News last updated on 05/01/2021
*We are COVID-secure and remain open
Following the latest Government guidance, we are pleased to announce that our Plant Centre remains open. Social distancing and safety measures have been reaffirmed and can be viewed on our 'Visiting Us' page.
Please read our safety measures before visiting for further information.
Wishing you all
A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
from the team at Olivers Plants.
We appreciate your continued support through what has been a challenging year and are looking forward to 2021!
We have decided to close over the festive period and will be reopening on the 4th January 2021 to give our hardworking team a well-deserved break, we look forward to seeing you when we reopen!
Christmas Tree Maze Cancelled
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the difficult decision not to run our Christmas Tree Maze this year. We have been fortunate in being allowed to remain open during the November lock down but our Christmas Tree Maze is non-essential and therefore it would be irresponsible of us to hold it this year.
Our full range of Christmas Trees will be available from the end of November at our Plant Centre, or via the web shop using our 360° images to view individual trees. Orders placed online can be delivered to the surrounding areas by our delivery service, or using the new click and collect system where you can collect your order from a designated area without having to enter the Plant Centre. Christmas wreaths will also be available at our Plant Centre and to purchase via our web shop.
November Newsletter
Welcome to our newsletter for November. As the Autumn season progresses, we now turn our focus to Christmas preparations, which are gaining pace.
Production Nursery
The Production Nursery have been taking advantage of a slightly lighter workload to complete crucial jobs such as weeding, tidying, and potting on. Any shrubs that have been left over from the Summer, such as Hydrangeas, Buddlejas and Spirea, have been potted on form 3 litre pots to 5 litre pots and cut back ready for next spring.
The two litre perennials that have been grown from plugs have been cut back and weeded ready to be sent to the Plant Centre in Spring. During November the alpines that have been grown from seed and cuttings will be transplanted into 9cm pots again ready to be sold at the Plant Centre in the Spring.
Whilst you have been buying and planting your bulbs at home we have also been doing the same at the Production Nursery, the range we are growing includes; Crocus, Iris, Snowdrop and Narcissus bulbs to increase our selection of potted bulbs available in the spring.
Our Primulas will be available during November at the Plant Centre but first they require a little bit of maintenance, we begin by cleaning off any unwanted leaves and moving them onto capillary matting so that they can be watered from underneath, this helps to keep the flowers looking good. The primulas are spaced out across the matting to allow generous air circulation and minimise the chance of the Primulas developing any fungal diseases.
During the month of November, we will also begin to take soft-wood cuttings from our stock plants including Saliva, Verbena, Gaura, Lavender and Penstemon. The cuttings are planted into watered plug trays and placed in the propagation house, the propagation house is lit by LED grow lights which produce specific wavelengths of light that are utilised by the plants for optimum growth. The cutting are then covered with a clear plastic sheet to reduce transpiration (water loss), this covering is removed on rainy and overcast days to avoid the cuttings becoming too moist. Taking softwood cuttings is an excellent and cost-effective way to propagate your favourite plants and is easy to do, follow our Facebook group Gardeners Corner for our top tips on cuttings at home.
Plant Centre
This month we’re very excited to tell you about our new houseplant room at the Plant Centre. This area was purpose built to provide the optimal conditions for healthy, happy houseplants with thermal covering for insulation and full of bright natural light.
The new larger houseplant area is able to accommodate more houseplants including the Orchids, Peace Lilies and Monstera. We believe it’s imperative to have plants in your home as they are incredibly beneficial in many ways, especially as more of us are spending more time in our homes and even working from home. Plants such as Zamioculcas, Peace Lilies and Aloes have excellent air purifying qualities by removing toxins from the atmosphere. We have easy to maintain houseplants for those that aren’t particularly green fingered and there is always someone to advise which houseplant will suit that certain spot you have in mind, be it in the living room, bathroom or bedroom.
We’ve been reorganising the Plant Centre for the arrival of our bare root hedging, and will be doing so again in late November for our Christmas trees! November is the perfect time to plant your shrubs, bare-root and root-ball hedging as we mentioned last month, orders can made via the Webshop or you can come in and have a browse.
This month we have invested in three new printers for the Plant Centre and Production Nursery not only are they faster and more efficient, but they also help us to reduce our wastage. The new printers will now only print the exact desired number of labels, the new layout of the labels looks more professional. Our stick in labels, and new clip on labels, are still kerbside recyclable as well.
November brings the preparations for Christmas at the Plant Centre as we begin to make wreath bases ready for decoration and businesses begin putting their orders in for Christmas trees!
A large selection of roses will be available from the middle of the month as it’s the perfect time to plant them before growth resumes, just avoid planting when the ground is frozen. It’s a good idea to condition the soil with some manure before hand to increase the nutrient level. Be sure to take a look at our Facebook group Gardeners Corner where we have shared our top tips on Rose pruning!