardeners. The bigger varieties can be chopped back after flowering to produce a second burst of flower later in the year. Our selection of large varieties includes Orion (Blue), Red Admiral (Deep reddish pink) magnificum (Blue) and psilostemon (Magenta pink with dark eye). Shorter varieties suitable for smaller spaces and rockeries include Orkney Cherry (dark purple leaves with a small but pretty pink flowers) and sanguineum Max Frei (low growing with pink flowers). Hardy Geraniums are a personal favourite of mine.
Astrantia Gill Richardson – a robust plant that flowers for weeks on end. This particular variety has ruby red papery flowers, and is highly recommended and makes a change from the usual cream and pale pink varieties
Erigeron – Fleabane. Ignore the rather unappealing common name – these are attractive plants with masses of daisy-like flowers. We currently have the popular sprawling variety Erigeron karvinskianus “Profusion” in stock, as well as the upright growing “Adria” which has pink flowers.
Aster laterifolius “Lady In Black” – this one really caught my eye this week. This unusual type of Michaelmas Daisy (now sometimes called Symphyotrichum) has black stems and purple leaves and masses of tiny pinky-white flowers in summer. Really worth adding to the garden.
Ageratina altissima “Chocolate” – another purple leaved plant to give some foliage interest in the garden; this one has fluffy white flowers which contrast beautifully with the leaves
Cephalaria gigantea (Giant Scabious). This really is a giant, easily growing to 5 feet or more when in the right place, so a good back of border plant. Lemon coloured scabious type flowers are produced in summer. A real statement plant
These are just a few of my very favourite herbaceous plants – there are many more to choose from including a good selection of ferns, Hostas and grasses, and we also have fig plants in stock just now for the greenhouse or conservatory (or for a south facing wall in a sheltered spot if you’re lucky enough to have this).
Do come and visit Woodside to appreciate our full range of plants for sale, and for inspiration on how to fill any gaps you might have in the garden. Planting conditions are very good just now, with some welcome rain forecast.
Secret Wildlife Garden
With the continuing good weather it is still really busy in our plant centre and tea room. We have new deliveries of plants arriving almost daily to keep up with demand, so I can’t really give you a list of what we currently have in stock because some lines are being sold as soon as they are off the pallet!
What I can say is that we continue to have an excellent selection of bedding plants, vegetable plants, aquatic plants and plenty of herbaceous perennials to fill your borders. I would highly recommend that you come along and see for yourself – you are sure to find something that takes your fancy. Whilst you are here, why not spend some time exploring the walled garden and admiring the plants that benefit from the sunny aspect? You will see some lovely fruit trees and if you search enough you will find our secret wildlife garden, complete with a lovely pond, where you can sit and relax for a few minutes.
We have also re-vamped the outdoor area around the tea room, so there are even more places to sit and enjoy coffee, cake or one of our lunches.
We are open all bank holiday weekend and anticipate that it will be very busy – we are so in need of rain that I am not sure whether the slightly damp forecast will put anyone off. If you want the best selection of plants it might be worth coming before the weekend if you can.
Summer Bedding Plants
We are now fully stocked with summer bedding plants, with one of the best selections we have ever had. Look out for bedding packs of:
Ageratum, Begonia, Cosmos, Gazania, Geranium, Impatiens, Lobelia, Marigold, Mesembryanthemum, Mimulus, Nemesia, Nicotiana, Pansy, Petunia, Salvia, Stocks and Verbena.
In our Tub and Basket plant range you can choose from:
Bacopa, Bidens, Brachyscome, Calibrachoa, Fuchsia, Helichrysum, Trailing Nepeta, Petunia, Surfinia, Verbena and trailing and non-stop Begonias.
We also have trailing and zonal variegated Geraniums and Regal Pelargoniums, so plenty of choice for your borders, beds, pots and hanging baskets. Remember to use a Container Compost which has added nutrients and water retaining granules to help keep your plants strong and healthy. Or you could add water retaining granules to Multi-purpose compost and slow release fertiliser tablets or granules to make your own mix.
Vegetable Plants
As far as the vegetable garden in concerned, we have a huge choice of young vegetable plants:
Cabbage
Calabrese
Cauliflower
Chard
Kale
Kelsae onions
Kohl Rabi
Leeks
Lettuce
Onions
Oriental leaves
Pak Choi
Runner Beans
Shallots
Sprouts
Tomato plants are selling very fast, and are likely to sell out this weekend, so please do call in and pick out what you’d like. Our varieties are: Ailsa Craig, Alicante, Beefsteak, Gardener’s Delight, Golden Plum, Shirley, Sungold, & Tumbling Tom. We are struggling for space just now so we can’t hold tomato plants for you, so please come in and collect. Other vegetable plants available are: Chilli Peppers, Sweet Peppers, Courgettes and Pumpkins.
Other Plant Centre Highlights
Elsewhere in the plant centre we now have a batch of Verbena bonariensis ready. That’s the really tall mauve flowered plants that really comes into it’s own in late summer and early autumn. These are just young plants at £3.50 each, but are very fast growing and best treated as an annual in this area.
Two new varieties of Cotinus (Smoke Bush) are also available – Magical Torch and Magical Red Fountain. Both have pretty dusky purple foliage.
A fresh delivery of pond plants and cold water fish have also just arrived, including water lilies and marginals.
Our selection of Rhododendrons and Azaleas is looking amazing with masses of bud and flower. Remember to plant in ericaceous compost to maintain their required acidic conditions.
Paeonies are also looking really good – our varieties are Duchess de Nemours and Bowl of Beauty, as well as a good choice of Tree Paeonies.
For shady spots we have a great choice of ferns and Hostas all looking fresh and green. Remember to protect Hostas from slugs and snails.
Aquatics Department Open
Now that spring is well and truly here (isn’t it wonderful?) our aquatics department is now open for the summer. We stock coldwater fish, pond plants, self contained water features (including solar options), pumps, liners and everything else needed to make or maintain a beautiful pond feature.
This is always our busiest time of year, so apologies that we haven’t been able to send out a decent detailed newsletter to everyone on the list – suffice to say we are having frequent deliveries to keep you well-supplied for your garden. here are some of this week’s highlights:
- Vegetable plants are now in stock including tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and sprouts
- New season’s climbing plants are ready – clematis, jasmines, honeysuckles and climbing hydrangea
- A new range of garden statues and wall plaques has just been delivered.
For a list of the many jobs you can be doing in the garden this month, take a look at our guide to Gardening Tasks for April
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Gardening Tasks for April
Spring is here and with it a flurry of activity in the garden. Start planning now to make the most of any Easter break you might have planned.
- Towards the end of the month sow hardy annual seeds such as Calendula into gaps in borders
- Plant out young plants of native wildflowers to provide food for insects and birds
- Plant Spring bedding plants such as Primulas, Polyanthus, Violas and Pansies in pots and at the front of borders to give a splash of colour
- Protect new shoots of Hostas, Delphiniums and other vulnerable plants from slugs and snails using slug pellets or Slug Gone
- Dead-head spring flowering bulbs and bedding plants to stop them wasting energy on seed production
- Harden off plants overwintered indoors, such as Cannas, remembering to keep an eye on the weather forecast to bring them back in when frost is forecast
- Spray the new leaves of roses with Fungus Clear to control mildew, blackspot and rust, and spray for aphids if needed
- Prune Hydrangeas by cutting back the old flower stems to a string shoot
- Prune Buddleias to a healthy shoot
- Restart old and tired shrubs such as Potentillas, Spiraea and Berberis by cutting back hard to the base
- Lift and divide congested clumps of hardy perennials such as Asters, Hemeracollis and Hostas
- Plant out Lily Bulbs and Dahlia tubers
- Start planting water plants in garden ponds and water features
- Split and replant overgrown water plants
- Push in a fertiliser tablet to aquatic planters to give them a good feed
- Add barley straw pouches to ponds to help prevent the build up of blanketweed
- Switch water pumps back on after cleaning all filters
- Prepare the vegetable garden ready for planting
- Plant out hardened off leeks and onion plants
- Plant Second Early and Maincrop potatoes in trenches in the veg garden or in pots or potato bags
- Plant out brassicas remembering to place cabbage collars around the stems to deter cabbage root flies
- Sow seeds of courgettes and cucumbers indoors ready for planting out when the risk of frost has passed
- Start off seeds of Broad Beans, French beans and Runner beans indoors
- Sow small batches of rocket, radishes and salad leaves outdoors, and coriander and basil indoors
- Plant out fresh strawberry plants and hardy herbs
- Continue sowing and pricking out of bedding plants and perennials
- Sow sweet peas in deep pots or Root-trainers in a greenhouse or sunny windowsill
- Plant tomato plants into growbags or Wool Tomato Compost in a heated greenhouse or polytunnel
- Don’t forget to open greenhouse doors and vents on sunny days to aid ventilation
- Repair damaged lawn patches with turf or lawn seed
- Remove moss and weeds from turf and boost grass growth with a lawn feed
- Cut back old and tatty fern fronds to make way for fresh unfurling shoots
- Keep watching the weather forecast and have rolls of fleece handy for protection against frosts
- Prune out unwanted suckers from trees and shrubs
- Hoe between rows of vegetable plants regularly to control weed growth
- Spray off more troublesome weeds and remember to respray as they regrow
- Keep an eye out for aphids on new shoots of emerging plants and spray as required with pesticide or soapy water
- Weed, feed and mulch any borders and beds not yet done
Continue feeding birds as they are now busy raising their young
Buy Wild Flowers and Strawberry Plants Now
We are delighted that you can now buy wild flowers from the plant centre at Woodside. The wild flowers all require different growing conditions, depending on the variety, but they are all hardy varieties which should do well in the Scottish Borders.
Our wild flower selection includes:
-
- Betony
- Red & White Campion
- Cowslip & Oxslip
- Foxglove
- Ragged Robin
- Teasel
- Honesty.
Strawberry Plants
We also have a good choice of potted Strawberry plants ready for planting out. Choose a sunny well-drained spot and make sure that it is weed free. Add plenty of well-rotted farmyard manure or compost and plant about a foot apart in rows about 2-3 feet apart. Be careful not to plant them too deep – the crowns should be level with the soil. Existing plants should be fed with Potash in Spring and you may need to net them when fruiting to prevent the birds from stealing all your fruits. Layering straw underneath the plants when they come into flower will help keep the developing fruits dry, clean and out of the reach of slugs.
Our varieties are:
Honeoye – an early variety with heavy crops of fruit that freeze well for later jam making
Cambridge Favourite – a reliable and well-known mid-season variety
Elsanta – a mid-season abundant variety with good storage qualities
Eros – heavy cropping mid-season variety which is good and hardy
Pegasus – a mid-late variety with exceptional disease restistance, including mildew
Sophie – a late variety with delicious uniform dark red fruits
Florence – a late variety with a very sweet flavour and good disease resistance
Our strawberries are all potted with a good root system and are UK grown.