Compact Rootrainers - 2 'Best Buy' Awards in the same month



Garden News 18th Jan 2011



We are very proud to announce that our own Compact Rapid Rootrainers have been awarded 'Best Buy' awards in not one but two weekly gardening magazines, Garden News and Amateur Gardening.

Garden News chose our Rootrainers because they were "Re-useable, rigid plastic containers.  Especially useful for plants that need deep root runs and dislike root disturbance."  Geoff Hodge, gardening expert and tried and tested journalist for the weekly publication awarded it 5 out of 5 for Use & handling, Watering, and Root growth. 



Amateur Gardening 29th January 2011



"Opens like a book for easy inspection of moisture levels, root growth and removal of the plants...my Best Buy went to Rootrainers as they are re-useable."

 

Compact Rapid Rootrainers come with a drip tray, propagating lid and have 20 cells in total.  To top it all off they are made in Great Britain, and as well as being re-usable, with a lifespan of approximately 6 years, they are also manufactured from recycled plastic.

Amateur Gardening have always been fans of our Rootrainers. They regularly feature in gardening editor Kris Collins' weekly articles, in Anne Swithinbanks' column and have now been awarded 'Best Buy' by consumer editor Julia Heaton:

"The shape and grooves promote optimum root formation.  Good way to raise bedding or cuttings as it makes handling the plants simpler. Those produced should be bigger and garden ready due to the larger root system."

So why not see if the experts are right - try out our Compact Rapid Rootrainers and see for yourselves (quite literally) the quality of plant you can produce. Available as a deluxe version with a handy drip tray, perfect for windowsills.

Amateur Gardening and Garden News are both priced £1.99 and available from newsagents and supermarkets every Tuesday.

Haxnicks Helping Schools update: Naas CBS and 'Vegetation Nation'

Before Christmas we were contacted by a schoolboy by the name of Seán Grassick from Naas CBS in County Kildare, Ireland, who explained that as part of his Business Studies course he would be setting up his own company. 

He explained that he needed to purchase products in exactly the same way as any normal business would, to gain the full experience of the buying and selling process.  We jumped at the chance to help him out, not only because we have always had a history of helping schools and societies, but because of Seán's enthusiasm for his project - let alone shrewd bargaining skills!

We managed to settle on a really good deal so that he could buy our planters at a very low cost and sell them as part of a 'grow your own' pack that included other manufacturer's products too. We also provided product information and images to use in his company's promotional leaflets.

At the start of the year Seán sent me an email to let me know what had happened since we sent him the goods...

"Just to update you on our mini-company Vegetation Nation. When we bought the patio planters off yourselves, we packaged them ourselves with five packets of vegetable seeds (different seeds for the different size planters), a guide book and plant labels. We then sold them at the local country market, run by country women, on the 17th of December. They were very well recieved and we sold 32 planter kits. We have now currently sold 46 planters out of 60. We have a very large demand for seed potatoes with the planters. So we have taken this on board and are planning on making improvements to our product for sale in February."

If you live in Ireland and would like to order any planter packs from Seán and his team then get in touch with them: vegetationnation@hotmail.com.

We will be helping Seán again in the future and will let you all know of any exciting developments, and I for one will be keen to know what grade the project gets.  

If it's not an A* then I'll phone the headteacher!

by Robbie (Marketing and PR guy)

Haxnicks 2011 - Ready to Grow!

Welcome to the first blog of the new year.  We've got loads planned for 2011, so without further ado let's take a look ahead...

A New Look for a New Year

As many of you will already know, we have been busy creating a whole new look for Haxnicks.  Our packaging has become more distinctive, refreshing and contemporary than anything we've ever done before, and will be brightening up the grow your own sections of Garden Centres across the UK from January.  Take a look at our 'Garden Products' page for examples.



King Size Victorian Bell - just one
 of the new additions for 2011

New Products

We have already had so much interest in our brand new range of Natural Bamboo products, even before they've hit the shops!  Fruit cages, Sweet Pea frames, Decorative Arches, Pergolas and Tunnel hoops are all coming very soon - watch this blog for more news!

New Offers

2011 sees the launch of many great offers, here's a brief run-down of the first to sprout:

Free Book when you spend £50
'Down to Earth' by Madeleine Cardozo is a refreshingly simple A-Z guide to growing your own fruit and veg, and you'll be able to get a copy ABSOLUTELY FREE when you purchase £50+ worth of Haxnicks' products.  For example, you could buy a Haxnicks' Speedhoe, a pack of Vegetable Patio Planters, a 3 pack of Bell Boy Propagators and a pack of Birdscare and on top of all that a free book worth £14.99 - all for £51.96 - great value!

New Competitions
Our 'Love to Grow' competitions are always great fun, not only for winning great prizes but as a way of encouraging those that are not sure about growing their own fresh produce to take the plunge.

Coming soon: The Love to Grow Potato Planter competition - open to all and is the biggest and most exciting yet, featuring some fantastic cash prizes.

There will be three competition classes in which to enter yourself/family/school/company:

Potato Planter Photography Award- £100 for the best photograph of your Haxnick's planter full of potato flowers
Hugest Harvest - how many can you grow in a single bag? £100 worth of Haxnicks' goodies up for grabs
Supersized Spud - Another £100 of Haxnicks products for the largest spud grown in a Haxnicks planter

We will give more details on exactly how to take part when we formally launch the competition with terms and conditions, but you'd be wise to get ahead by ordering seed potatoes from your local garden centre ready to start chitting and a Haxnicks Potato Planter in time for planting them out in the spring.

But that's not all.  Stay tuned to this blog (click the 'follow' icon on the right) where we will announce more really exciting new product developments, a new catalogue, shows, updates on media activity and some more Youtube videos all on the horizon.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers for their patronage in 2010, and wish you all a very successful year of gardening ahead.

~Love to Grow with Haxnicks in 2011~