This Kevin, is not a Lemon? - Jun 29, 2018

Everything I plant bloody dies!

Dear Gardening Friends

I just looked inside my “Kevin The Lemon”. This amazing Lemon tree produces at least 300-400 Lemons a year!

My tree is growing in the garden and it seems to fruit mainly on the inside so this protects the fruit from the Cockies.
The fruit are medium to large, thin skinned and full of juice.
Citrus can be grown in pots but they produce 500% more fruit if they are grown in the ground. There’s no fruit fly in winter so you can enjoy the fruit without having to use dangerous chemicals.
“Kevin The Lemon” is exclusive to Tim’s Garden Centre. We have the best selection of fruit trees right now.

Everything I plant bloody dies!!!!!!!
I just had a customer ranting that he kills everything. He rattled off half a dozen fruit trees that have recently dropped dead.

How do you plant them I asked?

“I dig a hole and plant them, then I fertilise every week with Powerfeed. I’m doing everything right and they still bloody die.”

I here this story often.
Fruit trees hate clay soils. If you dig a hole in the clay and plant a tree, the hole fills up with water, the roots rot, and the plant usually dies.
The last thing, that poor sick plant, with the rotting roots wants, is Powerfeed!!

I explained to my customer that he needs to plant his fruit trees on a mound of soil.

“What do you mean, show me what you mean”

I planted trees recently on a mound of IGC Planting Compost Improved soil in Parks around Macarthur. I showed him the photo.

I dig a hole one metre wide by about 450mms deep. Put this soil to the side.
Tip a bag of IGC Planting Compost on top of this soil and mix the two together.
Shovel this mix back into the hole.
You now have mound.
Plant your tree in this.

Mulch around the base with Tim’s Termite Resistant Mulch and water at least twice weekly with 10 litres of water. (You need to water daily in summer.) Never fertilise newly planted fruit trees.

IGC Planting Compost has a Wetting Agent, Seaweed, Trace elements and an organic slow release Fertiliser that’s safe.

If you’ve got a Citrus tree that’s never grown, this is the reason.

I had a customer last year who had killed at least 10 fruit trees. We were having to replace them all the time under warranty. When I asked her how was she planting the trees it was the same story as above.
She said that we had told her to use IGC Planting Compost but she didn’t listen.
I gave her all her money back and asked her not to shop with us anymore. She was surprised and shocked.
We want you to have success.
But if you don’t listen we can’t help you.

It’s time to plant Strawberries, and if you buy them now in a packet you can get 5 plants for about $8.00.
These same plants potted will cost you $4.99 each in spring, so it makes sense to buy them now. Improve your soil with some IGC Planting Compost or use Tim’s Cow Manure.

These bare rooted Strawberry plants will produce big Strawberries this spring and summer. Grow them in pots or hanging baskets if you’ve run out of room.
Use our Tim’s Best Potting Mix.
You will find the Strawberry plants in the shop near the seeds.

We also have bare rooted Rhubarb and Asparagus plants too. Buy them now and save heaps.

Who would have thought that a book about a Pig could raise $2,000 for The African AIDS Foundation in Elderslie?
I was approached by Andrew Christie through Facebook. He wanted to write a book about Pig and enter it in The Fisher’s Ghost Art Award.
I’d never met Andrew but when he came and saw me I liked him instantly.
I thought the book was a great idea and we decided to raise money for AAF with the profits.
Andrew wrote the book, and we sold them at the nursery and through Campbelltown Art Gallery.
This week we handed over a cheque for $2,000 to Dr John Schwarz. John and his wife Rosalie started AAF in 2001.
They help people and communities in South Africa who are infected or affected with HIV/AIDS.
They do amazing work.
Andrew had never met John or Rosalie before, but they were friends instantly. They are good people. They were drawn to each other.
A big thanks to all our customers who purchased a book about Pig.
AAF will use your money wisely.

It was great to see the Blues finally win a series. Pig celebrated by phoning a few friends in Queensland.

I still think we could have won The World Cup. All we needed was about 10 more penalties.

Get out in the garden. The weather is sunny and warm after 10am. Come and see us if you need help in the garden.
Happy gardening
Tim