Garden Centres

[Cheshire Cat]

I'm confused regarding Garden Centres reopening in England. I believe the Welsh ones are reopening but have heard nothing about ours. I'm wanting to get Tomato plants and herb seeds. We looked at the outdoor garden shop at Morrisons but no tomato plants. Help please.

 

[nixhaz]

I know of one in Essex that's just reopened, they got a letter from their council. Maybe it depends on the district?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I'm confused regarding Garden Centres reopening in England. I believe the Welsh ones are reopening but have heard nothing about ours. I'm wanting to get Tomato plants and herb seeds. We looked at the outdoor garden shop at Morrisons but no tomato plants. Help please.

When will garden centres reopen? Here's what to expect

Well-laid plans are in place for reopening garden centres and boosting the nation's favourite pastime – but when?

When will garden centres re-open?

After being shut down on 23 March, it is expected that garden centres in England will be able to reopen from Wednesday May 13, with social distancing measures in place. Extensive lobbying of Government and much positive publicity in the media from the likes of Alan Titchmarsh seems to have pushed garden retail to the front of the queue. The Wednesday reopening has been widely reported this weekend and confirmed by the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA). Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not confirm the details in his speech to the nation on Sunday, but the Wednesday reopening is included in separate government guidelines seen by the Telegraph.

The Welsh Government has already announced that garden centres can open from Monday May 11. The situation in Northern Ireland and Scotland is not yet clear.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardening-events/garden-centres-reopen-lockdown/

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Merci

 

[VW911]

We're part garden centre (and part builders merchant, hardware, homeware and homebrew shop.) and have stayed trading throughout the lockdown, as we are considered "essential". We don't overly advertise the fact that we're open, but lots of our regular customers ring or email us, and we deal with it on a "click and collect" basis.
I suspect that many businesses are the same, so why not try ringing around some local to you?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My two closest garden centres are showing closed on their internet sites.

 

[terrym]

I'm confused regarding Garden Centres reopening in England. I believe the Welsh ones are reopening but have heard nothing about ours. I'm wanting to get Tomato plants and herb seeds. We looked at the outdoor garden shop at Morrisons but no tomato plants. Help please.

At the beginning of the month as an experiment I dried out some seeds from a shop bought tomato (small fruit type called Angelle) and planted them in pots. After about 4/5 days the first one poked through the compost and I now have six seedlings, and new ones keep coming. Maybe worth a try?
If its common herbs like thyme, parsley etc buy the supermarket herbs in pots intended for cooking and put those in the ground. Thats what I do.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've got hard herbs ie Rosemary and Thyme but I find the supermarket soft herbs in pots can't support themselves without the plastic bag and die.

PS did you see that Nigel , who was Monty Don's dog has died

 

[VW911]

Tomato seeds will survive anything. They're undigestable too. In the old days when train loos used to just dump the waste on the tracks, you'd see tomato plants growing in the middle of the rails at stations. (Dropped there with their own little fertiliser pack!)...

...Wouldn't want to eat one, though!

 

[VW911]

Poor Nigel. Was gutted when I heard. (Can't stand Monty, though!!!)

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My wife has planted tomato seeds and we have some growth.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

My two closest garden centres are showing closed on their internet sites.

They should open on Wednesday. (See quote below)

After being shut down on 23 March, it is expected that garden centres in England will be able to reopen from Wednesday May 13, with social distancing measures in place. Extensive lobbying of Government and much positive publicity in the media from the likes of Alan Titchmarsh seems to have pushed garden retail to the front of the queue. The Wednesday reopening has been widely reported this weekend and confirmed by the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA). Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not confirm the details in his speech to the nation on Sunday, but the Wednesday reopening is included in separate government guidelines seen by the Telegraph. /QUOTE]

 

[VW911]

I've got loads of "rogue" tomatoes growing in my greenhouse, from fruit that has fallen in previous years.
I left one to grow last year, and it was pretty good. Trouble is, as a lot of the seeds these days are F1 hybrids, you never know what they'll be like until they actually fruit...

 

[Clint]

Yeah try growing seeds from your shopping..also try coriander if you have some..I got a healthy crop coming along in the tunnel.
Poor Nigel...I did see Monty at a garden show last year and his talk was very charismatic...

 

[Leon103]

I am on Wales, and a lot of my local ones aren't reopening. Most do click and collect and deliveries and are sticking to that.

 

[Pirate_Pete]

At the beginning of the month as an experiment I dried out some seeds from a shop bought tomato (small fruit type called Angelle) and planted them in pots. After about 4/5 days the first one poked through the compost and I now have six seedlings, and new ones keep coming. Maybe worth a try?
If its common herbs like thyme, parsley etc buy the supermarket herbs in pots intended for cooking and put those in the ground. Thats what I do.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the tomatoes.
The question of doing this was raised on a gardening show on the radio the other week.
They said the fruit/vegetable that grow may not necessarily be the same as you bought in the shop.
I can't remember the reasoning behind it.

In the past I've cleaned and dried seeds from a tomato plant I bought at a garden centre.
Then planted them again the next year. Turned out not too bad, but not as good as the original plant.

At the moment I'm planting the roots I cut off of shop bought spring onions.
Not really the time of year but we'll see what happened.

The original question about garden centres. I dunno.... shrugs shoulders.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Yeah try growing seeds from your shopping..also try coriander if you have some..I got a healthy crop coming along in the tunnel.
Poor Nigel...I did see Monty at a garden show last year and his talk was very charismatic...

Clint
Do coriander seeds I buy from the Asian shop germinate, if so I've loads.

 

[nixhaz]

Yes they'll germinate no problem. Also chili seeds from dried chilis or chili flakes will too.

 

[terrym]

It will be interesting to see what happens with the tomatoes.
The question of doing this was raised on a gardening show on the radio the other week.
They said the fruit/vegetable that grow may not necessarily be the same as you bought in the shop.
I can't remember the reasoning behind it.

In the past I've cleaned and dried seeds from a tomato plant I bought at a garden centre.
Then planted them again the next year. Turned out not too bad, but not as good as the original plant.

At the moment I'm planting the roots I cut off of shop bought spring onions.
Not really the time of year but we'll see what happened.

The original question about garden centres. I dunno.... shrugs shoulders.

I decided to try based on what I read here about this particular Angelle type tomato here, especially since they do not appear to be F1 hybrids.
http://myvegpatch.co.uk/tomato-angelle/Its a bit of fun really since its getting a bit late to grow tomato plants from seed for me since all my tomatoes are grown outside in pots, and the season end is governed by the weather. But I already have a dozen Gardeners Delight up and running which I grew from seed, some of which have the first signs of flowerbuds where the trusses will eventually form.

 

[Gingerbrews]

We ordered and have received, through the post, tomato and cucumber plants from Suttons. Very pleased with their service. Look at their website for options.