THE SNOWMAN COMETH!

Hello - the world of Crown Nursery is very white just now!! Between 4 and 6 inches of snow fell on most of East Suffolk causing the usual traffic chaos.

It does look pretty as a picture - but shows little sign of going anywhere fast. Underneath it there is quite a thick layer of ice making for some very slippery roads.

Outside work is difficult at the moment - but it does give us time to step back a bit - and take stock of the past year. It has been an interesting year!! Again, as so often in this part of the UK, it is the extremes of weather that give us headaches.

Early snow in February did not last very long - and it was an excellent spring - with some of the best blossom I have ever seen after the cold spell. The real headaches set in about the end of March when it stopped raining altogether for pretty much the next 7 months!! While most of the country had a fairly wet and dismal summer - Suffolk enjoyed conditions similar to Tuscany - hot,dry and windy!!

This set some plants back - especially those that were planted late in spring. It does go to prove that autumn planting - which gives them time to establish has huge advantages over spring work. It is strange in that there seems to have been a move away from autumn planting lately - which us nurserymen find very odd - in favour of the spring option. While accepting some items do prefer spring planting - from a moisture and establishment point of view planting at nature's time in autumn does convey huge benefits.

The Suffolk Show back in May gave us a real opportunity to show the locals what we are all about - and we were both proud and honoured to receive the Nottcutts Cup for Best in Show.

But back to the drought - it carried on right up until October. The watering burden dragged on for longer than I have ever known. Autumn colour was excellent though - as it often is when plants are a little stressed - and our Apple Day was an incredible success.

Now here we are under the white stuff - but prior to that it had really turned very wet.

As we look foward to 2010 - we are now planning our grafting list. It has always been a case of looking at least 3 years in advance on a tree nursery - but trying to guess what people will want to buy in several years time can be quite a guessing game!!

We know the items that remain ever popular - but it is always worth having one or two new ones up your sleeve - and with the ever changing climate here in Suffolk - particularly in terms of drought - one or two old favourites may well have to disappear.

All in all - 2009 has been a good year - but full of challenges - still at least it keeps us on our toes!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,
RICHARD