Thompson & Morgan Gardening Blog

Our gardening blog covers a wide variety of topics, including fruit, vegetable and tree stories. Read some of the top gardening stories right here.

Propagation, planting out and cultivation posts from writers that know their subjects well.

incredicompost® rated best on the market!

by | Dec 29, 2015 | , , | 2 Comments

Independent trials carried out by consumer group Which? Gardening have named incredicompost® as the best compost on the market. It was given an overall test score of 95 per cent, setting it well ahead of the next best performer, Verve multipurpose compost (B&Q) at 80 per cent. It came miles ahead of the worst performer – GroSure Peat-Free All-Purpose Compost with 4 Month Feed, labelled a ‘Don’t Buy’ product by Which? Gardening, having scored just 33 per cent in the trials.

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Egg & Chips® – Another World First in 2-in-1 Cropping

by | Dec 24, 2015 | , | 0 Comments

From the creators of the ground breaking Tomtato® comes Egg & Chips®

– another world first in 2-in-1 cropping solutions for the home gardener

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2016 the year to grow your own

by | Dec 18, 2015 | | 0 Comments

Seed and plant specialist Thompson & Morgan is predicting the best ever year for grow your own following a sharp rise in vegetable seeds sales for the 2016 season.

The Thompson & Morgan seed retailing year runs September to September. The Ipswich based mail order expert has reported an impressive 24 per cent rise in seed sales through September to end of November 2015, compared to the same period in 2014. While flower seed sales remain strong it is vegetable seed that has driven the increase.

Interest in grow your own hit an all time high in 2009, when industry wide sales of vegetable seeds peaked at an historic £60million for the year. Some said the bubble would soon burst but Thompson & Morgan customers are showing no sign of giving up on the good life. Thompson & Morgan Horticultural Director Paul Hansord says if vegetable seed sales continue to perform at current levels then the firm will be reporting its best ever year for the category.

Mountain Magic

Tomato seeds sales have jumped 51 per cent in the three month period. Much of this growth has been generated by sales of Thompson & Morgan’s Vegetable of the Year for 2016 – Tomato Mountain Magic, a fully blight resistant variety ideal for a trouble-free late season outdoor crop. Akron and Sweet Aperitif join with blight buster to form T&Ms top three tomatoes.

onion showstopper

Onion ‘Bunton’s Showstopper’

Brassica seed sales have risen 52 per cent, while onion seeds have seen an impressive growth of 67 per cent. T&M says the loss of show bench favourite Onion Kelsae from other retailer’s 2016 catalogues (the Italian seed crop was destroyed by a hail storm and will not be available again until at least 2017) has driven growers towards other large varieties including Onion Bunton’s Showstopper, an exclusive show bench variety developed by one of Thompson & Morgan’s customers. Pea and Bean sales have risen 82 per cent, with Runner Bean Firestorm – the 2016 Thompson and Morgan Seed Catalogue cover star – alone seeing a 75 per cent rise in sales.

Thompson & Morgan’s Chilli and Pepper range has seen the biggest growth, with sales rising a staggering 111 per cent. This has been driven by a complete overhaul of the category for 2016. Paul said: “Much of our product development focus has been on making growing from seed as easy as possible. Our redesigned sweet and hot pepper range does away with the complicated Scoville Heat scale. Each variety has been given a 1-10 heat rating, from cool & sweet to explosive, allowing gardeners to make a quick informed decision on which varieties are right for them.

leek all season collection

Leek ‘All season’ Collection

Thompson & Morgan is also helping veg growers to take the guesswork out of crop timings in 2016 with All Season Vegetable Collections. Each packet contains at least three top- performing varieties of the same vegetable that can all be sown in one hit but will crop at different stages to give the longest harvest window from a single sowing. The All Season Mange Tout Pea collection for example contains Oregon Sugar Pod, Sweet Horizon and Kennedy for a 16 week harvest from June through to October, while the All Season Leeks collection provides a massive 36 week crop window from August through to the following April.

Thompson & Morgan has a long history as market leader in the mail order supply of seed and young plants, direct to gardener’s doors since 1855. Its award winning website and seasonal catalogues have undergone a massive product expansion through 2015, now listing 10,000+ items covering most areas of garden supply, from sheds, greenhouses and mature plants to garden machinery, composts, fertilisers and hand tools.

garden-supplies

Despite this, Paul says Thompson & Morgan remains committed to offering the best selection of garden seeds on the market. He says: “Seed sowing is economy-proof, remaining core to our customers’ garden experience in both good and bad years. Nothing beats the satisfaction of nurturing a seasonal crop from plot to plate, especially when you can make a huge saving against supermarket produce and slash your weekly spend.”

Revamped Front Garden

by | Dec 14, 2015 | , | 4 Comments

Early December: At last work has started on the front garden. We had planned to complete it in November but now we are aiming for mid-December so that we can get the exterior festive lighting installed for Christmas. Combining hard landscaping for car parking with an environmentally friendly green space is such a hot topic these days – the balance has to be just right, incorporating practicality & creativity. Air pollution in the London suburbs is relatively light, but as the front garden is north facing, the plants have to be able to withstand exposure to string winds.

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Season’s Greetings Gardeners

by | Dec 14, 2015 | , , | 11 Comments

As Christmas approaches and I write my final blog for “My Year in the Greenhouse 2015 ” I feel a kind of sadness as my project has come to an end. But, I also feel very privileged to have shared the journey with you. From the start of Mark erecting the greenhouse in January, to the excitement of today Sunday the 13th of December when I pulled a cracking crop of carrots. This is the first time in my gardening life that I have grown decent ones and just I had to share them with you.

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Thompson & Morgan back on TV with QVC

by | Dec 10, 2015 | , | 10 Comments

Thompson & Morgan’s mail order plants and gardening sundries are to be brought to life on TV screens from January as the horticultural specialist teams up with QVC UK, the leading video and e-commerce retailer, to offer viewers a range of quality garden products through 2016.

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Christmas at Hyde Hall

by | Dec 9, 2015 | | 0 Comments

After scrolling through Royal Horticultural Society’s website for information on different plant varieties and how to grow this and that in more detail, I came across the ‘gardens to visit’ section and thought it was about time I actually checked it out in real life, rather than staring at pretty pictures through a screen.

It was probably the worst day I could have visited on. The wind was crazy! It was so windy that they had to restrict the areas you could walk around. The New Zealand and Australian Gardens and the Woodland Walk were both out of bounds. Two areas I actually wanted to snoop around, although, it’s probably the perfect excuse to re-visit next year.

It wasn’t all bad though, as we were able to save some money on entry with a 2 for 1 offer this particular weekend. It’s always worth checking out deals and events that are happening before you go. In the past they have had some great events, such as an official tour of the gardens, fun kid’s events and arts and crafts workshops to take part in. Pretty much something to cater for everyone!

The weekend we went there was a Christmas fair; perfect to get into the festive mood and even better for looking for homemade and unique Christmas gifts.

Christmas at Hyde Hall

Trying to keep my hat on!

We were greeted by about 5 different members of staff within 5 minutes of walking through the door. I always appreciate friendly customer service (after all, I am in customer service myself!) and we got exactly that. We were handed a map and we were off on our way! We explored for a good hour and a half before being defeated by the wind and returning to the marquee to browse the gift fair.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from the gardens in the winter. I guess as a new gardener’s outlook I was half expecting dead looking plants and trees from every angle I looked. I’ve quickly learnt that winter is not a time to ignore your garden. There’s still plenty of colour around and beautiful evergreens in every bed.

Christmas at Hyde Hall

I particularly loved the shrubs and trees with the various coloured berries. They’re perfect for attracting wildlife too; I can imagine such a Christmas image, a robin on a beautiful red berries hedge. These Firethorn shrubs we sell here at Thompson and Morgan and I’m definitely buying one of these for my garden next year! They’re quite quick growing and easy to maintain. That is ideal for me as a new young gardener who is still learning what to grow and how to look after.

A lot of plants were dormant or past their best as we walked around, however Rosa plants were still in bloom and looking sweet and delicate, Nerines were bobbing around in the wind (or viciously being thrown around on this particular day) and colourful autumnal leaves clinging on several trees. It was really lovely to stroll from place to place and take inspiration from the largest RHS garden in the UK.

Christmas at Hyde Hall

Hyde Hall also hosts some of The Chelsea Flower Show on its over 300 acre patch, and I’d love to return at that time of year and see the entire buzz surrounding it. Working for Thompson and Morgan allows an insight into the event and the company has won several awards for plants such as the Foxglove Illumination Pink. It would be nice to see it up close and in person.

After walking around and checking out the various nooks and crannies of the gardens, and the beautiful restaurant area, we headed to the Christmas fair. I didn’t buy any presents, although did spend some pennies on a mulled wine. Well, it is the festive season after all!

Christmas at Hyde Hall

I’d definitely recommend a visit to one of the 5 RHS gardens in the UK. Hyde Hall was really enjoyable; however I’d probably have preferred a warmer day in spring or summer to visit. It did give me some great ideas for my own garden over winter though, and has left me with plenty of designs I could use in my own little patch of land.

Have you visited Hyde Hall before and what were your thoughts? Feel free to drop a comment and let me know your favourite gardens in the UK – I’m always looking for new gardens to visit!

Growing Mistletoe

by | Dec 8, 2015 | , | 0 Comments

It was a few years ago when this particular time of year gave me an idea on attempting to grow a particular plant! Seeing bunches of Mistletoe (Viscum album) in various shops and market stalls I got to thinking on how to go about growing your own and what is involved in this. I did have some idea that Apple trees can be a host and also that it is like a type of parasitic plant but other than that I had absolutely no idea on how to go about attempting to grow it. So I did what most people do these days to suss out a bit of information and that was to look it up on the internet.

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Gardening Resolutions

by | Dec 7, 2015 | | 0 Comments

It’s that time of year where we start to make commitments to join the gym, stop smoking, or to tick something else off our bucket list. But, what we want to know are your gardening New Year resolutions 2016. Is there anything you did wrong last year that you will not repeat this year? Do you want to try growing something in particular or do you want to become more self-sufficient and grow your own produce?

We asked the Thompson & Morgan staff theirs;

gardening new years resolution ‘I want to grow some rainbow vegetables, and check out some new flavours and maybe even devise some new recipes.. Imagine purple carrot cake!!’ – Michael Perry

 

gardening new years resolution ‘My new year’s resolution is to grow more vegetables! Last year I only grew tomatoes, but next year I want to grow cucumbers, salad leaves, and maybe even some chilli peppers in containers on my balcony.’ – Andrew Morley – Online Merchandising Manager

 

 

gardening new years resolution ‘I really must revamp my pond in 2016. The frogs love it but the Water Iris (Iris pseudoacorus) has taken over and now you can barely see the pond! I just need to time it right in order to minimise the disturbance to my frogs – late summer might be best. I’m also planning to lift and divide the tired perennials in my borders and give them a really good mulch in the spring’ – Sue Sanderson, Horticulturist

 

gardening new years resolution ‘My resolution is to add some wildlife friendly plants in my garden. I love seeing bees and butterflies, so adding some bee and butterfly friendly plants into my garden such as Buddleja ‘Buzz’™, lavender and verbena would be perfect’ – Holly, Online Development Manager.

 

 

‘Trying not to kill anything this year… I would love to be more self-sufficient and be able to cook a whole meal from all things grown by myself. Maybe a Vegetable Ragu with home-made dough bread’ – Natalie, Customer Care

Do you have any?

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