We have just been awarded Garden Centre of Excellence status for a record breaking 12th consecutive year!

Garden Centre of Excellence for the 12th consecutive year

Audited annually by the UK Garden Centre Association (GCA), results determine which garden centres continue to achieve the highest standards of excellence and only these top centres achieve this much sought after award.

“Not only has this award shown that we have continued to offer our customers the very best expertise, service and range of products but to achieve this unequalled recognition from the GCA underpins our efforts to not only maintain but to also improve the experience we offer here at Grosvenor,” said Iain Wylie, managing director.

“Garden centres must provide standards of excellence to be accepted as members of the GCA.  Awarded to the top 10 centres in the country each year, it is a great achievement for all the team here at Grosvenor to be chosen as Garden Centre of Excellence – especially as we are the only Garden Centre in the UK to have achieved this honour for 12 successive years,” Iain continued.

“We were delighted to present Grosvenor with this award.  Not only do they continue to offer an admirable level of knowledge to their customers, they never rest on their laurels, nor take the award for granted.  Each visit highlights to us exactly how much they continue to achieve with even greater improvements year after year and their continued success in the annual audit is a great testament to their efforts,” commented Gillie Westwood, Chief Executive, GCA.

Be my Valentine this month with this beautiful ‘My Valentine’ hybrid tea rose.  With large red blooms and long, strong stems, ‘My Valentine’ epitomises Valentine’s Day and will make an eye catching cut display for inside your home later in the year.

Be 'My Valentine' with this beautiful rose

So, to February.  Where shall we start with the garden this month?  One of the easiest ways to get started is by sowing seeds – you can start by sowing indoors even when it is freezing cold outside.  Alternatively, choose from a range of seedlings and plug plants which are just one step further on from sowing seeds and already beginning to establish from recent germination and to form roots.    Plant them straight into trays of compost so they have more room to develop.  Use good quality compost with slow release feed for best results.

Have you seen any Crocus or Snowdrops peeping through yet?  They really are the sign to watch for as we count the days to spring.  The pure white of a newly shooting Snowdrop against a frosty garden reminds us all that our gardens will soon be sprouting new flowers so make sure your borders are fully stocked with summer flowering bulbs now.    Leave room between each bulb so that each has chance to swell and feed them weekly.  Clump together the same bulbs for a good display in the coming months.

Always remember to discard faded flowers to encourage more new growth.

If you would like a lovely display of colour in your planted containers later in the spring, but really have no idea how to choose complimentary colours, take a look at our displays of bedding plants here at Grosvenor.  Grouped so that you can instantly which look good together, please ask us for help.  Or choose a pre-mixed range of bedding in packs of six.  Don’t worry, you can’t go wrong!

You can begin to prepare your edible garden by digging over any area where you plan to grow vegetables.  Use compost or soil conditioner and leave the surface as rough as possible to take advantage of any frost which will help improve the structure of the soil.

Prepare your vegetable patch now

Tomatoes  are really the easiest starting point for anyone wishing to begin growing their own fruit and vegetables.  With so many varieties to choose from, choose a tasty option to suit the space you have available.  A grow bag or raised bed is the perfect way to get growing!

Generally one of the colder months in the year, you do need to make sure your tender plants and fruits are protected from frost so make sure you have that all-important fleece to hand.  If you manage to keep frost damage at bay, your fruits will swell beautifully in the summer.

The roots of fruit trees and bushes should be fed now with slow release plant food or granules.  A few handfuls will keep your plants fed throughout the season.  You should also dig the food into the top layer of soil and mulch with compost to retain moisture and even suppress weeds.

If we continue to enjoy mild weather for this time of year, you could sow your broad beans, parsnips and peas but always remember to just be careful and cover with fleece or a cloche so that any germinating seeds are protected.

Don’t forget that birds and wildlife really do need our help all year round but especially during the colder months.  Our range of bird feeds, fat balls, feeders and tables will make sure you have everything you need to encourage birds to your garden.  Always remember to keep your bird baths topped up with fresh water and never let it freeze!

Our Plant of the Month this January is the Primula.  Versatile, evergreen or herbaceous perennials, the Primula has flowers of a beautiful, sunny, deep yellow in springtime with green foliage for interest all year round, even during the colder bouts this month.

More than 500 species exist in the Primula genus, including Cowslip and Polyanthus.  One of the most well known is Primula vulgaris meaning ‘prima’ (or ‘first’) and ‘rosa’ (or ‘rose’), therefore symbolising the ‘first rose’ or spring has sprung.

Most Primulas offer delightful splashes of colour in gardens throughout the spring but if we continue to enjoy a mild winter, you may see the Primula over these months too.

Available in a wide selection of colours including brights and pastels from blue to pink, purple to red and white to yellow  - whatever your preference and colour scheme, you are sure to find the perfect shade for your garden or planted container.

Easy to grow, the Primula is unfussy about soil type or its location and will be equally at home on a sunny patio or in a shaded border.  If you use it to add colour to a pot, make sure you water it frequently so it

Our Plant of the Month in January - the Primula

does not dry out and use a multi-purpose compost.  And of course, always remember to deadhead any plant regularly to encourage new growth and longer flowering.

Members of the team at Grosvenor Garden Centre on Wrexham Road in Belgrave, near Chester have supported a family featured on the popular BBC One series ‘DIY SOS: The Big Build’.

Donating £1200 worth of plants and a teak garden bench to the family, the team spent two days at the project planting raised beds and hard landscaping.

The Grosvenor team helps family

“We were thrilled to help transform the home of the family in Dolgarrog,” commented Pete Davies, Plant Manager at Grosvenor.

“Support of the local community is very important to us here at Grosvenor and our involvement in the programme was not only a great experience for us, we were able to add the finishing touches to the newly created garden in this much needed new home.” Pete continued.

Mark Hogan, winner of Jaques football table

Well done Mark and we hope you enjoy many years of table football!

Visit Grosvenor next weekend, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November between 11am and 3pm, as Santa makes his entrance at the Garden Centre for a fantastic Christmas experience.

Enjoy Santa’s parade at 11am on Saturday and Sunday as Santa arrives on his sleigh pulled by reindeer and accompanied by stilt walking, the Grove Park Theatre pantomime cast and festive music by the City of Chester band.  Santa will be at the Garden Centre all weekend to meet and greet customers young and old.

See Santa

With entertainment throughout the weekend including circus workshops and rousing festive music, Santa’s reindeer will remain at the Garden Centre until 3pm each day and visit again every weekend before Christmas.

“The arrival of Santa at the Garden Centre is always a popular and memorable experience to begin the countdown to Christmas and I would encourage everyone to arrive early to avoid disappointment!” commented Iain Wylie, managing director.

Santa will return to the Garden Centre from Saturday 3rd to 24th December to read a story in Grosvenor’s Storytime with Santa experiences.  And on 17th, 18th and 24th December, he will attend special Breakfast with Santa experiences too.  These events are extremely popular so early booking is advised.

Well, winter is most definitely here and we can’t hide from it any longer.  The nights have drawn in and Christmas really is on its way.

Make the most of any sunshine and get out into the garden with your flower beds, bulbs, lawns and patios all needing attention.

Leaf collecting is a must now to make sure your grass does not die off.  The compost heap will benefit from small pieces of leaf which should rot down fairly swiftly over the next few months.  Add it to kitchen waste for a rich mulch.

If, however, you have a large amount of leaves, you should consider making leaf mould. This is the same principle as the compost and will take longer to rot but when mixed with a compost maker and amalgamated with leaves, the mulch that will result over the next year or two will be the delight of any gardener. Not only will your garden benefit from a fantastic compost, rich in nutrients and ready to be used as a mulch or soil conditioner, leaf mould is easy to prepare.  Simply fill a large plastic compost bag with leaves and compost maker, tie with string and place it in a shady spot before returning to it in a year or two when it will be ready to use.

Ensure your lawn remains in tip top condition over the winter as this is your last chance to use an autumn treatment to harden growth and kill moss.   You can continue to mow the lawn fortnightly while it is still actively growing - you may find this continues until the beginning of next year when the icy weather really takes hold and stops growth.

Divide perennials (these plants should grow again every year) such as argyranthemum, echinacea and rudbeckia now to encourage further growth and a flourish of flowering heads next year.

Cut back tall rose bushes now before they get too wind-blown.  The wind can have a disastrous effect on roses as it can loosen roots and have a negative impact on the energy of your plant thereby stifling growth. 

You can finish planting spring flowering plants now such as wallflowers, winter pansies and violas.  And tulip bulbs should ideally be planted now.  This will give them a boost as the soil will not have cooled down yet so the root system should have chance to establish well.  Which colour tulip is your favourite?  The trend is for black tulips – especially Paul Scherer which is probably the darkest tulip available.  But there are so many varieties to choose from that you can create a display that lasts from March to as late as June! 

Did you know that bulbs are planted with the flowers already formed inside the shell of the bulb?  Plants, however, need to be fed to form decent flowers year on year.  By feeding the roots with a slow release plant food, you can ensure that nutrients will be released when needed – particularly in the spring as the soil begins to warm up and leaves start to show.

At this time of year, it is vital to protect your plants.  Last year, due to the extreme winter, many borderline hardy plants such as agapanthus and cordyline were lost.  So you can be better prepared this year by making sure you place an extra 5cm of compost over the roots of these plants for added insulation against the elements.  Cordyline leaves should also be tied up so that rainwater does not gather where the leaves join the stems.  

Hyacinths are such a popular indoor plant at this time of year so buy your prepared bulbs, add to 1cm water in a special glass vase and wait for the bulbs to develop.  You will soon see green leaves and flower buds appear from the top of the bulb.

Water and continue to regularly feed any plants such as cyclamen and Christmas cactus as these should soon start to flower.  Find a spot that your cactus is happy in and leave it there – it will not enjoy moving too often and will drop its buds.

For interest on your patio over the coming winter months, mix pots of spring bulbs and winter bedding.  Add layers of bulbs at different depths in the pot so as to encourage different flowering periods and prolong your colourful displays.  For example, add around 8cm of compost to the bottom of your chosen pot and place daffodils around 3cm apart.  Add more compost and then place early Tulips such as Red Riding Hood in this layer.  Add another layer of compost before positioning crocus and top off the pot with winter pansies and violas.

With the onset of the colder weather comes the first harvest of your delicious winter vegetables.  Early Brussels sprouts, leeks and parsnips should be just about ready.  Parsnips should be left on the soil surface once dug so that the frosts can help to change carbohydrates into sugars and naturally sweeten the vegetable. 

Protect brassicas from pigeons who are wily when it comes to feeding themselves at this time of year.  Use netting held down by stones to keep the pigeons away. 

Any spare soiled areas can be dug over now ready for next year’s crops.  Use compost to prepare the area thoroughly and use soil conditioner too. 

You can plant apples, blackcurrants, raspberries and redcurrants and of course, the delicious pear this month.  Again, improve the soil before you plant these cane and tree fruits so that new roots can spread into the new soil. 

Pick the last of the apples and pears ready now and begin to winter prune.  Cut away any unproductive branches and dead wood and then cut back hard the vertical stems by at least half to ensure the shape of the tree is maintained.  New side shoots should also be pruned to three leaf joints so that new fruit spurs will form over the next few years.

If you have any queries on any of these tips or the terms used, please do not hesitate to contact us – we’re here to help!

Following the success of Grosvenor’s fundraising bake sale last year, the team on Wrexham Road in Belgrave has once again marked National Baking Week (17th – 23rd October) by donning their aprons and raising their rolling pins for Claire House Children’s Hospice, the Garden Centre’s adopted charity for 2011.

With goodies ranging from muffins to cheese and ham pinwheels to rocky roads, cookies to doughnuts – each item was sold in the staff room for a nominal donation, raising a grand total of £65 raised during National Baking Week.

And Grosvenor’s Cafe joined in too by creating a special Claire House cupcake with all proceeds from each sale donated to the children’s hospice in Bebington.

The team bake sale and the special creation in the Cafe are the latest in a series of fundraising activities undertaken by Grosvenor in support of Claire House this year - all embarked on and supported by staff at Grosvenor.

“The enthusiasm for the week’s sale was fantastic with members of the team kindly donating their time and home baked cakes and savouries towards the cause.  And our grateful thanks also go to everyone who supported the initiative in the Cafe - the Claire House cupcake was a particular favourite during National Baking Week,” said Jenny Carr, customer services supervisor and organiser of Grosvenor’s bake sale.
 
“We would like to thank the Garden Centre and all the staff for their continued support and dedication to our wonderful children’s Hospice.

At Claire House, we all really appreciate the way in which everyone at Grosvenor are so positive and motivated to help us towards raising the £2.5million we need each year to provide the specialist quality and care to our children and their families, both at the Hospice and within their own homes.

The public are generally not aware that nearly 20% of our children come from the Cheshire area so it is especially important to us to have been chosen as the Grosvenor Garden Centre’s Charity,” commented Abi Smith, area fundraising manager, Claire House Children’s Hospice.

Grosvenor’s Apple Weekend last Saturday and Sunday was hailed a great success as visitors embraced the British apple and joined Grosvenor, Eaton Estate and local villages and schools to enjoy the apple-icious event.

There was a fantastic response to the apple juicing appeals on behalf of the villages of Aldford, Eccleston and Saighton who will each create juice from the collections to raise funds over the coming months.

The village of Aldford received 11,000 visitors to its village hall last year and the funds raised from the apple juice over the past two years have helped towards a comprehensive improvement scheme to encourage sustainability.

Tony Grass, one of Grosvenor’s team of horticulturalists proved a popular draw to the Garden Centre as he offered advice on growing apple trees and was able to identify unknown varieties of apples already growing in local gardens.

Visitors saw apple pressing demonstrations using a traditional press and took part in a longest apple peel competition with the winning peel measuring 268cm! The winner, Mia Tan from Pulford, was thrilled to win a £50 garden centre voucher.

And there were prizes for the younger visitor too with a ‘Find Annie Apple’ competition and any child who visited the garden centre in apple fancy dress received a bag of Grosvenor goodies.

With face painting, balloon modelling and magic tricks taking place throughout the weekend together with traditional weaving demonstrations and music from the Clwyd Clippers, visitors were entertained as they sampled juicy apples and enjoyed pork steaks and burgers from the barbecue and a choice of apple desserts in the Cafe throughout the weekend.

“Our annual celebration of the British apple continues to attract many visitors and we again received a fantastic response to our Apple Weekend, especially from the local community as the villages of Aldford, Eccleston and Saighton received an overwhelming number of apples towards their village juice appeal,” commented Iain Wylie, managing director.

“With so many different varieties of apple to be found in our region, we are proud to provide a source of information and advice for anyone wishing to grow their own apple trees. We also hope to inspire visitors to produce delicious savoury and sweet dishes with their own homegrown apples too,” Iain concluded.

This month we enjoy our last Bank Holiday before Christmas, so let’s make the most of the great outdoors before autumn arrives!

With another month to go before the children go back to school, why not introduce them to a great new hobby and get them away from the television and into the garden? Inspire them with their own vegetable patch or border to get them started and our Children’s Plant Workshops are here every Tuesday until 31st August too, so click here for more information.

If you are spending your holidays at home this year, you really want your garden to be at its beautiful best so you can relax and enjoy it. 

The pinnacle of a lovely garden is a lush lawn and what better way to spend August than by stretching out with the grass between your toes and enjoying delicious picnics?  To ensure your lawn is inviting, simply continue to trim it weekly and remember to collect the cuttings for the compost heap.  Strim or use shears on the edges for an instant, neater look and make sure the borders and lawn are weed-free.  Water and feed your lawn now too – weekly will be perfect. 

Your borders should still be abundant with colour as the weather, although warm, is also fairly wet so perfect for growth.  Combat this growth spurt by keeping on top of deadheading fading blooms and feeding bedding plants to encourage new flowers. 

Take cuttings of tender perennials too now such as Osteospermum and Argyranthemum and Felicia.  Cut off any stems and cut to about 8cm in length, making a long cut below a leaf joint.  Place the cuttings around the edge of a compost filled pot and cover with clear polythene. 

As soon as winter-flowering pansy seedlings and plants are big enough to move, prepare an area of soil and spray any annual weeds the day before you plant them out.

Colchicum byzantinum innocence

You can now plant crocus bulbs and meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale) for flowering in the autumn and Camellias and Rhododendrons should be fed for the last time during August while the buds are still forming ready for a beautiful display next year.  Always ensure these plants receive plenty of water so that the new buds do not drop prematurely.  And stop feeding at the end of the month so that the buds do keep until next spring.

You will find that your weeds are still fast-growing and flowering too so should be easy to kill by using a glyphosate weedkiller.  Make sure you protect your plants so they are not damaged by the weedkiller and choose a day when the weather is settled and dry.

Treat your roses now so that they stay clear of pests such as black and greenfly and are protected from mildew, blackspot and rust.

Feed roses this month for a second flush of blooms

Pots and planted containers on patios always look good – and are a great way of adding instant colour to an otherwise dull area.  Remember that regular watering and feeding of container plants and hanging baskets is essential.  A dousing is best – in the evening so that the heat of the day does not scorch the leaves when wet.

Protect from aphids and plan to grow on your plants now ready for colourful pots and baskets during the autumn and winter months.  Early planting will ensure that your containers are well established before they are displayed in your garden.  By mixing flowering and foliage plants, you will create interest for longer – use ornamental cabbage or variegated ivy for contrast.

Sunday lunch will taste much better if you have grown your own vegetables and this month your plate should be bursting with a variety ready for harvesting just now.  You should have potatoes, broad beans, climbing French and runner beans, courgettes to choose from - and plenty of salad ingredients too.  And who can resist that sense of achievement when you present such a wholesome feast to your family and friends?  And the taste?  Delicious!  

Harvest your vegetables carefully and choose from plants that constantly produce flowers such as courgettes and runner beans to encourage more vegetables.  Make sure you pick over the plants every two to three days for a maximum crop.   Dry shallots by leaving them on a windowsill or in a shed so that they ripen before you store them.  Why not pickle them ready for winter?

Sow salad leaves every couple of weeks now so that you have plenty of tasty leaves for enjoying throughout the autumn.  And hang your herbs in bunches in a cool, airy location or chop up and freeze in water in ice cube trays – delicious in a refreshing Pimms, or add to your potatoes during the winter months!

Prune your trained apples and pears to restrict new growth.  Pick your soft fruits as soon as they are ripe and make sure the birds don’t steal your produce!  Use netting to maintain your full crop.  Be aware that wasps are attracted to ripening soft fruits so make sure you are careful when picking fruit.

Finally, enjoy the last of the summer as it won’t be long before we are offering you gardening tips for the winter!