Pants off Monday - Aug 09, 2012
Dear gardening friends
We are starting to get excited here at the nursery because spring is not far away. If you look closely at your plants you will see fresh new growth, so for them, spring has already started.
Now is a great time to look at all your pot plants. I bet you have plants that have been in the same pots for years!
This is like having to wear the same sized shoes all your life.
Plants should be repotted into bigger pots every couple of years but in reality I know that this is never going to happen. A cheaper alternative is to take your plant out of the pot and prune the roots back by 25% and then put it back in the same pot using Tim's Best Potting mix. Water it twice a week for a month with Seasol. Seasol is not a fertiliser; it's a plant tonic that encourages plants to grow new roots. The new potting mix at the base of the pot will now hold more water so your plant will get a new lease of life and grow like never before.
If you are too lazy or time poor to repot your plants then "Pot dress" all your pot plants with Greengold Planting Compost. This is a fantastic product that we use here in the nursery all the time.
You simply spread 20mms of Greengold Planting Compost over the surface of your pot plants then water it in. Keep it away from the trunk of your plant.
The finer particles of the compost wash into all the cracks so the water no longer just runs out the bottom. This means your plant gets more water.
The compost also absorbs the water and releases it slowly to the plants roots.
Greengold Planting Compost also has a wetting agent that makes the old potting mix accept water again. It also has an added organic fertiliser that will rejuvenate your tired old plant and give it a new lease of life! The results really are amazing. It's no secret if plants get more water they just grow better! One bag of Greengold Planting Compost will pot dress at least 5 pots. 2 bags cost $25.00. Do it now before the heat of summer arrives.
It was Karyns birthday on Monday so we got her a profiterole cake from Willis cake shop in Queen St Campbelltown. Wow what a fantastic cake. We all sang happy birthday ate the cake and went back to work. Karyn noticed a dead looking wasp sitting on the bench so she scooped it up in her hands and put it in the bin. 10 minutes later she was serving a customer when the wasp started biting her inside her pants! The customer got involved and suggested Karyn should take off her pants... Which she did! Wow what a story. (Pants off Monday?)
Karyn has recovered so give her birthday wishes when you see her at the counter. The moral of this story is if you are a bit dead looking come and spend 10 minutes with us and we will soon cheer you up?
We banged on last week about a new yellow flowering Magnolia called "Yellow Bird". Magnolias are looking sensational right now in gardens everywhere. The most common pink flowering one you see is called Magnolia soulangiana. We have these in 200mm pots for $28.99. Less you're garden clubs discount.
10 years ago a variety called Magnolia Caerhays Belle was in all the gardening magazines. It has huge open flowers but not for long. A new improved flowering variety is now available called "Sweetheart" This was bred in New Zealand by Peter Cave. It is actually a seedling from Magnolia Caerhays Belle.
Magnolia Sweetheart is a grafted plant so it grows much faster than cutting grown plants. The flowers are the size of a bread and butter plate! That's huge! They are deep pink on the outside and lighter on the inside. The tree has an erect habit making it perfect for smaller gardens. We have beautifully grown plants with nice straight trunks for $68.99.
All our Magnolias are premium grown with nice straight trunks. This is unusual because Magnolias are often wobbly looking things.
I was in Camden last week driving down that road past the caravan park near the fruit shop. There was a shrub flowering it's head off out the front of an old house. I stopped and took a photo to share with you. It's called a Leucadendron Yellow Devil. These plants are in the Protea family and they are related to Grevilleas so they grow well in our area. There is also another variety called Devils blush that has crimson foliage so it looks fantastic planted beside Yellow Devil. Simon has just ordered 100 or more Proteas and Leucadendrons so come and check them out.
We still have Rhubarb and Asparagus crowns for just $5.95. These are 2 year old plants so they will feed you much sooner than seedlings you find on the herb bench.
The Rhubarb is the ever red variety that really has red stems. We will be potting these on soon and then they will cost $15.99 so buy them now and save.
We have some exciting news; we have finally got a 5 litre sprayer that we can sell you for under $20.00. In fact it is so cheap we are selling them for just $15.99.
It is a Capital 5 Litre sprayer with brass fittings. The best news is it has an extended long handle so you can reach up into your trees or reach down to spray the weeds.
They are so cheap we think you should buy two! One for spraying weeds and the other for spraying pests.
Mark on the side of the sprayers Weed Killer and Pest Killer so you don't get them mixed up.
My mate Glenn Atherton recently sprayed his Goodbye Neighbours hedge with weed killer because he thought it was actually Pestoil. Big mistake to get those two mixed up!
Poor Glenny has a few holes in his hedge now. His neighbours aren't happy because he does like to sun bake nude!
This is your last chance to spray your lawn for Bindii. Our Richgro Bindii Killer for buffalo lawns works the best on all types of grass. Use 30ml in our 5 litre sprayer over 50 square metres of lawn. Add a squirt of dish washing liquid for best results. Spray again in 7 days to kill tough weeds like clover.
We are giving 5 sprayers away to the first 5 people who like us on Facebook. Go to our Tims Garden Centre Facebook page.
We will announce the winners in next week's news letter.
Happy gardening
Tim