Garden ⋆ Shannons Garden Centre

Soft fruit and rhubarb has arrived. 27th Jan

Most soft fruits are very easy to grow in the UK with very few special requirements except for maybe blueberries which need acid soil and feed. Soft fruits are best planted in a sunny, sheltered site protected from cold, dry winds but nearly all types will do reasonably well in light shade as well. But remember more sun equals more fruit! Containerised grown canes can be planted at any time of the year providing the ground is not frozen or waterlogged.

Enrich the soil with manure or compost before planting and feed each year. Keep the plants well-watered and free from weeds. Almost all types of fruits may need to be protected from preying birds when they are fruiting and depending on the fruit bush you choose will depend on when and if it needs pruning

We have had delivered today – BLACKBERRY, BLUEBERRY, BLACKCURRANT, GOOSEBERRY, LOGANBERRY, HONEYBERRY, RASPBERRY, REDCURRANT, WHITECURRANT.

Please note we do not have strawberries yet but they will be in later in the spring.

27/01/2022/by Mary-Clare

SEED POTATOES, GARLIC AND ONIONS HAVE ARRIVED! 17th Jan

Gardening tips, Growing, Horticulture, Uncategorized

We have had our delivery of seed potatoes, onions, shallots and garlic.

Potatoes are available in 2kg Carri packs and taster packs with around 10 seed potatoes in a pack.

Onions and shallots are in pre-packs, Garlic is in a pack of 1 or 2 bulbs per pack.

This year our garlic, shallots, onions and potatoes have come from Taylors Bulbs again. The potatoes are available in a 2kg carry home pack and taster packs of 10 seed potatoes for spring planting.

Our range contains First and Second Early, Main Crop and Sapro Mira the Super Blight resistant seed potatoes. The Seed Potato Taster Pack is ideal for the gardener requiring smaller quantities and a range of varieties.

With a large selection of potato varieties in our range, choosing which Seed Potatoes to plant can be a bit daunting! So here is a short guide to help choose which varieties to grow:

The seed potato packs are colour coded; blue for “First Earlies”, orange for “Second Earlies” and green for “Maincrop”.

First and Second Earlies will give you “new potatoes” in the summer, Maincrops will give you tubers for eating in the autumn and enough to store over winter for later use.

First Earlies will typically be ready for harvesting in June/July, Second Earlies in July/August and Main Crops from August onward but if storing then can be harvested in September or October.

For a list of what we have please click on the following link – SEED POTATOES, ONIONS, GARLIC

(this list may be subject to change without notice due to crop failure etc).

17/01/2022/by Shannons

Happy New Year! January 2022

Gardening tips, Growing, Horticulture, Seeding

Happy New Year to all our customers! We have been closed for a short break but have been busy ordering and taking in stock for the new gardening year whilst our doors have been closed. We will be reopened fully from Monday 10th January: Monday- Saturday 9-5pm Sunday 10-4pm

The first of our deliveries have started to arrive including a lovely selection of houseplants. Please see our social media pages for pictures – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Please visit the London Borough of Lewisham website for locations where you can recycle your Christmas Tree.

Over the coming weeks we are expecting stock including seed potatoes, potted bulbs – so if you forgot to plant your autumn bulbs there is still time to have spring colour. We have already had a delivery of Sylvgrow/Melcourt organic and peat-free compost.

09/01/2022/by Shannons

Beautiful dahlias are here. 13th Aug

Growing

We have had a lovely delivery of Dahlias and perennials – perfect to fill those gaps in the garden and give you a burst of colour.

Dahlias in lots of colours – also Delphiniums, Eucomis, Rudbeckia, Salvia, Scabious, and Astilbe.

13/08/2021/by Mary-Clare

Soft fruit back in stock- Aug 2021

Growing, Horticulture

We have had a delivery of soft fruit –

Blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, gooseberry, loganberry, tayberry, pinkcurrant, rhubarb.

13/08/2021/by Mary-Clare

Beautiful perennials to fill your garden with colour

Gardening tips, Growing, Horticulture

We are now able to choose our own varieties of perennials and are getting deliveries most weeks. Here are some pictures of this weeks delivery.

These are great for adding colour to your garden and come back next year!

We would recommend protecting against slugs when you plant in the form of barriers or pellets.

14/07/2021/by Mary-Clare

Plant now for New Potatoes at Christmas! SOLD OUT

Growing, Horticulture, Seeding

GROW YOUR OWN!

PLANT NOW FOR NEW POTATOES AT CHRISTMAS.

Just in from Taylors bulbs are 5 varieties of seed potatoes that you plant now and harvest for Christmas.

PENTLAND JAVELIN / MARIS PEER / CHARLOTTE / SHARPES’S EXPRESS / DESIREE

Planting time July to September for harvest from November onwards. Can be planted into containers/ potato bags or open ground. Approximate harvest is 12 weeks or after flowering – harvest as required, the remainder can be left in situ for up to a month.

14/07/2021/by Mary-Clare

Bloomin Amazing BACK IN STOCK- 20th May 2021

Gardening tips, Growing, Horticulture

Bloomin Amazing is a no-dig #peatfree mulch, easy feed and soil conditioner all in one. Produced in the West Country, it has an effective carbon footprint and is a by-product of renewable energy.

It is lightweight, clean and almost odourless – it has so many of the properties of real manure – so it’s ideal for the garden.

It’s entirely pet and family-friendly, and very high in organic matter making it a perfect soil enricher and very effective weed suppressant.

With only green material in its makeup, it is entirely organic and vegan friendly.

Now in 50-litre bags to make handling easier.

20/05/2021/by Mary-Clare

Pot update- 20th May 2021

Gardening tips, Growing

New delivery of pots this week 20th May 2021 – we do not have as many pots as we normally stock – this is due to our supplier not having them.

We will continue to try to get stock regularly and we update our social media pages – Instagram, Facebook and Twitter often.

Below are pictures of the pots we now have. We have a small range of regular terracotta flowers pots. We will continue to stock up on pots as often as we can.

As we go into the season pots will go in and out of stock and we will continue to reorder but we may not have all the pots in the pictures as time moves on.

20/05/2021/by Shannons

New Perennials and Potted Bulbs Arrivals

Growing, Horticulture

We have had a delivery of perennials plants including Acanthus, Amarine, Digitalis, Geum, Heucherella, Lupin and also a delivery of potted bulbs- which can be transplanted into your garden or pots etc. – please click on the link below to view the lists.