Win a £100 Haskins Gift Card to spend on your garden this Autumn. Good luck.

Win £100 Haskins Gift Card 2019

Jobs for September

There is plenty to be done in September while you’re enjoying the last of the summers sun, harvesting crops and tidying up plants will keep you busy this month.

Get planting: Now is the time to start planting your autumn bedding such as winter flowering pansies.

Be prepared: Cover any ponds before autumn leaf fall, this will save you the job of having to remove all the leaves from the ponds later.

Ready, set, tidy: Get your garden looking neat for when autumn hits, this includes tidy finished flowering perennials, pruning climbing roses and shrubs.

Looking after your lawn: Do essential lawn maintenance to avoid waterlogging. Scarify and aerate your lawns and don’t forget to feed it with an autumn fertiliser.

Final chance: Now is the last chance to sow grass seed before winter starts.

Get picking: Harvest those long-awaited apples and blackberries. Pick off any rotting fruits from pear, plums and apple trees.

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The new indoor play area at Tong Garden Centre has created 39 new jobs for local people.

Recent extremes of weather in some areas of the country have shown the need to conserve water in the garden. One way to conserve water is to mulch borders with chipped bark, do it after a downpour, hoe out the weeds then apply about 5cm of chipped bark. Evergreen Mini-chip Bark in store is 2 x 50ltr bags for £10; normally £5.99 per bag. If you hold a Rewards card they are 3 bags for £12.

Salvias are a great drought tolerant plant; they love a sunny spot on poor well draining soils. Available in a fantastic palette of colours; electric blue, scarlet, hot pink and white or in pastel shades they are worth a spot in any garden.

When it’s raining cats and dogs collect it in a water butt to see you over the dry spells; they easily attach to a downspout and are available in slim-line versions for small gardens. If you are on a water meter why waste precious mains water on the garden.

Mixing water retention gel into the compost as you plant up your containers keeps the compost moist and cuts down on the chances of your bedding plants drying out. All you need is about a teaspoon full in an average size hanging basket.

This weeks recipe is a bit of a challenge, try baking a cake on your BBQ. This lemon drizzle cake is everyone’s favourite and so easy: https://www.hayesgardenworld.co.uk/blog/lemon-drizzle-cake-baked-traeger-timberline-850-wood-pellet-grill

Why not have a go at our Veggie BBQ Recipe competition and win yourself a new charcoal BBQ or some accessories: https://www.hayesgardenworld.co.uk/blog/bbq-recipe-competition

There’s still plenty of fine weather to come so time to enjoy a new set of garden furniture; check out our outdoor furniture sale pages for a bargain: https://www.hayesgardenworld.co.uk/category/garden/garden-furniture/garden-furniture-sale

New Squires Garden Centre opens in Wokingham

Squires Garden Centres has bought Heathlands Garden Centre in Wokingham. Previously owned by Wyevale, the garden centre will now be known as Squires in Wokingham.

All 33 employees will work for Squires, including the Manager Graham Carter, plus not forgetting Petunia the resident cat! The garden centre offers a wide selection of plants, garden products and gifts, plus there’s an air-conditioned indoor play area, Café Bar, and free customer parking. The Clearance Sale at Squires is now on with many items reduced, and new plants, products and gifts will arrive soon in anticipation of the autumn gardening season.

Anthony Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Wyevale Garden Centres, said: “We are delighted to have sold Heathlands Centre to a highly respected operator, and that it will continue to be run as a garden centre. I would like to take the opportunity to thank our colleagues at Heathlands who have been so instrumental in making it the brilliant operation it is today and wish them all the best under new ownership.”

Sarah Squire, Squires Chairman, said, “We are delighted to welcome Heathlands to Squires Garden Centres. As a family business, firmly rooted in south-west London and nearby home counties, Heathlands is an excellent addition to our group and will be known as Squires in Wokingham. We will be making improvements to the garden centre over time, but we like our garden centres to be different and have their own unique character. We look forward to working with the team at the centre and really getting to know and understand the local community.”

The Old Railway Line Garden Centre have a fun-packed summer in store for the kids this year! With weekly Wild Wednesday Workshops, Family Fun Zone, character meet & greets and Animal Encounters there’s something for everyone! Find out more about what’s going on here

Events

http://www.diyweek.net/westland-picks-its-2019-rising-stars

Each year Westland and the Garden Centre Association (GCA) search for the most up-and-coming employees at garden centres who show great potential and would benefit from the opportunity to further their skills and experiences as part of the Rising Stars Program.

This year’s star have been announced and they have begun their mentorship with Westland to help them further their skills and expertise, with the first three stages of the programme now complete.

During the first stage of the programme, the 20 candidates met the Westland team for a briefing about Rising Stars and found out more about Westland and the insight the company can offer into the data behind the garden market.

As part of the programme, the Rising Stars have to devise and present a sales campaign based on one of Westland’s four key categories (indoors, lawn care, growing and wild bird care), and during the first round candidates had to select their project category.

During round two of the process, Westland showcased information about its marketing strategies within the sector, including point of sale materials, wider content and social media. They also received information about merchandising, driving sales, financial delivery and presentation skills to give them a rounded view of what it takes to bring a product to market. At this stage, the candidates outlined their projects and received initial feedback from the Westland team.

In the third round, each Rising Star gave their presentation, which was also recorded to help develop their presentation delivery skills for the future.

The next stage will see each of the participants speaking with Gordon Emslie from the Garden Centre Association, to receive feedback on their presentations and discover if they are through to the final stage.

Jo Wilkinson, head of communications and Insight at Westland, commented: “This year, to celebrate the 10th year of Rising Stars, we have changed the format. Instead of picking one person to win, we want to champion and support as many people as we can, which is why we will be selecting 10 of the Rising Stars to go through to the final stage to make their presentations at the GCA Conference in January. It’s been brilliant working with the candidates so far and to see how passionate they are to learn; we’re really looking forward to see how their presentations evolve.”

The Westland 2019 Rising Stars have been named as:

Dominic O’Donnell: Ruxley Manor

Gemma Stace:Bents

Arif Khan: Perrywood

Josh Gilbert: Bosworths

Rachel Atkinson-Young: Stewarts Broomhill

Nathan Heywood: Bents

Michael Knight: Haskins Ferndown

Sarah Jane Toop: Haskins West End

Paul Birch: Planters Bretby

Charlie Watts: Squires Twickenham

Stuart Sullivan: Squires Badshot Lea

Bronwen Dains: Thurrock

James Townsend: Garsons Esher

Ben Lodge: Notcutts

Emma Lamb: Barton Grange

Rachel Wilkes: Webbs Wychbold

Jack Appleton: Webbs Wychbold

Naomi Smith: Poundbury

Adam Wallbank: St Peters

William Biehler-Wallis: Baytree

Millbrook Garden Company’s Gravesend restaurant The Mill has been presented with the IFSE award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre in the South-East by the Garden Centre Association (GCA).

The prestigious award, presented during a special prize-giving evening last week, was given in recognition of the high standards achieved in the company’s 300-seat flagship restaurant, beating off competition from a range of other garden centres.

Opened in July 2018 by The Mayor of Gravesham, Councillor David Hurley, The Mill is housed in a bespoke building designed to maximise the views of the garden centre’s stunning plant area.

The Mill caters for a variety of tastes with daily offers of tantalising cold dishes such as salads and quiches from the Deli Bar, hot food favourites such as fish & chips and lasagne from the Kitchen Classics Bar, hot drinks made to order at the Barista Bar, plus a wide variety of desserts, such as banoffee pie, chocolate tiffin and lemon meringue. There are also a selection of mouth-watering cakes on offer, the perfect accompaniment for a pot of tea and a catch-up with friends. On Sundays, The Mill welcomes customers to its traditional carvery with a choice of two meats or a vegetarian option with all the trimmings – no booking required. The restaurant also caters for special dietary requirements.

With free parking, easy access for both wheelchairs and pushchairs, a children’s menu and highchairs for younger customers, plus an outside seating area where dogs are welcome, The Mill offers something for everyone.

Tammy Woodhouse, Managing Director of Millbrook Garden Centre, says:

“We are delighted to have received this award for Catering Excellence. Our team has worked tirelessly over the last year to ensure that our customers can expect not just delicious food in a stunning environment, but excellent service as well.”

The Millbrook Garden Company is an independent family-run business consisting of three Millbrook Garden Centres in Crowborough, East Sussex and Gravesend and Staplehurst in Kent. The Mill is one of three restaurants under the Millbrook Garden Centre umbrella – there are smaller Greencafés at its Crowborough and Staplehurst centres.

Catch the Creepy Crawlies at Rosebourne