Posts
This were I will be spending as much time as possible this year.
I have lots of work to do, sowing seeds taking cuttings keeping everywhere tidy.
And I have to help look after Edward and run the house and new business...
I'm a very busy Lady !!!....
Lady Sarah.
I have had a love for plants ever since I was about 6 years old. My mum gave me and my brother a very small plot in the garden about 3 x 5 feet and I grew alsorts of things the first thi I can ever remember plants was a annual called candytuft I remember that it spread over several years, then I grew a few alpines and 12 different sorts of mint, and a couple of unusual hollys.
ReplyDeleteThen we decided to re-design the garden so me and my dad drew up the plans and we all dug up plants and saplings and removed old pathways and made it much nicer and easier to manage...
I managed to get a bigger plot of the garden and had lots of unusual plants growing in it.
Then off coure working in the trade I managed to get lots of different plants and some interesting stone ornaments too....
I had a vast collection of plants most of which I still have with me to this day especally my Hydramgea collection, I have over 20 plants and many rare varities. I also own a small holly (ilex) which parent plant is over 300 years old and is still growing well. It's one of my rare plant and hopefully this year I will be able to propagate some more sapling off it.
I grow at least 10 varieities of my Hydrangea collection and propagate from them each year, I have several very rare varieities including one called " quadricolor" which has 3 different shade of green and 1 white patch on it's leave.
I also grow all our vegetables and usually have plenty to sell on as well.
I love growing tomato's and courgettes and runner beans...and purple sprouting brocolli.
I grow a few potato's tooand lots of different varities of lettuce, I like the fluffy red sorts "lollo rosso" I grow quite a bit of fruit too raspberries and gooseberries and lots of juicy sweet strawberries.. Hopefully this year we'll get a few apples to try as teh apple trees were new last year...and the friut can be very / is very bitter.....
I also grow lots of tree seedling, and I have around 20 young Christmas tree that will be grown on for a few years there all around 2 foot tall at the moment....
I do try to spend a little of each day down at the nursey ,but some days it's not easy and I only last about half an hour...I'm looking forward to the warmer weather I will be spending alot more time out there then....
I do have a website for the nursery it's at www.thompsonbunngroup.co.uk
That's were all the plant list are kept and regulary updated. At least once a month.....
There are a few photos on there too... and lots of plant discriptions too.
When we get back from Rochdale I'm going to be busy with sowing seeds again as I can keep the greenhous quite warm this time of year with heaters,and bubble plastic which works great.
I've got lettuce, bollotii beans and runner beans to sow and decided which potato's I'd like to grow as I do need to get them in quite soon.
Anyway I might just go back to the wonderfull garden centre just up the road again tomorrow and get a few more bits and pieces.
I grew a few plants for fresh cut flowers too.
I really enjoy growing gladioli and chrysanthemum i have these growing on my small green house all year round...So I can have fresh flowers when ever I need them.
I'm going to try to grow some gloxinia this year I picked up some bulbs the other day There one thing that I have never tried to grow before...I think there quite easy, but I just have to see.
Anyway i'm really looking forward to this year in the nursery and the website is looking good too....
The first big event that I willb be at will be a Help 4 Heros fundraising event on 11th June at the local boys school, Im going to have a stall there selling all home grown plants and maybe some vegetables too....
I'll have to keep this on updated....
LAdy Sarah.
well it looks like we wont be home for anoth er few days as yet. So I can not sort out anything in the nursery as yet.
ReplyDeleteI ready to go back to my nursery now there will probably be lots of bulbs in flower now, and hopefully some of my snowdrops may be flowering when I get back.
I want to start growing loads of things when I get back...
Lady Sarah.
Wednesday 2nd Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteWe got back today and everything in the nursery was doing just fine even got a few lettuce plants growing really well.
All the bulbs are growing really well I think all that snow helped.
Got all my bits and pieces back from Rochdale I will be busy planting most of them tomorrow whilst having a tidy up down in the nursery....
Doesn't look likw we'd had to much frost down here while we'd been away....
I might start to use my new heated propagator tomorrow too...As I have a few seeds which need abit of heat to get them growing....
Anyway just noticed that is is quite a bit warnmer this evening down here in Cheshire...
And I did notice that there were lots of green leaf shoots on alot of my cuttings today....
I will be planting my new bulbs tomorrow for some summer cutting flowers, And next week my new vegetable bed arrives....So I will be able to move all my fruit plants and I think I might just by a small bed around 1 metre square for my little christmas trees to grow in....
Anyway I'm going to do a bit of swotting up now as I can't remember how to grow gloxinias....
I usually know how to grow just about anything , but it's so long since I grew any of these I must just check up on it.....
I have to let you all know...
Lady Sarah
Well I didn't manage to get out to the nursery today as we had a day off we went out to northwich instead.
ReplyDeleteBut it's got very windy here tonight, I've checked that everything is ok and there seems to be no damage as yet, I'll have to keep checking as I really do not want to loose any of my polytunnels or the main greenhouse either.
I'll be going oout for another look shortly...
I did manage to pick up a few more bits for the veg patch today, and I sowed the beansprouts yesterday.....
And I'm really looking forward to next week as I can get my new veg box and move all my soft fruit plants, before they start growing again.
I managed to uncover loads of my cuttings this morning but have had to cover them all up again tonight.
Lady Sarah.
5th Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteWhat a horrible night and very wet day.
We've lost only 1 roof panel on the greenhouse After the high strong winds which we had last night, luckly it's not over the growing house and everything else seems ok, the only thing is, we can't find where the panel has gone as yet.
We'll have a look later if itstops raining, as it's much to heavy to go out in at the moment.
All the small tree are all still standing up which surprised me as I thought theyed end up rolling around the nursery yard.
Even my dog Benji wont go out in this weather.
He wouldn't go out this morning as he normally does I'll have to try getting out soon por thing must be bursting...
Anyway I'm going to start growing a few seeds today in my new electric propagator, I don't usually bother with these but I was given one last year and think it's time I tried it out.
Anyway I'llhave to see how we go on with it....
Got a few of my rare plant seeds to get growing, hopefully they will do better than some of last years, although I did sow them a bit too late last year...
I let you know what I've sowed later.
Lady Sarah.
Sat 5th Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteWell I still haven't managed to get outside today, this weather is horrible and it's still raining quite heavily.
I must try to get out there on the nursery sometime tomorrow I need to make some space, and I want to do some more tiding up...
Hopefully this weather will ease up for a few hours tomorrow.....
Lady Sarah.
Well all is well again out on the nursery, even though it was very windy again last night, I did lose any more roof panels off the greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteAnd evrything inside is doing just fine....
It's still rather windy here,but the sun is now trying to come out after 3 days of grey wet skies.
I've had to pick up a few of the potted plants this morning they were not damaged by the wind or rolling around....
Hopefully I'm going to be able to get out there this afternoon....
Lady Sarah.
Sunday 6th Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteWell I've managed to get out to the nursery and I got loads of seeds planted mainly veg seeds, two varities of tomato, an italian lettuce, italian stripped courgette, pumpkin and bolotto beans. I've also planted some flower seeds for cut flowers which I love too grow, I always have fresh flowers in the house in the spring and summer.
I'll have plenty of extra plants too, so the nursery stock will be very good this year... I've grown John so peppers as I'm allergic to them but, John really likes the fresh or in the winter roasted with squash and made in to soup....It's really tasty..well Joh tells me that....
I'm looking forward to seeing how big I can grow the pumpkins...Hopefully they wont take over the veg box.... They might have to have one of there own....
Anyway the "garten perle" tomato's are sown and I've got an italian plum tomato that I'm trying for the first time..should hopefully taste good...
I'm growing lots of parsley too as I sell loads of that throughout the year....by the way the parsley seeds also smell of fresh parsley....
I'm also growing a low growing lavender as I love the smell of it....
I sowed quite a few different tree seeds aswell.
As I had quite a good sucess with tree seeds last year even though I did plant some of them rather to late in the year, they all grew....
ANyway I'm having a sit down now...as my back is aching again...
Take care..Lady Sarah
Monday 7th Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteI've decided that it's far too windy to go out to the nusery today and I've just noticed that anothe rsmall piece has come off the roof, but it's not in a part that will damage any plants..
The new electric propagator is working really well still all steamed up, not sure whats going on in there just yet..
No signs of anything growing yet, although I have known things to germinate within a couple of days.
I'm so looking forward to getting everything growing and some really tasy fresh home grown veg on the kitchen table.....
Were all off out now, bit of food shopping and lunch some where nice...
Lady Sarah
Monday 7th Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteWell at long last the wind has finally dropped only thing now is that the clouds are now clearing and from what i've heard it could very well freeze tonight...
So i'm going to venture off out down to the nursery to cover all the plants up which I uncovered as it was quite warm...
Lady Sarah.
Monday 7th Feb 2011.
ReplyDeleteWell the temperature has dropped here now down to -4 and it's cold...luckily all the tender plants got covered up earlier.
It looks very nice outside though all the stars are twinkling and it's so very quiet out there too.
Tomorrow i'm off to get the new veg growing box in the morning and hopefully it will be built up and planted by the mid-afternoon...just the right time to get everything moved from one bed to the new one.....
I'm getting a few more plants tomorrow too, some more fruit plants more raspberry bushes and I'd like a blue berry bush too....
I'm going up to bed soon got some plant caalogues to look at tonight....
LAdy Sarah.
It's
Tuesday 8th Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteI've had a really good day and have been very busy too.
We went and got the new veg box this morning and when we got back we built it up I treated the wood with preserver then we knocked the corner post into the ground, filled it with compost and then I moved all the fruit bushes in to the new bed, and it looks really good now....
I have had a good look at all the plants I moved and can't believe how many new buds there are on the plants, my sloe bush is covered from head to toe in tiny white tightly closed buds,and all the currents have new buds.
Lady Sarah.
Well I've not been down to the nursery today only to put in a new thermometor which I picked up in Rochdale as we had a quick trip up there today as it was John's mums birthday....
ReplyDeleteAlso got some jiify 7 plugs as I'll need them for cuttings and some of my seeds later this month....
Think it could be frosty again tonight as the skies are starting to clear...here in sandbach...
Hopefully I will get out on the nursery tomorrow..
Lady Sarah
Ps. theres still no germination in the propagator.
Wednesday 9th Feb 2011.
ReplyDeleteGood news I have quite alot of seedllings tonight, all growing in my new propagator, there is 2 courgette seedlings, 1 pumpkin, 2 gleditsia saplings, 15, mxd letuce and 12 tomato "garten perle"...I'm really pleased, hopefully i'll be able to pot these on tomorrow....
I will have to keep a very close eye on the seeds now, I knew it would only be a few days before I'd get a few seedlings, but this is great....and proves that heat does really work in germination.....
Lady Sarah...
Thursday 24th March.
ReplyDeleteThe nursery now has its own blog page you'll find it at http://thebackgardennursery.blogspot.com
There are loads of different subjects on it, from growing plants to a daily diary theres a compost recipe page too, and how to grow vegetables and how the vegetable boxes are doing...And allabout what I have done out there each day, I have been very busy over the past few days and now I've just got busier as the coffee bean seeds have just arrived...Lady Sarah.