Haxnicks Releases New Range of Patio Planters

It's still freezing outside, and Spring seems a thousand miles away, but it's time to get growing - and we would like to get some opinions from you our customers.

This season Haxnicks has several new additions to its hugely popular Patio Planter range. There are now available from Garden Centres up and down the country and of course as usual on our website.  But we want to know what you think, we want to hear from you.

Most Patio Planters come in a range of attractive rustic shades, and we are trying to brighten up the range when they are stting outside the back door. But what colours do you like, should we try using patterns.  Do you have a favourite?

Raised Bed Patio Planters
We making 3 Raised Bed planters - a full sized Patio Raised Bed, one special half-sized Balcony Raised Bed, and a quarter-sized Space Saver Raised Bed.

No matter what space you have available to you, we are trying to ensure as many of our customers as possible can get their green fingers working!

But are we missing a size? Is the depth right? Are they strong enough (they should be!)?

Cane Support Patio Planters
We also thought it might be fun to get some upwardly mobile growing going on on your patios, so we have introduce a Three Cane Patio Planter and a Six Cane Patio Planter, for all the peas, beans and tomatoes you could want.

The Patio Planters have pockets in built that you can slot the canes into, giving a strong and easy to assemble feel to the product.  But we would love to hear from you our customers. Are these flexible enough? can you grow all the plants you want to? is it strong enough?

Carrot Patio Planter
Finally, we thought the carrot deserved some recognition - So here is a carrot-coloured planter, with sufficient depth to grow your own delicious carrots.

It is a generous 11" (30cm) deep which should be enough space for downward growth, we've tested, we experimented, but now we want your opinion? Deep enough, wrong colour? Please let us know.

However tight you may be on space, there's now a way to grow a huge range of vegetables with minimum difficulty - and the patio will look great too. Please view the whole range of Haxnicks Patio Planters.

Happy Planting!

Growing Leeks - The Haxnicks Way

The leek is an unique vegetable which belongs to the allium family and is also a relative of the onion.

Leeks are often overlooked as vegetables and yet they are the most undemanding and one of the most rewarding vegetables that you can plant. The plants are exceptionally easy to raise and are relatively pest free as well as not minding cold conditions.

The leek is usually grown in the cooler part of the year and prefers a lightly limed soil. Leeks are usually grown alongside carrots, onions, garlic, parsnips and other root crops, but rotation is important and where possible leeks and onions should not be grown on the same patch for at least three years.

The leek grows slowly and steadily over a relatively long period of time (4 to 6 months) and so the sooner the seeds are sown the larger the leeks will grow. In gardens leeks are usually transplanted from seed beds when they reach a length of 15 – 17cm and are as thick as a pencil (about 3 months of growth).

1. Fill a Slim (Rannoch) Rootrainer Tray with good quality peat free compost
2. Sow the seeds thinly into each cell in at the earliest mid-February/March (about 4 to six seeds in each cell)
3. Cover the tray with the clear propagating lid
4. Leave to germinate in a warm but not too warm place
5. Remove lid once plants have emerged and use as a drip tray under the tray and grow on in good light

Once the plants are ready, plant out into a deep, rich well composted and moist soil.

Make 15cm deep holes with a garden stake and place the seedling into the hole. Don’t close the hole with soil but rather water the plant, which will close the hole with the right amount of soil.

As the leeks mature mound up the soil to keep the shanks blanched white.

Watering of the young plants is vital until they are well established and weeding is just as essential.

Leeks are harvested by first loosening the plant with a fork pushed vertically downwards several inches from the row and then they can be pulled out with no damage and not too much soil disturbance.

We like to end on a Tip and so why not use our Speedhoe to keep those weeds down. Speedhoe is a well recognised easy and chemical free way to keep vegetable patches free of weeds.

Growing Carrots And Parsnips

Carrots and parsnips are sown directly into the garden but they can be sown in our Patio Planter range and then they can be either left outside the Kitchen door or on a Balcony for easy access or transplanted when they reach a suitable size.

Both Carrots and Parsnips are crops that can be grown all year round (as is the leek) and will grow in all conditions except extreme heat. A crop rotation system with leeks, onions, garlic and other root crops is very recommended if you have the space to spare. (However with Patio Planter this is not necessary)

If you do plant out it is a good idea to intersperse the rows of carrots with rows of onions or garlic as the smell will keep pests away from the carrots.

Once the seedlings are about 2” tall they should be thinned out to about 1” apart and when 6” tall to 2” apart. At this stage excessive or overwatering should be avoided as it will tend to crack the roots.

Remember if you still have carrots and parsnips in the ground by mid-November they should be lifted before the heavy frosts and they can be stored in a cool place for up to 5 months.

Haxnicks Winter Sale now on!

Let's face it - January's always a bit of struggle. Christmas lingers only in the form of an empty bank statement, and the weather stays cold.

So we thought we'd cheer ourselves up a little (and hopefully you too) by offering some great discounts on our best selling product ranges. Check out a range of multi-buy offers, two for the price of ones, and many more, at our Winter Clearance Sale page.

Happy bargain hunting! Click Here: Winter Sale

Growing Tomatoes - Make it a New Year Resolution

The snow is fresh and the climate unseasonally cold. We should be promoting Frost protection and ideas to keep your plants and seedlings warm... But let's look at a more cheery topic.

The tomato is a delicate or tender perennial which is grown as an annual and when raised in your greenhouse is very successful.

One of the best reasons for growing your own tomatoes is that you can be sure that they are chemical spray free as well as the fact that a greenhouse tomato tastes far better than any supermarket product, firstly because it is picked and eaten immediately while it is warm (refrigerated tomatoes become bland in taste and secondly the flavour is better because it does not have to travel – something a tomato does not like.

There are over 3 000 tomato varieties to choose from and you should ensure that you grow several different varieties which will not only add interest but also ensure against an inferior crop from one variety. I have listed a few that you might like to try - “Gardener’s Delight” is probably the best variety for flavour, yield, early results and easy growing. One of the best cherry varieties is “Sweet 100” and if you want a small yellow tomato then go for “Sunbelle”. “Shirley” is a good red normal size tomato variety which is disease resistant and “Big Boy” is a large red, beefsteak tomato with very few seeds which is ideal for cooking. “Brandy Wine”, another beefsteak variety has an amazing flavour.

Tomato plants can be bought at garden centres but many people prefer the satisfaction and taste that you get with growing your own. Plants that have been on display for any length of time become affected by too much heat and little or no light. It is much more rewarding to raise your own from seed. Remember that if you are going to raise 3 or 4 different varieties deep modular, hinged opening cell trays like Rootrainers are extremely useful as they are both space and time saving.

Tomato seed is sown in a propagator and a temperature of 60°- 65°F is needed for successful germination. If you have a heated greenhouse seed can be sown in late December for planting out in late February or early March for a May/June crop. Most gardeners only have cold houses and then seed should be sown in a propagator in early March and planted out late April for a July crop.

1. Fill the Rootrainers with the peat free compost
2. Sow the seeds in late February for an early crop and 4 weeks later for the main crop
3. Cover the Rootrainer tray with the clear propagating lid and leave in a warm area till seeds have germinated
4. Remove lid and use under tray as water catcher once plants get tall

There is no need to prick out plants until you are ready to plant them in their fruiting positions. We offer two types of Patio Planters especially designed for Tomatoes and also offer a Cane Support Planter - New in 2010.

Soft-tie is the ultimate garden tie for delicate plants like Tomatoes and can be reused again and again.

Feed once a week with a weak solution of liquid feed. You stand a better chance keeping Tomatoes in a Greenhouse or why not make use of the New Haxnicks Grower System a Garden Tunnel designed for taller plants.

Pick your Tomatoes when they are just turning red and as a tip if it appears that your tomatoes are never going to ripen, pick them and place them in a dark place with a single red tomato. The other will soon get the message.

Christmas at Haxnicks!

Here comes Christmas, the offices are festooned with decorations and everyone is starting to get excited!

For the serious gardener, pretty much any Haxnicks product makes a cracking present, but for those of you who are still struggling to complete that oh so challenging gift list, I thought I'd highlight the best that we have to offer when it comes to getting the perfect present.

You'll find everything on our website, just tap in the name in the search box.

Haxnicks Glass Bell Jars are a popular gift item, being aesthetically pleasing AND very practical - whether sitting over a prized plant in the garden, detering pests, cats, frost, children and any number of other hazards, or taking a more domestic role as a cheeseboard cover/cake cover, these bells will always make an original and successful present.

The Bell Jars are available in 3 different sizes - follow the labels at the end of the article for more information...

The Haxnicks Jute Naturally range has some brilliant Christmas bits and bobs...

Jute Insulation roll comes in a very festive green or red, and also in a natural jute colour. Although we designed this for insulating pots, it is also used for wrapping up water pipes against the frost, decorating the Christmas tree pot, and any number of other jobs where a natural look and a bit of colour make all the difference. The rolls are complimented by Jute Naturally Ribbon, also in Red, Green and Natural.

Designer Fleece Jackets are as colourful as you can get when it comes to frost protection!!! Available in 3 different designs, Autumn leaf, Green Leaf, and Snowflake, these jackets are designed to slip over your pot plants/hanging baskets/ferns etc, or any other plant that can't be moved in for protection from the frosts. We have produced green fleece jackets very successfully for many years, but now have a more colourful option for those that like a bit more fun in an otherwise drab winter garden.

I hope some of these ideas help out with the shopping stress - I haven't started shopping yet, but there and again I've got some ideas.

Happy Christmas from all at Haxnicks, and we look forward to hearing from you in the New Year.

Growing Sweet Potatoes

The Sweet potato is a versatile and increasingly popular vegetable and is certainly able to grow outdoors in the milder areas of the UK. In other areas it does well in the greenhouse, glasshouse or polytunnel. It is a scrambling, tender perennial closely related to Morning Glories and it grown as an annual and harvested in the early autumn.

1. Take a few clean sweet potatoes and place into a container
2. Cover them with peat and keep damp
3. Leave in a warm place
4. When ‘slips’ emerge from the surface to a height of 20cm, trim them off
5. Pot into Compact Rootrainers and allow to grow on.

When all frost danger is finished place them into their growing place. In late September, carefully dig them up. Leave for one week to mature in a warm place (allows skins to set and flavour to sweeten)

Alternatively, order cuttings or slips, which will be delivered from late April onwards and pot the cuttings immediately into the Compact Rootrainer trays.