Most plants will be happy to be placed in any normal soil. There is a myth that clay soils are not good. They are actually rather rich and plants will grow quite happily on them however you will need to watch out for the drainage as clay can and will get too moit and that can be dentrimental to your plant. Clay also delays flowering time so your garden will always be a bit behind everyone elses which can be quite good sometimes!! A few plants such as Azaleas, Rhododendron, Blueberries will prefer a more alkaline soil. We recommend using some ericaceous compost when planting them. You can either add some compost to the hole you are digging or if you are planting into a pot fill the pot with ericaceous compost.

Plants can be killed with too much water. Funny as it sounds they can simply drown on it. Once you plant your new plant you must water and let Mother Nature do the rest. If you are planting in the ground unless its a particularly dry period there will be no need to water your plant unless its a rather dry period or a rather hot summer. If you are planting your plant in a pot then you must check it more often. Plants in pot will dry out quite quickly so its a good idea to place your finger inside the compost and if its dry its needs watering, if its wet you can skip a day or so and if in doubt skip one day and it wint do any harm to it.

Plants need light to grow and just a few will be happy with a 'shady life'!! Most plants will want to be in full sun oand will stand a ittle bit of shade. Fruit plants will prefer a sunnier position to get their fruit ripe. Some plants will benefit from a little bit of shade and others will thrive in full shade.

Most will be happy in either full light or semi light. Generally speaking if you have bought a plant for shade it will say in the auction that its a "shade loving plant" and that plant will be quite happy in some dark corner of your garden. If in doubt plant it in a semi shade area and it will do just fine.

Just like us plants will have some disease from time to time. If you notice your plant is not putting on any growth or the leaves are turning yellow and falling down then there is something wrong and it can be a number of things. Sometimes it can be simple things like overwatering but generally most plants will go on for a long time with no problems at all. As for pests we know about snails and slugs but you can also count on mice, wild rabbits and even birds and squirrels to damage your plants. These are fairly easy to control and you should always keep an eye on your plants and stop any problems before it becomes too much and out of hand

I hope these little hints and tips will help you out when planting your garden but should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me by email or phone.

Happy Gardening