Dave Chappell & Haxnicks at the Lakeside Garden Centre

Robbie Cumming, Marketing/PR writes:

Spending the day at Lakeside in Warminster was invaluable to me and hopefully for some of the customers I spoke to.  The day started fairly slowly, but by the end I had a non-stop flow of families stopping by my Potato Patio Planter demonstration and asking all kinds of questions!

Luckily, Champion Grower, RHS Gold Medallist and past Gardener's World presenter Dave 'Taffy Tatties' Chappell was on hand to help!

Mr Chappell about to be showered in praise and/or compost from Robbie's Planter!

Mr Chappell is quite a character as some of you will know.  He travels the width and breadth of the country giving talks about growing and showing spuds, whilst entertaining everyone with his awful jokes.  I can say this as I know he won't be reading our blog, preferring the written letter to 'anti-social nit-twerping'!  So please, no one tell him!

If you would like to visit Lakeside Garden Centre (they do a cracking bacon and brie panini) you'll find them on the A350 just outside of Crockerton near Warminster in Wiltshire.  Call on 01985 217 413 for more information.

If you would like to contact Dave Chappell and perhaps invite him to your garden centre, school or gardening club you can call him on 01291 420 048.  Or why not write to him : Mr D Chappell, Taffy Tattie, 42 Caldicot Road, Rogiet NP26 3SE.  I don't think he has a Facebook page or Twitter account though!

Haxnicks Long Fruit Cage

Amateur Gardening Magazine is a definite Haxnicks' fave with all of us here, and with offices in Poole, Dorset - not too far away either.
However, we had a real shock when leafing through a recent issue...

Gardening editor Kris Collins with our fruit cage sawn in half!!

Ok, on closer inspection, we noticed that he hadn't butchered our beloved long fruit cage, only created a brand new 6m one from the 3m long original!  Our cages are incredibly versatile, lightweight and easy to manipulate, and Kris has proved this brilliantly.


So that made us think - what can you make with yours?  Read the instructions that are included for ideas, and then send in photos of your creations.  You're guaranteed to appear in our customer's photos album, and you may even win a prize!


Send images to lovetogrow@haxnicks.co.uk

Bamboo Fruit Cages available now in most garden centres and online!

Growing Strawberries with Pippa Greenwood and a Kitchen Garden Cloche

Pippa's done it again and we can't thank her enough... in her segment 'Pippa's Growing Tips' in Gardeners World Magazine theres a lovely photo not of Madeleine Cardozo (author of Down to Earth) this time, but of Pippa herself with a Haxnicks Kitchen Garden Cloche.

Now we're not saying this is the only possible cloche available to help protect young fruit and vegetable plants in the garden, but it is convenient with an elegant handle.  Also Pippa does note that Fleece or Cloches can be used and we assume that to mean Tunnels - of which we have plenty!

We recommend you visit Pippa Greenwood's website for dozens of tips and tricks about grow your own veg.  Her Books, Blog, Articles and even the Ask Pippa service are all listed here - please do take a look - http://www.pippagreenwood.com.

Recently Haxnicks have had some excellent coverage in the press and we hope you the customers are able to get the results you want, we're always delighted to hear your successes and failures (not too many we hope).

Remember, if your local garden centre doesn't stock the items featured, visit our shop to order online, or call 0845 241 1555 to speak to one of the members of our friendly sales team.

Lila Das Gupta - Using Rootrainers for Runner Beans

It was only a small segment - but it meant a lot to us.  When we see our products in one of Britains most popular and trusted Garden Magazines we do feel we must be getting something right.

In the March Issue of BBC Gardeners World Magazine (also it's 20th Anniversary Edition), Haxnicks were mentions for Pots Naturally - our biodegradable pots, Victorian Bell Cloches (Helen Riches' article), Kitchen Garden Cloche (Pippa Greenwood's Growing Tips) and Rootrainers.

The 'Step by Step' segment was about sowing Runner Beans and although you can usually just plant Runner Beans in ordinary pots, Lila recommended using Deep Rootrainers because these have the added benefit of encouraging the roots to grow downwards. We would note they also allow extremely easy planting out as the book like Rootrainers can be opened and the plug removed without damage to the roots - something that cannot be said for ordinary cell trays.

Here is the article in full, click to enlarge, or read more of Lila Das Gupta's articles online.

Most Garden Centres stock Haxnicks Rootrainers and a we have a list of stockists available, alternatively you can buy online.  However, we appreciate your feedback - have Rootrainers helped you?  Do they make a difference?  Let us know and leave us a comment, and why not send a picture of your results - we have a seperate section for customer's photographs - click here to see them.

Biodegradeable Bamboo and Rice pots!

It seemed to us when Gardens World Magazine thought what shall we write about? they thought of Haxnicks.  Okay that's not entirely true... but out of 200 pages no less than 4 of our products were brilliantly featured.  I think that means you'll be reading about Haxnicks every 50 pages!

Our Pots Naturally are very popular with the Gardeners World team due to their being made from biodegradable Bamboo and all round eco-friendliness.

The Bamboo pulp and rice husks used last about 2 or 3 years, depending on their use, they can be added to your compost heap at the end of their life where they will completely breakdown after about 6 months.

Interestingly enough Which? Gardening Magazine tested our Pots Naturally range amongst a host of other and revealed that they did indeed live up to our claims.

So thank you Gardeners World Magazine - we recommend you do subscribe to this fine publication that likes to talk about Haxnicks and if you want us to pass any feedback directly to Gardeners World Magazine let us know and write a comment.

BBC Gardeners World - Original Victorian Bell Cloches

Following the recent features in the 20th Anniversary Edition of Gardener's World Magazine we thought we'd let you know a bit more about the various articles that feature Haxnicks products.

Helen Riches is a garden designer that regularly contributes to Gardener's World magazine and has won awards for her garden writing in the past.  In this edition she chose to use our Victorian Bell Cloche in 'Summer Pots from Seed' and shows readers not only how to grow flowers for some real summer colour, but also how to do it on a Budget.

We're reproducing the article in full below, but you can find out much more on Helen Riches' website.

Haxnicks Victorian Bell Cloches are the original plastic cloche, based on the old fashioned glass type, and having sold well over a million, Haxnicks continue to be the leading manufacturer of these award winning cloches. Versatile, practical, reusable and stackable the Victorian Cloche is a favourite for many modern gardening experts.


If you're looking to buy some (or want to see them for real) try our Stockist section. We list all current stockists and if your local garden centre doesn't have them you can also buy online.

As always - it's your feedback that counts... please feel free to tell us what you think of our Victorian Bell Cloches.