Lorraine's favorite plant combination for July

Hosta Tardiana Halcyon - common name Hosta

A member of the Asparagaceae family, this clump forming perennial has smooth, veined, blue-grey leaves, with lilac grey bell shaped flowers in dense racemes in July and August.

Requires partial shade in a fertile, moist and well drained soil in a sheltered position and also requires protection from slugs.

 Plant in a large container to make a bold statement in a shady part of the patio.

 

Acer palmatum ‘Suminagashi’

A member of the Sapindaceae family, this stunning Japanese Acer has deeply divided foliage with serrated edges, the purple red spring foliage darkens to deep magenta in summer, then turns crimson in autumn.

Prefers a sheltered position in partial shade in acid-neutral soil.

Plant in a container to make a strong architectural focal point.

The colour of the Acer foliage makes a fantastic contrast with the blue-green foliage of the Hosta; this combination could also be successfully utilized as temporary infill in bare patches in the border between spring and summer flowering perennials.  

Blenheim Flower Show 2014

Nicholsons team have just finished putting together our show garden for The Blenheim Flower Show.

The garden has been designed and built by Nicholsons to raise awareness of  The Valley Girls’ fund raising 

trip to India in February 2015 in aid of British Heart Foundation, Vasculitis, Oxford Radcliffe Hospital & Southampton Hospital.

The lines of plants are inspired by the growing beds on our nursery; row upon row of perfect planting. They are all brought together in the containers to enclose a private garden with an authentic  Kadai firebowl for cooking and for keeping warm on chillier evenings. Exotic scented climbers frame the entrance to the shelter  with handmade candle lanterns casting a soft light at night. The packing cases used as containers remind us of the trade links between the UK and India. 

This garden is entirely built  by recycling materials found around our nursery in North Aston, Oxfordshire. The plants are all borrowed from our nursery, the packing cases salvaged from our wood fuel pile and the shelter reused from a previous show.

It was important to us to know that the materials will be recycled afterwards too. The plants will go back to the nursery to be used on landscape schemes and to be sold in our tree and hedging centre, the pallets will be chipped and used to fuel our woodchip boiler.

 The Flower Show is open from 20th -22nd June so do drop in and say hello if you are there.

Muscari stripes

Muscari bedding at one of our gardens recently.
This site was planted with 11000 Muscari bulbs by the soft landscape team last October to create blue stripes across the lawn for spring interest.
Muscari aucheri Blue Magic was used as it is noninvasive and the flowers are double headed so give twice the effect.

Hankerchiefs

Hankerchiefs on the ethereal Hankerchief tree at beautiful Upton Wold garden. Our Club 57 enjoyed a lovely summer's evening in the Cotswolds...more events coming up

Landrover with a difference

In the Arb team we have a landrover with a difference - it has a winch fitted to the front.

Not only can it pull itself out of difficulties, but it is very helpful when we need to pull larger trees over in awkward situations - for instance where it is very important to make sure a tree falls in exactly the right line.

Fitted with a box tipping back it is an ideal piece of kit.

Ha Ha

In a new direction for us, but building on exisiting skills we currently have a team having "fun" constructing 180m long Ha-Ha near Chipping Norton using gabion baskets and dry stone walling stone to extend the clients garden into the field without having the views disturbed by fences.

 

Ha-Ha's were designed to provide stock proof barriers while allowing the view from the house to remain unimpeded. Generally around the larger country Houses they allowed Cattle and Sheep to appear to graze in the fields right up to the house, without the need for Parkland railing or more visually intrusive wooden fences.

 

It is very rewarding to be involved in  creating a new Ha-Ha.

A Courtyard Redesign

A local Hotel asked us to help with the re-design of a small courtyard from an untidy area of vehicle parking to a new garden and pedestrian pathway.

A simple but very effective job.
Start to finish in under a week.

Nicholsons' New Post Driver

We are delighted to announce that we have just taken delivery of our new machine, a custom built tracked post driver. No longer do we have to use the manual post boppers or the slow tractor mounted driver that needs 2 people. This new machine is faster, more efficient and can be run with only 1 person.

Even in  the  extremely wet  ground conditions we have at present, the machine allows us to complete fencing contracts without making a mess . The 300 kg hammer also drives the posts in to the  ground  most effectively .

A special  rock spike attachment enables efficient working even in our local Cotswold brash.

Do get in contact if you have any fencing needs and we would be delighted to offer a quote:

tim@nicholsons.gb.com

Blog tired of Tradition

Nicholsons "named" Christmas trees are fabulous but there are other alternatives if you are tired of tradition. We have topiary cones and spheres as well as topiary lollipops ready to decorate with the added bonus that they can be planted out in the garden after Christmas as a permanent feature. We also have lovely Hollies, evergreen oaks and birch which will all look great with decorations either inside or out. Species available include Bay, Box, and olives. Come and see us to choose the size and shape that fits your space.

The Nicholsons "Named" Christmas Trees are back!

Our Christmas trees are here and ready to be chosen. As always they have been individually "Named". Can you remember who you had last year...? Lots of lovely trees here and we also have Wreaths.

Open Weekdays 7.30-4.30pm
Saturdays 9.00-4.00pm