Monkton Elm News, Events and Tips Blog

Once again we’re inviting worthy causes from Somerset to put themselves forward to receive between 50 and 100 free young trees, known as whips, this New Year.

We’re thrilled to be sponsoring the Open Stakes at the Taunton & District Canine Association’s Dog Show dog. We have donated prize money and rosettes to the value of £200 for the dogs that place from first to sixth.

©   John Shaver   Dreamstime Stock Photos We are a resource of friendly free advice and this year if you’d like some help with what to feed the wild birds that visit your garden throughout the winter come and see us.

If you are looking for a place to socialise and escape the wintery weather this month then we’d love to invite you to our award-winning Four Seasons Restaurant for some wonderful fare and a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Are you interested in sowing your own vegetables and other plants this year? To kick off the New Year we will be offering complimentary advice on how to sow and propagate seeds, handle seedlings and grow on young plants, so why not pop in and chat to our team and get some free tips.

Join us for our next Pondside Knit Club session on Wednesday, January 8th from 4.30pm until 7.30pm.

We have lots of delicious dishes being served in our Restaurant this month, perfect to re-ignite that little central heating system in your stomach. We are pretty confident there will be something to tickle everybody’s taste buds too! We have the classic winter treat of tasty soup, but ours is no ordinary soup, our chefs make our soup daily from fresh local ingredients. For an extra special treat why not try our soup of the day. For a main course warmer why not try one of traditional English dishes such a Stew & Dumplings, Lancashire Hotpot or Cottage Pie. For a hot dessert we have Bread & Butter pudding or mouth watering steamed Chocolate Pudding. If you don’t fancy stopping for a meal then maybe we give you a quick ‘hot fix’ with one of our specialist barista coffees or hot chocolates.

As we enter a new year, we would like to take the opportunity to reflect on a few of the memories of 2013 and what we can expect in 2014...

Let us introduce you to three exceptional plants that provide lovely scent in January. When days are still dark and all the decorations have been packed away for another year they provide a burst of winter fragrance for an instant pick-me-up. Daphne odora aureomarginata

Plan next year’s garden This time of year is perfect for erecting fences, trellis, pergolas, arches and other garden structures. Discover how easy it is to add a new feature and explore the wide range of types and styles we have available. Just ask a member of staff for assistance.

Christmas trees Remember to buy your live Christmas tree – we have a superb range to choose from including the non-needle drop Nordman. All live trees will need watering so buy a self-watering stand for cut trees. A can of Spray ‘N’ Save will also help prevent needle loss. We have a huge range of lights and decorations too.

Christmas lunches are being served in our restaurant until Monday, December 23 for anyone who fancies a tasty pre-yuletide meal.

People looking for gift ideas for friends and relations this Christmas (2013) will have an opportunity to create their own Christmas hamper or buy one of our ready-made ones this Yuletide.

Camellias With their glossy, evergreen foliage and large flowers in spring, camellias are the perfect way of brightening up the garden. Buy yourself some now or give them as presents. They need a lime-free soil, so if yours isn’t suitable grow them in large pots.

Feed feathered friends for winter Garden birds need our help throughout winter so make sure you put out food and water every day. We have a wide range of feeders, tables and food available, so take a look at what’s on offer and help our feathered friends.

Our next Cardmaking with Cindy workshop takes place on Saturday, December 7.

We’re looking forward to having representatives from James Wellbeloved visit on Saturday, December 21 to chat to visitors about their animals’ nutritional needs. They will be giving people tips and advice on how to keep their cat or dog as healthy as possible this yuletide.

We love decorating our in-store Christmas trees for our festive displays and thought we’d share our top tips on creating the perfect tree.

The Bishops Lydeard Oak Cub Pack group will be here helping shoppers in the run up to Christmas by packing up their festive shopping.

We’re hosting a Christmas competition each week in December for people to win one of our Christmas hampers!

Poinsettia is the perfect symbol of Christmas and this year we’ve put together some of our top tips on keeping the seasonal plant looking good throughout the festive period:

Cyclamen and azaleas Brighten up your home this winter with our superb quality, colourful azaleas and cyclamen. They’re easy to look after – just put them somewhere cool and in good, indirect light. Keep the compost moist and feed regularly for best results.

Our Plant Manager Andrew Pitman has lots of advice for anyone with a fresh Christmas tree this Yuletide.

Children wanting to send Santa their Christmas wish list can now post a letter to him for free in our post box in-store.

Gardeners are being invited (December, 2013 and January, 2014) to swap gardening tips and receive a complimentary shrub at our monthly Gardeners’ Group.

The Bishops Lydeard Oak Cub Pack group will be here helping shoppers in the run up to Christmas by packing up their festive shopping.

Bird feed Remember the birds this autumn and winter, and make sure you put food and water out every day. We have a huge selection of feeders, tables and food – everything you’ll need to keep our feathered friends happy and healthy.

Christmas shopping Our garden centre is the perfect place to do all your Christmas shopping. We stock a wide range of gifts, Christmas trees, lights, decorations, houseplants and much, much more. We have plenty of accessible free parking too. There’s bound to be something to suit all your family and friends, so spend Christmas with us.

Our Plant Manager Andrew Pitman is offering visitors complimentary tips on real Christmas trees every weekend in December in the lead up to Christmas.

Poinsettias You can’t beat poinsettias to provide plenty of festive cheer to your home over winter. They’re available in a range of colours – just look at what’s on offer in our houseplants section. When you get them home, place them somewhere they’ll receive reasonable warmth and good light and make sure they are well away from draughts and extremes of heat.

One of our plant advisors Will Michieli was highly commended for the Westland Star of the Future award recently (Tuesday, November 5, 2013) at a prestigious ceremony held in London.

Our Pet Manager Liz has got lots of top tips on keeping your pets happy this bonfire night.

We’re looking forward to having representatives from James Wellbeloved visit on Saturday, December 21 to chat to visitors about their animals’ nutritional needs. They will be giving people tips and advice on how to keep their cat or dog as healthy as possible this yuletide.

We’re hosting a Tree Weekend on Saturday, November 23rd and Sunday, November 24th to coincide with National Tree Week.

There will be a variety of farmyard animals, including a micro pig called Will.i.am, starring in our Christmas displays this year.

We’re inviting dog lovers to take their canine friends to meet Father Christmas in our festive grotto this year.

We’re really excited to announce that Father Christmas will be arriving aboard North Petherton Pentathlon Carnival Club’s ‘Wizard of Oz’ themed float on Tuesday, November 19th at 5pm.

We’re excited to announce that we are a finalist for the Community Involvement Award and our Plant Advisor, Will Michieli has progressed to the next stage in the ‘Westland Star of the Future’ category in the Garden Retail Awards.

Tools With so many jobs to tackle this autumn, you’re going to need a good range of quality tools to get them done quickly and easily. Take a look at our tools section for spades, forks, hoes, rakes and everything else you need.

We are offering people free advice on what to feed wild birds throughout the winter to improve their survival rates during potentially harsh conditions.

We’ve created a magical snow-covered grotto with the help of Santa’s elves where he will reside in the run up to Christmas to meet all the boys and girls that want to come and say ‘hello’ and tell him their Christmas wishes.

We’re inviting new members to join our monthly knit clubs on November 6 and 13.

Pest watch Many pests will lay their eggs on plants for over-wintering and these will attack early next year. Deciduous trees and shrubs that have dropped their leaves can be treated with Growing Success Winter Tree Wash. Slugs and snails will be very active during damp weather so protect vulnerable plants with your favourite control method. Diseased leaves that are left on the ground should be carefully raked up and disposed of. Other debris provides over-winter places for pests so get rid of this too.  

…The fifth of November. If you’re enjoying bonfires and fireworks this weekend, please make sure to check for wildlife including hedgehogs before setting them alight.

The autumnal season has well and truly arrived and we’ve got some great offers on at the garden centre at the moment.

It’s busy, busy, busy in the houseplants section of the garden centre at the moment. We’re all preparing for the biggest event of the year and making sure we have the best quality plants in-stock for the festive season.

Conifers Conifers give structure, form and colour to gardens all year round and they grow to a range of heights from ground cover to large trees. Why not plant some versatile conifers now to enhance your garden?

Fancy your very own funky new beanie hat? We are really excited to be unveiling our new ‘ Myboshi Beanie Hats ’ unit at our Craft Centre. Come in and get all the materials you need to make one of these trendy crocheted beanies.

Feeling festive? Our talented Craft Centre staff are hosting free Christmas craft demos every day from now until Christmas Eve.

Fancy some armchair gardening for the winter months? Our Shop Supervisor , Christine Pimm, picks some of her top gardening books to help you while away the hours snuggled up in front of the fire as the nights draw in. Here’s a selection of some of the latest we have in-store…