Posts by Emma Emmerson
Pot Grown Christmas Trees
Our pot grown Christmas Trees have now arrived.
These are living trees which can be brought indoors for Christmas and then either planted out in the garden or re-potted for using again indoors next year. These living trees are a really good sustainable and affordable way of enjoying the benefits of a real Christmas tree as your festive centre piece, and you can choose from traditional Norway Spruce, Nordmann Fir or Blue Spruce. Sizes range from approx 2ft to 4-5ft, so they are also a perfect choice when space is limited.
As they are living trees they can be purchased well ahead of Christmas and kept outside until you’re ready to bring them in for Christmas, so buying now while we still have a good choice is advisable.
We are also still taking “Early Bird” orders for fresh wreaths and cut Christmas trees
Christmas Gifts and Decorations
Our shop is now brimming with gorgeous Christmas gifts and decorations – new in is a superb range of artificial (but very realistic) garlands and wreaths.
We have also been to another auction and have a stunning range of vintage wrought iron metal panels for you to browse. Most of these have been used as decorative window grilles, and come in a variety of styles and sizes, many of which would convert into gates or screens.
Raspberry Canes in Stock
Our Scottish Grown Raspberry canes are now in stock, ready for planting. Choose from:
Early Varieties
Glen Clova – vigorous and disease resistant with small firm fruits that freeze well
Glen Lyon – compact growth, heavy cropper with tasty glossy fruit
Malling Promise – an early heritage variety with large rosy red fruits
Mid Season Varieties
Glen Ample – high yielding with very large fruit and a superb flavour
Glen Doll – spine free canes with good disease resistance and excellent flavour of fruit
Glen Ericht – Modern variety with good resistance to root rot, and firm tasty berries
Malling Jewel – compact growth with reliable crops of fruit with excellent flavour. An old favourite
Late Season Varieties
Malling Leo – a tall growing variety with abundant crops of large firm fruit
Tullameen – a Canadian variety and now one of the most popular ones available due to its abundance of sweet fruit. Suitable for growing in a large pot
Autumn Varieties
Allgold – very reliable cropper, easy to grow and establish, with attractive golden yellow tasty fruit
Autumn Bliss – large red berries with excellent flavour and good keeping qualities
Heritage – a primocane variety with sturdy canes that don’t need support, high quality juicy fruit
Raspberries can be tricky to establish – we recommend that you never plant on ground that has previously grown raspberries, and that you always plant with Rootgrow to give them some additional help. Read more in our How to Plant Raspberry Canes Guide.
Blueberries
We also have four different Blueberries to choose from:
- Blue Crop – the most popular and reliable mid season season blueberry variety on the market
- Darrow -a late season variety with large fruit for easy picking
- Duke – a good early variety for colder gardens with light blue firm crunchy berries
- Hortblue Petite – NEW to Woodside and an outstanding new variety producing two crops in one year – in July and again in September. Excellent for growing in containers. This is the World’s first twice fruiting variety.
All Blueberries require acidic growing conditions, so don’t forget to plant with Ericaceous compost and Ericoid Rootgrow.
As usual, for all reservations and queries it’s best to speak to us on the phone or leave an answer phone message by calling 01835 830315. Messages via email and by social media may go unanswered. Don’t forget we are now into our winter opening times of 10am – 4pm daily.
Ornamental Trees now in stock
Ornamental Trees
We’re pleased to have what we believe is the best range of ornamental trees in the Scottish Borders, and this weeks new arrivals include four varieties of Amelanchiers. These are one of my “must have” plant varieties that I think all gardens should have, but we’ve been struggling to get them for the last couple of years.
This week’s batch is some of the best I’ve seen and the varieties are: canadensis Glenform Rainbow Pillar, Edelweiss, Snowflakes, and Ballerina. All varieties have an abundance of dainty white blossom in spring, and pretty mid-green leaves which turn lovely shades of gold and red in the autumn.
Look out too for some gorgeous Rowans (Sorbus) – Fingerprint, Autumn Spire, Ravensbill and Olympic Flame, as well as the beautiful variegated leaved Cherry Prunus Frilly Frock.
Also new in this week are Hamamelis – stunning Witch Hazels which produce fragrant showy spidery flowers in winter in shades of red, bronze or yellow. Our current varieties are Arnold Promise, Diane, Jelena and Pallida.
Fruit Trees
More fruit trees are now available, including some Scottish Heritage Apple Varieties:
- Bloody Ploughman,
- Galloway Pippin,
- Scotch Bridget,
- Scotch Dumpling
- Stirling Castle.
In addition we also have more Victoria Plums and Nut trees ready now – Walnut, Hazel Gunselbert, Filbert Cosford, Hazel Nottingham and Webbs Prize Cobnut.
We also have Raspberry Canes and Blueberry plants ready to plant now.
Some of our trees and shrubs are only available in limited numbers only, so if you can’t get to Woodside in the next few days I suggest you phone on 01835 830315 to reserve your choice. We have plenty of raspberry canes, so no need to worry about them selling out just yet!
As usual, for all reservations and queries it’s best to speak to us on the phone or leave an answer phone message. Messages via email and by social media may go unanswered.
Don’t forget we are now into our winter opening times of 10am – 4pm daily.
Plants for Autumn Colour
We’ve just had a delivery come in of some really gorgeous plants for autumn colour. They will really brighten up your garden. We all love them, and I’m sure you will do too……
In the main image you can see two evergreens:
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- Pieris japonica Little Frosty, which is a fairly new introduction. This is a compact and bushy form, suitable for planting in small spaces or in tubs and containers, and has silver and green evergreen foliage and white bell shaped flowers in spring.
- Leucothoe Curly Red, another low growing evergreen shrub. This one has unique curly leaves which open as red on the new growth, turning to green in the summer, then back to red in the autumn right through winter, making it a lovely warm colour to enjoy in the very coldest of days.
We also have in stock autumn flowering Callunas (Heathers) which are full of buds and flowers and ready for planting outside now.
Sarcoccoca, also known as Winter Box is one of my favourite plants. It has lovely glossy green foliage all year round and masses of tiny white flowers in the winter, which smell strongly of honey. We have three varieties available – Winter Gem, Purple Stem and Dragon Gate. All of them are smothered in flower buds and looking really tempting!
We have a superb batch of Hardy Cyclamen available too. These are the truly hardy ones, which can be planted out in the garden under deciduous trees and shrubs and come back year after year. This winter mix we currently have in stock has unusual silver foliage topped with dainty flowers in shades of pink. We also have more Patio Cyclamen ready – these can be grown either as bedding plants, or as house plants for a cool room, and come in shades of white, pink, and red.
Two new varieties of Daphne have also just arrived – Daphne Perfume Princess (pink) and Daphne Eternal Fragrance (white). These evergreens have stunning highly perfumed flowers in late winter into early spring, and we often have real trouble getting hold of them, so we’re especially pleased to be able to offer such strong looking plants.
We’ve lots more plants looking really good at this time of year, so if your garden is looking a bit drab and lacking in colour, perhaps it just needs a freshen up. Don’t forget that we also have an excellent range of bulbs to underplant your garden with, so you can also be sure of a bright and cheerful spring garden.
As usual, if you’d like any of these plants reserving, just call on 01835 830315.
 Hardy cyclamen for a display year after year. |
 Brightly coloured callunas in deep pink or white with Sarcoccoco behind |
Apple Festival Update
We’ve got a fabulous weekend lined up for you this coming weekend 15th and 16th October as we co-host the Borders Organic Gardeners (BOG) Apple Festival.
The event is open from 10am to 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday, and features stalls, displays, apple themed food and drink, and so much more.
Here is what we are doing over the weekend:
Saturday 15th October:
BOG Display of 140 apple varieties
27 different varieties of apple tree for sale
BOG Bookshop and information
Apple pressing – bring your own apples for juicing
BOG Home baking stall
Woodside Apple themed food and drink
Visiting Nursery – Tinnisburn Plants
Half a Hedgerow garden ornaments
Northumbria Basketry display and products for sale
The Wildlife Information Centre
Lyne Organics
Greenknowe Honey
Sunday 16th October (Family Day):
Childrens Activities including sign painting and “William Tell” shooting
BOG Display of 140 apple varieties
27 different varieties of apple tree for sale
BOG Bookshop and information
BOG Homebaking stall
Apple pressing – bring your own apples for juicing
Woodside Apple themed food and drink
Crailing Community Orchard
Laprig Valley
The Scottish Wildlife Trust
Borders Forest Trust
Half a Hedgerow garden ornaments
Northumbria Basketry display and products for sale
The Wildlife Information Centre
Lyne Organics
Greenknowe Honey
Moving Images Mobile Cinema
Moving Images Mobile Cinema
We are very excited with our line up over the weekend, and are pleased to be able to bring you “Moving Images” a solar powered cinema within a caravan! Kerry will be presenting a series of 9 short films on the Sunday, lasting around 30 mins in total, being screened at 45min intervals. For more information on the films please click HERE
These are suitable for adults and children over 10 and cost £2.50 per ticket. Tickets can be purchased in advanced through Eventbrite by clicking here, and will also be available on the day, subject to availability.
Tinisburn Plants
We’re also pleased to welcome back Helen from Tinnisburn Plants on the Saturday. Helen has been visiting Woodside over the past couple of years as our “guest nursery”, but it has always been on a Wednesday, and I know a lot of you can’t make a mid-week day, so here’s the perfect chance to purchase some of her hardy grown plants for all of you. I’ll look forwards to seeing what she has available at this time of year.
Apple-themed Food
Our tearoom will be serving a variety of apple-themed recipes, including soups, scones, cakes, pork and apple sausages, pulled pork, stuffing and apple sauce in a stottie, BBQ jackfruit, mulled apple juice and more.
Our plant centre has 27 different varieties of apple tree available to purchase, and this weekend you’ll get a FREE sachet of Rootgrow with every apple tree purchased. Don’t forget we also have other fruit trees available too, including cherries, pears, damsons, gages, medlars, mirabelles, plums, and quinces.
The plant centre is also well stocked with bulbs, Halloween decorations, a brand-new range of garden tools, autumn bedding, compost and lots more.
We’ve also got some new vintage and salvage items available following another trip to an auction.
Car Parking
It promises to be a very busy weekend, with plenty going on throughout the two days. We have arranged with Lothian Estates to use the nearby carpark at Harestanes as our overflow carpark, so if you are fit and able to walk, please do use it and save the Woodside car park for those who can’t manage the walk. There will be a collection point at our gate for those who have purchased items and need to bring the car across from Harestanes.
The event runs from 10am to 3pm (although Woodside is open as usual until 5pm) on both days. We are hoping for good weather, and the tearoom has plenty of outdoor space, however if you wish to sit indoors I would suggest booking by phoning 01835 830315.
Apple Festival
Don’t forget to put a date in your diary for our Apple Festival weekend on 15th and 16th October in partnership with Borders Organic Gardeners (BOG). There will be a range of attractions, including a display of apples and information about apple growing.
There will also be some gardening related stalls, including
- Tinnisburn Plants (Saturday only),
- Half A Hedgerow,
- Northumbria Basketry Group,
- Crailing Community Orchard (Sunday only)
- The Wildlife Information Centre,
- Lyne Organics.
Family Activites
On the Sunday we will have some family activities such as sign painting and a “William Tell” shooting stall!
We are also delighted to welcome Kerry Jones and her mobile cinema to Woodside on the Sunday – more information on Moving Images can be found here
Time for Tree Planting
Late September and into October is a perfect time for tree planting. The soil is still warm and the ground is beginning to get a little damper in the cooler weather as autumn takes hold.
We have a huge range of fruit trees and ornamental trees available just now – it is probably the best selection in the Border area. To see our full list of varieties ready, just click on this link and it will take you to our list. The list also gives an indication of how many of each variety we have available (as of 20th September).
Please note that we are not a web shop, so this list is for guidance only! To purchase please either visit Woodside or phone us on 01835 830315.
Special highlights on our tree list include:
- Beautiful Crab Apples (Malus)
- A good range of Rowans (Sorbus)
- Flagpole Cherry (Prunus Amanogowa) for small spaces
- Amelanchier Robin Hill
- Betula jaquemontii ( one of the best white stemmed birches)
- A large collection of different apple varieties
- Fan fruit trees for growing on walls or fences
Bulbs
Our full range of bulbs is now in stock as you look forward to next spring and summer. Highly recommended varieties include:
- Cochicums – these are known as Autumn Flowering Crocus are produce showy flowers in September, followed by fleshy foliage in Spring
- Fritillaria imperialis (Crown Imperial) – unusual spring flowering bulbs with spectacular blooms in orange, red or yellow. These flower well in the Woodside garden and are admired by customers visiting in spring
- Snowdrops (Galanthus) – we have these as a collection pack, or as individual named varieties
- Woodland Collection – a collection of bulbs prepared to enhance woodland and shrubby sections of the garden
- Prepared hyacinths – these are for indoor plantings to flower in the winter. We either have them available as loose bulbs in a range of colours, or as kits complete with a glass jar for planting, which are perfect presents
- Paperwhite Narcissus – these are members of the daffodil family and are for indoor planting in bowls and baskets, where they produce masses of sweetly scented flowers
Garlic and Onions
If vegetables are more your thing, autumn planting onions, shallots and garlic are all now available:
- Onion Autumn Champion – one of the best over-wintering varieties for planting now
- Shallot Jermor – a banana shallot with good flavour and stores well
- Elephant Garlic – a giant garlic suitable for planting now for harvesting next year
We also still have a few packs of winter herb and vegetable plants left – Spring Onions, Chard, Coriander, Parsley, Spinach and Rocket.
Pitcher Plants for sale
I am pleased to announce we have a NEW collection of Sarracenias, otherwise known as Pitcher Plants, for sale. These are carnivorous plants for indoors, although they will be quite happy being outdoors over the summer. They love water, so should always be standing in a tray of water – preferably rainwater and like plenty of sunshine without getting too hot. A bright window sill is ideal for them. The plants trap and digest flies in their trumpets, and this rather gruesome habit seems to make them very appealing for many people to grow! Of course they are beautiful too, with lovely different shades of greens, purples and pinks, and often with really attractive marbling effects.
Orchids
We also have a collection of Orchids in stock just now from a new grower we are using. Again, these are for indoors, and the plants we have are showing lots of flowers – perfect for a gift, or just to spoil yourself.
Patio Cyclamen
For the garden we have the first of the season’s patio cyclamen ready now, in a bright and cheerful range of colours. These are good for autumn colour and will really brighten up your tubs, pots and baskets. They enjoy cooler conditions and will cope with a few degrees of frost, so are ideal for filling this “colour gap” in the garden that many of us have just now. Bring indoors for the winter, and keep dead-heading them and they should keep going for weeks – they are much better value compared to a bunch of flowers which you’ll get only about 10 days from!
Soft Fruit Plants
New stock of soft fruit plants arrived last week. These are unpacked, priced and ready for their new homes! They are likely to sell quickly, so if you need any reserving, please phone us on 01835 830315.
Mid-August Highlights in the Garden Centre
There are still some lovely plants available in the garden centre to give you autumn or all year round interest in the garden. We have also had a new delivery of stoneware, benches and have been on another successful search for vintage garden items. Here are some of the highlights:
Plants of the week:
Japanese Anemones – these lovely late summer flowering perennials are easy to grow and come back year after year
Euphorbias – we have a good choice of these just now, which offer year round foliage interest.
Heucheras and Heucherallas -these are gorgeous evergreen perennials offering excellent value for money with all year round interest, and will grow happily in beds or in pots. We have a good range of foliage colours available.
Hydrangeas – enjoy a lovely display of late summer flowers with our range of Hydrangeas. These plants have gained enormous popularity in recent years, and the much looser blooms of the paniculata types are a far cry away from the formal ball-head flowers we used to see, and much more suited to more cottagey type gardens.
Zero Maintenance Benches
Many of you have been admiring our composite zero-maintenance three seater benches that we had delivered earlier this year. They have sold well, with one going to Ancrum Bowling Club and others finding new homes in situations where maintenance of a traditional timber bench would be difficult. We are now pleased to be stocking the 2-seater version, in the same range of great colours – Green, Blue, New Teak and Stone Grey, and we also have the full range of colours available again in the 3-seater size. 2-seaters are £475.00, and 3 seaters £575.00, and with no sanding, painting or oiling required they really are zero-maintenance.
Stoneware
We’ve also had new deliveries of stoneware from both of our major suppliers. These have been on order since last autumn, so we’ve been waiting quite some time for them! Our new stock includes some designs we’ve not had in before, as well as some popular lines that we’d sold out of, so do come and have a look. Products include a new range of Fairy Doors, Green Man Plaques, Birdbaths, Toadstools and a wide range of statues to suit all sizes of garden and budget. I know it’s a bit early yet for the “C” word, but they really do make lovely Christmas presents!
Vintage Garden Items
My favourite items from last week’s haul are: Vintage Belgian metal rubbish bins, which would make great storage for birdfood or petfood, a really pretty Ransomes lawn mower (pictured and in exceptional condition for it’s age), an unusual brass watering can, an assortment of vintage metal pumps (also on the photo), and my favourite of all – a French snail collecting tin.
We nearly always have a good range of proper stone troughs suitable for rockery and alpine plants, in a range of shapes and sizes. Do come in and have a look at what we have, and remember that we are refreshing the range all the time, as we source more vintage items from sales, fairs and auctions. These are all attracting a great deal of interest, and we are managing to pick up some items for customer requests, so if you’re looking for something in particular just let us know and we’ll try to source it for you.
Vintage Garden Items for sale
If you receive our regular newsletter, you will know that Stephen and I love going to antique fairs and bringing back a range of gorgeous vintage garden items to sell in the garden centre.
This is the perfect opportunity for you to pick up something unique for your garden. Examples of our most recent items are:
- Colebrookdale bench, fern and blackberry design – unusual two-seater size (pictured)
- Limestone garden sculptures
- vintage Sankey kale cloches
- vintage watering cans
- clay pots
- vintage birdhouse nestbox
- vintage garden gnome
With more fairs coming up through the summer, there will be more on offer, so please come along and find something unique for yourself.
Bedding Plants
We also still have a good supply of bedding plants in stock – so if you have a little spot that needs some colour these will be perfect for you.