It's who you know

I was horrified the other day to hear a story.  The story basically went like this:

"A customer was in the green life section of a rather large store that sold thousands of items including gardening necessities. She overheard a staff member telling another customer to use a particular potting mix as it was the best on the market. Curious, she moved closer to see what they were talking about only to find out the staff member was promoting composted fertiliser as potting mix. The unsuspecting customers bought three bags along with plants. "

What horrifies me is this particular product even states on the bag 'this is NOT a potting mix'. These first time gardeners were about to make a huge mistake that would probably cost them the life of their plants. 

This is not the real problem. The real problem occurs when these people kill these plants due to wrong information. They then get upset at the waste of time, energy and most of all money spent on gardening only to have everything die. 

The correct information is so important. The best place to get correct information is at a place that specialises in that particular subject.

If you want correct and helpful advice on gardening - visit your local garden centre. 

Garden centre's have fully qualified expert staff. Staff who are not only experts but who are local and have all suffered the same gardening problems that you suffer.  Garden centre staff enjoy helping you through your gardening problems, taking the confusion away and giving you back the joy of gardening. Gardening is usually our passion. 

I know at Trevallan our staff have over 30 years of gardening experience. Staff are constantly kept up to date of products entering the shop and market by attending supplier information sessions. We are members of the Nursery and Garden Industry Association and apply their strict regulations.  Our staff are Certified Nursery Professionals and have won many awards for our service to horticulture. 

We don't need a thousand gardening items on our shelves. We just need the ones we know work and use ourselves. 

Our gardens are an investment. To make sure that investment prospers we need great down to earth advice. 

Next time you decide to improve your plant life balance and give your life some TLC make sure you visit the gardening experts - Trevallan Lifestyle Centre - your local garden centre.

Bloomin' Fabulous

A common question I am asked is "why didn't my fruit trees fruit profusely or if they did why was the fruit misshapen?" Or "why didn't my camellias and azaleas flower as well this year?" Or even "why are all my coloured foliaged plants like crotons and dracaenas losing their colour?"

The answer is usually quite simple - Your garden just needs some TLC and a little Potash!

Potassium Sulphate or Sulphate of Potash is commonly called Potash.  It is an essential element necessary to the lives of all plants.

It aids in disease resistance and frost protection by strengthening the plants cell walls.  It helps in seed and root development. It encourages strong new growth and helps with the formation of flower buds and fruit.

Potash can improve the quality and the colour of flowers and enhances the formation of proteins and sugars in fruit. Potash can even help plants with slender stems and large flower heads such as Iceland poppies and gerberas hold their heads erect.

Potash defective cues can be seen in a number of ways in your plant. Your plants might be showing signs of overall weakness especially in its stem.  It could have yellowing leaf margins and grow more slowly.  It could also be disease prone and its fruit and flowers will be small and poorly coloured and sometimes tasteless.

Don't confuse a potash deficiency though with an unhealthy plant. Always make sure you have given your plant some complete slow release organic fertiliser like Organic Link first.

It seems that many Australian soils are low in potassium (potash).

Complete fertilisers, whether they are chemical or organic, usually contain potash.  Organic Link contains potash. An N:P:K ratio can usually be found on the fertiliser label. A very quick explanation of the N:P:K ratio is - N stands for Nitrogen (greening, growing), P Phosphorus (roots) and K Potassium (fruiting, flowering).

If you use mainly a manure based fertiliser like blood and bone or chicken manure you will need to add potash as these products don’t naturally contain it.

Potash also is available by itself in a liquid form and a granular form. 

The liquid form is added to water and used as a foliar spray. Used like this it is quick acting but not long lasting and needs to be repeated on a fortnightly basis. This is best for promoting flowers especially on annuals.  I use Plant of Health's Potash and Silica. 

The granular form is added to the soil and watered in.  The granular is slower acting but lasts a lot longer.  This is best for correcting deficiencies, promoting fruit and stimulating coloured foliage. We use Searles' Potash.

This weekend I want you all to get some granular potash and go a little silly in your gardens. Your winter blooming plants like camellias and azaleas will love you and your citrus trees will adore you.