Nicholsons at Chelsea

Nicholsons began building a garden for David Harber at Chelsea this week, on Main Avenue alongside some of the larger show gardens. Progress is being hampered by the rain but the paving is going down and the garden is taking shape. The plants are looking more lush each day and will be going down to Chelsea next week. We are planting the trees and hedges early next week and our clients David Harber will be installing their sculptures from Wednesday onwards. Let’s hope for better weather next week at least until the pergola has a roof on!

harvesting on a steep slope

We are currently harvesting about 800 tonnes of coniferous  timber on a very steep slope  near Chipping Norton. The woodland has been affected by red band needle blight and  once it has been cleared , the site will be replanted with broadleaves. Our men are wearing crampons to keep themselves upright!

special harvesting equipment has been brought in to deal with the conditions. In effect this is a type of 'highlead ' system based on a 360 excavator and winch system, more commonly found on Wesh hillsides.

Herbaceous update

A quick update on the blog from 2 Feb. Our Herbaceous Perennials have grown up and are selling fast. Try and get to the nursery soon while our own grown stocks last  - they are fresh and ready to plant. We are still open on Saturdays through May from 9-12 so pop in and our helpful staff will be delighted to show you round and offer advice should you need it.

Harvesting near Banbury

 We are just completing a 1200 tonne harvesting contract  within  just 500 metres of the edge of Banbury. The work has involved felling and thinning coniferous woodland. This autumn we will be planting around 3000 native broadleaved trees to replace the area felled.

Moving big trees

The Nicholsons Forestry team have recently completed a project to plant a number of very large specimen trees in the garden of an Oxfordshire property under the instruction of garden designer James Alexander-Sinclair.  The trees were delivered with root systems of up to 600 litres and could only be moved using some fairly large machinery.

In addition we had to plant an olive tree that weighed in at 1750kg in the centre of the sunken patio next to the swimming pool.  The tree had to be lifted over the wall into the pool area using a crane, and the crane was operating at its maximum safe lifting limit in order to swing the tree round without going over the top of the swimming pool (and its expensive solar cover).

We completed the work without any hitches (phew!).

Nicholsons Arb Team in Action

The Nicholsons Arb Team were recently asked to fell two large and over-mature poplars in the garden of one of our clients, and we managed to get a short video of one of the trees as it went down.

The operation went very smoothly, overseen by Fennel the Forestry Dept labrador.

We have now planted more than 70 specimen trees in the garden, as well as more than 300m of 'instant hedge' (a mixture of beech and native mix), so the removal of these two poplars has, we think, already been compensated for!

The Nicholsons Landscapes team are also working in the same garden.

Nicholsons Win Large Business of the Year for Cherwell

AT the Cherwell Business of the Year awards Ceremony on Friday 30th March we are delighted to say that NICHOLSONS won their category and became the winner of the Large Business of the Year 2012.

Along with the directors, 6 members of staff (chosen by the team)joined in the evening at the John Paul Centre on Bicester, which was a fantastic evening and our thanks go to Spratt Endicott for sponsoring our category and all the organisers and other sponsors.

The award is a fantastic achievement for the company and is a true accolade of the team spirit that the company stands for. Well done everybody!

Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee with Tree Planting

On a perfect spring day, two local school groups were treated by the Woodland Trust to a session of tree planting to mark the Queens Diamond Jubilee. As far as we could see they all seemed to be having a lot of fun! A big 'THANK YOU' to Bishop Lovedayand Dr Radcliffe's Primary C of E schools for all your help. The trees sit alongside a local footpath to the west of Swerford, and so everyone involved should be able to re-visit over the coming years and see them grow.

Frosty Weather!

The recent cold snap has prevented normal planting operation for the Forestry Department, though this should be expected at this time of year. We have been able to take advantage of the cold weather to transport stakes and materials across the ground without site damage. The picture shows part of a consignment of 7500 stakes and tree shelters now in place and ready for use.

Herbaceous Perennials
We have just finished potting up our perennials. These plants come to us as small plugs from a UK grower, we then pot them on and grow them on under cover ready for spring sales. They have a topping of 'potting bark' to keep the weeds off and the moisture in - it saves on chemical weed control. We will have to spray over the next few weeks to keep any fungal diseases at bay, other than that we sit and wait for the weather to warm up. The covered area is not heated so they do have to combat the cold - but not (chance would be a fine thing) the wet!

The range is not exhaustive but there are some good garden standbys in the range, Aster x frikartii Monch, Nepeta Six Hills Giant, Geum Mrs Bradshaw, Verbena bonariensis to name a few.

If you have not already planned to fill those holes in the border or go for a fresh redesign then get in touch or visit the Nicholsons Plants site where we will be putting up availability lists of what we have in stock. Be aware things move fast so place your order early and we will keep the plants for you!

Keep watching this blog and we will post fortnightly pictures of their progress!