From Plants to Panto...

For two weekends only our one and only Merlin Brooke-Little swapped Nicholsons for the brighter lights of the Duns Tew pantomime "Sinbad's Big Eruption"! No he wasn't a magician but a character called Inkpad or 'Pot Noodle' to his friends. His colleagues turned out to cheer him on and we thought that those of you who missed him might like to sample a clip of his work. Signed photos can be obtained from the Cabin at Nicholsons Plant Centre in North Aston. (Be prepared for a long wait!!)

The Nicholsons Plants team were recently treated to a training session on composts and their composition. Not from any old Horticulturalist but from Neil Bragg the chairman of the Horticultural Development Company (HDC) and a director of Bullrush Horticulture LTD. It was a very enlightening session that helped a lot of our staff understand many of the issues surrounding the problem of peat, and the ways in which we can reduce our usage and encourage our customers to think of alternatives.

Our mixes for nursery stock have reduced their peat component over the last five years by using more bark introducing new wood fibre products and keeping a level of loam. We have had trials of peat free mixes for our tree and hedging crops but have found that water retention and some fertility is lost. There is also the danger for us as we pot by hand that currently there are poor restrictions on the quality of green waste material. There is an amount of broken glass for instance the is 'permissible' - not if you pot by hand!

The challenge for us is to keep the quality of our plants and keep reducing peat use - all of our bagged composts for gardeners are now peat free - gardeners accounting for 63% of UK peat use. As technologies and legislation improves so we hope to reduce our usage still further.

Chaumont garden show

Nicholsons’ Landscape section left the office for a day recently to visit the Chaumont Garden festival in the Loire Valley in search of fresh thoughts and artistic flourish.

After trying out all of the seats on offer we tried to digest the inner meaning of the “Body and Soul” gardens designed by an international selection of inspired minds.

Some gardens were more comfortable to be in than others and some had ideas to take home, though on the whole their appeal was in the concepts behind the design rather than the detail.

The gardens needed to be walked through to be appreciated with the designers urging visitors to take off their shoes to feel the materials underfoot or to caress the giant bamboo stems.

By contrast at Chelsea it is possible to drift past the gardens and like what you see through the crowds without even knowing the name of the garden let alone the ideas behind it, stopping only to consider and discuss the merits of one plant variety over another.

All of which begs the question which is the better designed garden? The one with a story to tell that engages the mind as well as the senses or the one which bares all at first glance and relies on thousands of pounds worth of paving and perfect pre-prepared planting?Perhaps it’s time for a Chaumont moment in the UK?

Just before the children at Witney Community Primary School came back from their summer holidays, we sent the Landscape Team, Jules and Alastair to revamp the tired looking space ready in time for the Autumn Term.
With a digger some MOT Type 1, a few edging boards and some childhood inspiration to make some teepees, they built them a whole new looking space ready for the soft works team to come in and plant up the trees and shrubs.

Myself and Ali went back shortly after the term started and got the children involved in the planting. Some were more interested in the worms which they placed in the new raised veggie bed we also built for them. The children were all so enthusiastic and it was wonderful to see them all getting their hands into the mud and plant something that will grow taller than them by the time they leave the school.
So thank you for helping us.

For all those children who planted and then put a layer of bark mulch on top we wrote their names on a on a tag and attached it to the plant, so they can show their friends and family, but most importantly to look after, water and talk too.
Talking to plants and trees will always make them grow!

Nicholsons Hedging at Bicester Avenue Garden Centre

Nicholsons are delighted to announce that they have opened a Hedging shop within the Bicester Avenue Garden Centre - one of the centres within the 120 strong Garden Centre Group. It is to be known as the British Hedging Shop and stocks all the lines that Nicholsons grow and are known for - quality container grown hedging. This is the first such Hedging shop within the groups stores and it is hoped that if it is a success that it will be roled out in other stores next year.

Spanish pebble mosaic in the cotswolds

This summer’s exciting commission has seen us setting 10 Tonnes of Chinese black unpolished pebbles by hand into a dry mortar mix to create 100m2 of stunning pebble mosaic. Kindly advised by Maggie Howarth, we embarked on this project in early July and apart from running out of pebbles ( very serious as boats are very slow from China!) the project has been much fun and the result is really very beautiful….at least we think so!

Royal Forestry Society visit Althorp

Tim Shardlow is doing his bit at the Royal Forestry Society whole society meeting at the Althorp Estate in Northampton. Tim is the Secretary for the Oxon Bucks division of the RFS and has assisted the estate, through his work at Nicholson’s with their woodland management since 1992.

Tim can be seen here running through the breakdown of the woodland cover to the RFS members in attendance.

Farewell Forester

Today is ‘D-Day’ for Mike Tustin our Forestry Manager on his last day here at Nicholsons. After 7 years of hard graft at Nicholsons, Mike is shrugging off the comfort blanket and moving on to pastures new. From a life of creating and managing woodlands Mike is going to put away his wellies, don the tweed jacket, get into his BMW and sell woodlands instead. At least he will be a salesman with a forestry background! At his leaving party last night we all learnt the truth about his lack of maps, getting stuck and his passion for lay-bys. His leaving presents were a map case from Andy, a tow rope (definitely needed for the new car), some chocolate for his lay-by spotting hours, a beautifully crafted lime wood anchor from Matt (our fellow tree surgeon) and an engraved axe (as seen in the picture) from the whole team here at Nicholsons. We would all like to wish Mike well for the future and thanks for the cakes (at last!). Who can I tease now??? Going to miss you Mike! Cx

Mike Tustin Forestry Manager on his yacht

When not at the desk organising Forestry jobs or working at home you will find Mike Tustin relaxing at many a sailing event. This picture was taken at the Cotswold Federation regatta where Mike came second overall out of 36 boats on the hottest day so far. Note the tee shirt. Wouldnt it be nice if we could have weather like that now (During the summer).

No Potholes - the entrance we deserve!

At last, I hear you all cry! We have sorted the potholes at the entrance to the Nursery. They had progressiveley got worse over the winter and were a real embarassment, but with the help of G Hill and Sons we have redone the entrance and it looks great. The approach is now what you expect from a company priding itself in Landscaping. It is much easier now to come and visit and we look forward to seeing you soon.

When it is OK to bury plastic!

Faced with a structural problem of adding top soils behind a dry stone retaining wall – we were advised by our structural engineers ( Brenda Marsh at Hannah Reid ) to build up the levels in polystyrene blocks, designed for the purpose. The hole has been dug and blocks of polystyrene 610mm x 1200mm x 2400mm ( the size of a baby elephant! ) have been laid in. These blocks will be buried and a Spanish terrace built on top.
My only question remains as to what our successors will think in later archaeological digs when they strike polystyrene?

Posted by Liz Nicholson

Down in the depths of Nicholsons a new generation of plants is being prepared for the big outdoors on our nursery. Our potting crew come seasonally and through their attentioin to detail, hard quality control and loving potting they produce the quality raw material - plants in pots. For the rest of the year our nurseymen, cane, prune, spray, water, feed and move and generally pamper these plants mercilessly.

Some of the plants they pot come to us in a pot and are then potted on, the majority are bare rooted transplants that started life in a field and are potted up for the first time in their lives - luxury! The root system that they devolop gives them a huge advantage when planted whether it is a hedging plant or a tree - in one year the roots will have made it to the edge of the pots without having become root bound. We will also pot on our own crops and see them from a litte 20cm plug right through to a 35lt pot, over the course of 4-5 years. Only then are they let loose on the world - with their manners, we hope, intact.

Icing on the polytunnel....

Happy New Year to one and all! Nicholsons has had a slow start due to the weather but we are open for business despite the snow so get those enquiries or orders e-mailed in. However, planting has been delayed because of the foot of snow so once it has disappeared we shall go plants mad! I look forward to seeing you at the nursery soon.