All roads lead to the Royal Hospital in Chelsea on Tuesday May 25th as the 88th RHS Chelsea Flower Show to be held at that prestigious venue kicks off in earnest. We’ve secured a prime location at 38 Pavilion Way, right alongside the huge, white, main pavilion, and we’re hard at work right now creating a stand and display to be proud of.

Included in our design is a Decorative Heavy Duty Steel Fruit Cage, which originally made its public debut at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show back in 2007; examples of our FSC accredited timber raised beds (allotment, standard and superior versions will all be on show) and some brand new, exclusive Sneeboer tools will also be launched at the show.

We’ve also got some experts on hand to give you the very best garden advice from their chosen field. No one knows more about Sneeboer tools than the man who makes them, and Jaap Sneeboer – the third generation of the Dutch family to run the business first established by his grandfather – will be on hand to discuss new additions to the range along with existing designs.

You can also quiz garden pest control expert Julian Ives on what’s been munching your marigolds, chomping your cabbages and tasting your tomatoes and he’ll guide you through the new Natural Choice range of organic pest control products at the same time.

Our customers tell us they enjoy being able to touch, feel and really appreciate the work which goes into many of our products and we’ll have the new Manger Raised Bed Planters, Raised Bed Tables and a Ladder Vegetable Garden – amongst others - for you to admire at close quarters.

Don’t delay though – tickets are already moving fast with one day already a complete sell-out! You can purchase tickets from the RHS online and don’t forget – fight your way through the crowds and make 38 Pavilion Way your first port of call!

With his impressive background in commercial biological pest control, Julian is the man to answer all those garden pest control questions and queries which are causing furrowed brows in kitchen gardens and vegetable plots across the country, and he’s already put his extensive knowledge to good use as our example below shows.


Sent in by Sue Tindal, it concerns the problems she’s having with an unknown pest that’s got a taste for one of her bay trees.

Sue writes;
I wonder if you could identify the pest that is eating one of the two bay trees next to my front door. On one of them the leaves have big chunks eaten. Back in the summer I noticed the odd leaf curled up and once I saw a rather large insect I don't normally see on it. The other tree is 2m away and fine. They are both about 8 years old and potted. I feed them each summer with a slow release feed. Lots of leaves are affected and I'm picking the worst off as it’s unsightly.

Bit of a tricky one for most of us, but not Julian! Here’s his reply;
This could be one of the following two;
Tortrix Moth: this moth lays eggs that develop into caterpillars that wrap leaves around themselves. The caterpillars eat large irregular holes in leaves. If it is Tortrix moth, it can be difficult to treat as the leaf wrapped around the caterpillar gives it some protection from sprays. If you can get to the caterpillar (which won’t be there at this of year) try the Insect Killer Spray containing Pyrethrum. The other option is to pick off the leaves with caterpillars in them.
Vine Weevil: if the damage on the leaves is along the edges of the leaf in a half mooned shape, this is vine weevil damage. Did you see a black beetle like insect? The adults eat the leaves, the larvae eat the roots. Treat the compost in the pots with Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer Nematodes in the spring. They are watered into the compost and will kill the vine weevil larvae.

We’ll be featuring further questions and expert replies from Julian at regular intervals – and who knows, the next one could be from you!

So what is it that makes growing seed potatoes so accessible? For a start, you don’t need a vegetable plot. You don’t need an allotment. In fact, you don’t even need a garden as potatoes can be grown in a plethora of planting bags ,tubs and containers in the smallest space imaginable! Patios, balconies, courtyards, roof terraces – they can all easily support a potato planting bag or three! Ok, so yields from a potato planting bag aren’t likely to challenge those you’d expect from a vegetable plot or allotment but you’ll still be pleasantly surprised at the amount of spuds you can get from 3 or 5 seed potatoes – the average amount you can plant in a bag, tub or container.

Growing potatoes is cost effective too. Organic seed potato tubers cost next to nothing and as we’ve already discovered, a little goes a long way. The same can be said of Potato Planting Bags, Spud Tubs, Airpot Potato Towers and Potato Barrels and don’t forget, these containers will last years so are a sound investment.

Actually growing the seed potatoes isn’t exactly rocket science either and if you’re using planting bags or containers, you’ve got even more control over your crop. Early plantings can be started off in a greenhouse or under cover for a welcome head start on open ground crops and as long as you give the swelling spuds plenty of water, earth up regularly and provide them with a good splash of potato fertiliser, they’re odds-on to reward you well!

So now you appetite’s been well and truly whetted, where can you get hold of your seed potatoes and planting bags? We can help with that; as we said before, we’ve got a bit of gardening experience behind us and that’s why we’ve put together - in one place - all the stuff you’ll need to grow your own seed potatoes. Our Organic Seed Potatoes and Planting Bags Offer is going down a real storm; consisting of 15 organic seed potato tubers and three durable and hard-wearing potato planting bags, it’s the best way we can think of to get into potato growing and vegetable gardening in general.

We even provide planting, growing and harvesting instructions (downloadable PDF version, 0.5MB) and have experts on hand in the unlikely event of things going wrong!

And when you discover we’ve got specially formulated potato fertiliser and more watering devices you can shake a stick at, there’s really only one place to shop for your spuds!

Greenhouse staging gives you the space – both storage and growing – to keep the greenhouse in a tidy and ordered state; and a clean, organised greenhouse is not the kind of place the vast majority of garden pests will want to hang out. But before you invest in a set of greenhouse staging, how do you know it’s going to do the job?

Horror stories of greenhouse staging collapsing or leaning over precariously, Tower of Pisa-like, when stocked full of seedlings and equipment abound at allotments and kitchen gardens across the country. There are plenty of weak, poorly designed and manufactured low budget greenhouse staging units on the market but if you want to avoid a costly staging-based disaster then there’s only one place to shop!

We’ve spent a great deal of time researching the greenhouse staging market, and about the same duration in thoroughly testing our design. Our greenhouse staging has been put through its paces at Stephanie’s Kitchen Garden and although our customers were more than satisfied with the build quality and strength of our staging units, there was one outstanding question we still hadn’t answered – what weight will it hold?

Perhaps it’s not key to a successful unit – our customers would probably place strength, value for money, rigidity and ease of assembly above load-bearing on any staging attribute tick list – we thought we’d find out, and the result of our testing was amazing!

We plucked one of our two-tier, 173cm (5’8”) greenhouse staging units off the shelf, put it together and started to load it up with bags of compost. Two bags per module (the 173cm long unit consists of three modules) became three, then the lower tier came into play until finally...we ran out of compost! But that’s not before we calculated that each module was supporting a heavyweight 77kg of compost, far in excess of any ‘normal’ greenhouse load.

When you admire this impressive feat of staging strength, and throw in the other high specification details below, it’s not hard to understand that we’re justifiably proud of our greenhouse staging – and, as we said, if you want an incredibly strong yet lightweight, durable, anti-corrosive, reassuringly rigid, top quality staging unit for your greenhouse, then you’ve come to the right place!

Here are those vital greenhouse staging statistics;
* Available in single tier, two tier and three tier versions
* Designed and manufactured in house
* Constructed from 1.6mm gauge aluminium
* 10 year framework guarantee
* Complete with extra thick top level bracing for increased rigidity
* Supplied with 25mm deep, double folded and safety edged aluminium trays
* Available in a wide range of lengths and widths

Want more info? Visit our greenhouse staging product pages and feel the quality!

You’ll find slug eggs are hatching, the warmth in the greenhouse is enticing out red spider mites and aphids are beginning to wing their way in from winter host plants – and they’ve all got a taste for the seedlings and young plants you’ve been carefully nurturing.

There’s no denying that spring is arguably the busiest time down at the allotment or in the kitchen garden and vegetable patch so it’s hardly surprising that you take your eye off the pest control ball briefly. Problem is, that could lead to all sorts of problems should pests manage to get a foothold in the garden or greenhouse - never has the ‘prevention is better than cure' phrase rang truer – so a little reminder of what you could and should be doing in the garden pest-wise would be priceless.

And that’s where we come in! Our new pest control expert Julian Ives has been instrumental in producing a monthly programme of garden pest control advice, delivered straight to your inbox! The e-newsletters are packed full of information on the pests you can expect to drop in to visit, which organic pest control solutions from our Natural Choice range are ,most appropriate and even advice on netting and fleece crop protection measures. As the information will arrive with you each month, you can be sure it’s bang up to date and relevant to what’s happening, pest-wise, in your garden right now!

You can see a taster of a previous monthly pest buster e-newsletter above and if you’d like to receive a copy regularly – and don’t forget you can unsubscribe at any time at the press of a button – just click here.

The pest guide – already a favourite with many of our customers – is almost a complete A-Z of the most likely garden pests you’ll encounter as it covers Aphids right through to Whitefly, throws light on the subject of biological pest control and explains which organic pest control solution is best suited to each season.

Julian’s been heavily involved with the production of the invaluable ‘Little Book of Pests’ and the introduction of our Natural Choice range has enabled many gardeners to take early preventative action against the inevitable pest invasions.

How do you get your hands on a copy? You can go for the quick option and download a version of the Little Book of Pests (downloadable PDF version file size 2.65MB) or if you’d like us to post you a copy – and we’re sure you’ll find a place for it in your potting or allotment shed – just click on the image below.

It’s all thanks to a microscopic worm – or nematode – which goes by the name of phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita and has an unhealthy fascination for all things slug. These allies of the gardener are present naturally in the soil and do their fair share of slug killing under normal conditions, but when you apply the millions more contained in a pack of Nemaslug, it’s like unleashing a party of kids into McDonalds – and a hungry party at that!

Applying Nemaslug couldn’t be easier and if you garden on a large scale or just don’t have the time for anything too complicated, you’ve come to the right place. Nemaslug is simply mixed up in a watering can and watered onto your allotment, raised beds and border soil (a coarse rose gives the best results), preferably on a dull, overcast day with little wind. Keep the soil moist beforehand and for up to a fortnight after application, don’t use until the soil temperature is in excess of 5ºC (typically from March to November) and that’s just about you done – now the only thing left to do is let nature take its course!

The nematodes will actively seek out the slugs in the soil – and this is where things get a bit gory so you might want to skip this bit – enter their body through any cavity or pore opening and spread a bacterium which stops the slug from feeding. Not surprisingly, the slug doesn’t last long without food and dies under the soil – no messy emptying of traps or collecting carcasses with Nemaslug – and the nematodes breed inside the dead slug, releasing millions more hungry worms with the same thing on their mind.

You can expect six weeks of peace once Nemaslug Slug Killer has been applied; this is length of time the nematodes feed for before their numbers die back to the original status quo, but Nemaslug repeat treatments at six-weekly intervals will give you almost total slug control and a garden to be proud of!

Let’s recap; Nemaslug Slug Killer is natural, it’s easy to apply, can be used from spring right through to autumn and you don’t have to go around picking up dead slugs. Are there any drawbacks? Well, no not really, as you can add the following qualities to the burgeoning Nemaslug CV;
• Totally organic
• Harmless to children, pets wildlife and the gardener
• Impossible to overdose
• Plants can be harvested, washed and eaten minutes after application
• No poisonous chemicals passed on through food chain
• Can be applied to larger beds and borders with a hosepipe feeder

And there you have it! Finally, it’s just possible gardeners may have found a way to knock slugs of the top of the RHS Annual Garden Pest List – and it’s all thanks to Nemaslug Slug Killer!

We've got a great viewpoint on this increase in popularity as we both design and manufacture fruit and vegetable cages; from the smallest ground-hugging strawberry cage right up to the most ornate decorative walk-in fruit cage, as used at the RHS gardens in Wisley, no less.

But it's not only the framework we supply; oh no, we can provide and offer advice on a huge range of netting with which to cover your cage - from the finest grade insect mesh netting which excludes even the smallest of beetles, right up to an 8cm (3") square anti-pigeon mesh for airborne winter raids.

Which brings me nicely onto winter, and the relationship between fruit cages and snowfall. These two have never been the best of friends and the recent heavy snow which blanketed the country (with the exception of the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk, to the disappointment of many children!) has brought home just how much of a problem snow can be.

Below, you'll find a couple of pictures which aptly illustrate the varying strength of our cages. We've featured a walk-in decorative cage - designed to withstand snowfall and doing just that - and a vegetable cage, which really should be taken down and stored for the winter and at the very least the roof netting should have been removed.

We're always offering winter advice along the lines of remove your roof netting from your cage and leave it open. The recent exceptional snowfall has brought home the importance of removing the netting as even our anti-pigeon netting - which until now has been well capable of allowing snow to fall through - struggled with the sheer volume of 2009/2010 white stuff.

But onto those images we promised. Firstly, a decorative steel fruit cage of the walk-in variety - courtesy of Clare Bevan - located in deepest Surrey. These cages are designed to withstand snowfall due in the main to their sweeping rooflines and incredibly strong steel framework, as you can see...

And then, thanks to Molly Stewart, the Build-a-Ball vegetable cage - covered with 7mm butterfly netting, which should really be tucked up in a shed somewhere and not braving the winter wastelands of Gloucestershire - again, as you can see...

I'm sure you'll agree these dramatic images certainly demonstrate the difference between the durability of fruit cages and we're indebted to both Clare and Molly for providing us with these pictures.

We're also sure that he recent cold snap gave rise to plenty of other wintery photographic opportunities in the garden and we'd love to see your images; mail them to me and I'll set up a gallery!

Most gardeners with even a little experience can spot the usual suspects on your plants, but identifying those you’ve not seen before can prove rather tricky, as can deciding upon the best course of action. Here at Harrod Horticultural we’ve tried to make the whole question of garden pest control much easier – that’s why we’ve taken Julian Ives, a renowned pest trouble-shooter, on board to head up our new ‘Natural Choice’ range of organic pest control products and help make the whole question of garden pest control that much easier to answer.

Julian’s certainly got the pedigree to be ‘labelled’ an expert; his horticultural career began at RHS Harlow Carr, before going on to Writtle Agricultural College to study commercial horticulture. On leaving college, Julian worked for a horticultural sundries supplier before joining Europe’s largest producer of beneficial insects for biological pest control. For over a decade he advised many different types of growers from tomato and strawberry to pot plant growers on how to best apply and use biological control whilst also reducing insecticide use. He knows what he’s talking about!

He’s also “delighted” to be part of our set-up and can’t wait to get stuck into those pest queries. “When Harrod Horticultural asked me to join their team to offer my advice on the new ‘Natural Choice’ pest control range, I was delighted to be able to use the years of experience I have gained from studying pests and advising different types of growers,” says Julian. “Armed with beneficial insect habitats, nematodes, traps, barriers and natural sprays, it’s easier than you think to kill or deter garden critters without harming the environment. Not only is this range safe to wildlife, children and pets but it’s highly effective which takes away the typical gardeners’ struggles and frustrations.”

So how can you get in touch with Julian? We’ve made that easy too – just click on the image below, send him your pest-based questions and queries and enjoy a stress-free, pest-free year in the garden!

It's a positive to come from the global economic downturn, as more and more people look at ways to trim their family budgets and gain a new hobby at the same time, and particularly heartening is the story of a group of residents in East London who, with the help of their housing trust Circle 33, have created a new Kitchen Garden.

Astonishingly, the garden was built by 40 residents and the project partners in just a single day and the fact that one of these organisations - Organic Lea, a Lea Valley food growing cooperative - is based in the Lea Valley is quite ironic.

Why? Well, the area around Broxbourne and Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, known as the Lea Valley, used to be 'London's kitchen' where fruit and vegetables were grown under glass and sold at the famous London markets, including Convent Garden. This was no small concern as the area covered by this industry measured 10 miles long by 8 miles wide and during its heyday in the 1920's was the biggest area under glass in the world - making the Guinness Book of Records!

It's good to see a link with this now mainly forgotten industry has been maintained and hopefully the residents of Priory Court Community Centre, just a few miles south of the Lea Valley, will continue to enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables for years to come.

According to Garden Organic, the role of a Seed Guardian for the heritage library involves raising crops from seed, ensuring the saved seed remains true to type and completing a report into the performance of the crop.

Some guardians become more involved and research the history of the vegetable and variety, along with keeping a photographic record of its progress.

Garden Organic also provide Seed Guardians with full instructions and guidelines - especially useful when crops need isolating to prevent cross-pollination - and insist that potential guardians are not put off by crop failures; there's usually more than one guardian per variety and the seed you'll be supplied with is not the last remaining!

If becoming a Seed Guardian sounds right up your street, you can contact Garden Organic by e-mail or write to them at;

Heritage Seed Library
Garden Organic Ryton
Coventry
Warks
CV8 3LG

We've been inundated with requests on how to deter, move on and eradicate these obviously unloved creatures, and it would appear that nests in the lawn rank very highly on your lists of current dislikes.

Although ants nesting in the lawn are unlikely to cause any long term damage, the mounds of spoil they produce when excavating their labyrinth of tunnels are an obstacle to mowers which often smear the excess soil across the grass; ants are a cosmetic pest and, quite understandably, if you've worked hard to create a lush green lawn, you don't want anything to ruin it.

That's why the news that nematode specialist Becker Underwood - responsible for the Nemasys range of products along with Nemaslug, the scurge of all garden slugs - have developed a nematode-based ant product will be extremely well received in gardens throughout the country. The new treatment is known as 'No Ants' and does exactly what it says on the tin. It's specifically designed for use in the lawn environment and, like all Becker Underwood's nematode treatments, is both perfectly natural and completely safe to use around children and pets.

And before ant lovers throw up their hands in horror, it's worth noting that 'No Ants' nematodes don't actually kill the insects but simply irritate them to such a degree they abandon their nest and set up a new home a considerable distance away - hopefully not in your lawn!

If you'd like to know more about ants in the garden environment and discover some other methods of controlling them, visit our extremely helpful 'Ask the Expert' section of our website. You'll find common and more specific gardening questions accompanied by detailed and informative replies - you might even find the answer to a horticultural query that's been baffling you for a while! In the meantime, I'm off to evict some ants from my lawn...

And although the visitors to the show will spend their time admiring the displays and picking up bargins, how many of them will give a thought to the incredible amount of preparation and planning required to produce a successful show? Of course, it's not only on-site that frenzied activity takes place - all over the country growers and exhibitors are working round the clock to ensure their plant specimens and displays are in the best possible condition.

Here at Harrod Horticultural, we know exactly what's involved with planning a successful Chelsea Show and the daily care required to get plants looking their best. Don't get me wrong - we're not trying to produce gold medal winning specimens by any stretch of the imagination, but it still takes some effort to get tomatoes and courgettes, for example, to produce fruit for a certain 5 days in May!

It's not too late to purchase tickets for the show - the RHS can help you with that - and you can come and see for yourself just how successful we've been, as we're at 39 Pavilion Way all week!

That's why seed collections, just like Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library, are so important. The library has been established to conserve and - more importantly - make available heirloom vegetable varieties which have fallen out of the gardening spotlight - giving access to those long forgotten types your parents used to grow!

Garden Organic - the UK's leading charitable gardening organisation - claim to have around "800 open-pollinated varieties" at present, 200 of which are featured in their Seed Catalogue which members of the organisation receive for free. Members can currently choose up to 6 varieties at present although an informal, member-run Seed Swap set-up allows the procurement of further seed types.

Garden Organic carry further details of the Heritage Seed Library on their website - and with a year's membership of the library priced at only £20 (£15 if you take out a full year's membership of Garden Organic), there's no better way to delve back into your seed sowing past!

One such recent enquiry was from Jo Newton, who asked for advice on her fig tree. You can read Jo's question - and of course my answer in our 'Ask the Expert' section of the website but in the meantime, I thought but might be interested in Jo's own site - especially with Christmas approaching at break-neck speed and your mind bereft of unusual ideas for presents!