Wednesday, January 12, 2011

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED ONTO THE CROWN NURSERY WEBSITE

Hello - if you are wondering what has happened to this blog - it has been absorbed into the main Crown Nursery new website - check out the homepage - and you will see the new Blog.

RICHARD

Friday, November 26, 2010

AT LAST!! IT'S HERE - BARE-ROOT HEDGING NOW AVAILABLE!!

Hello - finally - at long last - it's all here!!! After a herculean effort - we have got everything heeled into our hedging bays. Despite snow,frost and just about everything else - in the last two days - over 16,000 hedging plants have been processed!!

Heeling-in during a blizzard yesterday was one of the highlights for me - that lovely feel as the snow starts to get in the back of your neck is just bliss!! Couple that with the plants getting heavier - the spade getting slippery - the soil getting wetter - and you have a nightmare scenario!! But we persevered and it is now all done - and in neat rows - ready for the bare-root hedging season.

We are working through the backlog of orders as fast as we can - so we will be in touch soon if you have pre-ordered your hedging. If you are just coming to visit the nursery - then we do have a hedging section near the fruit sales area - that has a good selection of most of the main hedging plants we offer - in convenient packs of 12 - plus also most of our popular hedging packs mix (50 plants in a pack) - including the new thorn-free and painters pallette mixtures.

However - if you are looking for several hundred plants - or a lot of packs - then it is best to pre-order - since we can only lift so much in one day - and we like to keep our plants as nursery-fresh as we can.

Our full hedging catalogue can be downloaded via the website - we are here to help as much as we can - we can advise you on the selections that may be best for your soil types.

Now that the darker evenings are here - please remember that the nursery opening hours have changed - due to safety reasons - we are now open Monday-Saturday 9am - 4pm only.

Now that the main planting season is in full swing - we are also delighted to announce that we are now stockists for the ROOT-GRO MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI. Much has been said about this product in the last few years - the RHS - ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY now fully endorse it.

It is particularly useful for use with bare-root plants since it helps the plant to re-develop an active root system. Almost every gardening programme seems to be in favour - so we are very pleased to offer it here at Crown Nursery - since it sits very well with the plant range we grow.

It is available in ready-to-use handy sachets - just right for sprinkling around the base of the trench when you plant your hedging!!

After a long and cold week of digging thousands of plants into the ground - I am off for a nice long soak in a hot bath - and perhaps even a glass of something stronger!!

SO UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD



Saturday, November 20, 2010

BARE-ROOT FRUIT TREES NOW AVAILABLE!

Hello - Phew - what a week!! The middle part of November is always viewed with mixed feelings by the nursery staff - why - because it is the busiest time of our year - with deliveries daily, as all the new season bare-root plants come on stream.

This week has definitely been manic - there have been two more of our popular pruning courses which were hugely successful - there have been five lorries delivering new stock - over 350 bare-root fruit trees and over 10,000 hedging plants have been heeled into the ground. Our mail-order service has been in full swing with parcels going out all over the country - plus all our regular visitors to the nursery as well!!

There are actually only three members of nursery staff so to say we are a bit stretched at the moment is a bit of an understatement!!

Nevertheless - we work as a team - and we now have available - BARE-ROOT HALF-STANDARD TREES OF PLUM 'VICTORIA', 'CZAR' AND 'MARJORIE'S SEEDLING', ALSO 'OLD ENGLISH GREENGAGE' AND DAMSON 'MERRYWEATHER, PLUS PEARS 'CONFERENCE','CONCORDE','DOYENNE DU COMICE' AND 'WILLIAMS BON CHRETIEN'. WE ALSO HAVE SMASHING QUALITY HALF-STANDARDS OF CHERRY 'STELLA', 'SUNBURST' AND 'LAPINS'.

WE WILL ALSO HAVE IN A FEW WEEKS TIME - PLUM 'VICTORIA' FAN, GREENGAGE FAN, CHERRY 'STELLA','SUNBURST' AND LAPINS' FANS - AND A RANGE OF APPLE ESPALIERS!!

So as you can see we are rather busy at the moment!!

Many of you are asking when the bare-root hedging will be available - we have the first deliveries in - but it will not be available for sale until late next week - we need to get everything together first - with another 15,000 hedging plants due in early next week - please be patient and bear with us - we are going as fast as we can!!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD

BARE-ROOT SOFT FRUIT NOW AVAILABLE!!

Hello - our season is now in full swing - and our new stock of bare-root soft fruit is now available.

Bare-root gives you better-quality and bigger plants with the soft fruit - and are right ready for planting in the next few months - while the soil remains warm and workable.

We have Blackcurrant 'Ben Sarek, 'Ben Lomond', Redcurrant 'Rovada', Raspberry 'Glen Moy', 'Tulameen' and 'Autumn Bliss' - Gooseberry 'Invicta','Hinnmaki Red' and 'Hinnamaki Yellow' and Strawberry 'Cambridge Favourite' as bare-root plants - plus potted Rhubarb 'Brandy Carr Scarlet' and 'Stockbridge Arrow', plus Loganberry Thornless and Thornless Blackberries - 'Waldo' and 'Oregon' and Strawberry 'Elsanta'.

There now - that's an excellent selection that will get your new fruit plot - or fill in existing gaps - and get you off to a flying start - get planting!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD

BLUEBERRY PLANTS NOW AVAILABLE!

Hello - we have at last got new supplies of Blueberry plants in stock - we have 2 litre pots of the variety 'Bluecrop' on the fruit sales area - approx 2ft tall - 2 year-old @ £10.50 each.

PLEASE NOTE - THIS REPLACES THE VARIETY 'JERSEY' THAT IS LISTED IN OUR CURRENT FRUIT CATALOGUE - THAT VARIETY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR SALE.

UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD

Saturday, November 13, 2010

HEDGING YOUR BETS!!

Hello - the end of a WILD AND WET WEEK here at the nursery!! Some days it has not been fit for man nor beast to be out - but we plod on!!

Fortunately, the day of our WINTER PRUNING COURSE was actually the only dry and sunny day of the week - so we could not have timed that better!! 19 gardeners had a very enjoyable morning up in the orchard learning about fruit tree pruning. Our reserve course on TUESDAY NOVEMBER 23RD only has three places left as I type this - so if you want to come on this one - GET YOUR SKATES ON!! - and contact the office on 01394 460755. I am sure we will run new courses in the New Year - but no dates have yet been set for those.

We are very close to starting our new bare-root HEDGING season - although lifting has not started quite yet - EXPECTED ABOUT 10 DAYS - we are taking orders - so if you know what you want and would like to get the pick of the crop - contact us.

We have revamped our popular HEDGING PACKS for 2010-2011 - and these include some new mixes - by popular demand we are introducing a 'BIG SOFTY - THORNFREE MIX' -many people do not want a thorny old hedge - and we have put together a pack that will give you a dense barrier - but without the prickles!!!

This has been the best autumn for leaf colour for years - and we have put together a PAINTERS PALETTE pack, which will give you an outstanding display of colour every year - combine this with our new NATURE'S LARDER pack - which has been selected to provide a stunning fruiting hedge - great for wildlife - and you!!

We also have the opposite to the 'Big Softy' Mix - and that is the 'KEEP 'EM OUT' mix - or it could be called the 'KEEP THEM IN'!!! This is the thorniest mix we can make up - and will certainly deter 'unwanted' visitors!

We are still offering our 'MIXED NATIVE' packs - a mix of traditional Suffolk hedgerow plants.

All of these packs contain 50 PLANTS which is sufficient to do a 10 metre double-row hedge. As mentioned above - these will be available in a few weeks - but can be pre-ordered to save delay.

Download our full hedging catalogue on the website.

UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD

Friday, November 5, 2010

BY DEMAND - EXTRA PRUNING COURSE!

Hello - pruning courses have never been so popular!!!

Both of our November courses are now full - (the 10th and 18th) - but we have bowed to demand - and put on an extra course on WINTER PRUNING ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 23RD - 10.30-12.30.This will be exactly the same as the other two - RHS members are - £17.60 - non RHS members are £22.00.

Light refreshments will be served on the day. It is a fun morning - we are very easy-going - and you will learn a lot - and hopefully enjoy yourself at the same time!!

This course is already filling up fast - there is a limit of 15 people - so if you want to book - contact the office on 01394 460755 without delay!!

My guess is that we will still have to run extra courses in February 2011 - so if you do miss this one - there will be other opportunities!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD