Although we have worked really hard in the last few years to make the Garden Centre an all year round business, there is something about the spring that makes me want to say: “Here we go again!” It is not so long ago that we were a retail nursery selling home-grown bedding and vegetable plants, and the sales in April, May and June made up more than 50% of our annual turnover.

Because of this, I still fi nd it incredibly exciting to see the fi rst batches of Geraniums fi lling up the greenhouses early in the year. We buy in young plants to pot up and grow on, this way we can be sure that all the stock is virus and disease free, this is especially important for Geraniums, Fuchsias and other cutting raised plants as problems can multiply very quickly. Viruses and diseases will be very relevant to the gardening trade this summer as a relatively new problem has begun to affect one of our most popular bedding plants: the Busy Lizzie, or Impatiens. These plants have become very popular in the last twenty fi ve years, they are relatively new in terms of bedding plants as things like the Marigold and Salvia have been around for hundreds of years.

The Impatiens has become affl icted with a disease called downy mildew, this is a seed borne disease, so it is very diffi cult to identify in a plant until the symptoms appear. These are initially a slightly greyish blue tinge to the leaves, particularly on the underside and then the leaves fall off. It has become such a problem that some nurseries are refusing to grow the plant this year until the seed companies have established clean stocks of seeds. We are growing the plants, but in reduced quantities and using varieties that are the most resistant to the disease. We will be growing more Begonia, Petunia and Marigolds to make up the numbers as they are not affected. Once again, we have been busy over the winter, I am hoping that our new toilet facilities will be open by the beginning of March, but I must admit I am not 100% confi dent.

Our landscaping teams have had a few weeks here at the Garden Centre to install the relevant ramps and steps to make the area accessible and presentable. They have also been putting in a new entrance and exit canopy, something we have been planning to do since we moved our till area a couple of years ago. Lots of plants need pruning in early spring, one group that need this is the Clematis group. Clematis can be grouped into different pruning groups and there is lots of information in books and on the internet, but if you follow some basic rules about when the plants fl ower you should be OK. Very early flowering Clematis (Montana and Armandii are two varieties) should be left to fl ower and then be pruned back after fl owering as they fl ower on the previous season’s growth. The large fl owered varieties that fl ower in the summer (usually called the hybrids) also fl ower on last season’s growth, but they do need a ‘tidy’ in the spring to cut out thin, dead and diseased stems. Lastly, the late summer fl owerers (Viticella’s and Jackmanii types) need to be pruned back to within 12” of the ground in the spring as they will grow very quickly and fl ower on new season’s growth.

If you are not sure, come and ask, exchanging ideas is what makes gardening interesting! If you do have a question about a plant it always helps if we can see a bit of the plant, so cut a bit off and bring it in.

BOSWORTH’S Nurseries & Garden Centre
01536 722635
Only minutes from J10 off the A14 and midway between Kettering and Wellingborough

OPEN: Mon-Sat: 9am - 6pm
Sun: 10am - 5pm • Disabled Access

All Credit Cards Accepted

NOT JUST A GARDEN CENTRE

Bosworths

Bosworths Garden Centre

Bosworths Garden Centre