English Woodlands Burrow Nursery Blog

Autumn is the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness according to Keats and can bring a wealth of pleasures in the garden.

If you like eating fruit why not plant a fruit tree? All tree planting can bring benefits to the garden - colour, shape, shade and ornament. Fruit trees can provide food for you and wildlife too.

Apples are a popular choice with beautiful spring blossom which encourages pollinating insects and autumn fruit to eat or cook with - windfalls offer a bonus for wildlife too. There are many self-pollinating apple trees if you only have space for one tree, and many more options which require pollinating partners for two or more trees. Choose from a range of red to green coloured apples, sharp or sweet, for cooking or eating  including many that are not commonly available in the shops.  Try Apple James Grieve for a dual purpose eater and cooker, or the appropriately named self-fertile 'Scrumptious' eating apple for a reliable tree.

Pears, plums and cherries are other familiar fruit trees to consider and there are more unusual edible options such as Mulbery, Medlar and Nut (Filbert or Kent Cob), Figs and Walnuts.

Thinking of planting fruit trees? Come and talk to us about your requirements this autumn and in subsequent years you could be harvesting your own fruit.

Fruit trees on dwarf rootstock and trained fruit such as Fan or Espalier Fruit trees are also available.

Hydrangea paniculata are fabulous summer flowering shrubs and they are
looking great just now.

Varieties include Vanilla Fraise, Limelight, Pinky Winky, Phantom and Bombshell. Phantom has very large flowerheads; Pinky Winky starts off white and turns pink as the flowers mature. They all suit sunny or partially shady sites and most soils.

Hydrangea aspera also looks stunning now, it has soft lilac colour flat flowerheads and downy leaves. It prefers neutral to acid soils - not chalk.

Also flowering in the nursery just now, Hibiscus, pretty small trees - ideal in a sunny courtyard garden.

10% off all half standard topiary this summer*

Whether you want to smarten up the front door with two beautiful plants either side, create a formal herb garden or just enjoy some beautiful trained trees, we have some great quality half standard trees in the nursery.

Half standard Topiary

There are many evergreen options including Prunus lusitanica (Portugal laurel) which clips beautifully and is shade tolerant. Laurus nobilis (bay) which prefers a sunny well drained site - the fragrant leaves can be dried and used in cooking!

Holly is a useful specimen to keep in containers as it is slow growing -  Ilex argentea marginata - variegated holly really brightens up a front garden particularly in winter; Ilex Nellie Stevens is shade tolerant and has lots of red berries! Photinia Red Robin makes a great specimen in a sunny site with bright red new foliage in spring.

For something more unusual the small variety of Scots pine -  Pinus sylvestris Nana Watereri makes a stunning half standard and will cope with windy sites.

Liquidambar Gumball, Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) and Elaeagnus ebbingei (silverberry) are other unusual half standards in the nursery - come and see...

Pinus topiary

*offer available in the nursery ends 31st July 2019

Fabulous Specimen Tree Cornus Venus in flower

Cornus is a wide genus of a variety of trees and shrubs. The flowering dogwoods are reknowned for their large bracts around small pin like flowers, giving the appearance of a mass of large petalled flowers.

Venus is a particularly lovely variety the green white bracts getting larger through May and June to culminate with a dusting of pink on bright white 'flowers'.

They grow best in moist but well drained humus rich fertile soil (which can be chalk, loam, sand or clay) and in a sunny or partially shady site.

They could take centre stage in a small or large garden. Mature trees also have red fruits, and they can also show good autumn colour.

Ultimate size can be 4-8m high and 2.5 - 4m wide.

Crab apple trees look wonderful now!

The sunshine has encouraged the blossom on the Malus over the last week. Equally as stunning as some of the ornamental cherries, crab apples make lovely garden trees, they come in a variety of shapes from weeping to upright and a variety of ultimate sizes too. We stock them as small standards (approximately 175-200cm tall now) or 3-4m trees - the large ones are selling fast!

Tolerant of most soil types including clay, they can be pruned and trained. And of course they have the benefit of autumn fruit too which can be used to make a tasty jelly.

Flowers and fruit are good for wildlife as well as us and they can be useful as pollinators for orchard apple trees too.

Malus Evereste

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OPEN SATURDAY 8am - 4pm AS USUAL

CLOSED Sunday as usual

CLOSED EASTER MONDAY

Open again Tuesday 8am

HAPPY EASTER ! HAPPY SPRING ! FROM ALL OF US AT 

ENGLISH WOODLANDS

Amelanchiers - Snowy mespilus - June Berry

Amelanchiers are deciduous trees or shrubs with showy white flowers and look great at the moment! We have multi-stem and single-stem varieties. Most also have good autumn colour.

Depending on variety they can reach 6-12 meters tall, the smaller varieties include Amelanchier Ballerina and A. Snowflakes reaching 6m.  Amelanchier canadensis syn. A. lamarckii can reach 8m as can A.Robin Hill, there are narrow crown varieties such as A.Obelisk and A. Rainbow Pillar. They prefer moist well-drained soils, the best autumn colour occurs on neutral to acid soils and they tolerate light shade. Great for small gardens, courtyards and naturalistic rural planting.

Come and visit!

Last week for bare root hedge plants!

Are you planning to gap up a hedge or plant a new one? We can supply  bare root hedge plants up to the end of March stocks permitting. So don't leave it too late if you want to order this season. We are happy to advise about species and quantities or you can browse our  website.

For small quantities of native hedging we offer our convenient hedge packs of 25 mixed native species - £38 for 60-80cm plants and £49 for the 90-120cm plants.

For quantities of over 150 plants we offer 40-60cm plants or 60-80cm plants, always 50% hawthorn and a choice of other species in bundles of 25s. See our website for details of our Rural Hedge Mix.

We can also supply single species of bare root plants depending on availability, telephone us or browse the website for details.

PLEASE TELEPHONE TO CHECK AVAILABILITY - SOME SPECIES NOW VERY LOW STOCK !

Please order in advance. We normally require 48 hours notice to prepare orders for collection. We are not normally able to pack orders for bare root plants while you wait except for small numbers on Saturday mornings - LAST SATURDAY 30TH MARCH!

Multi-stem Himalayan Birch

Are you looking for something special for your garden?

A semi-mature specimen tree or shrub? A plant for screening or topiary for style?

We have new stock in the nursery now:

For screening we have a large range of evergreen shrubs from 60cm tall to 3m including Photinia Red Robin, Laurels and fast growing conifers:

We also have 4-4.5m Eucalyptus and standard Ligustrum japonicum for above fence height evergreen screening. Do ask for advice regarding ultimate height of trees for your requirements. For screening at lower levels we have smart ready planted troughs of Photinia Red Robin:

New topiary in to stock include Taxus (yew) cones, balls, pyramids and spirals; Euonymus Bravo balls, half standard Pines and half standard Viburnum tinus Eve Price:

We have a range of Espaliers 1m wide by 2m high - ideal for making secluded seating areas and division in the garden - species include the fragrant Star Jasmine - Trachelospermum jasminoides which flowers in July - pair this with Ceanothus shrubs with blue flowers in May for successional spring and summer interest:

Star Jasmine & Ceanothus

There are many more beautiful specimens in stock - do visit us!

Now is an ideal time to prune apple trees - if you need to. Newly planted trees have usually been formatively pruned in the nursery and shouldn't need any pruning, however as trees get older pruning may be necessary and it is easier to assess the trees after leaf fall and prior to bud break.

The aim of any pruning will be to reduce the risk of pests and diseases from crowded conditions ; encourage growth of younger productive wood and the production of good quality fruit.

First remove any dead, diseased or damaged branches - particularly those damaged by apple canker.

Prune out any crossing branches that can rub.

Shorten previous year's growth on main branch tips by about a third.

Leave side branches (laterals) unpruned so they can develop fruit buds in the second year.

Remove strong shoots growing into the centre of the tree - aim for an overall 'goblet' shape.

On old trees thin out any fruit bearing spurs that are congested to about 15cm/6" apart.

and don't forget to clean your tools after use!