Here at Coolings we like to think of ourselves as a beacon of educational excellence but much friendlier and relaxed than other establishments.
There are so many reasons why you would want to take a course with us:
• We have inspirational lecturing staff who make learning easy and fun
• We have a purpose-built working area for practicals
• We have our own gardens and production nursery where students are encouraged to take part in practicals, and which enable them to gain an insight into our industry
• Light refreshments are included as part of your course
• We have a glamorous awards evening for those completing a course of a year or more
• All students receive a 15% Coolings Discount card!
And all of this is included in the fee of your course!
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Do you have a sunny area that you wish you could fill with labour saving/ground covering and attractive plants? I think I have the solution for you in the way of alpines. They only require a well-drained soil and the minimum of care once established. I have narrowed down the list to six ‘must have’ plants.
Cerastium (Snow-in-Summer) Lovely grey foliage as a foil to white flowers in June.
Phlox subulata (Creeping phlox) Forms a carpet of flowers from late Spring onwards. Colours range from pink, red, white or blue.
Sempervivum (Houseleek) Available in a fantastic array of leaf colour including stunning varieties that have webbing on the leaves like a spider’s web.
Saxifraga Flowers are mostly either pink or white. Flowers from Spring onwards.
Arabis ferdinandi-coburgii ‘Variegata’ (Wall cress)Very attractive variegated leaves with white flowers from April to June.
July and August are often the warmest months of the year but they can also be the wettest months of the summer (as we are all too aware!) – perfect conditions for plant and weed growth, but also for the spread of plant disease, so be vigilant and respond quickly to any problems. It is also the time that many of us will take our holiday and desert the garden for a few weeks just when it needs us most! Here are a few reminders of what do to in the garden over the summer months and some tips on looking after plants while you are away…
Trees & Shrubs
Trim privet, conifer and other fast-growing hedges regularly to keep them tidy and encourage thick, healthy growth (make sure no birds are still nesting!). When cutting a hedge, taper the sides slightly as you cut, leaving the base a little wider than the top, this will allow more light to reach the lower levels.
Continue to stake and tie all your plants as necessary as wall shrubs and annual climbers grow amazingly fast at this time of year.
Ipomea ‘Morning Glory’
Flowers
By now your garden should be full of colour so take a little time to enjoy it. Deadhead and feed flowering plants and trim straggly specimens from containers.
Plant out biennials such as Sweet Williams (about 9-12” apart) in a sunny spot in the garden.
Sweet Williams
Rejuvenate plants such as pansies and petunias by cutting them right back to the bushier growth at the base, feed and water them to encourage growth. Water and feed containers regularly and prune off straggle shoots. Click here for advice on what and how to feed your plants.
If you are going on holiday and don’t have anyone to look after your plants while you are away, cluster your pots in a sheltered, shady place open to the rain and give them a good soak just before leaving and if possible, stand them in bowls of water. Apply the same rule to hanging baskets – take them down and make a trough in the soil in a cool, shady spot and sit them in it, drenching them before you go. If you are away quite a lot, it may be worth investing in an irrigation system.
Give Wisterias their summer prune (removing long, whippy growths) to prevent excessive growth.
Wisteria sinensis ‘Prolific’
Bearded irises can be divided this month if congested after flowering.
Pests
Warm and wet are the perfect conditions for garden pests. Try to build up diversity in the garden by growing a variety of plants that will attract beneficial insects and other wildlife, to create a healthy balance between pests and predators. Yellowing and distorted leaves, stunted growth and an unsightly black sticky substance on the plant may mean that you have Aphids.
Vegetables
Try to hoe between your vegetable crops during dry weather to keep the weeds down. If you do it when the ground is wet, the weeds may re-root and you will be faced with the same problem again in a few weeks’ time.
Keep vegetables well-watered to prevent bolting. Harvest early potatoes and onions. After harvesting early summer crops like broad beans and shallots, fill the spaces with follow-on crops such as cabbages, or use the space for winter and early spring crops such as sprouting broccoli, spring cabbages and leeks.
Herbs can be picked while in abundant growth and dried for use over winter.
Fruit
Apricots should start to ripen by the end of July, as should peaches and early plums, depending on the variety. The fruits should feel slightly soft to touch before picking. Continue picking soft fruits such as redcurrents, strawberries and raspberries as they will be at their best this month. You can always freeze some if you can’t eat them all at once!
Trained fruit trees will need to be summer pruned to allow light and air to the fruits and to make picking easier. Earlier apple varieties will be ready for picking in August.
Ponds
Top up ponds if necessary in hot weather. Using a spray attachment on your hose will aerate the water and provide welcome oxygen for the fish and any water plants. Remove dead foliage from water lilies and continue to remove blanketweed. Always leave anything you remove from the pond by the side for a few days so that any aquatic creatures can return to the water.
Greenhouse
Damp down the greenhouse regularly to increase humidity and deter red spider mite. Pick Cucumbers regularly as old fruit delays further flowering.
Don’t forget your Houseplants!
Many houseplants benefit from being placed outdoors in good weather. Water them as often as they need and feed regularly.
Seasonal Produce includes:
Beetroot, Black and redcurrants, Broad beans, Carrots, Cherries, Courgettes, French Beans, Garlic, Globe artichokes, Gooseberries, Lettuce, Onions, Radishes, Raspberries, Runner beans, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Apples, Blackberries, Runner Beans.
Our next Farmers Market is on Saturday 23rd July, plenty of seasonal goods can be found on offer!
for all Herbaceous Perennials up to £11.99 retail.
Late summer and early autumn is a magical time in the garden. Whilst earlier flowering perennials are a happy memory, there are a surprising number of herbaceous plants that are at the height of their beauty at this time.
“Top of the tree” has to be Japanese Anemones. Tough and reliable, they will return year after year to give height and colour. There are some lovely varieties about. ‘September Charm’ is a beautiful single pink, which is complemented well with the single white flowers of ‘Honorine Jobert’. Double flowered forms are also available, with ‘Whirlwind’ probably being the favourite among customers. This year during September we aim to have as many varieties as possible for you to choose from.
Schizostylis or Kaffir Lilly is perhaps less well known, but is a real gem. The beautiful flowers appear from the evergreen sword-like leaves throughout autumn. Crimson, White and Pink varieties are all available.
Asters are an old favourite for late season colour. Modern hybrids such as the Island Series are compact, floriferous and healthy. They will clump up quickly to produce a beautiful display year in, year out with little fuss.
Sedums are as loved by bees, as they are by us. If you want to do one thing to provide a late source of nectar in your garden, then plant a sedum. Their fleshy leaves make them very drought tolerant and extremely low maintenance. One hint to make them flower later is to give them the ‘Chelsea Chop’. Simply give the plant a hair-cut in the week of the Chelsea Flower Show and this will make it regrow shorter, bushier and later flowering!
Hardier varieties of Dahlia like deep red ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ look stunning at this time of year. Penstemons and Rudbeckia will still be strutting their stuff and can be planted in combination with grasses which are also looking their best at this time.
As Shakespeare famously said, “Summer’s lease hath all too short a date”. This is especially true with our fantastic autumn herbaceous offer, Buy 3 for £20 in September – October. Offer valid on all Herbaceous Perennials up to £11.99 retail.
So make the most of every moment in your garden and let summer slip into autumn with good cheer!
Spring is an optimistic time of year. In the garden we look forward to the summer ahead, and start planning for colourful displays. Here at Coolings our nursery team is flat-out producing the huge range of home grown bedding plants for which we are so well known. This year we promise to bring you the best new introductions and old favourites to brighten the coming season.
Bella Fuchsias
Eight exciting new colours. These compact fuchsias excel in flower and are one of the longest flowering garden plants. Bella fuchsias begin blooming very early in the season, ideal for tubs and hanging baskets. Enjoy the beautiful Fuchsia flower from Spring until Autumn. Available from mid April.
Bella Fuchsia ‘Vera’ (Available from mid April)
Bella Fuchsia ‘Evita’ (Available from mid April)
Bella Fuchsia ‘Susanna’ (Available from mid April)
Colour Breakthrough!! Yellow!
Cosmos Lemon Sherbert
These cosmos are set to be this season’s must-have plants. The classy soft lemon yellow flowers are produced on uniform, well branched plants. They will be stunning as patio-container or border plants.
Cosmos Xanthos Lemon Sherbert
NEW – Double Can Can mini-trailing petunias
We are excited to add to our range these unique and highly colourful trailing plants, with their ‘mini-rose’ double flowers. Available in light pink, lemon, magenta, red and pink vein.
Fancy Petunias
This year we have some lovely novelty varieties of this popular bedding plant to tempt you, including:
Petunia Night Sky Extraordinary new flower pattern! Multi-award wining semi-trailing variety.
Petunia Phantom An unusual striped variety with black flowers and a distinctive yellow star patter.
Plus over 300 other bedding plant varieties to colour your summer!!
Don’t be afraid to grow your own vegetables or bedding plants from seed. You don’t need a big garden or fancy greenhouse. It is easy and saves a lot of money, not to mention the satisfaction when pulling the first carrot out of the ground or planting a hanging basket with your home grown petunias.
If your garden is too small for a traditional greenhouse, then an alternative could be a medium walk-in greenhouse (h1.9 x w1.43 x d0.73m at £39.99**). Both can be easily assembled when needed, and taken down again to make room for other activities. Other smaller ones are available from £24.99 in the outside garden shop.
From the end of March, some seeds and bulbs can be sown and planted outside in the ground, for example brussel sprouts, summer cabbages, beans, peas, garlic onions and sweet peas.
Some seeds are better sown in pots, for example cauliflower, and plastic pots are available in the shop from 9cm at 30p up to 25ltr at £5.50.
You can give nature a helping hand by covering your soil with black heavy duty plastic (2m wide at £2 per metre) to warm it up and make it ready for planting parsnips, kale and lettuce. When planted, you can cover the rows with a cloche tunnel (from £12.99) to protect them from harsh weather and pests.
We stock a wide range of seeds in the shop from both Suttons and Thompson & Morgan, catering for every taste and flavour.
To give your seedlings the best start, we stock heated and non-heated propagators in different sizes, from £3.99 for a non-heated windowsill propagator to a heated windowsill propagator for £39.99. These are very handy if space is a premium and seeds need a little help to germinate.
So why not give it a go, maybe club together with like-minded friends or family. You could all grow different varieties and swap your results.
**These products are currently on promotion and are limited whilst stocks last.
If part of your garden becomes dry and is very sunny, then I may well have a few plants that fit the bill. Just be sure to keep them well watered the first year until they’ve settled in.
Cistus ‘Sunset’
Evergreen with grey-green leaves and cerise flowers from May and through the summer months.
Halimiocistus sahucii
Evergreen with delicate white flowers and yellow centres continuously produced from late spring.
Convolvulus cneorum
Evergreen with silky white funnel-shaped flowers from spring onwards.
Ceanothus repens
Evergreen with pale blue flowers from May and into June/July.
Forget me Plants
With busy lives, many people would like a garden to ‘look after itself’; that we can forget about and require minimal care. A few plants may help towards this. The following are worth giving space to.
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Beautiful blue flowers in late summer with stunning autumn colour from the leaves too.
Cotoneaster dammeri
Good in sun or part shade. Evergreen with white flowers and red berries.
Pachysandra terminalis
Evergreen glossy leaves with white flowers in spring and early summer.
Vinca minor
Evergreen low growing plant with flowers in blue, purple or white. Variegated forms such as; ‘Ralph Shugert’ are very attractive and lighten a shady spot.
If the world were an even place, the natural life cycle of growth and die back would go around in a nice neat circle, with leaf fall and decomposing plant material providing all nutrients and minerals to the soil for the next generation of plants to soak up and thrive.
But, as life is never as tidy as we would like our gardens to be, we sometimes need to provide a bit of nourishment so that our plants can flourish.
Container plants will appreciate a feed, as their source of sustenance is obviously limited by the size of the pot, and there’s only so long before they will need a top-up. Liquid and soluble feed are some of the easiest to apply, and certainly the best option for containers where there’s a risk of overfeeding with granular or powdered feed. Ever looking to multi-task, these fertilisers are applied at the same time as your regular watering and you can even get an attachment for the end of your hose, so you’re doing two jobs in one!
One of the most satisfying benefits of using a liquid feed is that the results are fast – you should see an impact within a fortnight.
Miracle-Gro All Purpose Soluble Plant Food
A balanced mix of the essential NPK, plus a blend of 6 more micro-nutrients. Just one large scoop is added to an average sized watering can (4.5L). Feeding is recommended every two weeks from early spring until late summer.
Miracle-Gro Liqua feed Starter Kit
A great option for large areas, the bottle of feed attaches to the feeder, which attaches to the hose, and the plants are fed and watered in one fell swoop. Refill bottles are available in twin packs.
Seaweed extract
A naturally organic stimulant that can be used from the very first stages of seed germination, right through to giving a boost to mature plants. It’s natural, good for the environment all round!
Tomorite
Leafy plants like a feed high in nitrogen, but any flowering plants, including fruiting plants that set flowers, enjoy a rich potassium feed. Tomorite is ideal, not just for tomatoes, but also to use alongside an all purpose food for a whole variety of plants.
Now’s the time of year to get out in the garden and plant vegetables and herbs. If you plan it right, you can end up growing your own rainbow! Why not start with purple radish at one end , following with tomatoes, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, broccoli and ending up with dark green kale at the end. The possibilities are endless!
Radish Scarlet Globe £1.55
Tomato Heartbreaker £2.99
Carrot Resistafly £2.79
Parsnip Gladiator £2.79
Lettuce Little Gem £1.75
Broccoli Parthenon £2.99
Kale Black Magic £2.99
VegTrug sells a range of raised planters that are perfect for growing vegetables and herbs in. They are at a handy height so no more bending or crouching down! They are environmentally friendly as well, with the wood sourced from sustainable plantation grown fir. The small 1m VegTrug is available for £109.00 and comes flat packed so it will easily fit in your car to take away today.
For a more purse friendly option, Grange Fencing sells ‘rustic Raised Beds’ at £14.99 for the small and £17.99 for the large. These are perfect for sectioning off an area in your garden for a mini vegetable plot.
Don’t forget to feed, Miracle-Gro, Gro Your Own Fruit and Vegetable feed is only £5.49 per bottle.
Here in the Arthurs kitchen we steam, fry, grate, stew, bake, juice, pulp, puree and mash a huge amount of fresh vegetables throughout the year. We even bake cakes containing vegetables, which is becoming very trendy. We are always experimenting with different flavours and complementing them with others to achieve the best results.
There is no better satisfaction then sowing, growing, harvesting and eating your own vegetables. Apart from being super fresh, they also taste much better. Here is just a small glimpse of some of the vegetables we use and sell at Coolings.
Carrot
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, although purple, black, red, white and yellow varieties exist. Carrots are always best sown from seed directly into the ground, as transplanting carrots from pots to the ground can increase the risk of them attracting a pest called carrot fly. Carrots can still be sown in May.
Carrots are cooked and eaten in a variety of ways. Here at Arthurs we use grated carrot in our moist homemade carrot cake and homemade coleslaw, and chopped in our carrot and coriander soup, as well as in our Cottage pies, and as a complement to our Sunday roasts.
This vegetable can be pulped, mashed, boiled, pureed, grated, fried, stewed, baked, juiced or eaten raw, and are typically used in stir-fries, salads and soups. Carrots are high in beta-Carotene, which our body turns into vitamin A. Vitamin A is important for healthy vision, bones, teeth and skin.
Beetroot
Beetroot is packed with essential nutrients and is a great source of fibre, iron and vitamin C. Beetroots and beetroot juice have been associated with many health benefits, including improving blood flow, lowering blood pressure and increasing exercise performance. They are delicious when eaten raw, but are more often cooked or pickled. Their leaves can also be cooked and enjoyed in the same way as spinach. Beetroots can be planted from April onwards. Our chefs at Arthurs used pickled beetroot in our premium salad and raw grated beetroot in our beetroot and mixed seed cakes.
Courgette
Courgette, or Zucchini as it’s known in other parts of the world such as Australia, can be planted in May after the last frosts.
In England a courgette that can grow to nearly a metre in length is harvested at half or less than this size, as a fully grown courgette is called a marrow. We use grated courgettes in our cakes, such as courgette and chocolate cake, and lime and courgette loaf cake. Courgettes are low in calories.
Broccoli
Broccoli is an edible green plant in the cabbage family. It’s large flower head is eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is one of the healthiest green vegetables, rich in dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins and anitoxidants, which have proven health benefits. It’s also versatile, inexpensive and tastes great. Broccoli can be used as a handy snack, in soups and in salads. We use broccoli and its stalks in our Broccoli soup, and to complement our Sunday roasts.
For a selection of ready to plant vegetbables check out our ‘Grown your Own’ range. Alternatively it is not too late to sow from seed, with a wide range available from suttons and Thompson and Morgan.
Ipomea ‘Morning Glory’
Sweet Williams
Wisteria sinensis ‘Prolific’
