Gardening
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.
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.
New Voucher Scheme
After much deliberation we have now decided to discontinue our loyalty card scheme in favour of a voucher scheme which will be available to all recipients of our newsletter.
Loyalty Card Scheme Update
Pricings and costings have changed so much since the loyalty card was launched 11 years ago, that it has become difficult to update in a way that gives value for money for you the customer, and be also economically viable for us, the business. We will of course still honour all full loyalty cards in the tearoom, where you can enjoy a free cup of tea or coffee and a scone or a traybake when you hand over a full card. In addition we will also continue to fill any already started cards in the plant centre, but we will not be issuing any more new ones.
Voucher Scheme and Special Offers
As a replacement we will be offering regular special offers and vouchers to recipients of our newsletter We know we have many very loyal customers – some of whom have loyalty cards, and some who have never joined the scheme, so now we are able to reward you all with these regular vouchers, and we thank you all for your continued support of Woodside. Simply print off the voucher and bring them along with you to Woodside to hand in when you purchase the relevant item. One voucher per person please – unless otherwise stated.
Sign up to the newsletter here
Plants Galore
Last week we had a record-breaking week in terms of the numbers of plant deliveries, so we were delighted to have a busy May bank holiday weekend.
Those 23 transporting trolleys plus more deliveries expected this week means that we still have plants galore in stock.
Look out for:
- Grow your own vegetable packs
- Individual veg in 9cm pots
- tomato plants
- climbers
- hardy geraniums
- hostas
- ornamental grasses
- water lilies
- herbs
- rhodedendrons/azaleas
Bedding Plants
Our first bedding plants are also now available – but please beware of late frosts. The popular “colour shades” carry packs are already here. Once our new polytunnel is finished we will have a lot more in stock.
Time to Grow Your Own Vegetables
Late April is the perfect time to grow your own vegetables, with the soil having warmed a bit and the sun coming out. The plant centre here at Woodside is full of everything to start your vegetable patch off, no matter how big it is.
We have a really good supply of the following currently available:
- baby vegetable plants for you to grow on (including leeks)
- tomato plants
- strawberry plants
- herbs
- seed potatoes.
Compost
There’s something to suit all gardener’s requirements in our newly covered compost area. We think we may have the biggest range of composts, barks and soils in the area, including the popular Jack’s Magic Multi-purpose compost. We have a range of award winning peat free compost from Dalefoot Compost and more peat free compost from New Horizons and Westland. Also in stock is the traditional John Innes range of soil based composts and peat based multi-purpose compost.
Fertilisers, and other garden treatments
We have extended the shelf space allocated to garden feeds, including vegetable feed. We have our best ever range of weedkillers, insecticides and fungicides, including many organic options. Just let us know what you are looking for, and we’ll probably have it!
Garden Furniture
Once you have done all that gardening you deserve to sit down in the sun and enjoy it. We have some beautiful “zero maintenance” garden benches available just now in a choice of 4 colours. New stock of wooden garden furniture is due in anytime now.
If you’ve not visited Woodside in the last few weeks, you’ll notice a big difference to our facilities and in the amount of stock we have available. I think you might be surprised on how much we have done in the way of improvements (which are still on-going), so do come and visit.
Enjoy the sun and get into your garden to grow your own vegetables for you to enjoy throughout the summer.
Aquatics Department Open for Summer 2022
We launched our Aquatics Department for the 2022 season over the first weekend in April. New this year is a range of lovely indoor water features, and these can all be found in our new purpose-built aquatics shop. We are well stocked with pond plants, cold water fish, pumps, filters, pond liner, fish food, pond treatments and water features.
We have a good range of marginal pond plants and water-lilies, as well as moisture loving plants for bog plants. A few oxygenators are available too, although it is still very early in the season for these and more will be available in due course. Our new season range of coldwater pond fish is also now ready with some gorgeous fish including Goldfish, Koi and new this year are some stunning Diamond Sturgeon.
It’s still very early in the season and more exciting stock will be coming in over the coming weeks, including a good selection of oxygenating plants.
Also Available in early April:
* A new selection of “wind rockers” – charming garden ornaments that “see-saw” in the wind
* Herbaceous plant supports for perennials such as Paeonies, Delphiniums and Lupins
* Attractive wall brackets, suitable for hanging baskets and bird feeders
* Ornamental garden panels, in a “ready to rust” finish
* Garden obelisks for climbing plants
* Beautiful indoor “ladies faces” planters
* New display of Artwork in the Tearoom by Wendy Patterson
….and more.
Check our Facebook page for images of some of our new items by clicking HERE
We also have a great range of plants in stock just now – Ceanothus and Buddleias have arrived today, and we have a good selection of Heucheras, Herbaceous Perennials, Rhododendrons, Fruit Trees, Spring Pansies and Violas, Seed Potatoes, Onion Sets, Dahlia Tubers, and much more.
Our new compost area is almost complete and is now partially open and we have also had another delivery of used large black plastic tubs for £5 each, suitable for growing potatoes, veg and large plants. This will probably be the last batch of these – so don’t miss out.
Wildflower plants in stock
It was a huge challenge to source wildflower plants during 2020 and 2021 as nurseries ceased propagation due to the “work from home” instructions of the lockdowns. We are delighted that production is now back to something resembling normality and we are able to offer a good range of wild flowers for planting out now.
Our current selection of wildflower plants:
Wild Carrot (Daucus carota)
Cornflower (Centuarea cyanus)
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Lady’s Bedstraw (Galium verum)
Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
Water Avens (Geum rivale)
Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis arvensis)
Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium caeruleum)
Oxlip (Primula elatior)
Cowslip (Primula veris)
Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)
Small Scabious (Scabiosa columbaria)
Red campion (Silene dioica)
White Campion (Silene latifolia)
Betony (Stachys offininalis)
These are all £2.99 each, or any 4 wildflowers for £10.
Wildflower seeds
In addition we stock a good range of wild flower seeds of individual species, as well as some wildflower mixes. Get going with one of our windowsill propagators to get seeds off to a good start. Use John Innes specialist seed compost, or the Dalefoot Seed Compost (which is peat free) for all your seed sowing.
For sowing “in-situ” we stock the Empathy Mini Meadow Mixes, which have a wide variety of British native flowers, all collected from British seed stock, and these have the added benefit of having mycorrhizal fungus (Rootgrow) added to the seed mix for good establishment.
Now is a good time for sowing many varieties of seeds, and is also a good time for planting, as the soil is warming up and the daylight hours are getting longer. We have a good range of propagators, seed trays, garden sieves, seed cells, Rootrainers, and everything else you need to get your seed sowing off to a good start.
Look Forward to Spring
Many people see the first of March as the start of spring and it certainly feels like that here at Woodside, with the sun out, the birds singing and lots of new stock arriving.
Shrubs
We have had deliveries of fresh plants in, so we now have a good range of shrubs, including:Forsythia Lynwood & Weekend
Hypericum Hidcote
Cistus Sunset, corbariensis, Sunset and purpureus
Mahonia Winter Sun,
Hebe Baby marie, Pagei & buxifolia nana
Physocarpus Diablo
Potentillas (bush varieties)
Spiraeas
Osmanthus burkwoodii & delaveyi
Genista Porlock
Viburnam Eve Price & davidii
Syringa (Lilac)
….and much more
Herbaceous Plants
Herbaceous plants are beginning to start to emerge from their winter dormancy, and highlights this week are Pulmonarias, Hellebores and Epimediums.
Our popular range of rockery plants is back at £4.99 each or 3 for £15, and there is plenty in flower and looking good just now. Look our for Saxifrage, Thrift, Arabis, Sedums, hardy Violas and Aubretia.
Propagation Corner
Our shop is fully stocked with a full range of seeds, grass seed, garden tools, string, fertilisers, garden treatments and wild bird food. Our “Propagation Corner” is filling up with seed trays, Rootrainers, compost disks (known to old-school gardeners as Jiffy 7’s), grow tunnels, and tunnel hoops. NEW this year are electric propagators to get you off to an early start this spring – we have two designs which are both suitable for sitting on a windowsill, and are sensibly priced at £34.99 and £44.99.
Buckets of pelleted Chicken Manure are also now available – £13.99 for 10kg or 2 buckets for £25. This is a great fertiliser for all round use in the garden, and is recommended for feeding bamboos, box plants and the vegetable plot.
Our Dalefoot Wool Compost is now here, and we offer their full range (apart from the Wool Ericaceous Compost which has been hit by production problems). These composts offer a very good alternative to conventional peat-based compost, and are made without any peat, using natural waste products from the Cumbian sheep farming industry.
Bird Tables
New in stock is a range of attractive birdtables. We have been getting asked for these, so now we have them! Choose from slate roofed styles or a timber roof. Don’t forget stabilising pegs to secure them into the ground and prevent toppling in the strong winds.
Also another NEW item this year is a Colander Trug. This is a very cleverly designed plastic trug with drainage holes at one end, so you can put your dirty veg in straight from the ground, and then rise off and drain the water away. We saw these at a trade show last year, and being a keen vegetable grower myself I thought they looked handy.
More for your Vegetable Garden
The weather continues to be discouraging for the vegetable garden, but to give you something to look forward here’s a taster of what we have in stock just now ready for spring:
Seed Potatoes
An increased range of varieties are ready now, for chitting and planting out in March/April
First Earlies – Caledonian Pearl, Epicure, Pentland Javelin, Rocket, Duke of York, Sharpes Express, Organic Colleen
Second Earlies – Carlingford, Charlotte, Estima, Harry, Maris Peer, Nadine, Nicola, Sarpo Una, Lucera, Wilja
Main Crop – Caledonian Rose, Cara, King Edward, Pink Fir Apple, Organic Sarpo Mira, Salad Blue, Mayan Rose, Blue Danube, Allouette
By my reckoning that makes 27 different varieties to choose from!!
Onions and Shallots
We have the following varieties:
Onions – Stuttgarter Giant, Centurion, Hercules, Snowball, Sturon, Red Panther, Red Baron, Karmen
Shallots – Biztro, Golden Gourmet, Mikor, Red Sun, Yellow Moon, Mehnir
These are all suitable for planting outside now. Read our guide to planting onions here.
Vegetable Garden pre-packs
Now is a good time to plant all sorts of vegetable tubers and roots, and we have the following available now:
Rhubarb Red Champagne and Rhubarb Valentine
Jerusalem Artichoke
Globe Artichoke
Asparagus Pacific Purple
Horseradish
Vegetable and Green Manure Seeds
We now have a full range of vegetable seeds and green manure seeds for sowing either in seed trays, or directly into the ground, depending on the variety. Our range includes;
10 different varieties of Green manure, plus 2 mixes, – Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Crimson Clover, Field Beans, Grazing Rye, Phacelia (highly recommended for bees) Mustard, Winter Tares, Trefoil, and White Clover.
A great range of vegetable seeds, including Aubergines, 6 different varieties of beetroot, Leaf beet (Chard), Brocolli, Brussels Sprouts, 14 different varieties of Cabbage, 11 different varieties of Carrots, Cauliflower, Courgettes, Cucumbers, Kale, 12 different varieties of Lettuce, Onions (including Spring Onions), Parsnips, 11 different varieties of Peppers, Radish, Salad Leaf, 22 varieties of Tomato, French Beans, Runner Beans, Broad Beans, and Peas.
Hopefully there is something to tempt you there!
Compost and Gardening Accessories
It’s been a very hectic lately with boxes and boxes of deliveries coming in, we now have our full range of fertilisers and garden treatments now in stock. We are pleased to be stocking a wider range of “Grazers” products this year, which are an organic, harmless option to help reduce damage to plants caused by deer, pigeons, rabbits, slugs and snails, and caterpillars. We also have a new range of Growing Success “Safer Gardening” organic products to help solve garden pest and disease problems – Fungus Stop, Bug Stop and Rose Guard. Our range of slug and snail controls are all organic.
We have a full range of weedkillers, including glyphosate free options, and well as a new range of lawn care products, including grass seed, lawn weed-killer and feed, weed and mosskillers.
Most of our compost is now in stock (please bear with us while we build our replacement compost area) with the full Dalefoot range of Wool Compost arriving. Unfortunately they are unable to produce any Ericaceous compost again this year, but we do have the Westland Ericaceous Peat based version available.