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Perfect plants
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Gardening tips
Helleborus Washfield Doubles
As with all Hellebores, patience is required to wait for blooms, which will grace their plants in two to three years.
Thompson and Morgan’s flower breeders have bred these double Hellebores to perfection and this ‘collector’s item’ mixture includes a wide range of colours, including yellows, greens, blacks, blues, reds and apricots.
Available from Thompson and Morgan |
Comes in a wide range of colours... |
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| Compost on Test
The right compost can make a difference between struggling seedlings and a glowing garden, says Gardening Which? today.
In a trial testing 17 multi-purpose and 15 specific-use composts, Gardening Which? sowed 13,200 seeds, potted on 880 seedlings and planted up 276 pots with 828 plants. The results show that there is huge disparity between the quality of different composts. Gardeners need to think carefully about which compost to buy.
Successful for the sixth consecutive year, New Horizon Multi-Purpose Peat-free Compost (8p per litre) was awarded Best Buy in the peat-free multi-purpose category - both pricked out seedlings and plants grew nicely with this compost. |
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Best buy J Arther Bower’s Multi-Purpose Compost (6p per litre) received top marks in the peat-based multi-purpose compost category, for raising seedlings and growing young plants. With less need for watering than the other peat-based compost, this was a clear all-round winner.
But Gardening Which? advises staying away from Homebase Peat Free Multi-Purpose compost: it performed poorly at both raising seedlings and growing on young plants.
Julia Boulton, Editor, Gardening Which?, said:
“If gardeners are worried that their green fingers are no longer doing the trick, the results of our compost test show that they should not be downhearted: it may be that they are not using the right compost.
“picking the right compost makes all the difference, turning struggling seedlings into precious plants.”
(The compost trial is featured in the January-February issue of Gardening Which? magazine. (pictured above left). |
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