Stephanie's Garden Blog
Welcome to Stephanie's Garden Blog, where we keep you up to date with our gardening exploits and anything we think might be of interest in the big wide world of gardening. With regular updates from Stephanie and Jo, from sowing to harvesting, we hope you enjoy following our gardening journey!
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Farmyard Manure and Cold Weather
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 18 January 2019Well the week started with a couple of tons of farmyard manure being delivered. Most of this was to go in the kitchen garden so with wheelbarrows and spades at the ready, it was time to shovel manure. We have put about 50 barrow loads onto the kitchen garden plots and the remainder has been stored to go over the flower borders at a later date.
Protecting brassicas from pigeons
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 14 January 2019The last of the Brussel sprouts have been dug up and the surrounding cage taken down. The cauliflowers and savoy cabbages which were planted in the same area have now been covered with a a popadome crop cover. If left uncovered even at this time of year the pigeons will make as tasty meal of what brassicas are growing.
Removing the Fruit Cage Roof Netting
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 17 December 2018I have finally had a dry, bright day to remove the fruit cage roof netting. This will prevent any damage to the cage frame from any heavy snowfall that may lie ahead. A lot of the tie wraps that were used to put the netting up were easy quick release ties, but after a time the fingers do start to go numb in the cold.
Rain, rain and more rain
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 7 December 2018December has arrived, reminding us that Christmas is fast approaching and a new growing year will soon be here. The month arrived quietly but wet and thankfully no snow, just rain and more rain so a lot of the jobs I had planned for this week have now been moved into next.
New additions to the Greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 30 November 2018This week I have started some seed sowing ready for next year. I have planted a couple of different varieties of sweet peas ready for a spring display and the greenhouse has had a couple of new additions.
Caring for Birds in Winter
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Harrod Horticultural on 28 November 2018Active birds are a great friend of the gardener so don't wait until the depths of winter before putting food out for the local population - start now and help our feathered friends build up enough strength to get through the cold winter.
Composting Kitchen and Garden Waste
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 27 November 2018Composting kitchen and garden waste is an environmentally friendly source of organic matter that helps to reduce landfill and won't cost you a penny.
Be cautious of hibernating Hedgehogs
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Stephanie on 26 November 2018Well this week has seen me clearing paths and borders of leaves after yet another storm has passed through. Though this storm brought snow and hail with temperatures plummeting to what they should be. Whilst I am raking large piles of leaves, I am always cautious of hibernating hedgehogs, I once found a hedgehog sleeping in the leaves of crocosmia.
Garlic shooting and planting strawberry plants
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 16 November 2018The recent warm spell has seen one variety of garlic we planted in a raised planter which should still be dormant shown signs of early green shoots. If we do get a sudden cold snap, it may stop the garlic in its tracks.
Strange weather for the time of year
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 9 November 2018Whilst over half of the country was being hit by gale force winds and rain, here on the East coast we have seen temperatures reaching 17c, with wasps and bluebottles still flying around and even a Red Admiral butterfly flew past me on Tuesday, what strange weather we are having!
Our tender plants have been moved into the greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 26 October 2018The clocks are going back this weekend leaving us with less working daylight hours and the first air frost has chilled the garden. Our newly planted winter crops are snuggled under fleece and cloches and our tender plants have already been moved into the greenhouse where the heater is keeping them safe from the cold nights ahead.
Blackcurrants, Garlic and Lettuces
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 19 October 2018This week in Kitchen Garden we will be pruning our blackcurrant bushes; the plants are now beginning to shed their leaves and showing signs of dormancy so it is an ideal time to give them their annual haircut.
How to insulate your Greenhouse
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 15 October 2018It is a good idea to line the inside of your greenhouse during the winter. It is economical and quick to fit and will frost-proof the structure and can also extend your growing season for up to 6 weeks
Peas, Beans and Cooking Apples
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 15 October 2018The runner beans and the French beans have been cut down and the foliage sent to the compost heap. Both the pea and bean frames have been taken down and completely cleared of any plant debris and put away for another next year.
Gifts to Surprise and Delight
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 8 October 2018Finding that perfect gift can be tricky, but if you are looking for a gardening gift for a greenfingered family member or friend, our range of gifts for gardeners will give you some great inspiration and ideas for the perfect present.
Greenhouse Tidy
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 5 October 2018This week we have given the greenhouse a good clean and tidy so it's ready for the less hardy plants to be overwintered and for some autumn seed sowing.
Leaf Mould
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 1 October 2018There's no escaping the fact that in the garden, a large part of the autumn is spent clearing up fallen leaves, but there's an upside to all your hard work - leaf mould.
Kitchen Garden tidy up
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 28 September 2018Well the week started with the clean up from last weeks gales and heavy rain, there were pine needles, branches and leaves everywhere. Armed with my wheelbarrow, spring tine rake and garden vac the gardens have now started to look much tidier. I never realised how deadly an unopened pine cone could be until I stood on one and found myself sliding to where I didn?t want to be.
Warm and Dry then Storms and Gales
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 21 September 2018The start of this week was still unseasonably warm and dry so regular watering continued in the Kitchen Garden and the greenhouse, but the end of the week saw the arrival of gale force winds that have wreaked havoc! The garden is full of leaves but they will remain until next week as another possible storm is coming on Sunday with some more much needed rain, even now the ground is still very dry when you dig down just a few inches.
Pond Protection Cover
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Harrod Horticultural on 17 September 2018My husband and I have used black aluminium poles and slot and lock fittings to make a bespoke raised curved pond cover to protect from herons. We would love these photos to be on the website to show the versatility of the fittings.
Cooler evenings are upon us
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 14 September 2018Well Autumn has well and truly got its foot in the door. The night temperature has dropped rapidly and with the cooler evenings also comes that familiar smell of logs burning on the wood burner resumes.
Another week of mixed weather
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 10 September 2018Last week was certainly a week of a mixture of weather. Monday was another warm, dry day and being able to get into the shade was wonderful but the lavender bushes all needed their Autumn trim. When you have quite a few the use of a petrol hedge trimmer is brilliant, remembering to take the new growth right down to where the old wood is, so next year you will get good healthy growth and flowers.
It's starting to feel Autumnal
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 31 August 2018A short week for workers this week but the kitchen garden continues to grow. Although, since the last heavy rain it has started to feel a little autumnal in the mornings; a chilly and sometimes dewy start but warming up during the day.
Jo is leaving for pastures new
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 17 August 2018This week, after almost six years, I am leaving Stephanie's Garden to move on to a new garden and new challenges. As any gardener who has ever left a garden they have loved (whether through work or through house move) will know, it is a bitter-sweet time. Having loved and nurtured a garden for a long time it is so difficult to leave it.
Rain at last in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 10 August 2018For the first time in a long time my first priority wasn't more watering when I went out to the kitchen garden this morning. Yesterday we had an inch of rain which has left the garden feeling refreshed and the plants have lifted their drooping heads and you can almost hear them growing.
The Cordon Tree and Harrod Step Over Support
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Harrod Horticultural on 8 August 2018The cordon tree is something like the gardener's victory over the tree. Here, the domesticated tree no longer pushes itself self-determined toward the light, but the gardener dictates where it grows with this step over support.
Tasty Preserves
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Harrod Horticultural on 6 August 2018Setting up a store cupboard full of your own home-produced preserves is such a marvellous way to capture the full flavour of what you have grown that it far surpasses anything you can ever buy in a supermarket.
Rain has finally arrived
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 31 July 2018Well the promised storms by the weather forecasters have finally arrived and we've had a few heavy showers to keep the garden ticking over. It had been been 8 weeks since we had any rain in the Kitchen Garden and the temperatures over the past week has been in the 30's every day so these showers are very welcome.
Vacancy for Kitchen Gardener
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Stephanie on 31 July 2018Harrod Horticultural are looking for a part-time kitchen gardener (minimum 20 hours per week, flexible to support business needs), to work in their private garden in the Somerleyton area.
Planting out Broad Beans for Autumn
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 13 July 2018This week we are going to be planting out broad beans for autumn harvesting. We have never grown them for autumn harvesting before and are very excited to see how they perform. We have a large space where our disastrous onions and garlic grew and that we had originally earmarked for our leeks. Given our white rot problems we couldn?t use it for leeks so decided to give autumn broad beans a try.
Constantly watering the kitchen garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 6 July 2018Like many gardeners around the country we now seem to find ourselves constantly watering, or worrying about watering, our crops. Rather than despair about the disasters being caused by the scorching weather, we have decided to revel in the positive effects the hot sunshine is having.
Mulching raised beds with strulch
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 29 June 2018In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, moving our pots into the shade of a north facing fence and standing them in trays to keep water at their feet has proved very effective. We have mulched raised beds with strulch and the plants certainly seem to be happier for it. This week we will be continuing to strulch around the tops of larger pots that cannot be moved, as well as other beds.
Heatwave in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 25 June 2018It has now been three weeks since we had any rainfall in Stephanies' Kitchen Garden and the forecast shows sunny and hot weather for at least the next three weeks to come. In our part of the world, near the most easterly coast of the UK, we are used to gardening in the driest part of the country, but usually enjoy the odd thunderstorm to keep the garden from drying out completely in the heatwave.
Our apple and pear trees are smothered in fruits
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 15 June 2018Our apple and pear trees are positively smothered in tiny fruits and, so far, there is no sign of the June drop, where nature thins out the excess fruits on the trees. In the next week or so we will emulate mother nature by picking off fruits to leave the largest two on any spur. As painful as this is, it is necessary if we are to get good sized fruits and to protect the branches from breaking under the weight.
The Summer harvest is well on the way
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 8 June 2018Summer is almost upon us and the garden is reveling in the warm temperatures and long daylight hours. Unfortunately, the weeds seem to be reveling in it too and are popping up all over the garden literally growing overnight. It is important to keep on top of them while they are small and before they have the chance to set seed.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018 - Show Highlights
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 7 June 2018It's all over for another year, but the 2018 RHS Chelsea Flower Show was another great success for Harrod Horticultural.
Planting out our sweet potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 1 June 2018The recent warmer temperatures have really helped our sweet potatoes which are now ready to be planted out in our metal raised bed.
Bank Holiday Gardening!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 25 May 2018Another long Bank holiday weekend is upon us and the weather looks like it is going to be perfect for gardening!
The arrival of Spring
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 27 April 2018Following the arrival of spring, the garden has put on a growth spurt and it would appear that Mother Nature is trying to make up for lost time. The peonies are quite literally growing as we watch and we just managed to pop the plant supports over them before their stems became too tall.
Welcome change in the weather
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 20 April 2018The recent welcome change in the weather has seen the garden hit the fast forward button and everything seems to be growing before our very eyes.
Bespoke Garden Products
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Harrod Horticultural on 18 April 2018Over the years we have worked closely with private customers, landscape architects, garden designers and landscapers to deliver wonderful individual bespoke designs.
Harvest is becoming more bountiful
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 11 April 2018The weekly harvest is becoming more bountiful as temperatures increase and overwintering crops begin to grow. We are currently harvesting rhubarb, kale, spinach, rocket and the last of the leeks.
The weather is improving now in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 9 April 2018It's still feeling a little chilly in the kitchen garden, but the weather is definitely improving a bit now. The forecast for the coming weekend is warm and sunny and we will be making the most of the welcome fine conditions to get on with the many jobs that need doing at this time of the year.
Look Book 2018
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 30 March 2018We are excited to launch our 2018 Look Book - a glossy 68 page A4 perfect bound publication that gives a different visual context to the inspirational Harrod Horticultural garden structures range.
Potato Planting at Easter
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 28 March 2018Easter is traditionally the time to plant potatoes and this weekend we will be making the most of the double bank holiday and the long light evenings to get ours into the ground. I had thought to delay it a little following the recent cold start to spring and the current chilly temperatures, however today I watched the local farmers putting their seed potatoes into the ground in the fields near our kitchen garden. If conditions are good enough for the farmers, they are definitely good enough for us.
A busy time in the greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 23 March 2018At last we have passed the Spring Equinox and this weekend will put the clocks forward which will give us all a precious extra hour of light at the end of the day to spend in the garden. The ground has been dug over, all of our structures have been cleaned and the garden is ready for growing. A whole new season lies before us and we can't wait!
Its hard to believe the weather warnings again
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 16 March 2018Having just spent an enjoyable morning in shirt sleeves digging over the potato bed, it is hard to believe the weather warnings for sub-zero temperatures and snow that are forecast for our part of the UK over the coming weekend. The sun is watery today but it's providing some warmth and combined with the birdsong is giving the day a distinctively spring-like feel.
Plants are making up growing time
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 9 March 2018At last the snow has gone and the garden has returned to normal. Following a week of suspended animation, both the plants and gardeners are making up for the growing time that we lost. Green shoots are appearing everywhere and it is almost as if the big freeze gave our plants a boost; certainly the spring sunshine and warmer temperatures of the past few days have helped spur on new growth.
The true head gardener on our plots is mother nature
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 2 March 2018For the past week the garden has been suspended in frozen animation by the Beast from the East Siberian weather system. Somewhere under the inches of snow and ice are the green shoots of spring that had just begun to peep through the soil, and hopefully they will have survived the extreme subzero temperatures. It's a timely reminder to us all that the true Head Gardener on all our plots is Mother Nature.
Protecting over-wintering crops
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 23 February 2018This week we are bracing ourselves for the Beast from the East weather system that is expected to hit us in the next few days. As we are situated just a few miles from the East coast, the biting winds will hit us hard and peg back the temperatures.
A taste of Spring in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 16 February 2018At last we have had a taste of spring in the Kitchen Garden, with a few days of warm sunny weather arriving in East Anglia. It has been warm enough to leave the greenhouse door open allowing vital ventilation around the plants. The autovents on the greenhouse windows have even nudged the windows open in the warmth of the winter sunshine.
Covering the soil getting ready for Spring
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 12 February 2018All around the garden new growth is slow to emerge this year. Snowdrops are a good month later than we would normally expect to see them in flower and the daffodils are only just beginning to peek through the soil. In the Kitchen Garden overwintering crops are surviving under their cloches and fleece covers, but showing no sign of new growth.
Seed Potatoes and shallot sets
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 5 February 2018February always signals the start of the new growing year for us in the Kitchen Garden, despite the fact that we already have some seedlings growing in the heated propagator and overwintering crops both inside and outside the greenhouse. This week we will be sowing rocket, spinach and chard in seed trays in the greenhouse. We will also be sowing peas in rootrainers which can be grown on for planting outside or eaten as delicious pea shoots in salads.
The New growing season has begun
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 29 January 2018We have had our first taste of spring weather over the weekend; a welcome sign that the winter will not last forever! It was but a brief reprieve and the grey skies and cold winds have returned. As February approaches, it is time to start off some early crops in the greenhouse. Impatient as ever, we sowed ours last week and now have tiny shoots of green appearing in the seeds trays in our heated propagator.
Digging in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 22 January 2018Weather permitting, it is time to start digging in the Kitchen Garden this week. As a rule of thumb, we usually pay attention to the activities of the local farmers as an indication of when it is time to begin turning over the soil and in our area, the tractors have begun to appear in the fields surrounding the garden.
Mulching soil in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 12 January 2018January is mulching month in the Kitchen Garden and this week it will be the turn of the blueberries to get a fresh, nutritious top dressing. Most of our blueberry plants are grown in pots standing in our fruit cage. Despite the fact that we have acid soil which blueberries like, the bushes prefer to grow in pots, and this is evident every year here as the pot grown plants always fruit better than those grown in the soil.
New Year Tidy Up at the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Composting by Stephanie on 5 January 2018With the remainder of the brussels sprouts now harvested, there has been lots of tidying and composting going on to get ready for another gardening year!
Christmas at the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 15 December 2017It's time to harvest the Christmas dinner table vegetables, from brussels sprouts to parsnips, celeriac to carrots, can't wait to tuck into all the homegrown veg!
Mulching soil with manure and compost
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 8 December 2017All is quiet in the kitchen garden at the moment and we are making the most of the good weather days to mulch the bare soil with well-rotted manure or home-made compost. Over the coming months this will be broken down by the worms and the cold weather ready for digging over in the Spring.
Growing winter vegetables
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 28 November 2017Despite the imminent onset of winter, we are still growing vegetables in the Kitchen Garden. Our overwintering broad bean plants have just been planted out alongside the onions, garlic, spring cabbage, broccoli, and turnips and we will be sowing carrots and peas in the greenhouse this week.
Entering the dormant stage of the growing year
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 21 November 2017Our fruit trees and bushes have all but shed their leaves and are entering the dormant stage of the growing year. Now is the time for us to give them some care and attention to prepare them for a productive season next year. This week we will be removing the old glue bands and replacing them with new ones and apply a winter tree wash.
Time to plant out Broad Beans
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 14 November 2017It's time to plant out our broad bean plants in the Kitchen Garden this week. We sowed the beans a few weeks ago in rootrainers in the greenhouse, as sowing direct into the soil tends to result in well fed mice and very few plants! Once the beans plants were a good size, they were moved to the cold frame to harden off and are now ready for life outside.
Christmas Gardening Gift Ideas
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 14 November 2017From new innovations to tried and tested favourites, enjoy this quick trip through our festive range and get some inspiration for the gardener in your life!
A Concise Guide to the Planting Season
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 9 November 2017This concise guide to the Planting Season is full of useful information on when to plant and why, some great ideas on planting throughout the year.
Planting Garlic and Onions
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 16 October 2017It's time to plant out our onions and garlic in the Kitchen Garden. Back at the end of September we sowed the sets into trays and set them onto the greenhouse shelves to start them off. We prefer to sow them to modules initially as the local bird population like to pull them out of the ground when sowed direct into the soil.
Busy time of year in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 6 October 2017It's a busy time of year in the Kitchen Garden. Mother nature is winning the battle of the leaves and as fast as we clear the autumn debris, she litters the paths and beds again. Recent windy days have exacerbated the situation. But the sun is shining and still has some warmth to it, the leaves are dry making them easy to rake, and the end result of a tidy garden is worth the effort, however short-lived it is.
Big Autumn Clear Up Begins
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 4 October 2017The main summer harvest is almost over and the larder and freezer are bursting with the fruits of our labour. This week we are continuing the big autumn clear up as crops begin to fade and litter the ground. Spending a little time each day clearing away plant debris keeps the garden as neat as possible and avoids a huge clear up later on.
Autumnal weather has arrived
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 25 September 2017Despite the return of warm weather over the weekend, the cold nights we have had over the past week or so have had a definite autumnal effect on our summer crops. The tomato plants grown outside have finished their productive lives. They, along with their counterparts in the greenhouse which have also ceased fruiting, will be consigned to the compost bins this week.
Time to dig up main crop potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 18 September 2017It is time to dig up our main crop potatoes in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, during August, the entire crop was hit by blight; a common problem for growers this year. We cut the haulms right down to the ground and burned them.
Summer has made way for Autumn
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 13 September 2017During the past week, summer has begun to make way for autumn in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. The night-time temperatures have dipped and the weather has become squally with the strong wind and rain setting in.
August Bank Holiday is upon us
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 25 August 2017The long August Bank Holiday weekend is upon us and the forecast in our area is for hot and sunny weather. Crops are ripening ready for picking in vast quantities and we are in the throes of our annual bean glut.
Top 10 Plant Supports
Posted in Category Plant Supports by Harrod Horticultural on 22 August 2017We have chosen our Top 10 Plant Supports - all designed and made in the UK by us using high quality materials - stylish and practical plant supports for flowers, plants and shrubs.
Great harvest from one of our team!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 15 August 2017One of our team has really taken their work home with them this year. Some great pictures of their latest harvest and lots of other plants doing really well
Holiday Watering Solutions
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 11 August 2017Like many gardeners at this time of year, I am taking a much-needed holiday which will mean a week away from the garden. August is the perfect time for a holiday but the worst time to leave the garden as it is such a busy part of the growing year; the greenhouse needs watering daily, plants in pots need watering at least every other day in sunny weather and crops need harvesting to keep them productive.
The harvest is at its peak in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 7 August 2017We are at that stage in the Kitchen Gardening year where there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. The watering and feeding regime is still at its peak despite summer showers helping us out. The weeds have slowed down their growth a little, but still require regular attention. And the harvest is now occupying much of our time; picking beans and berries, tomatoes, aubergines, and many other delicious crops.
Summer Harvest Continues
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 26 July 2017The summer harvest continues in earnest this week in Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden and spaces are beginning to appear in our vegetable beds. We have already dug the garlic and shallots up and they are currently drying in the sunshine.
A Concise Guide to Garden Design by Elementa Design
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Harrod Horticultural on 24 July 2017Guest Blog by Elementa Design - A Concise Guide to Garden Design - some great advice on creating your own garden scheme using the same tools that a professional garden designer uses.
Garden Pests to look out for this week
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 17 July 2017Garden pests that we are on the look-out for this week are butterflies and white fly. The broccoli and sprout plants are now a really good size and we are being vigilant to make sure the netting on the vegetable cage doesn't touch any leaves, allowing butterflies to lay their eggs through it.
Time for a spot of Pruning
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 7 July 2017It's time for a spot of tidying up in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. The hot summer weather, combined with irrigation and recent heavy rain have sent plants into a growth spurt, in particular our espalier fruit trees. We would normally be pruning these during August, but they have put on so much growth that we are going to tackle the job now.
Sowing winter cabbages, pak choi, chard, kohl rabi, spinach and broccoli
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 4 July 2017This week we will be sowing more vegetable seeds to grow plants to fill the holes that the harvest creates. We will soon be harvesting our early potatoes and our remaining broad beans which will open up more much needed growing space. We will be sowing winter cabbages, pak choi, chard, kohl rabi, spinach and broccoli.
Fruit Picking week in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 27 June 2017This week it's fruit picking week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. All of our soft fruit bushes have really been enjoying the hot sunny weather and are covered in plump juicy fruits almost ready for harvesting. We have been watering all of our fruits plants and bushes twice a week and they have been thriving in the sunshine.
Soaring temperatures and lots of watering
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 19 June 2017We are experiencing one of the driest growing seasons in recent history in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, along with soaring temperatures and hours and hours of glorious sunshine. We have spent many hours carrying watering cans keeping our crops happy and with their feet in damp soil and their heads in the sun, they are, on the whole, flourishing.
A busy week tying in plants to plant supports
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 13 June 2017All around the garden this week, there are many plants that will need tying into their supports. Our blackberry is grown over an archway that suits its rampant growth. The plants seem to be growing as we watch at the moment and the new stems will need tying in to keep them supported. Currently they are just bursting into lovely pale pink blossoms and the bees are really enjoying them.
Earthing up Potatoes for final time
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 5 June 2017This week we will be earthing up our potatoes for the final time. They are a really good size now and looking very lush and healthy. Hopefully the tubers are growing just as fast. We will be incorporating some potato fertiliser as we earth them up to give them a good feed at the same time.
Summer must be here we are planting out the Sweet Potatoes!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 26 May 2017What a change in the weather this last week - from lots of much needed rain last week to beautiful sunshine this week, the Kitchen Garden has really burst into life!
Gaze Burvill and Harrod Horticultural at RHS Chelsea
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 19 May 2017This pergola is not only on show at RHS Chelsea this year! Gaze Burvill are so pleased with it that part of the structure is making it's way to Chatsworth house for the inaugural RHS Flower Show running from 7-11 June. For those not able to make it to RHS Chelsea, can view it in person at RHS Chatsworth
Finally we have had some heavy rain
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 19 May 2017Last week we finally saw some heavy rainfall in the Kitchen Garden and all around the garden, plants seem to have put on inches of growth overnight. This week we will be exchanging the watering cans for soft-tie and scissors to stake the plants that have had a growth spurt.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 17 May 2017The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the pinnacle of the gardening year taking over a small corner of London for a week every May and this is the 14th year that Harrod Horticultural have been a part of this fantastic spectacle!
Unusual growing season this year
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 15 May 2017It is certainly becoming an unusual growing season this year, with the serious lack of spring rain and the late cold temperatures. Mother Nature is challenging the Kitchen Gardener and it will be interesting to see what effect it has on our harvests.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show - Our Stand Through The Years!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 8 May 2017It's our 14th year at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and we thought it was a great time to look back at our stand over the years - things have really changed!
Planting out in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 5 May 2017Now that we are well into May, we will be starting the Big Plant Out in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. Our greenhouse and cold frame are crammed with tender crops such as runner beans, courgettes, squash, climbing french beans, sweetcorn, celery and celeriac all waiting to spread their roots into deep fertile soil.
Protecting tender crops in the greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 28 April 2017As we head into May, in our part of the world we would normally expect to be planting out some of our tender crops such as beans, courgettes and squash plants. However we are in the middle of a very cold snap and planting out now would be a disaster for these tender plants.
This week we are applying Nemaslug
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 24 April 2017We've finally treated to some significant rainfall in our part of the world. This was a big relief for us gardeners, giving us some respite from the watering can; albeit for only a few days. The garden seemed to sigh with relief too and plants in every part of the garden seemed to shoot up overnight after their welcome drink.
The grime and algae of the winter has been washed away
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 18 April 2017The long Easter weekend has given us plenty of opportunity to tend to the maintenance of the garden and we have been busy jet washing paving and oiling decking. The grime and algae of the winter has been washed away. Necessary and satisfying work, but time spent away from the main task of growing.
Elementa Design Guest Blog
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 18 April 2017A great guest blog from Elementa Design using a 5 step guide to prepare your garden for Summer. Nick Dickinson, a much sought after plantsman and garden designer and offers some great advice in the article.
As we head into Easter week the weather is still stunning here
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 10 April 2017We seem to have permanent sunshine at the moment, with no rain on the immediate forecast. Consequently, we are busy with the watering can making sure our crops are well watered at a crucial time in the growing calendar.
Tomato Plants, Nemaslug and Plant Supports
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 24 March 2017Our tomato plants, sown back in February are now about 6 inches tall and lifting the lid on their propagator. They were started off in a heated propagator and then moved to an unheated propagator to free up some space. Outside in the kitchen garden we are now ready to apply Nemaslug nematodes to the soil.
Vegetable Plants are growing fast in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 21 March 2017The recent warm spring weather has brought a growth spurt to all areas of the garden, rhododendrons are beginning to flower and our young vegetable plants are getting bigger by the minute. Unfortunately the weeds are also enjoying the conditions and are thriving!
The season is in full swing
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 15 March 2017The warmer weather has finally arrived in the Kitchen Garden and we have been enjoying some sunny spring conditions. The rhohodendron buds are showing subtle hints of the colour that is soon to come and the weeds are beginning to grow. A sure sign that the temperature is rising!
Tray upon tray of seedlings in the Greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 3 March 2017The greenhouse is the central focus of our Kitchen Garden at the moment, as it is home to tray upon tray of seedlings and small plants.
Special Treat for Pancake Day
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Jo on 28 February 2017Traditionally, pancakes were eaten on this day to use up rich, indulgent foods like eggs and milk before the 40-day fasting season of Lent began. But although it is enshrined in Christian tradition, it is believed that Pancake Day might originate from a pagan holiday, when eating warm, round pancakes - symbolising the sun - was a way of celebrating the arrival of spring and here is one of our favourite recipes.
Pricking out seedling in the greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 27 February 2017At last we have reached the end of February and the Spring is about to begin. After the hard work of the winter, it?s time for the growing to really start. Inside the greenhouse this week, we will carrying out one of my favourite jobs of the gardening year; pricking out seedlings.
The Most Common Garden Pests
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 17 February 2017Unfortunately the vegetables you are attempting to grow for your own consumption are also much loved by lots of pests which exist in your garden - here are our most common garden pests .
Harvesting in the Greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 3 February 2017We are currently harvesting some lovely rocket, grown in the greenhouse over the winter months and thankfully, not reliant on the weather conditions abroad. The milder weather has brought with it a flurry of activity in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, and from the forecast it would appear that next week will be much the same.
Which obelisks are suitable for climbing roses
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 1 February 2017We are great obelisk gardeners and have a number of competitor obelisks going strong, some a bit flaky by now. However when you introduced your obelisks we had two and then two more as they are far superior to the competitor ones and are sturdier and easier to erect ! We have David Austin hybrid roses trained up them and they are now in flower.
Why Raised Beds are So Popular
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Harrod Horticultural on 29 January 2017Raised beds are becoming ever more popular, and it is easy to see why: wooden raised beds are a great way to grow plants, vegetables and fruit right on your patio. They look great and allow you to create a simple, yet wonderful growing area - without the hassle of digging up plots in your garden.
Sowing season has begun
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 17 January 2017One of my favourite things about gardening, particularly in the kitchen garden, is the blank canvas that presents itself at the start of every year. Last year's successes and failures are all behind us and we have an opportunity to changes things that haven't worked or learn from previous good practise
Snowing at the Kitchen Garden!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 13 January 2017Well the wintry weather has finally hit the east coast, its coming down thick and fast at the kitchen garden!
The Garden is tidy
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 19 December 2016The garden is tidy, the potting shed has been spring cleaned and the greenhouse is gleaming. Overwintering crops are snugly nestled in a heated tent of bubble wrap. We are ready for the festive break; the only time of year that I leave the garden and disappear into the house.
Avian Flu December 2016
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 12 December 2016UK Restrictions were put in place for Avian Flu December 2016, these measures currently apply whether you have 2 hens or 102 and covers the whole of the UK and at present are in effect until 5th January 2017.
Keeping tools in good condition
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Stephanie on 12 December 2016Now that the potting shed is clean and tidy, there is room to sit and clean our tools. We are very fastidious at cleaning the dirt from them every time they are used, before putting them way. This keeps tools in good condition, but we also like to give them a good dose of loving care to keep them in tip top condition.
Winter wash for Fruit Trees
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 5 December 2016The espalier apple trees and trained pear trees have at last shed all their leaves in the Kitchen Garden, which means that it's now the perfect time to give them a bit of attention.
Log Holders Featured on Houzz
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 29 November 2016Our log holders have been featured on Houzz.co.uk showing them as a great way to store your firewood and also make a real statement feature in the room.
The trees are now almost bare
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 25 November 2016The trees surrounding Stephanie's Kitchen Garden are now almost bare, so this week we will have more time to spend on jobs other than clearing up leaves. Our next big tidy up will be inside the greenhouse, where many plants have now gone over. Last week we harvested the last of our cucumbers and the plants are now ready for the compost bin.
Top 10 Christmas Gift Ideas for Gardeners
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 23 November 2016If you need a gift for the Gardener in your life, our Top 10 Gifts for Gardeners will give you some great inspiration.https://www.harrodhorticultural.com/_c_centre/order_reports.asp
Winter Storms have arrived
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 21 November 2016The first of the winter storms has just arrived at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden and this week we will be clearing up the aftermath. Storm Angus has swept across the country causing gardeners everywhere to open their curtains and despair at the mess it has left in its wake. It has ripped leaves from the trees and scattered them wide across the garden. We also have a few branches down and our first job of the week will be to clear and tidy away.
Autumn Tidy Up in the Garden continues
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 14 November 2016The big autumn tidy up continues this week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden as we turn our attention to our bean supports. The bean plants have been shedding their leaves over the past few weeks and are now skeletons of the plants they once were.
Protecting against frost in the garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 4 November 2016The first cold spell of the Autumn has arrived in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, with overnight temperatures dipping dangerously near to a frost. The forecast is for colder nights to come. Outside in the garden, we have been quick to cover our tender with fleece and cloches, but this week it is the turn of the greenhouse for some much needed attention.
Sweet Potato Harvest
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Stephanie on 25 October 2016Time to harvest one of our favourite crops in the garden, sweet potato, not only do we love the tasty tubers but the plant always looks fantastic trained up an obelisk in one of the raised beds.
Protecting crops in winter
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 14 October 2016This week we will be pulling the hoops and covers out of the shed to put over our raised beds and mangers. This will help keep our crops protected in the winter and allow us to plant out some winter crops such as spinach, rocket, mustard greens and chard.
Autumn is creeping into the garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 7 October 2016Autumn is creeping into the garden and I have just filled my first barrow of leaves. This week we will begin the annual task of trying to keep the garden tidy it is a battle with Mother Nature that I know we will lose. As soon as the rake and barrow are put away, more leaves will fall and all our work will be undone.
Autumn Lawn Care
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 7 October 2016Autumn is an important time of year for taking care of your lawn. The effort you put in during autumn will improve the quality and health of your lawn right through into spring and beyond. Here's some tips on caring for your lawn in autumn from our friends at Rolawn.
Top 10 Garden Netting Tips
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Harrod Horticultural on 13 September 2016We have been supplying netting since 1954 so we think we know a thing or two about it! Our Top 10 of Garden Netting Tips will help you choose the right netting and protect your plants throughout the year.
Crafty Garden Ideas - A Guide From Sainsbury's Bank
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 9 September 2016Some great crafty ideas to get the family involved in the garden, growing your own and helping the birds
September is the ideal month to prune evergreen hedges
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 9 September 2016September is the ideal month to prune evergreen hedges and get them neat and tidy before the winter. Hedges trimmed now are unlikely to put on any significant growth before the cold weather hits us, so they will stay looking crisp for the months ahead.
Composting Do's & Don'ts
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 23 August 2016There are a number of Do's & Don'ts when it comes to composting - so to make it easier we have created a simple check list along with some common problems.
A Very Happy Customer!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 23 August 2016One of our customers has been kind enough to send in some before and after shots of their garden and what a transformation!
Hot Composting or Traditional Composting
Posted in Category Composting by Jo on 22 August 2016For years, the art of making compost has been shrouded in mystery. Gardeners would regularly creep down to their heap in a neglected and forgotten corner of the garden, armed with old plant material, newspapers and other seemingly useless and unwanted items before the big day, months later, when they would emerge with a steaming wheelbarrow full of wonderful compost.
Harvesting and Watering in full swing
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 22 August 2016Despite the harvest and growing season being still in full swing, it is time to turn our thoughts to next year's crops so this week in the Kitchen Garden we will be ordering our seed garlic and autumn planting onion sets.
Main Crop Potatoes and Fruit Picking
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 16 August 2016This week in the Kitchen Garden, we will be digging up our main crop potatoes. We would not normally expect to be doing this for at least another month, but our crop has been struck by blight following the wet summer. It certainly wasn't a surprise that our plants were attacked by blight. With the amount of rainfall we have had, it was something that we were fully expecting.
Mid August Update from the Harrod Horticultural HQ Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 16 August 2016It's been mixed fortunes over the last few weeks in the Harrod Horticultural HQ Garden, luckily the successes outweigh the failures!
Green Gardens Guest Blog
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 16 August 2016The Ultimate Guide to Wildlife Gardening - a guest blog from Green Gardens about the benefits of attracting wildlife to your garden and advice on planning a wildlife friendly garden
National Allotments Week
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 9 August 2016The air of mystique which sometimes surrounds allotments will be lifted for 7 days in August this year, when National Allotments Week takes place across the UK. The event will run from Monday 8th August until the 14th August.
Guest Blog by Ellen Mary
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Harrod Horticultural on 2 August 2016One of Capability Brown's great skills was using structures and buildings to enhance vistas, something which is seen in many of his designs and has been continued in gardens to this day. When I am looking at working on a clients garden, there will no doubt be some sort of structure included and whilst that may be a building such as a shed or summerhouse, it can also be a beautiful pergola or arch for climbing roses and clematis or just attractive supports for growing plants in beds and borders.
Harvesting and Vegetable Storage
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Harrod Horticultural on 27 July 2016The main point behind growing your own vegetables is how much better they taste fresh from the garden. The only failsafe way to guarantee harvesting vegetables at the optimal time is to taste test. However, there are some guidelines for judging when vegetables are ripe and ready for harvest. Keep in mind that great flavour isn?t always a simple matter of size or colour.
How to Protect Your Plants with Garden Netting
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Stephanie on 27 July 2016Every gardener has been there, after spending countless hours tending, watering, feeding your plants a pest invades or some extreme weather damages your plants and wipes out all your hard work...
Fruit Press and Fruit Pressing
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Harrod Horticultural on 26 July 2016A fruit press and fruit crusher are invaluable if you're faced with an orchard full of apples and pears that you want to turn into fresh fruit juice or make into cider
Heatwave hits the Kitchen Garden!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 22 July 2016A mini heatwave hit the Kitchen Garden this week so the focus has been on trying to keep the plants happy - especially the leafy crops which can succumb to the heat!
One of our team's garden - having a really successful year!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 20 July 2016One of our team is a keen gardener and we love seeing the updates from the garden - obviously a few Harrod Horticultural products dotted about the garden too!
Gardening in a Heatwave!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 19 July 2016With it set to be the hottest few days of the year so far, make sure you are doing all you can to look after your plants as they will be feeling the heat too!
Courgette Disaster at Harrod HQ
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 15 July 2016Powdery Mildew has struck our courgettes in the Harrod Horticultural HQ garden...
Blackcurrants ready for picking
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 15 July 2016Our blackcurrants are looking black, fat and juicy and about ready for picking. I'll choose a nice sunny morning to head off into the fruit cage armed with a trug and some snips to harvest them before heading back into the kitchen to make some jam.
Garden Netting Advice
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 14 July 2016Which Garden Netting do you need? Some advice on the best netting to protect your plants...
Top Ten Gardening Tools
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Stephanie on 12 July 2016Our Top Ten Gardening Tools - like any other hobby with gardening there are endless tools and equipment you can buy if you have the money to invest however we have compiled our list of our ten favourite tools
Harvesting first potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 11 July 2016This week in the Kitchen Garden, we will be starting to harvest our early potatoes. These were planted way back at the end of March. They have flowered and their haulms are now turning brown. There is nothing quite as good as the taste of freshly dug new potatoes - a delicious meal just by themselves.
Cherry Trees and Fruit Tree Sleeves
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 4 July 2016Kept my eye on the cherries this year, again and decided to leave the sleeves off till late June as the weather has been exceptionally wet. Noticed a lot of Ant activity on the tree - bad news as they do farm cherry black fly.
Nature goes mad and crops have grown beyond recognition
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 4 July 2016Last week the laptop took priority as other work became really busy, distracting me from the garden. As we all know, at this time of year, when you are called away from your garden for even a couple of days, nature goes mad. Crops have grown beyond recognition and are looking a little wild.
Top Ten Fun Ideas to Start Children Gardening This Summer
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 29 June 2016Gardening with children is a great way to get some fresh air, exercise and have fun together. As the summer holidays approach, all parents and grandparents are probably looking for ideas to stave off the inevitable 'I am bored' statement for as long as possible.
Picking Our First Peas at Harrod Horticultural HQ
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 29 June 2016The Harrod Horticultural garden is really starting to flourish, the sunshine and showers over the last week really seem to have helped and we are starting to pick our first peas of the season.
Thinning out the apples and pears
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 28 June 2016This week in we will be thinning out the apples and pears on our fruit trees. Nature has its own attempt at this job with the June Drop, where trees naturally shed some of its fruit. This is the time to go over the trees and thin the apples further to allow the remaining fruit to grow to its optimum size.
One of our team's garden - talk about taking your work home!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 27 June 2016We wanted to share these pictures from one of our team, a keen gardener who has had lots of success growing her own this year - with loads of vegetables and flowers we think it looks great!
How to Grow Your Own Strawberries for Wimbledon
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 22 June 2016There is nothing better than picking - and of course eating - fresh strawberries from your own garden and with Wimbledon approaching it is strawberries and cream all round!
Planting out leeks, more feeding and harvesting
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 21 June 2016This week in the Kitchen Garden, we will be planting out our leeks. Every year around this time, I walk around the garden trying to figure out where I will put the leeks that have been growing in cells in the cold frame as well as in neat rows in a seed bed
Potting on Cucumbers in the Harrod HQ Greenhouse
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Harrod Horticultural on 21 June 2016The customer service team were hard at work again in the greenhouse this week potting on cucumbers and also had time to put a slot and lock vegetable cage together to protect one of the raised beds.
Harvesting our first strawberries
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 13 June 2016We've just harvested our first strawberries and there are many more ripening. This week we?ll make sure we have some organic cream ready in the fridge to enjoy them at their best.
Warming up in the Harrod Horticultural HQ Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 10 June 2016With lots of activity over the last couple of weeks the Harrod Horticultural HQ greenhouse and raised beds are coming along really well, helped by the sun finally making an appearance!
Whitefly has appeared in abundance
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 7 June 2016In the greenhouse, we will be keeping a very close eye on our plants. Whitefly has appeared in abundance on the leaves of our pepper plants and, although they still look really healthy, we are taking action to nip the attack in the bud.
Top 10 Grow Your Own Pests
Posted in Category Pest Control by Stephanie on 1 June 2016Whether it's slugs, aphids, carrot root fly, rabbits or birds causing you sleepless nights, we have compiled a rogue's gallery of the top 10 grow your own garden pests. Often identification is the most difficult part of the conundrum and getting to the root of the problem is easy once you know which pest you are tackling.
Greenhouse Overheating
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Stephanie on 31 May 2016Greenhouse vents and greenhouse shade are essential for the warmer months to maintain the optimum temperature in the greenhouse and to prevent scorching. The 3 simple overheating prevention steps are ventilation, circulation and shading.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016 - a fantastic week!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Stephanie on 27 May 2016Wow! What a fantastic week it's been at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, it just seems to get better every year, already looking forward to next year!
Garden Wall Trellis Panels
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Stephanie on 26 May 2016It can be difficult to find a long lasting, permanent support for climbing plants such as clematis for garden walls, but we think we have a solution that will help...
Healthy plants resist pests and diseases much better
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 24 May 2016Healthy plants will resist pests and diseases much better than those grown under stress, so it's important to adopt a good feeding regime to keep your crops happy. Leafy vegetables, such as brassicas will be treated to a top dressing of fish, blood and bone every six weeks.
Courgettes are making a comeback - another busy week in the Harrod HQ garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 18 May 2016Back from the brink our nearly frazzled courgettes are now looking much healthier, the sunshine and showers this week has been great for them.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016...and so it begins...
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Stephanie on 17 May 2016The excitement is building and the hard work is well underway as the Harrod Horticultural stand is starting to take shape at the famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Greenhouse overheating and plants wilting!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 9 May 2016The long bank holiday may have been a welcome break for us, but many of our plants in the Harrod Horticultural HQ Greenhouse didn't have quite so much fun...
Watering, Feeding and more Watering
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 6 May 2016All our crops are enjoying the current late spring heatwave, but the soil is drying out and there is no rain forecast for the next few days at least. Many of our young plants have only just been planted out and need a good supply of water to help their roots spread.
Filling our new Raised Bed in the sunshine!
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Stephanie on 22 April 2016The weather was on our side this week as the Customer Services Team managed to spend a productive morning in the Harrod Horticultural HQ garden in glorious sunshine, the autovents on the greenhouse had even opened!!
Feeding Tomato Plants
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 22 April 2016Our tomato plants have now begun flowering in the greenhouse, so next week we will give them a foliar feed wth epsom salts and also begin feeding them with liquid tomato feed. The tomato feed will continue each week throughout the growing season.
How to attach netting to a Fruit Cage
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Harrod Horticultural on 20 April 2016Attaching the netting to a fruit cage is a simple task when using Harrod quick release net ties and net clips.
Keeping an eye on the weather forecast
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 18 April 2016Despite the beautiful spring weather we have been enjoying recently, the forecast is still for cold nights ahead. We always keeping a close eye on the weather forecast ready to apply fleece or cloches to vulnerable crops, such as salads.
Potting on tomatoes, peppers and aubergines
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 11 April 2016This week we will be potting on our tomatoes, peppers and aubergines into their final pots. They are a really good size now and getting hungrier by the day so will need a good sized growing space to spread their roots into. Some of our tomatoes have already started producing flower stalks.
Courgettes Plants Potting On & Sowing Tomato Seeds at Harrod HQ
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 8 April 2016The Courgettes planted in the self watering propagator have grown so quickly we are already having to pot them on. We have also been busy sowing squash and tomatoes - the greenhouse is looking full!
This week in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 5 April 2016This week in the Kitchen Garden, we will be planting out peas. We have been growing Pea 'Norli?' in root trainers in the cold frame and they are now at a really good size to be planted out. We will be training them up an obelisk.
First look at our Chelsea Flower Show Stand
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Stephanie on 30 March 2016It may still be a couple of months until the famous Chelsea Flower Show opens its gates to thousands of visitors, but our planning has been underway since the show finished last year!
Update from the Harrod HQ Greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 23 March 2016Since planting up the self watering propagators in the greenhouse we are already seeing so great results...
Raised Bed Assembly Part 2
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Stephanie on 23 March 2016A busy week at Harrod Horticultural, with lots of orders and enquiries, but our customer services team still managed to find a bit of time to finish assembling the the new raised bed.
Making a feature with a Metal Garden Arch
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Harrod Horticultural on 22 March 2016Making a feature with a Metal Garden Arch can transform the appearance of your garden, creating an entrance, framing a view or simply adding height to a one-dimensional space.
It is time to plant our early potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 21 March 2016This week in the Kitchen Garden, it is time to plant our early potatoes. These have been chitting for a couple of months now and are ready to go into the ground. The raised bed they are destined for has been covered in fleece for the past few weeks to warm the soil ready for planting.
Why it is necessary to provide Plant Supports for Perennials
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Stephanie on 21 March 2016Perennials in borders often grow strong heavy growth that makes them easily susceptible to damage by wind and heavy rain. It is advisable to stake them early on in the season to help avoid mishaps. In particular tall plants with large flowers will require extra support.
How to Grow Herbaceous Peonies
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 19 March 2016Herbaceous peonies are often considered difficult to grow, but with some basic care they can provide you with glorious colour in the garden for many years to come.
Volcanic Rock Dust
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 18 March 2016We have long been an advocate of Remin's Volcanic Rock Dust - a soil and compost remineraliser proven to rejuvenate soils, helping boost soil fertility and plant growth.
Assembling Raised Beds at Harrod HQ
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Stephanie on 18 March 2016The Customer Service Team were busy again at Harrod Horticultural HQ yesterday assembling some of our best selling Standard Raised Beds.
Top 10 Reasons to Buy a Fruit Cage
Posted in Category Pest Control by Stephanie on 16 March 2016Have you heard the term "fruit cage" in the gardening world but been unsure whether it would suit your space? We discuss the merits of a fruit cage and with the many types available there is bound to be a style that suits your garden.....
Creating a Scented Garden Walkway
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Harrod Horticultural on 15 March 2016A garden pergola will create a stunning scented garden walkway when framed with fragrant flowers and provide an excellent support for all manner of climbing plants. Designed to provide shade and filtered sunlight, a garden pergola is the perfect structure for training an array of colourful climbing scented plants.
Seed Sowing at Harrod Horticultural HQ
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 11 March 2016Busy morning at the Harrod Horticultural HQ yesterday as we carried out some product testing and have a general tidy up before starting to sow some seeds in some self watering propagators.
Garden Arches - Metal vs. Wooden
Posted in Category Garden Structures by Harrod Horticultural on 11 March 2016Garden Arches can be a striking addition to any garden scheme whether creating a classic rose arch or creating an entrance to sections of a garden, but why choose a Metal Garden Arch over a Wooden Garden Arch?
Making space in the cold frame
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 8 March 2016This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, we will be trying to make some much needed space in our cold frame. At the moment it is bursting at the seams with shallots, broad beans and peas to name but a few
Early blooms in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 29 February 2016This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, we are trying to trick mother nature into an early harvest by moving a trough of strawberry plants into the greenhouse. The warmth of the heater will spur the plants into life and encourage early blooms.
Top 10 Benefits of Growing Your Own Veg in Raised Beds!
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Harrod Horticultural on 19 February 2016Growing your own fruit and vegetables can have some real advantages over standard plots, our top 10 benefits will help you see why you should consider growing in raised beds this year...
The Sowing Season in full swing
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 19 February 2016This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, the sowing season is in full swing and we will be squeezing trays of seeds into every corner of the greenhouse.
Raised Beds in the Greenhouse
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Jo on 17 February 2016This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, we are going to be installing a new raised bed in our greenhouse border. Over the past couple of years our tomatoes, grown in the border, have not performed as well as we would like.
Harrod Garden Arches
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 5 February 2016Just in case you haven't seen them , we now have our stylish Harrod Roman Arches available in two exciting new colours - Silk Grey and Lichen Green. In addition we have extended our range to include a Vintage Wire Arch (in a choice of two finishes). All of our arches are made from quality materials and carry a 10 YEAR GUARANTEE, with our Steel Arches all being endorsed by the RHS.
How to Grow vegetables up an Obelisk
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 5 February 2016I have a metal obelisk in my Victorian Kitchen Garden and I am looking for advice on how to grow vegetables up an obelisk and which vegetables would be best suited to growing up obelisks
We always have great success growing parsnips in a raised bed
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 2 February 2016This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be sowing parsnip seeds in our allotment raised beds. It's a little early in the season to sow them but with the mild conditions it is worth doing. We will make a successional sowing at the end of February. We always have great success with our parsnips in a raised bed. Year after year they reward us with big fat parsnips for our Christmas dinner. We will also be sowing broad beans, peas, chard, sweet peas and spinach under cover in the greenhouse.
Protecting crops with a Harrod Cloche system
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 25 January 2016To get you started with your own Cloche system, we have a SPECIAL OFFER on our 1m Extra Value Starter Kit which this includes all 3 cover options for a 1m length and is just ?63.95 which is a SAVING OF 15% on buying the items separately.
Forcing Rhubarb in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 15 January 2016This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be wrapping up warm before heading out into the cold temperatures. We have been spoilt by the mild winter until now and the freezing conditions have come as a shock. Thank goodness for the winter gloves that Santa left in my stocking this Christmas. There'll be no cold fingers here!
Garden Spring Clean
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 12 January 2016Spring cleaning has a 1950s housewife image. Not many people open up their houses and clean them from top to bottom in March any more. But a New Year garden ?spring clean? will make a big difference to your gardening later on in the year.
January is the Perfect time for Sowing Seeds
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 4 January 2016This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new heated propagator. I can't wait to try it out and January is the perfect time to be sowing seeds such as celery, celeriac and chilli peppers
Shining Structures
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 16 December 2015Make a statement this year with our beautiful garden arches, stunning garden pergolas, metal garden obelisks and plant supports - draped with our automatic seasonal festive lights it's the perfect way to light up this festive period. Why not light up your doorway by using our Christmas Tree-Shaped Pyramid Obelisks adorned with our lights? Our SPECIAL OFFER means that if you buy two, then you SAVE ?50
Harrod Horticultural Scoops National Award for second year running
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 8 December 2015BALI, the British Association of Landscape Industries held their annual awards ceremony on Friday 4th December at the Grosvenor Hotel, Park Lane in London. The BALI awards recognise excellence in Landscape Design, Construction, Products and Services, with nearly 900 in attendance and out of 108 entries received this year, only 27 were Principal Award Winners. Harrod Horticultural Scoops National Award for second year running!
Kitchen Garden Blog - Big Autumn Tidy Up!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 4 December 2015A lot of tidying in the Kitchen Garden this week, lots of leaves thanks to the high winds, a Greenhouse to clean and lots of tools that need some cleaning.
Kitchen Garden Blog - Retreat to the Potting Shed
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Jo on 30 November 2015With the wet and windy conditions recently we have had to make a hasty retreat to the potting shed, but this gives us a chance to catch up on some other important jobs...
Hundred Years of Heritage and History
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 24 November 2015There is something deeply evocative surrounding the traditional hand forging of tools. The heat of the forge, the smell of the coal furnace and the sound of molten steel being hammered into shape all take us back to a time long past, when tools were hand-made and lasted for decades. But are these wonderful noises and smells resigned to history? In most places yes, but in a small corner of Holland they are very much alive.
Kitchen Garden Blog - the dreaded box blight
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 20 November 2015This week in Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden we will be carrying out some essential surgery on our beautiful box hedges. Over the past few weeks we have watched in horror as our hedges have succumbed to the dreaded box blight.
Kitchen Garden Blog - bubble wrap insulation in the greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 16 November 2015Last week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we put up the bubble wrap up in our greenhouse. Up until now we had been very lucky with the recent mild temperatures allowing us the time to thoroughly clean the inside of the glass and supports before adding the greenhouse bubble insulation
Kitchen Garden Blog - Pruning Asparagus Plants
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 6 November 2015This week in Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden we have been pruning our asparagus plants down to the ground. The fronds have begun turning yellow and dying off so it is the perfect time to tidy up.
Tool Talk
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 28 October 2015The right tool for the job is a phrase you've probably heard hundreds of times and never does it ring truer than with garden tools. There is really no excuse for not matching the right garden tool with the job and our extensive range of premium quality garden tools has every job covered. It's also true that a good quality garden tool will serve you for years and it's often more cost effective in the long run spending out on a superior spade or fork for daily use.
Garden Border Conifer Conundrum
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 27 October 2015When my neighbour removed the 25 year old conifers bordering my garden I felt the need of some sort of picture frame for my garden, to give me some privacy and to hold it all together. Mrs John, Shropshire
Harvesting Sweet Potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 26 October 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we are harvesting the sweet potatoes. This is one of our favourite crops as it always looks so good. We like to grow them in a raised bed and train them up an obelisk to provide a real focal point.
Kitchen Garden Blog - pruning fruit bushes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 13 October 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be pruning our blackcurrant bushes. The plants are now beginning to shed their leaves and have begun dormancy so it is an ideal time to give them their annual haircut.
Kitchen Garden Blog - planting winter crops
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 9 October 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we have been sowing Mizuna, Mustard Greens, Winter salads and spinach in the greenhouse. We already have these growing in our mangers and raised beds, however we want to make the most of our heater and grow some in the greenhouse border where the tomato plants will soon be removed.
Kitchen Garden Blog - planting garlic cloves and onions sets
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 29 September 2015This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we have sown our autumn planting garlic gloves and onions sets into modules in the greenhouse. They can be planted straight into the ground if required, but our resident pigeon population would soon have them 'unplanted' again!
Kitchen Garden Blog - the Autumn Harvest continues
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 18 September 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be continuing the Autumn Harvest. The haulms on our maincrop potatoes have now all but died, so we will cut these off to the ground and leave the tubers for ten days before digging them up.
Kitchen Garden Blog - successes and failures in the vegetable garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 15 September 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be taking time out to sit and complete our seed and potato order for next year. We have had successes and failures this year, as always, and now is an ideal time to sit back and review this years crops whilst they are still in the ground.
Kitchen Garden Blog - turning on the greenhouse heater
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 8 September 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be turning on the heater in the greenhouse. We have had some cold nights forecast and our pepper and aubergines are currently bearing lots of ripening fruits. A cold night could set them back and jeopardise the harvest. Our heater is on a thermostat that we will set at 15 degrees. This will keep our crops comfortable for the remainder of the growing season.
Buying a Greenhouse
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 27 August 2015The HARROD SUPERIOR GREENHOUSE design is elegant, strong and built to be a serious working greenhouse with its 25 YEAR GUARANTEED ALUMINIUM FRAMEWORK. It delivers precision engineering quality throughout, sophisticated glazing techniques, vast amounts of ventilation, integral roof blinds on one side of the roof and a host of innovative features as standard that make it the best growing environment of any greenhouse available today.
How to Store Apples
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Jo on 26 August 2015There are a few key considerations to bear in mind when storing apples...
The Benefits of a Walk in Steel Fruit Cage
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 26 August 2015Our Walk-In Steel Fruit Cages and Vegetable Cages offer exceptional high quality and value with the galvanised matt black powder coated framework, heavy duty side and roof netting, all the fittings and a door unit at no extra cost.
Making Cider with a Fruit Press
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Jo on 17 August 2015Making cider is really easy and a good way to use up a glut of fruit. Some experts say use only cider apples, others mainly dessert and others mainly cooking but in reality most home cider makers use whatever apples that they have at hand.
Kitchen Garden Blog - preparing the garden for the holiday
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 17 August 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be preparing the garden for a week long absence as Jo takes her summer holidays. It's always a nervous time for gardeners going on holiday during the hot summer months, but with careful planning, it can be managed with minimal stress.
Compost in as little as 14 days with a Compost Tumbler
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 5 August 2015The ComposTumbler uses a unique process which can make compost in as little as 14 days. You can make compost in 3 easy steps with a ComposTumbler.
Plant Supports
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Harrod Horticultural on 24 July 2015Our New thicker (up to 6mm thick) wire Harrod link-stakes plant supports are available in either a Dark Olive Green Powder Coated Galvanised Steel finish which merges seemlessly into the background or a Mild Steel Natural Rust finish Link Stake that evokes a sense of history and blend effortlessly into both traditional or contemporary gardens.
Kitchen Garden Blog - sowing spring cabbage, autumn carrots and winter salads
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 24 July 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be sowing crops such as spring cabbage, turnips, pak choi, autumn carrots and winter salads.
Kitchen Garden Blog - pruning espalier fruit trees
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 20 July 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be pruning our espalier apple trees. Summer is the ideal time to carry out this annual job and our apple trees have put on an enormous amount of growth this year. They are definitely ready for a haircut!
Kitchen Garden Blog - planting out winter broccoli
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 13 July 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be planting out some winter broccoli in to new vegetable cages. We have two identical cages put up side by side. One is covered with white insect mesh and the other in covered with new black insect mesh. We are running a trial to see if the plants grow differently according to the colour of the mesh.
What to do with excess apples
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 8 July 2015With autumn not far away now it will soon be the time to pick the bountiful harvest of fruit that you have protected and nourished through the summer months. The question is, 'what do you do with all the excess apples?'
Kitchen Garden Blog - harvest is continuing in earnest
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 7 July 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be harvesting our blackcurrants in the fruit cage. This is such a low maintenance crop, with the bushes needing very little attention through the year.
What are the Caterpillars in my Garden
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 29 June 2015Caterpillars develop from eggs laid by Moths and Butterflies. There are many different species and many that produce caterpillars damaging to plants. Some of the most damaging for brassica plants are the cabbage white caterpillars; the large cabbage white (Pieris brassicae) and the small cabbage white (Pieris rapae).
Cheer up your garden with raised vegetable beds
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Harrod Horticultural on 24 June 2015In a recent blog post by the Hip Horticulturist they discussed 5 ways to cheer up a garden shed this summer and talked about how our wooden raised beds can transform the look of any garden.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - planting out leeks
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 22 June 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be planting out our leeks. It's a little later than we would normally like to plant them, but they always follow our new potatoes into the ground and these are a little late being harvested due to the cold spring. The leeks are good size plants though, so should have plenty of time to get to a good size before the winter.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - feeding and watering our crops
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 15 June 2015The weather has at last warmed up and our crops now need more care and attention to keep them productive. We like to use fish, blood and bone every six weeks on our leafy crops such as brassicas, spinach and chard, and seaweed feed on flowering crops such as courgettes and beans.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - The big harvest is now well under way
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 9 June 2015This week In the Kitchen Garden we will be planting out the remaining tender vegetables currently taking shelter in our cold frame. Courgettes and squash will be planted out into the last remaining places in the garden. The garden will then be full with only small spaces for salads to be squeezed in.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Planting out sweetcorn and cabbages
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 26 May 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be planting out our sweetcorn. The plants have spent the past couple of week in our cold frame waiting for the temperatures to warm up and hardening off. They are now big enough to survive outside. We will be covering them with cloches just in case a cold night threatens. These will be removed in a few weeks time.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - more cold nights
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 15 May 2015We're off to the Chelsea Flower Show for a few days, so will need to leave our plants in good shape for our absence.
RHS Chelsea 2015
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 15 May 2015Believe it or not, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is nearly upon us again and the Harrod Horticultural team are busy preparing for another show-stopping exhibit. With a string of previous Chelsea trade stand awards and twice winners of the Chelsea Product of the Year, the pressure is really on to raise the bar yet again and we are determined to do this as you can see with this sneaky peak of our 2015 exhibit
What can you put in a compost bin
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 15 May 2015Success with composting depends on heat, biology and a good balance of ingredients in your compost bin. Adding in approximately 10cm. layers 'Green waste' (grass, border and hedge trimmings, snipped or shredded woody prunings) heats up steamily, starts to break down rapidly and can be stirred into layers below to speed everything up. 'Brown waste' (e.g. shredded paper, packaging and straw) should be added at regular intervals to counteract the wetness of the greenery and will rot down too
Soil PH and the results
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 11 May 2015There are many reasons why you need to be aware of your soils acid/alkaline balance. The solubility of minerals can be compromised if there is an imbalanced pH. Minerals become locked-up in the soil making them unavailable for your plants to absorb.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - planting out runner beans and French beans
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 11 May 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be planting out our runner beans and climbing French beans. We sowed the seed in rootrainers in the greenhouse a few weeks ago and they are now good sized plants. Last week they were placed in the cold frame to harden off. Now that the night time temperatures have at last warmed up we can plant them out into the garden.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - greenhouse bursting with plants
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 5 May 2015It's late in the year for ground frosts in our part of the UK and the cold nights are really holding us up in our planting out. Our greenhouse and cold frame are bursting with plants that we would normally have planted out by now.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - busy week feeding
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 29 April 2015This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be continuing with our regular feeding regime. We have been feeding established crops and newly planted vegetables with fish, blood and bone or poultry manure. These need to be reapplied every six weeks during the growing season.
Pest Control - Nematodes
Posted in Category Pest Control by Jo on 13 April 2015Experts predict that this will be the worst ever year on record for the slimy garden pests due to a particularly warm winter, with above average temperatures recorded for December and January.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - first Harvest of Rhubarb
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 13 April 2015Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be sowing our sweetcorn, courgettes, squash, runner beans and French beans in the greenhouse. We will also be sowing more salads and peas to ensure a succession of crops.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - planting out potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 30 March 2015Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be planting our potatoes. These have been chitting in trays for several weeks and have healthy shoots forming. The ground has already been prepared by digging in well rotted manure and some home made compost.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - setting up irrigation system
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 23 March 2015Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we will be setting up our irrigation ready for the coming season. We are currently experiencing a dry spell in East Anglia and haven?t had significant rainfall for a couple of weeks. Pots and beds are looking dry and we have already had to water our onion and garlic crops to try and prevent rust setting in later on.
Garden and Plant Netting
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Harrod Horticultural on 23 March 2015With over 60 years of experience behind us here at Harrod Horticultural, our heavy-duty, long lasting range of garden netting should not be confused with cheap imitations. You'll find 100's of reviews from satisfied customers to back this up, and we're also happy to send out free netting samples so you can see the quality for yourself.
Prepare for the Season ahead
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 18 March 2015Our NEW, highly innovative Slot & Lock Cloche System can be used throughout the season with a choice of protection covers. There's the ultra thick and UV stabilised PVC cover to start growing earlier or extend the growing season; the 7mm long lasting soft knitted mesh netting to keep out all birds and the Cabbage White Butterfly
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - war on slugs and snails
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 16 March 2015Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we will be starting the war on slugs and snails. According to recent press reports, this year is predicted to be a bad one when it comes to our slimy enemies, so we will be taking steps to ensure they don?t get the upper hand in our garden.
Raised Vegetable Beds
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Jo on 13 March 2015To help you price up and make the most of your raised beds - and most importantly enjoy growing in them - we've compiled a list of factors to consider when choosing, siting and filling your beds.
RHS Chelsea 2015 - Sneaky Peak
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 13 March 2015May is fast approaching and for the Harrod Horticultural team it means that plans are in full swing for another show-stopping exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - emptying compost bins
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 9 March 2015Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be emptying our compost bins ready to begin filling them up again throughout the summer.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - planting out Broad Beans and Shallots
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 4 March 2015Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be planting out our broad bean plants and our shallots. These have spent the past week in the cold frame acclimatising to the weather and are now ready to be planted in their final growing space. The ground has already been dug over and fertilised with fish, blood and bone.
Harrod Horticultural Headline Sponsor for SGD awards 2015
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 4 March 2015Harrod Horticultural are delighted to announce that they are the headline sponsor for the 2015 SGD awards. Managing Director, Stephanie Harrod said "We have chosen to sponsor these celebrated awards as the SGD has been championing excellence in garden design for over 30 years and we feel this is the perfect fit for our prestigious Harrod Horticultural brand."
Garden Tools
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 24 February 2015The wonderful thing about gardening is garden tools can make it as labour intensive or relaxing as you wish. You may decide to dig your entire plot by hand, or you might choose to use machinery and then spend more time in the planning.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - pricking out seedlings
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 24 February 2015Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be pricking out some of our new little seedlings in the greenhouse. The heated propagator is a hive of activity and some of the tomatoes, aubergines and peppers are ready to be transferred to small pots.
Hope for the future
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 20 February 2015Harrod UK were proud to be selected to take part in a new 4 part BBC documentary hosted by John Humphrys entitled 'Something to hope for'. The 'Panorama-style' programme will be aired on the 23rd March and will be based around Lowestoft and 'Hope'. It will relate to Norman Kirk's theory that you need four things in life to be happy - love, work, a place to live and hope.
Growing in Vegetable Planters
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 17 February 2015Growing in vegetable planters you'll be surprised how many delicious vegetables you can cram into a small space and an attractive Manger Vegetable Planter can transform a barren patio into a vegetable oasis.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Seedlings beginning to emerge
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Jo on 16 February 2015It's an exciting time at the kitchen garden - some of our seedlings are starting to emerge in the heated propagator and really starting to get the feeling that Spring is on its way...
Greenhouse Vents
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 10 February 2015It may seem slightly premature to approach the subject of greenhouse vents whilst snow is lying on the ground in some parts, but there's nothing like being prepared! The sun will eventually gain warmth and temperatures will rise - especially under glass.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - mulching and forcing rhubarb
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 9 February 2015Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be turning our attention to our rhubarb patch. Last year at this time we divided some of our existing plants to extend our crop and these grew well throughout the year putting on plenty of growth. At this time of year, the plants benefit from a generous mulch of well rotted manure or garden compost.
Fruit Cages in the Winter
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Harrod Horticultural on 6 February 2015If you live in an area where there is already snow and you've got a flat roof fruit cage in your garden, this might be a 'horse/bolted' alert - but you need to remove the roof netting off your fruit cages in the winter.
Adding Structure to your Garden
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 6 February 2015If you're looking to bring a touch of sophistication and elegance to your garden this year then its well worth your time browsing through the NEW 2015 Ornamental & Kitchen Garden Structures brochure. The updated collection is brimming with more inspiration for traditional and contemporary gardens alike.
Growing in Raised Planters
Posted in Category Generic Category by Jo on 4 February 2015Growing in raised planters is a real boom area in gardening right now and it's little wonder when you realise just how easy it can be and how many delicious vegetables you can cram into such a small space. Let's take a look at how one of our attractive Manger Raised Planters - all 8ft of it - can transform a barren patio into a vegetable oasis, starting with watering.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - keeping our wild birds fed
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 4 February 2015Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week keeping our wild birds well fed through the worst of the winter weather. Whilst some birds are unwelcome in the kitchen garden, others are helpful when it comes to pest control.
Garden Netting and Plant Protection
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Jo on 3 February 2015One of the great pleasures of gardening is to grow your own plants from seed. Unfortunately the exhilaration of planting out can quickly be followed by the anguish of seeing plants nibbled by wildlife or blasted by unseasonal weather if not covered with garden netting or plant protection.
Greenhouse Staging and Benches
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 30 January 2015You may wish to customise your Harrod Greenhouse with some handy optional accessories such as greenhouse staging, shelving, and work trays and reservoirs, available to add to your order at the time of purchase or to add to your greenhouse at a later date
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - the sowing season begins
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 26 January 2015The heated propagator and growlight have been cleaned and assembled and are ready for the first sowings of the year. We will begin with aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, chillies, celery and celeriac.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - cleaning the greenhouse
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 21 January 2015Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we have been giving the greenhouse windows a thorough clean.
Garden Structures
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 15 January 2015Our stunning garden arches come in a range of styles and sizes and can be linked to create eye catching walkways. Pergolas utilise the same quality designs as the arches and when covered in climbing plants can create a breathtaking garden tunnel and walkway.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - sowing the first seeds of 2015
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 15 January 2015Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be sowing the first seeds of 2015. Last week we finished cleaning all the pots and staging and the greenhouse and all its contents look as good as new.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - back into the garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 5 January 2015Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be getting back out into the garden following the Christmas break. There is plenty of digging to be done it is an ideal way to work off those Christmas excesses!
New Support for Blackberries
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 23 December 2014Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we will be assembling a new support for our blackberry crop. This year the plants dramatically outgrew their existing supports and we were reluctant to cut them back at the risk of reducing the crop.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Glue Bands and Winter Tree Wash
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 8 December 2014Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we will be treating our fruit trees to a bit of TLC. Earlier in the month we replaced the glue bands on all our fruit trees and our job this week is to give them a winter wash.
Affiliate Exceptional Service Award
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 8 December 2014Harrod Horticultural based in Lowestoft received a major award at the BALI National Landscape Awards 2014 in association with Horticulture Week, held in London on Friday 5th December at the Grosvenor Hotel, Park Lane, London.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Winter Clean up of Pots and Tools
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 1 December 2014Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we will begin the winter clean of all our pots and tools. Last year I treated myself to a Sneeboer tool maintenance kit and gave all our tools some thorough care and attention.
Crop Rotation in Raised Planters
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 19 November 2014Crop rotation has been practiced in both agriculture and horticulture for centuries, but it doesn't hold the same importance in Raised Planters as it does in open soil beds,
Jobs for December
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 18 November 2014December is traditionally the month where the seed order is put together. The kitchen table is covered with catalogues and then the fun starts. Each variety looks better than the last and the new varieties promise better results with finer tasting crops than before.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Completing our Garden Plan
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 18 November 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be completing our garden plan for 2015. Since the garden was first built, we have kept a plan of what is grown where in the garden. This allows us to maintain crop rotation as well as keeping a record of what has grown where in the past. We keep it hung on the wall in the potting shed and use it to refer to when we are completing our seed order
Weed Control Fabric
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 18 November 2014It is a good idea to put weed control barriers in place in late winter or early spring, as they work better as a preventative method rather than when an existing problem requires suppression
Sophie Conran Christmas Collection
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 12 November 2014Here at Harrod Horticultural, we're always looking for quality gardening tools and accessories to bring to you. With Christmas in mind, we would like to showcase The Sophie Conran Collection for you
Make your Christmas Gift Extra Special
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 4 November 2014If you're looking for an extra special gift for someone in your life that you know loves gardening, then we've just the thing here at Harrod Horticultural. Take a look at our choice of three quality Sneeboer trowels which can all be engraved with a personalised message - a gift like no other!
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Harvesting Sweet Potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 3 November 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be harvesting our sweet potatoes. This is always an event greeted with trepidation and excitement and I must to confess to having already felt down into the soil to see what size tubers might be waiting for us.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Planting Strawberries
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 24 October 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be planting strawberries. Our existing plants are 3 years old and this year our crop was not as good as previously. Strawberries need renewing every three years to maintain a vigorous healthy crop.
Gardening in Raised Beds
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Harrod Horticultural on 21 October 2014My first experience with raised beds was also my first time growing veg, some twenty years ago. At the time I lived in Hertfordshire and the soil in my garden comprised a charming mixture of clay, lumps of sandstone, iron ore and more clay. In short, it was rubbish.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - planting garlic
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 17 October 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be planting garlic. This is one of our favourite crops and this year we are growing Picardy Wight and Carcassone Wight.
Going for Gold
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Stephanie on 13 October 2014We have come along way in the past 60 years, constantly striving to improve our Company and our culture. It was even more fitting that we should achieve this the IIP Gold award in our 60th year?
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Greenhouse crops coming to an end
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 10 October 2014Our greenhouse crops are coming to the end of their lives. The tomatoes have all been harvested and we will be clearing the old plants and consigning them to the compost heap. The pots, tomato towers, plant halos and slot and lock frame and will be brushed clean and set aside for scrubbing and cleaning during the winter months.
Fruit Pressing and Fruit Presses
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Jo on 2 October 2014Crushing and pressing fruit to extract juice is a process rich in history, with the production of apple juice and cider stretching back to Norman times. Things have moved on a bit since then, and today, pressing your own home-grown fruit could not be easier.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Harvesting Pears
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 19 September 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be harvesting the pears from our pear arch. After they have been picked the pears will be put through a fruit press to be turned into delicious organic pear juice. A real treat!
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Sowing Spinach and Chard
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 12 September 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be sowing spinach and chard into our mangers for overwintering. Our summer salad leaves are almost finished as they are beginning to succumb to the cold autumn nights. We will be clearing these and replacing them with winter crops. The mangers will then have their covers put on to give the seeds a snug environment to germinate in, as well as added protection over the winter.
Buying a Fruit Cage
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Jo on 10 September 2014Fruit Cages are becoming very popular additions to the garden as grow your own fruit and vegetable enthusiasts realize that you can harvest more of the crops you grow if you protect them from birds and other pests with a taste for something sweet in the garden.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Harvesting Potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 5 September 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be digging up our Desiree potatoes. Last week Jo dug up our other maincrop potatoes which were Cara. This is very early to be harvesting our spuds and we wouldn't normally do this until October, but we were unlucky enough to get Blight this year and had to remove the tops of the potato plants a few weeks ago.
Greenhouse Staging
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Jo on 1 September 2014We used one of our two-tier, 173cm greenhouse staging units and loaded it up with bags of compost. Two bags per module became three, then the lower tier came into play until finally...we ran out of compost! But thats not before we calculated that each module was supporting a heavyweight 77kg of compost, far in excess of any normal greenhouse load.
Greenhouse Heaters
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Jo on 19 August 2014The greenhouse is a valuable kitchen garden asset but to use it to its full potential you'll need to keep it frost free in winter, if not warm!
Greenhouse Insulation
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Jo on 19 August 2014It's during the winter and early spring that the greenhouse becomes the most valuable asset on your plot - and lining the greenhouse with insulating bubble wrap can save you money (50% on heating costs) and keep tender plants alive.
Garden Pergolas
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Jo on 19 August 2014Designed with our RHS endorsed garden arch range in mind, Harrod garden pergolas are offered in a range of width and length options and as we've designed and manufactured the pergola range ourselves here in our Lowestoft base we can be sure the quality will exceed your expectations.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Amazing Romanesco Cauliflower
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 18 August 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be planting out our Spring Cabbages. These have been growing away in our cold frame waiting for a space to become available in our vegetable cage.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Planting our Christmas Dinner
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 12 August 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be planting our Christmas dinner. Our parsnips and sprouts have been growing since February and are looking very promising. We have also frozen some peas and runner beans to join them on our Christmas plate.
25% Off Link Stake Plant Supports
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Harrod Horticultural on 8 August 2014We have a number of our Harrod Original Link-Stakes Plant Supports available as 'seconds' (discoloured or with slight imperfections in the plastic) with 25% DISCOUNT. Available in packs of 12 in 2 different sizes, they are an effective, reliable and very cost effective way to support your plants. Hurry - only available while stocks last!
Top Tips for August
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 30 July 2014If August is holiday time for you, plans may be needed soon to enlist the help of friends and family to look after the garden when you are away. August can be one of the hottest months of the year and this makes watering essential.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Harvest is booming
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 28 July 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be awaiting the delivery of our vegetable plants. Having harvested our onions, shallots and garlic has we have some space for more crops in the Kitchen Garden.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Pruning our trained fruit trees
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 21 July 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be pruning our trained fruit trees. Our espalier apple trees have put on lots of growth and this is the perfect time of year to restore their shape.
Holiday Watering Solutions
Posted in Category Watering by Jo on 16 July 2014At last, the Holiday Season is here! For many of us, we've been looking forward to going away for quite some time, and now it's here, it's important that your hard work doesn't go to waste while you're away. To help you out with this, our range of products below will ensure your plants are well looked after while you enjoy your holiday!
Retro Steel Raised Bed
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Jo on 16 July 2014Exclusively available through Harrod Horticultural, this stylish and modern, modular Retro Steel Raised Bed can be conveniently arranged in four different configurations and is very simple to put together, whichever configuration you choose.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Harvest is in full swing
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 14 July 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be harvesting our blackcurrants. The branches of our blackcurrant bushes are laden with plump juicy berries. Armed with a trug and a kneeler we'll choose a sunny day and head into the fruit cage to pick and string the berries. Then it will be off to the kitchen to make delicious jam.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Wasp Traps and Watering
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 7 July 2014This week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be hanging out the wasp traps. Last year we were infested with them and they destroyed our blackberry crop so this year we are prepared early to prevent a repeat disaster.
Garden Bark and Mulching
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 23 June 2014Rolawn Landscaping Bark is produced from organic material and the garden bark will naturally help your garden soil retain and hold water, which is ideal for our changeable climate.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Planting out Leeks
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 23 June 2014Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we are going to be planting out our leeks. The seeds were sown into a raised bed back in March and are now a good size to be transplanted into the ground.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Sweet Potato Display
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 19 June 2014We have been working hard to prepare a raised bed for our sweet potato crop - they looked so good last year on our pyramid obelisk we just had to do it again.
Bird-Feeding-Stations
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Stephanie on 18 June 2014With over half of the adult population in the UK feeding birds in their garden is it any surprise that Harrod Horticultural has designed two new beautiful bird feeding stations. Harrod stations are available in 2 different styles, Arched Topped and Crown Topped and both will add a real touch of class to any garden.
Waterwise in the Garden
Posted in Category Watering by Jo on 11 June 2014With drought summers increasingly predicted due to global warming, accompanied by hose pipe bans likely to come again in many areas, it certainly makes sense to wise up to potential water shortages in your garden.
Walk In Steel Poultry Cages FAQS
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Jo on 9 June 2014Harrod heavy duty Poultry Cages are made using our 60 years manufacturing experience and are supplied with heavy duty chicken netting to keep your chickens safe. Based on our best selling fruit cages our chicken and poultry cages form a large part of our range these days.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - mulching the raised beds
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 9 June 2014Lots to do in the Kitchen Garden this week as the season really gets into gear. Sunshine and showers over the last week has been great for the plants, but meant more work to keep everything under control, especially the weeds!
Garden Composting
Posted in Category Composting by Jo on 4 June 2014We have managed to combine performance with looks, and source a great range of effective compost bins, some of which have been designed and manufactured here in our own factory in Lowestoft all of which you will be proud to display in your garden.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 29 May 2014What a fantastic week at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, great to meet so many customers and so pleased with our Product of the Year Award for our 'Stormproof' Slot & Lock Vegetable Cage.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - keeping fed and watered
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 28 May 2014The seed sowing continues and keeping the plants fed and watered is now key to a successful harvest over the coming months...
Feeding and Fertilising
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 14 May 2014Organic fertilisers come either as a 'compound' fertiliser which contains a mix of the three major nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphate or Pottassium - NPK) in varying proportions, or as a 'straight' fertiliser which is only a major nutrient on its own.
Composting Kitchen and Garden Waste
Posted in Category Composting by Jo on 12 May 2014Composting is not just a big garden thing. We can all do it and convert our kitchen and garden waste and a lot more besides into usable compost for the garden and there is a method to suit everyone.
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - Giving it some beans!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 6 May 2014There are lots of jobs planned this week as the season gets into full swing - beans to be planted out, potatoes to be earthed up again and even more seed sowing!
Weekly Kitchen Garden Blog - First Asparagus Harvest
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 28 April 2014This week it's all about the brassica's, planting out our sprouts, broccoli and kale now that the plants have been hardening off.
Summer Watering
Posted in Category Watering by Harrod Horticultural on 23 April 2014Keeping plants in both the kitchen and ornamental garden well watered during the summer can be a real challenge, so drought-afflicted gardeners across the country will be delighted to learn that we've got plenty of ideas
This week in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 16 April 2014Despite a very wet winter, we have had lovely dry warm weather of late which has dried out the soil. April is a crucial month for garlic as the bulbs are forming ready for harvest in a couple of month?s time.
Time for a greenhouse spring clean!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 7 April 2014As we move further into spring it's time to take off the bubble wrap in the greenhouse and give all the glass a good clean, before the plants get too big.
Harrod Horticultural's Royal Visit
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 2 April 2014Great excitement on the Harrod Horticultural stand at the Edible Garden Show last week as we received a Royal Visit from HRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall
Using natural pest control in the garden
Posted in Category Pest Control by Jo on 1 April 2014Pests and diseases account for a large percentage of plant failures in the kitchen garden and ornamental border so accurately diagnosing who and what is munching or afflicting your plants is essential - and that's where Harrod Horticultural, in league with pest expert Gavin Hatt can help.
The seed sowing continues
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 30 March 2014Busy in the greenhouse again this week, lots of seed sowing and potting on, hopefully planting up our wooden manger planters with salads and rocket. Harvesting some early salad leaves this week too.
Another busy week planned in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 24 March 2014The warm weather has really started to move things on in the Kitchen Garden. Lots of plans for the week ahead - dividing mint plants, sowing sea kale seeds, harvesting spinach and chard, now that should keep me busy!
Garden Tools
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Jo on 18 March 2014Sneeboer make their tools with long handles, not solely for the benefit of six-foot-two blokes. These longer handles alleviate pressure on the spine and create a lot more digging power in the garden by creating a longer lever to work with.
Rabbits, Pigeons and Weeds - Garden Trouble Comes in Threes!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 18 March 2014Three of the major pest groups likely to cause havoc in any vegetable garden or allotment are animals, birds and weeds
Forced rhubarb, an early season treat!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 18 March 2014The Kitchen Garden is really getting into swing now, harvesting, and most importantly eating, the forced rhubarb is a real early season treat!
Edible Garden Show
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 17 March 2014Want to see some of our products up close and meet our team? Come and visit us at The Edible Garden Show at Alexandra Palace, London, 28-30 March - the ULTIMATE grow your own event.
New Structures Brochure
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 12 March 2014Whether it's customising a Harrod structure to suit your garden needs, configuring a number of Harrod structures together to fit a scheme or realising the vision of a bespoke concept, our dedicated design team have the innovation and experience to make it a triumphant reality.
Nemaslug Slug Killer
Posted in Category Pest Control by Jo on 11 March 2014You can't over-estimate what a major garden problem slugs are and for years, gardeners have tried all sorts of tricks, traps and techniques to protect their plants from these premier league pests and now, in the shape of Nemaslug Slug Killer, they may have found the answer.
Pest Control starting early...
Posted in Category Pest Control by Jo on 10 March 2014The warm spring weather is loved by the plants and unfortunately by the pests too - we have already had our first cabbage white in the kitchen garden!
Early seed sowing at the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 24 February 2014Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, we will be sowing seed outside this week. In our Superior Raised Beds, we will be sowing 'Amsterdam Forcing', an early variety of carrot. These will be given protection using a PVC cover and Hoops kit to keep them warm and snug whilst they germinate.
Growing Potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 18 February 2014A quick snapshot of British vegetable plots, kitchen gardens, allotments and even patios will undoubtedly reveal that potatoes are right up there when it comes to grow your own crops
Design Debate Station
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 10 February 2014Whilst design is something we encounter in every realm of our daily lives, there still exists a lot of confusion around what garden design actually is, and the positive impacts it can have on shaping the world around us.
Greenhouse Staging put to the Test
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 21 January 2014Two 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 of staging was supporting a heavyweight 77kg of compost, far in excess of any normal greenhouse load.
New and Exclusive
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 7 January 2014Our team have been busy developing more exclusive Harrod branded products suitable for all gardeners. So whether you are thinking about getting your seeds off to an early start in the greenhouse or digging over your beds we are sure that you are bound to find something to help you in the Harrod Horticultural NEW 2014 range.
Quadgrow Growing System
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Jo on 4 October 2013The best selling Quadgrow has many fans, including the editor of Garden Answers magazine and Kitchen Garden magazine and was featured in the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail.
Fences Trees and Boundaries
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 1 August 2013A house is more than just bricks and cement; it's your home, a sanctuary into which you can escape from the outside world and into your own paradise, the same rules apply to the garden. Most people see their garden as their own private oasis, a place which they can make it their own and de-stress from a hard days work, but what do you do if you have an interruption on your paradise?
Pakefield High School
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Stephanie on 22 July 2013"Our schools Budding Gardeners programme supports school gardening across the country at grass roots level. This is important to us as a company as children are the gardeners of tomorrow" says Stephanie Harrod, Managing Director of Harrod Horticultural.
Raspberry Protection and Support
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Harrod Horticultural on 8 July 2013As Autumn raspberry plants get taller and stronger they will need support from poles or a frame. Harrod Horticultural have been specializing in fruit protection and growing frames for over 50 years and their exclusive product range is designed and manufactured in the UK
Growing Fruit and Vegetables on the Patio
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 25 June 2013If you have a sunny patio you can easily grow an amazing variety of vegetables. You won't be self sufficient but you will soon make a good contribution to your home grown vegetables.
Slugs - the biggest pest of all!
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 21 June 2013And now, the Biggest Pest of All...! In a recent survey, an incredible 88% of gardeners confessed to loathing slugs – and their partners in crime, snails – more than any other garden pest.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 28 May 2013The RHS Chelsea Flower Show celebrated its Centenary this year, and here at Harrod Horticultural we are celebrating too having received the 'Certificate of Merit' for the outstanding presentation of our stand!
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 1 May 2013We are again proudly exhibiting at the 2013 RHS Chelsea Flower Show from May 21st - May 25th. As the RHS show celebrates its Centenary year, Harrod Horticultural also celebrates the 10th consecutive year of exhibiting at this prestigious, world renowned event.
Royal Dutch Hoe
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 9 April 2013The RHS Chelsea Flower Show announced Thursday the 21th of March that the Sneeboer entry, the 'Royal Dutch Hoe' with 3 innovations for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden Product of the Year 2013 was been successful.
Whats NEW for 2013
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 11 January 2013Another year another golden opportunity to make this one the best yet! At Harrod Horticultural, we wanted to share our excitement with you about our variety of NEW products for 2013 as well as our NEW website too. There are plenty of inspirational, imaginative and practical products for the ornamental and kitchen garden boasting both traditional and contemporary designs and here's a few of the highlights
Wormery
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 3 December 2012Wormeries are gaining in popularity as gardeners and householders embrace the recycling ethos and discover the benefits that soft, crumbly and beautifully textured wormcast can bring to the garden...
Christmas Gifts for the Gardener
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 27 November 2012A range of Christmas delights includes engraved trowels, quality gloves, welly warmers and even stylish planters and obelisks - we are sure to have that special gift you have been looking for. The last day for standard delivery orders for guaranteed Christmas delivery is Wed. 19th Dec.
Crowders Ash Tree Dieback
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Harrod Horticultural on 27 November 2012Facts about Ash Dieback disease. The History of the disease. Impacts of the disease on the environment and wildlife in Britain and the Impact of the disease on the UK economy.
Kim Wilde Composting
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 7 November 2012Fifteen years ago our garden was a very large grassy area with the soil full of flint and clay. I had little knowledge of gardening at the time, but had been told that if I wanted to grow a healthy and happy garden I should pay very special attention to the soil.
Pickling Vinegar
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Harrod Horticultural on 24 October 2012Brewing your own pickling vinegar is a popular pastime for gardeners who produce plenty of fruit and vegetables but storing the liquid can be a problem. Here, self monikored 'preservaholic' Jess from Pickles, Jam and Preserves explains why our Padova Flat Flasks are ideal
Some Tips for October
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 19 October 2012October really marks the changing of the gardener's year, this is the month where we finish the main harvesting and start preparing for next year. Soon the frosts will come and finish off crops like runner beans so, depending on the local weather patterns, it's time to clear them.
Sneeboer - You Can Taste The History!
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 16 October 2012There is something deeply evocative surrounding the traditional hand forging of tools. The heat of the forge, the smell of the coal furnace and the sound of molten steel being hammered into shape all take us back to a time long past, when tools were hand made and lasted for decades.
Compost Tumblers
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 15 October 2012Many gardeners and allotment holders will be reviewing their composting activities and aiming to save money by producing more of the nutrient-rich home made stuff.
New 2013 Catalogue and New products
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 15 October 2012The season is definitely on the turn but to beat those late season blues, Harrod Horticultural have put together a feast of gardening products in our latest 116-page 2013 Catalogue.
Bulb Planting
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 9 October 2012Late September and early October heralds the start of bulb planting season with gardeners countrywide frenziedly digging away, driven on by the thought of a wonderful spring show.
Cider Apples
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Harrod Horticultural on 25 September 2012'I Am A Cider Drinker' sang archetypal west country scrumpy-swilling combo The Wurzels - and all over the UK people are following their advice as this traditional drink enjoys a resurgence.
Let The Juice Loose - September 2012
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 11 September 2012Rows of apple trees in orchards dripping with ripe apples and berries and currants glistening like jewels are quintessential and endearing late summer harvest time images - and it seems only right that Suffolk-based Harrod Horticultural , with their 55+ years of manufacturing experience, should be lending a harvesting hand at this thoroughly traditional time of year.
A Summer Full of Good Ideas - August 2012
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 10 August 2012There's no need to extend or move house this summer if you want more space as it's often said that the garden is an outdoor living room - and with a 116-page new catalogue jam packed with products to help you make the most of summer in the garden, Harrod Horticultural will have you beaming!
Garden Arches in Places & Faces Magazine
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 7 July 2012Our new Garden Arch range, designed and manufactured in our Suffolk factory has made the pages of the August edition of glossy East Anglian-based lifestyle magazine Places & Faces
A Summer Full of Good Ideas
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 22 June 2012There's no need to extend or move house this summer if you want more space as it's often said that the garden is an outdoor living room - and with a 116-page new catalogue jam packed with products to help you make the most of summer in the garden, Harrod Horticultural will have you beaming!
Slot and Lock Success!
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 12 June 2012It?s not only the Chelsea football team who celebrated a West London twin triumph last month as table topping mail order gardening suppliers and manufacturers Harrod Horticultural have scooped a memorable award double at the 2012 RHS Chelsea Flower Show!
Ban-Beating Watering Solutions - April 2012
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 24 April 2012It's certainly no secret that stored water levels across the UK are at their lowest for decades and a domestic ban on using hosepipes has recently been implemented - but what is less clear cut is what the beleaguered gardener can do about it!
Ban Beating Watering Solutions
Posted in Category Watering by Harrod Horticultural on 24 April 2012It's certainly no secret that stored water levels across the UK are at their lowest for decades and a domestic ban on using hosepipes has recently been implemented - but what is less clear cut is what the beleaguered gardener can do about it!
Garden Arches Link Harrod Horticultural and Hoveton Hall
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 12 April 2012A Norfolk stately home and a Suffolk mail order gardening product supplier and manufacturer may seem unlikely partners but with their new Royal Horticultural Society endorsed Garden Arch range proving the catalyst, Harrod Horticultural and Hoveton Hall have joined forces in a truly symbiotic relationship...
Harrod Horticultural in the Daily Express - Again!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 12 April 2012Hot on the heels (almost) of his national newspaper writing debut, Harrod Horticultural company horticulturist Martin Fiddes has made the headlines again as his article on growing herbs in the kitchen appeared in the April 11th edition of top selling tabloid the Daily Express!
Net Gains - April 2012
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 5 April 2012Versatile is a term often bandied about when it comes to describing garden equipment but in the case of Harrod Horticultural's Slot and Lock? connector and crop protection cage range, it's a title well merited.
Patio Gardening - March 2012
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 20 March 2012Summer is the season for growing fresh fruit and vegetables in abundance - and it really doesn't matter if you've got little or no space as our patio growing press release shows.
Spring into Action - March 2012
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 7 March 2012Easter is traditionally the time of year when gardens - and gardeners - spring into life as warmer weather, longer days and a couple of bank holidays all combine to point us in the direction of the outdoors; and with 116 pages of top quality and incredibly diverse gardening products in the form of the Harrod Horticultural Spring Catalogue on hand to help, spring 2012 promises to be a gardening season to remember
Aspiring Arches and Perfect Pergolas - February 2012
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 23 February 2012With 157,000 visitors passing through the gates each year, a heritage and history as rich as any and a reputation for gardening excellence around the world, the Royal Horticultural Society?s Chelsea Flower Show is a pivotal event in the gardening calendar ? and for the 10th year running, Lowestoft ?based Harrod Horticultural will be there!
Budding Gardeners Buddy Up - February 2012
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 23 February 2012Our Budding Gardeners initiative has always proved extremely popular with schools of all sizes benefitting from our gardening knowledge, factsheets, lesson plans, expert support - and of course the 20% discount we offer! But now we've taken the project a step further by teaming up with the Memory4teachers Campaign, compacting our Budding Gardeners site onto a fully interactive memory stick.
Simply the Pest - February 2012
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 22 February 2012As the garden prepares to burst into life, you can be sure that the local pest population is slowly stretching, stirring and sleepily emerging from winter hibernation too with rumbling stomachs and big plans on how to fill them - all involving your plants
Garden Press Event 2012
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 14 February 2012The Royal Horticultural Society's Lawrence Hall in London was the venue for the 2012 Garden Press Event - an annual event which represents the perfect way to banish the winter gardening blues and get the lowdown on what's new in gardening. Our horticulturist Martin Fiddes sends this report...
Garden Press Event - February 2012
Posted in Category Latest News by Harrod Horticultural on 31 January 2012The Royal Horticultural Society's Lawrence Hall in London is the venue for the 2012 Garden Press Event which represents the perfect way to banish the winter gardening blues and get the lowdown on what's new in gardening. Visit Harrod Horticultural on stand H56 for a unique chance to see the most exciting and innovative developments to their extensive gardening range for 2012!
RHS Wisley
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 26 January 2012The Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley HQ is renowned for it's stunning and varied gardens but the venue - and the fruit growing areas in particular - just got a whole lot better! Read our horticulturist Martin Fiddes's report into how eleven (yes, eleven!) fruit cages made their way from Suffolk to Surrey
Garden Press Event 2011
Posted in Category Shows and Events by Harrod Horticultural on 25 January 2012The Royal Horticultural Society's Lawrence Hall in London was the place to be yesterday as the industry's journalists and press uncovered all the new products, trends and ideas for the coming gardening season at the 2011 Garden Press Event
Royal Norfolk Show 2011
Posted in Category Shows and Events by Harrod Horticultural on 25 January 2012There are two good reasons for East Anglian gardeners to make their way to the Royal Norfolk Show next week - both our very own horticulturist and photographer Martin Fiddes and pest control expert Julian Ives will be in attendance
Composting at the Royal Norfolk Show
Posted in Category Shows and Events by Harrod Horticultural on 25 January 2012We sent our versatile and multi-skilled horticulturist Martin Fiddes off to the packed Norfolk Showground to appear as a Master Composter on the Norfolk County Council (NCC) stand at the Royal Norfolk Show recently - and by all accounts the day was a roaring success
Mum's The Word - January 2012
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 January 2012Sunday March 18th is Mother's Day and although it might seem a good few weeks away, thinking of a present suitable to the lady you call mum isn't a five minute task! But it gets a whole lot easier if Mum likes her garden and we've got load of ideas to make Mother's Day 2012 a bit special. Engraved tools, Sophie Conran garden gear and plenty of top quality food preparation equipment for when the produce makes it into the kitchen are all featured in our press release along with plenty more mum-friendly gifts - 2012 is the year to really treat your mum!
Show Stopping Success - June 2011
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 January 2012All good things come in threes and that's certainly the case here as an early summer awards frenzy saw us scoop a trio of prizes at prestigious gardening shows the length and breadth of the country
Aspiring Arches to Traditional Tools - May 2011
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 January 2012Our 9th Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show sees us unveil our new Garden Arches along with displaying plenty of old favourites including our exclusive and traditional Sneeboer Tools
Arch Rivals Look On in Despair - May 2011
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 January 2012Our Royal Horticultural Society endorsed Garden Arches are causing a stir in horticultural circles - and with the range set to publicly debut at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, there's no better place to see these stunning garden structures in the flesh
When The Growing Gets Tough - May 2011
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 January 2012It's at this time of the year that nature takes over in the garden and if you're not careful, things can get a bit out of control - so there's no better time to unveil our Easter Catalogue and give you a helping horticultural hand
Fight the Evil Weevil - April 2011
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 January 2012Vine weevils can be one of the most destructive garden pests and as they wreak their havoc undetected underground, it can often be too late once you've eventually laid eyes on them
March Newsletter - 2011
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 January 2012Our debut Customer Newsletter is jam-packed full of topical gardening ideas, hints, tips and discussion starters; it's perfect reading material after a hard early spring day of seed sowing and transplanting in the kitchen garden or down the allotment
Focus Group 2011
Posted in Category Focus Groups by Harrod Horticultural on 24 January 2012All eyes are focused on the Harrod Horticultural Kitchen Garden this coming Tuesday (July 12th) as the sixth meeting involving customers - dubbed the Focus Group - takes place
Slot and Lock - January 2012
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 23 January 2012We've been busy during the autumn developing and testing our new Harrod Slot and Lock? range of connectors, low level strawberry cages and rock-solid vegetable cages. The new innovative Slot and Lock fixings spell the end of costly cage collapses when the tubing slips out of the connector - they do exactly what their name implies! Read all about how the Slot and Lock connectors ccan improve your gardening experience, the cage permutations we offer and plenty more in our Slot and Lock press release...
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 21 September 2011It’s being held at the current location for the 84th time this year; over 600 exhibitors displayed and presented gardens and equipment over 5 days in May last year; and it has a history stretching back to 1862 – the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower show must be the greatest horticultural event in the world!
National Nest Box Week
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Harrod Horticultural on 21 September 2011National Nest Box Week February 14th is intrinsically linked to love and romance, and here is a bit of a different slant on Valentines Day this year, show some love to your garden birds!
RHS Hampton Court Flower Show
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 19 September 2011Although all eyes are currently on the Royal Horticultural Society's Tatton Park Flower Show, it's the preceeding Hampton Court event that we're focusing on
Root Aphid Control
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 31 August 2011Root Aphids are one of the most common garden pests, appearing on leaves and stems of flowers and vegetables in vast quantities but it's not just the foliage they like to feed on...
Tub Trugs
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 30 August 2011Versatile is certainly a word which applies to the tub trug, a real gardener's ally.
Slug and Snail Control
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 24 August 2011Slugs and snails consistently feature in the top three of the Royal Horticultural Society's annual Garden Pest List, cementing their position as one of the gardener's arch-enemies.
Flying Ants in the Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 3 August 2011'Flying Ant Day' isn't eagerly anticipated like an annual event such as a birthday or Christmas - in fact it's probably not anticipated at all, eagerly or otherwise
Hoveton Hall
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 2 August 2011It's a meeting of the 'H's' this week as Harrod Horticultural comes to Hoveton Hall with the new Garden Arch range the catalyst for the get together
Badger Problems
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 29 July 2011Badgers are certainly headline news at present and without getting drawn into the debate on the proposed cull, it's fair to say they can be a major pest in the vegetable garden.
Edible Garden Award
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 27 July 2011As the Royal Horticultural Society's summer calendar of events roadshow rolled straight out of Hampton Court bound for Tatton Park recently and one important award
Harrod Horticultural Press Day Feedback
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 26 July 2011Our recent Press Day struck a chord with all the invited guests with Grow Your Own's Teresa Tudge the latest member of the gardening media to give the event the thumbs up
Press Day Feedback
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 22 July 2011There's a steady stream of glowing praise flowing in to Harrod Horticultural HQ following our Press Day earlier this month.
Harrod Horticultural Garden Blog Tweets
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 20 July 2011Share with your fellow Tweeters...
Autumn Catalogue
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 18 July 2011Our Autumn catalogue is almost ready...
Composting at the Royal Norfolk Show
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 15 July 2011We sent our horticulturist Martin Fiddes off to the packed Norfolk Showground to appear as a Master Composter on the Norfolk County Council (NCC) stand at the Royal Norfolk Show recently
Harrod Horticultural Press Day 2011
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 14 July 2011The second Harrod Horticultural Press Day was a resounding success with a mix of garden writers, magazine editors and journalists enjoying the spectacular surroundings of the recently refurbished Folly and Kitchen Garden. Martin Fiddes reports...
Product Video Clips
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 13 July 2011The great British weather has intervened and the heavy rainfall is here in East Anglia...
Video Clip Filming 2011
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 12 July 2011Arguably the busiest week in the Harrod Horticultural Calendar is rounded off when the latest set of informative website video clips are shot in the stunning grounds of the Kitchen Garden...
Press Day 2011
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 11 July 2011Garden writers and journalists will be punching the Norfolk postcode of Harrod Horticultural's Kitchen Garden into their sat-navs on Wednesday as the second Press Day takes place...
Harrod Horticultural Focus Group 2011
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 7 July 2011All eyes are focused on the Harrod Horticultural Kitchen Garden as the sixth meeting involving customers - dubbed the Focus Group - takes place. Martin Fiddes finds out more...
Beepol Bee Hives
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 5 July 2011The waiting is finally over and the prizes have been dished out at the 2011 Royal Horticultural Society's Hampton Court Flower Show with Will Quarmby's Heathers in Harmony scooping the Best Small Garden - assisted by a few hundred Beepol bumblebees!
Bumblebees in the Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 1 July 2011It wasn't only our hands-on horticulturist and Master Composter Martin Fiddes who attended the Royal Norfolk Show this year as garden pest control expert Julian Ives occupied a slot on the Easton College stand - accompanied by around a hundred of his friends!
RHS Hampton Court Edible Garden
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 29 June 2011The second in The Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) four-show summer schedule takes place in the sumptuous setting of Hampton Court Palace and the showpiece garden will heavily feature Harrod Horticultural products
Pest Predicament - June 2011
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 23 June 2011The late summer can be a time when certain insects become more pests of humans than of plants! This can happen at the time we are using our gardens most for socialising and outdoor living but fear not, as Harrod Horticultural can provide you with safe and natural solutions for keeping these nuisance pests under control. Find out what damage ants and lawn pests can do to the garden on our latest informative seasonal summer press release - and more importantly, how to stop them!
Royal Norfolk Show 2011
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 21 June 2011There are two good reasons for East Anglian gardeners to make their way to the Royal Norfolk Show next week - both our very own horticulturist and photographer Martin Fiddes and pest control expert Julian Ives will be in attendance!
Climbing Hydrangea
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 9 June 2011Why does my climbing hydrangea show a reluctance to flower...?
Harrod Horticultural in the Daily Express!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 25 March 2011There's a real buzz about Harrod Horticultural today as page 62 of the Daily Express carries an article on growing your own vegetables - and our very own horticulturist Martin Fiddes has his vegetable seed sowing tips in print too!
Composting in Schools
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 9 March 2011Composting is a great subject for the school curriculum. It embraces science, nature and really opens our eyes to the environment and the future - oh, and I forgot history as it's been around for quite a while!
Greenhouse Grow Lights
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Jo on 2 March 2011Is there a way of combating the dull, overcast days of late winter and early spring and bring our plants on earlier than they should? Horticulturist Martin Fiddes thinks there might be...
Get a Pest Head Start - February 2011
Posted in Category Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 February 2011The 2010 version of our pest control guide ran to reprints galore so we're expecting the 2011 tome - The Little Book of Least Wanted Pests - to be just as successful. The 24 pages are crammed with pest control solutions and advice from pest expert Julian Ives and you'll find the organic answers to problems from A (ants) to almost Z (whitefly), along with plenty of tips to make your plants stronger and more pest and disease resistant. It's a must-have guide to accompany you through the growing year
Propagation Bench
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 14 February 2011Propagation Bench It's around this time of year when thoughts of sowing seeds and striking cuttings occupy the minds of many gardeners - and what better way to give those seeds and shoots every chance of making it than providing them with a propagation bench?
Garden Press Event
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 4 February 2011The Royal Horticultural Society's Lawrence Hall in London was the place to be yesterday as the industry's journalists and press uncovered all the new products, trends and ideas for the coming gardening season at the 2011 Garden Press Event. Martin Fiddes reports...
New Warehouse
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 26 January 2011If you've been following @HarrodHort on Twitter or even joined us on Facebook, you'll know from our tweets and entries that our new warehouse facility is nearing completion.
Bees at the Norfolk Show
Posted in Category Shows and Events by Harrod Horticultural on 4 January 2011It wasn't only our hands-on horticulturist and Master Composter Martin Fiddes who attended the Royal Norfolk Show this year as garden pest control expert Julian Ives occupied a slot on the Easton College stand - accompanied by around a hundred of his friends
Gardening Press
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 September 2010Stephanies Kitchen Garden has been the subject of various articles and features in the gardening press over recent years and inviting a single gardening journalist to the garden takes plenty of planning, preparation and general tidying up – so imagine the effort involved when eight representatives of the country’s leading gardening publications and highbrow daily newspapers are due to drop in! Martin Fiddes was on hand to witness preparations...
Harrod Horticultural Product Video Clips
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 15 September 2010You might recall the visit of Splash Broadcast to Stephanie's Kitchen Garden last August and the footage of the garden and Harrod Horticultural products they shot back then has been helping our customers understand and assemble the more technical items we supply ever since, thanks to the video clips located on the product pages of our main site.
Runner Bean Problems
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 4 September 2010Did you experience problems with your runner bean crops this year? That was certainly the case in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this summer with poor pod set the main bone of contention. Here's what Stephanie herself had to say on the matter in her latest Kitchen Garden update...
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2010
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 7 April 2010With the countdown clock showing only 49 days, the 2010 RHS Chelsea Flower Show is rapidly approaching – and Harrod Horticultural will be there to give our customers and other interested parties a chance to see our products, including a fruit cage, timber raised beds and Sneeboer tools, live and close up!
Growing Organic Seed Potatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 22 March 2010Growing Organic Seed Potatoes Planting organic seed potatoes and harvesting armfuls of delicious fresh tubers is often the route into gardening and home vegetable growing in particular for many novice gardeners – and although we’ve got a bit more experience than that, we still enjoy the anticipation of digging up a real bumper yield of spuds!
Greenhouse Staging
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Jo on 18 March 2010Often regarded as the ornamental flower garden, kitchen garden or vegetable patch nerve centre, the greenhouse can easily get cluttered, disorganised and generally become a mess without the provision of greenhouse staging – and that kind of chaos is bad news for gardeners but good news for pests!
Little Book of Pests
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 1 March 2010Hot on the heels of our announcement that pest control guru Julian Ives has joined the Harrod Horticultural team is the publication of a little book which is sure to get plenty of use in the kitchen garden, down at the allotment and in the vegetable patch this season – our Little Book of Pests.
Garden Pest Control
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 29 January 2010One of the challenges of kitchen garden, allotment and vegetable plot growing is to overcome the army of garden pests with designs on your crops.
Greenhouse Crops
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Harrod Horticultural on 4 June 2009The popularity of growing your own vegetables is soaring, with waiting lists as long as your arm for allotments and community groups establishing new vegetable plots asnd gardens all over the country.
Saving Seed
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 28 May 2009Obtaining heirloom vegetable seed varieties is much easier now thanks to Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library and if you're really into growing veg and have an interest in preserving the seed types of yesteryear, you'll jump at the chance of being a Seed Guardian!
Ants in the Garden
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 13 May 2009It seems that the biggest pest in the garden at this time of year are ants; that's if the letters, e-mails and phone calls pouring into Harrod Horticultural HQ are an accurate indicator! Martin Fiddes finds out more...
Chelsea Flower Show
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 11 May 2009It's the horticultural event of the year - and next week sees the gates of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea swing open once again as the 87th RHS Chelsea Flower Show takes place. Martin Fiddes sets the scene...
Vegetable Seeds
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 8 May 2009The majority of grow your own vegetables grown on allotments and vegetable plots are raised from seed - but if you've ever tried to locate a long forgotten, traditional variety you'll know how difficult it can be!
Potato Blight
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 9 January 2009It's fair to say 2007 will not go down as a vintage year for potato crops, with blight and the unprecendented wet summer weather being the main culprits.
Peat Free Seed Compost
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 7 January 2009With Christmas over, and the annual trawl through the seed catalogues almost complete, the thoughts of most gardeners turn to sowing and growing once again - and that means peat free seed compost.
Composters
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 12 November 2008Home composting is one of the real growth areas in grow your own gardening, and as a result there's an absolute myriad of composting products on the market - more than enough to baffle any would-be composter!
Growing Purple Tomatoes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 6 November 2008Imagine growing a tomato variety in your own back garden, packed full of antioxidants helping to prevent cancer and coloured a glorious shade of purple. Sounds to good to be true...? Martin Fiddes finds out if this is the case!
Composting for Schools
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 24 September 2008I've been putting my Master Composter knowledge to good use recently with a visit to Sir John Leman High School in Beccles, Suffolk - where I extolled the virtues of composting in schools to 15 interested (at least I think they were interested!) teachers.
Contaminated Manure
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 1 July 2008Who would of thought that a delivery of contaminated manure to an allotment site in Wakefield would hit the national headlines?
Manure
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 27 June 2008With the soaring popularity in growing your own vegetables and gardening in general, it's hardly suprising that manure is a most sought after commodity!
Saving Water
Posted in Category Watering by Harrod Horticultural on 8 June 2008The Consumer Council for Water has produced a checklist of water saving ideas following predictions of another long, hot - and dry - summer.
Vegetable Growing
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Stephanie on 16 May 2008Can you remember those early days of vegetable growing when you couldn't tell a spade from a shovel, a cucumber from a courgette and thought a propagator was a kind of crocodile? Martin Fiddes looks back...
Winter Pruning
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 25 April 2008Remember last month I brought you some updates of what we've been up to in our own Harrod Horticultural Kitchen Garden?
Planting Artichokes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 10 April 2008Following on in our recent series of Kitchen Garden overflow news, Sharon has advised me she's been busy planting artichokes.
Raised Bed Gardening
Posted in Category Raised Beds by Harrod Horticultural on 5 March 2008It's always good to find out what the nation's gardeners are up to, and although not quite on the scale of a Gardener's World roadshow, I do occasionally get an insight into what plans others are drawing up.
Water Butts
Posted in Category Watering by Jo on 28 February 2008Organic gardening - in the Harrod Horticultural Kitchen Garden at least - doesn't just mean that chemical-based pest sprays, weedkillers and fertilisers are banned from the potting shed. It's about protecting the environment in general, and that's why you'll find water butts scattered around the garden.
Kitchen Garden
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 26 February 2008If you're familiar with the Harrod Horticultural Kitchen Garden, you'll be well aware that I produce an update of just what Sharon and I have been sowing, growing harvesting and composting in the garden each month.
Allotments
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 14 February 2008Imagine a typical scene at the local allotments. Older men wearing caps and clad in their favourite gardening gear, gathered together in a ramshackle shed plonked next to an overgrown plot discussing how great it is to escape the house and wife, is probably the picture your mind conjures up. But things are very different these days...
Potatoes and Slugs
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 8 February 2008Potato growers across the country – both amateur and those whose livelihoods depend on a good harvest – are still coming to terms with a disastrous 2007 season, where summer floods and widespread blight combined to decimate crops, explains horticulturist Martin Fiddes.
Organic Insecticides
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 5 February 2008A quick rummage around a typical gardener's shed will uncover various forms of derris, the well-known organic insecticide - but all that is set to change next year with the proposed outlawing of the product. Martin Fiddes explains more...
Tidy Compost
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 29 January 2008Being a Master Composter, you could say compost-wise I've seen it, done it and got the T-shirt - and now, quite literally, I have!
Composting Information
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 15 January 2008The process of composting has been taking place ever since the earth was created, long before any of us were even thought of. Fast forward a few million years to today however, and your chance to learn all there is about compost as Norfolk County Council hold their latest course next month.
Budding Gardeners
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 20 December 2007Is this Garden Forum page?
Garden Vegetables
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 19 November 2007Garden Vegetables You can sometimes get a suprise when lifting root crops - there might be a record breaker lurking under the soil surface or alternatively, you might unearth something you didn't quite expect!
Home Grown Veg
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 25 October 2007There's never been a better time to start growing your own fruit and vegetables at home says our horticulturist Martin Fiddes.
Natural Pest Control
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 18 October 2007Have you been watching Alan Titchmarsh's latest offering on BBC TV - 'The Nature of Britain'?
Blooming Britain!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 9 October 2007The Royal Horticultural Society's Britain in Bloom competition results for 2007 have been announced - and it's good news for East Anglia, reports Martin Fiddes.
Autumn Show
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 25 September 2007The three shire counties of Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester have a rich agricultural and horticultural history, celebrated by the ever-popular Malvern Autumn Show. Martin Fiddes finds out more...
Vegetable Harvesting
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 24 September 2007The latest in the series of Kitchen Garden Grow Your Own Veg events, held at the Royal Horticultural Society's northernmost gardens at Harlow Carr, has proved to be another resounding success. Our horticulturist Martin Fiddes filed this report from the event.
Grow Your Own Veg
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 29 August 2007RHS Harlow Carr are hosting the latest in a series of their popular Grow Your Own Veg Events on Friday August 31st, this time with the topical theme of harvesting to the fore.
Growing Courgettes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Jo on 16 August 2007One of this season's big success stories at the Kitchen Garden has been the new trailing courgette plant, Black Forest. This cucurbit leviathan is rapidly taking over the greenhouse at the garden and it's certainly a plant we'll be welcoming back next year reports Martin Fiddes.
Allotment Plot Sizes
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 14 August 2007With National Allotment Week in full swing, it's not the best time to discover that local authorities are reducing the size of alloment plots dramatically - but according to a recent report, that's exactly the case. Our horticulturist Martin Fiddes discovers more....
Jamie Oliver Goes Gardening!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 7 August 2007Top celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has inevitably turned his hand to gardening, and his new series - Jamie at Home - kicks off tonight on Channel 4 - and horticulturist Martin Fiddes will be watching!
School Gardens
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 2 August 2007Remember our recent post (July 27th) on school dinners and the way some go-ahead seats of learning were growing their own produce in school gardens?
Vegetable Damage
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 31 July 2007Growers in the West Midlands and parts of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire - whose crops have been devastated by the severe summer floods - are now facing up to possible financial ruin.
Gardening for Schools
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 27 July 2007Although the school holidays have barely begun, you've no doubt already spotted the 'Back to School' banners emblazoned across windows - and when the kids eventually do go back, what exactly will they be eating? Horticulturist Martin Fiddes finds out more...
Composting in the Community
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 19 July 2007Here's a copy of an article I've produced for my Master Composter post-course work...
Compost Books
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 17 July 2007Seems I'm in good composting company, judging by this article I came across in the Daily Telegraph...
Organic Produce
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 13 July 2007Update Cast your mind back all of 2 days to my article regarding organic fruit and veg and the benefits of eating food grown in this fashion.
Organic Produce
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 10 July 2007Remember last month when I bought you news that the local produce market was booming? The growth of this sector shows no sign of slowing down - and organic food in general has received a real boost.
Organic Soil Care
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 9 July 2007I came across an article in the Telegraph recently, and very interesting it is too!
Garden Watering
Posted in Category Watering by Harrod Horticultural on 6 July 2007Here’s a question for you - what have a chart-topping 1990’s pop combo from Scotland and the previous month got in common? The answer? Wet, Wet, Wet!
Compost News
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 29 June 2007Hot on the heels of my Master Composter course follows this press release, re-inforcing the importance of the initative and the role the partnership organisations play, along with publicising the fact that Harrod Horticultural now have a compost guru on board!
Master Composter
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 28 June 2007Remember back in February when I told you I was going to be a Master Composter? Well, I successfully completed the course, held in Swaffham, last week and now I'm well on the way to becoming a compost ambassador for Norfolk!
Vegetable Growing
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 25 June 2007If you enjoy growing vegetables, then make a bee-line for the forthcoming RHS Hampton Court Flower Show - for the theme this year is definitely edible plants.
Local Garden Shows
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 20 June 2007It's a quintessential English summer scene; the local gardening club take over the village green for the day to present their annual show, with a wonderful - and traditional - selection of oversized fruit and vegetables, carefully arranged flowers and delicious home baked cakes. Martin Fiddes takes us on a trip round a local garden show!
Growing Vegetables
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 19 June 2007Top veg grower Medwyn Williams MBE - a 10-time RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal winner - has turned his attention to producing a record breaking onion.
Local Produce
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 14 June 2007It seems there's something of a renaissance in the local produce market, with organic fruit and veg proving ticking all the right boxes - including price, for so long a stumbling block for those wishing to support local growers. Martin Fiddes finds out more...
Home Composting
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 13 June 2007I've found time this month to flick through the pages of June's BBC Gardener's World magazine, and amongst the beautiful photography and gripping features, one small news item stuck out - Anthea Turner and composting!
Water in the Garden
Posted in Category Watering by Harrod Horticultural on 12 June 2007On the subject of wet weather and flooding (see July 6th's entry), it's worth considering a rather topical Royal Horticultural Society report says horticulturist Martin Fiddes.
Garden Benefits
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 11 June 2007A report by UK tool manufacturing giants Spear and Jackson has revealed that most gardeners are healthier, happier and suffer less from stress than those without green fingers. Martin Fiddes discovers more...
Climate Change
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 5 June 2007Today (June 5th) sees the 35th World Environment Day - established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to stimulate awareness of the plight of our planet. Martin Fiddes investigates...
Garden Birds
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Harrod Horticultural on 1 June 2007The barn owl is one of Britains' best loved birds and is currently the focus of a joint project to both increase numbers and provide nesting boxes across Eastern England.
RHS Events
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Stephanie on 30 May 2007With the 85th Chelsea Flower Show now just a memory, there's just enough time to look backwards and reflect before the next RHS show - with Hampton Court Palace in south west London the venue. Martin Fiddes reports.
Mulching
Posted in Category Watering by Harrod Horticultural on 29 May 2007One of the wettest May Bank Holidays on record might not be the best time to raise the issue of hotter and drier summers - but it's something we have to embrace none the less!
Garden Advice
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 25 May 2007The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) are behind a new guide, recently launched to help the UK's gardeners make the most of their gardens. Martin Fiddes digs deeper...
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2007
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 21 May 2007After weeks of planning, preparation and eventual construction, the stands, gardens and displays which form the RHS Chelsea Flower Show are finally complete.
Exotic Plants
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 21 May 2007Urban Jungle, the specialist exotic plant nursery in Norfolk, have recently expanded the wonderfully diverse range of unusual plants they supply.
Sustainable Gardening
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 16 May 2007The Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire is the venue for a 6-day Sustainable Gardening event in June. Horticulturist Martin Fiddes looks ahead...
Fruit Trees
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 4 May 2007My latest horticultural jaunt was a short-haul journey through Suffolk to the fruit tree specialists at Crown Nursery, situated in the village of Ufford near Ipswich.
Dales Festival of Food and Drink
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 1 May 2007It's a long way from Lowestoft to Leyburn, but some of Harrod Horticultural's bio-degradable pots will be making their way up to the The Dales Festival of Food and Drink - a celebration of food, drink and farming in the glorious Wensleydale area of Yorkshire. Martin Fiddes takes a trip to find out...
BBC Gardener's World
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 23 April 2007I dipped into the first of the one hour BBC Gardener's World programmes on Friday evening - and saw plenty to interest me!
Plant Supports
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 18 April 2007In fact, this month's magazine is of extra interest as it contains a 30 page garden special, including a feature by gold medal winning garden designer and writer Tom Hoblyn, along with Country Living's Garden Editor, Stephanie Donaldson.
Kitchen Garden Sowing and Growing Event
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 17 April 2007I'm back! Following a busy week even by my standards, I've finally returned to my keyboard and can bring you a fully illustrated report on the latest Kitchen Garden Sowing and Growing Event to be held at the RHS's Harlow Carr gardens. It goes something like this...
RHS Harlow Carr
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 14 April 2007I promised to keep you updated with any more horticulturally-based road trips I've got scheduled - and hot on the heels of my Exeter jaunt, I'm getting behind the wheel again!
Growing Tomatoes
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Harrod Horticultural on 8 April 2007Whether you're a gardening novice or an experienced campaigner, tomatoes are likely to be top of your planting list this summer.
Garden Maintenance
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 3 April 2007The benefits of a well-maintained garden may extend to an increase in the overall value of your property, according to the Horticultural Trades Association's PlantforLife campaign.
RHS Rosemoor Gardens
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 30 March 2007I must apologise for the lack of entries recently, but I've been on a whistle-stop trip to Exeter in Devon, near to the RHS's west country garden at Rosemoor.
Wormeries
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 27 March 2007Found an interesting article in the Daily Mail last week which seems to indicate that recycling and composting are starting to become big business - the worm has turned!
Garden Watering
Posted in Category Watering by Harrod Horticultural on 19 March 2007The Met Office, one of the world's leading authorities on weather and environmental issues, have published their forecast for spring in the UK - and it looks like we're in for warm and wet weather, writes Martin Fiddes.
Tomato Seeds
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Harrod Horticultural on 12 March 2007In gardens and allotments all around the country, there's one plant that will almost certainly be flourishing this summer - every gardener's favourite, the tomato.
National Trust Gardens
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 11 March 2007Heard an interesting story on the local news over in here in East Anglia recently, concerning the National Trust-owned Oxburgh Hall near Swaffham in Norfolk.
Mother's Day Garden Gifts
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 10 March 2007You do not need an excuse to treat the person you call mum, but Mothering Sunday (March 18th) is the perfect opportunity to show just how much you appreciate her - with a special Mother's Day gardening gift.
Slug Control Measures
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 9 March 2007We've mentioned before just how many gardeners rate slugs as their biggest garden enemy - and now is the time to start your defence in earnest.
Gardening Books
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 9 March 2007A top advisor at flagship gardening organisation the Royal Horticultural Society has claimed that global warming is rendering reference books out of date.
Garden of Excellence
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 28 February 2007We're always keen to share our hands-on growing experience with others, and to support our local community - and this was an opportunity too good to miss. Our horticulturist Martin Fiddes takes up the story in his own words below...
Growing Peas in Guttering
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 23 February 2007It's always satisfying when a technique you use in your own garden - in this case growing in guttering - is endorsed by one of the celebrity gardeners, and that's just what's happened in the February edition of Gardener's World magazine!
Open Gardens
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 22 February 2007The British Red Cross, the charity funded global voluntary network, are running an Open Gardens programme in 2007 to help boost their coffers.
Wireworm Control
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 21 February 2007Wireworms, and their potential to devastate potato crops and many other garden vegetables and plants, were in the forefront of one of our customer's minds recently - and here's the advice our horticulturist Martin Fiddes gave him...
Container Grown Vegetables
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 20 February 2007We all know that that proposals for the building of a huge amount of new homes countrywide puts allotments and other greenfield sites at risk - so growing our vegetables in containers may well become more and more popular.
Early Tomatoes
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Harrod Horticultural on 16 February 2007Here at Harrod Horticultural we like to be leaders in the horticultural field, and to back this statement up, we're growing an early crop of tumbler tomatoes in our own Kitchen Garden.
Master Composter Martin!
Posted in Category Composting by Harrod Horticultural on 15 February 2007I'm going to be a Master Composter! As you must be aware by now, I'm responsible for the one-third of an acre Harrod Horticultural Kitchen Garden - fed with our own compost - which of course is an absolutely invaluable resource for a horticultural mail order company.
Slug Control
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 9 February 2007In a recent survey, an incredible 88% of gardeners confessed to loathing slugs – and their partners in crime, snails – more than any other garden pest.
Exotic Plants
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 6 February 2007Everyone loves a great story and you can't get much better potential film making material than this one, reports our horticulturist Martin Fiddes!
Woodland, Water and Gardens
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 2 February 2007The beautiful Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden in Norfolk is holding a 'go behind the scenes' event in February when visitors can see how traditional woodland techniques play a huge part in keeping the garden in immaculate condition.
Biological Pest Control
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 31 January 2007The Harrod Horticultural ethos is global! Here's a little video clip for you which shows, I think, that biological pest control is worldwide!
Blueberries and Bilberries
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Harrod Horticultural on 30 January 2007Since I raised the question of what is a bilberry rake last week, I've been swamped with replies. Seems this tool is not as elusive or mysterious as first thought.
Garden Rake
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 26 January 2007Received an e-mail earlier today asking about a bilberry rake. Now I know all the tools we've got in the Kitchen Garden and there isn't one kicking around and there's certainly not one in the greenhouse.
The RHS
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 11 January 2007The Royal Horticultural Society Quite possibly three of the most well known letters in horticulture.
Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA)
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 11 January 2007Yet another set of famous horticultural initials, the HDRA carries the working name of Garden Organic. The organisation is a registered charity, and Europe's largest organic membership association.
Growing Cabbages
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 10 December 2006A great many gardeners and allotment holders grow cabbages or other members of the brassica family each year, so will no doubt be familiar with a common garden pest – the mealy cabbage aphid.
British Apple Day
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 19 October 2006The roots of Britain’s rich apple growing industry are buried deep in history, and the fascinating local diversification of traditional varieties is being rightly celebrated on October 21st – the official British Apple Day.
Hedgehogs in the Garden
Posted in Category Caring for Nature by Harrod Horticultural on 4 October 2006They’re a great help in the garden, are both endearing and lovable, they’ve been mentioned in works of Shakespeare and far too many perish under the wheels of a car – all good reasons why we should be helping the hedgehog this winter.
Soup Recipes
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 21 August 2006As the summer slips away and mornings grow noticably cooler, culinary thoughts turn to hearty, warming, autumnal soups and broths.
Hot Peppers!
Posted in Category Greenhouse Crops by Harrod Horticultural on 12 August 2006After recording a temperature of 41 degrees C outside the greenhouse recently, you’d certainly be forgiven for thinking that’s as hot as it gets – but as the chilli peppers inside start to develop, the temperature is only going to rise!
Kitchen Garden Netting
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 9 August 2006July was a testing time as I was busy fending off attacks from mice (chief suspects) whilst battling against tropical temperatures.
Parks and Gardens
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 26 February 2006If your local park or open space is a hidden horticultural gem, then it’s time to act – for the annual search is on to find Britain’s Best Park.
Ladybirds
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 10 February 2006The fluctuating winter weather is proving havoc with the country’s insect population – and ladybirds in particular are feeling the cold, according to the UK Phenology Network.
Chips!
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 4 February 2006For so long given a bad press, and cast as the perennial villain of the piece, the humble British Chip has it’s annual opportunity to fight back. For this week, beginning on Monday 13th February and continuing through to Sunday 19th, is National Chip Week.
Indian Meal Moth
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 2 February 2006This remarkably named moth (plodia interpunctella), which measures 10mm long, lurks in the larder. The adult moths are are grey/white colour at the front and the lower half is a rusty brown; the moths like to fly at night and lay eggs on grain and dried food.
Big Garden Birdwatch
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 20 January 2006Birds do so much to reduce the population of garden pests, and that's enough of a reason alone to support the latest Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Big Garden Birdwatch. The 2006 event is to be held over the last weekend in January (28th and 29th) and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to participate.
Garden News
Posted in Category News & Press Releases by Harrod Horticultural on 6 January 2006Got any comments which just don't seem to fit in any of the existing categories we have? This is the ideal place to post them...
You've grown it - now keep it!
Posted in Category Harvesting and Storage by Harrod Horticultural on 22 November 2005As we drop ever deeper into autumn, it is time to consider how we can store some of the crops which have reached maturity in the garden for winter use - and who better to talk us through the storage of vegetables than our horticulturist Martin Fiddes?
Working as one with nature...
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 22 November 2005The term "organic" has become a real buzzword over the last decade in particular, and is now used to describe more of a lifestyle.
Gastronomic rewards!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 22 November 2005Gastronomic rewards! This is where we really require your assistance! Although sowing the seeds, caring for the growing plants and watching the crop reach maturity is very satisfying, the very best part about growing your own fruit and vegetables is eating them!
Can you dig it...?!
Posted in Category Garden Tools and Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 22 November 2005Before the physical construction of a Kitchen Garden can begin, there are numerous natural elemental factors to consider. Amount of light, wind, rain and temperature are critical – plants are exceptionally fussy – although these conditions we can control to some extent.
Out in the Orchard...
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 22 November 2005Many view the growing of fruit on trees as a romantic journey back through time, with childhood memories of long summer days in traditional orchards, bursting with blossom or ripening fruit, and wonderful scents and smells filling the air, depending on the time of year.
Greenhouse Equipment
Posted in Category Greenhouse Equipment by Harrod Horticultural on 22 November 2005What will you require? To gain the full benefit of a greenhouse, a source of heat (other than the sun) is essential. This level of heat varies greatly, from the bare necessity of preventing frost damage, to the expense of providing high temperatures for exotic plants.
The choice is endless!
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 22 November 2005Unfortunately, a gardener never has all the space they would like to grow their crops, no matter what size their plot! If lack of space is a definite issue, container growing becomes a necessity.
Time to fight back!
Posted in Category Pest Control by Harrod Horticultural on 22 November 2005The aim of growing vegetables is, ultimately, to enjoy the harvested end product. Unfortunately, this is also the main objective of most other creatures in the garden who are dead set on eating their fair share, and often more, of the crops before you!
Soft Fruit Growing
Posted in Category Organic Gardening by Harrod Horticultural on 18 November 2005Get those taste buds trembling! If vegetables form the essential, staple produce from the garden, then the soft fruits are the luxuries!
Guarding against the Weather!
Posted in Category Crop Protection by Harrod Horticultural on 10 November 2005What's it all about? As we have mentioned elsewhere, it is possible to a degree to control natural forces in the garden environment.
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