Monkton Elm News, Events and Tips Blog

Launched 6 years ago, this hardy Geum blooms all summer, and is very adaptable, its zingy flowers looking good with so many colour combinations. ‘Totally Tangerine’ is trouble free in the border, reaching about 90cm in reasonable soil, in a sunny position.  It doesn’t seed everywhere and rarely requires staking, just the occasional dead-heading.

At Monkton Elm we are always trying to make gardening easier for you. We think that we have a new product that will make putting together hanging baskets or planted pots a breeze. We have just taken delivery of these fantastic hanging basket & container plant kits. Each kit contains a range of 10 colour coordinated plants that will produce a vibrant display all summer long, all for the low price of just £6.99 a kit.

One of favourite things about being independent and family owned is that we can quickly take on new, smaller and innovative product ranges. One such product is twool. Award winning super sustainable twool is an eco-friendly British wool twine with horticultural excellence at its heart. Made in Devon from the wool of the rare breed Whiteface Dartmoor sheep twool twine is strong, durable, soft, springy and bio degradable. Inspired by exquisite moorland colours the versatile range of twines and twists are perfect for traditional garden use, crafts, gift wrap and floristry. twool is the only British wool twine specifically designed for gardeners. An essential gardening tool this general purpose twine has exceptional strength and longevity. Soft to handle and kind to plants it meets the needs and more of the increasingly environmentally aware modern gardener and comes in a handy range to suite all gardens small or large. twool is now in stock at Monkton Elm and we

Worthy causes across Somerset have recently (2016) received a total of 2,016 saplings for various gardening projects from us after we invited them to nominate themselves for our annual giveaway scheme.

It’s time to get out in the garden and give your crops and plants some attention.

We all feed our garden birds for various different reasons and at this time of year, when nesting season gets underway, it’s still important to ensure our feathered friends have plenty to feed on.

We’re encouraging youngsters to grow their own at home and we’re offering them free advice and demonstrations throughout May.

  Growing your own herbs can be great fun and easy too if you have a bit of grow-how to get you going. Our in-house experts advise:

  There’s a duo of garden enemies we all need to be on the lookout for now. With the milder and damper weather we’re getting, slug and snail populations are increasing. To help keep them at bay here are a few handy hints: Slugs and snails dislike plants that are hairy, waxy or glossy such as geraniums and fuchsias  To repel slugs, plant mint, chives, garlic, geraniums, foxgloves or fennel around the edge of the garden Put petroleum jelly around the base and tops of plant pots, this makes it impossible for slugs and snails to reach the plant Keep your garden tidy, slugs and snails are particularly fond of decaying matter, so get rid of it Attract wildlife that eats slugs and snails to your garden. Encourage birds by supplying a bird table stocked with food.  Newts and toads also eat slugs and snails and can be attracted by ponds or boggy areas Egg shells, grit, hair, sawdust and sand all work as barriers to slugs and snails so place them around your plants Alternatively,

As we welcome delivery of tomato plants into the garden centre, we caught up with our Head of Seasonal Plants, Jane Earthy, to get her top tips on growing the plants in growbags. Jane said: “Growbags have been used by amateur and professional gardeners for many years. They contain essential nutrients and produce healthy balanced growth, leading to excellent crops of tomatoes. “You can fit around three tomato plants into one growbag and the variety of plant you choose will depend on personal taste. When purchasing your plants, select short, stocky specimens or go for some of our grafted ones. “Once you get your plants and growbags home, dig a sizeable hole in the soil, bigger than the pot your tomato is currently in, ease your plant gentle out of the pot by squeezing the outside of the pot gently to loosen the plant and then pop it in growbag hole you have created. The level of the compost in the original pot should be either level with the growing bag compost or just slightly lower

During the past 12 months we have collected £3,020 for Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) through our Easter activities, Open Weeks and evenings, and Santa’s grotto.

Tilly Hooper and Lauren Murray from Taunton were crowned the winners in their categories in our Bake Off competition recently (March, 2016).

A short lived perennial Wallflower, ‘Bowles Mauve’ flowers almost continually from late winter to early autumn, producing highly scented, mauve flowers above narrow, grey-green leaves. Plant in any poor to moderately fertile non-acid soil, in full sun. Take cutting regularly for a supply of young plants.