As promised, a report of what I am actually ordering after my trawl through the catalogues. For some time now I have been buying Gardener's World magazine and Grow Your Own, and looking at the adverts and also which suppliers get mentioned in the articles. This narrowed my shopping down a bit! Together with some searching on the web, I ended up with Thornhayes Tree Nursery in Devon (they specialise in trees for the Wet West of the UK), David Austin Roses, King's Seeds (I have grown their sweet peas in the past), Dobies, and Thompson & Morgan.
Thompson & Morgan rapidly proved to be a waste of time. Although their catalogue is lovely, their customer service wasn't - I have emailed several times in the past few weeks with a specific enquiry about the dimensions of their raised bed kits, but apart from an automated reply demanding my order number (how can I provide one of those when I haven't ordered yet, as I am waiting for their reply before I decide whether their product is suitable for me?!) I have heard nothing. When the Dobies catalogue appeared, it turns out their raised bed kits (fully described, with all dimensions) are actually cheaper than T&M, so I have given up on T&M altogether.
Dobies seem to have the best in asparagus crowns - they have varieties that can be gently harvested from the first, rather than second, year, which is good as Matthew isn't the most patient gardener! So I will buy them, and the raised bed kits, from Dobies.
Pretty much everthing else in the way of veg and flowers will come from Kings Seeds, together with highly secented varieties of sweet pea in a range of colours. I love sweet peas. For many years I have grown them in pots, growing up a wigwam of canes - this year I will use part of the raised beds too, so there will be lots to cut for the house.
In terms of veg, I have gone for mixed lettuce, salad bowl (cut and come again leaves - I grew them in pots on the window sill last summer), chard (just like spinach but easier to grow), broad beans, dwarf beans, pak choi, peas, rocket, and a variety of tomato called Tiny Tim which is designed to grow in containers (will try them on the patio). I have generally gone for veg we really like, which is expensive to buy (those bags of leaves!), or which tastes so much better fresh (peas). I have tried broad beans before, with mixed success (slugs!), but other than that it's all new to me!
I got some 'pretties' too - I love alchemilla (Lady's Mantle) and although I have some in a pot (which originated in my friend Val' garden in Dorset) I would like it everwhere! So I will try that from seed and try to get it to naturalise under the hedges and on the bank. Also foxgloves and knautia for the bank at the back, and nasturtiums, nicotiana and nigella to grow in containers around the patio. And 5 varieties of sweet pea - Knee Hi (a dwarf variety in mixed colours) for the pots, and Ethel Grace (lilac), Gwendoline (pink/cream), Tara (salmon pink) and Alan Williams (blue) for the beds. Are are described as highly or very highly scented, so that is something to look forward to!
The star of the customer service awards has to be David Austin Roses - I emailed a plaintive request for advice, as their extensive catalogue is so extensive as to be bewildering for the beginner, asking for varieties which would grow happily in a container and also for general advice on compost, size of pots etc as I have always been very daunted by roses - there is so much mistique about them, especially from elderly male gardeners! Ann Hilse, their garden design and landscape coordinator, emailed me back at lenght with lots of easy to follow advice, and a selection of suitable roses in the colours I had indicated, and in the end I am going for Crocus Rose (a cream - my choice) and Munstead Wood (a deep crimson - Matthew's choice). I will also buy The Generous Gardener (palest pink) which is a climber, to plant beside my arbour. I shall have no hesitation in contacting Ann again with any future queries.
The tree nursery were also helpful, but I don't think I will be ordering from them,simply because of cost - they have a minimum order of £100 net, for orders to be delivered, and I can't very well hire a van and trog down to Devon to collect them myself - and my modest order won't get anywhere near £100. Plus there is £30 plus VAT delivery charge. I could easily be paying £150+ for £50 worth of trees. However, I now have a clearer idea of what trees I want, so I will try more local nurseries and garden centres - Usk has quite a good selection, I think. I feel some trips to garden centres coming on when the snow melts!
I shall also need some hardware - I have a set of Felco secateurs on order (much cheaper at World of Felco online than anywhere else I have found), and will also need a wheelbarrow, and a border spade (I can't manage a full size one). The other major expense will be approx 800 litres in total of topsoil and compost, plus a few bags of manure, for the raised beds - still, all these are one-off expenses, subsequent years will just require some seeds and compost and the odd plant here or there.
Meanwhile, I had better get on and fill out those order forms!
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