Hortiservices Landscapes

Hortiservices Landscapes Specialist landscapers creating beautiful, functional gardens and outdoors spaces across South Cambr

This bespoke outdoor kitchen in English Oak is coming together nicely. Butler sink and plumbing to add and some little e...
28/05/2021

This bespoke outdoor kitchen in English Oak is coming together nicely. Butler sink and plumbing to add and some little extra details

10/04/2020

OK so I promised a section on pest control. There are so many so I'm going to start by most common and in season's order (i.e. The ones you're most likely to encounter as year progresses) I'll keep it veg related and split across posts.

Greenhouses/indoors :
Slugs/snails: look for slimy trails and chewed plants, they'll hide during the day so look under seed trays, pots etc or go out with a torch in the evening. Just one of these can damage lots of seedlings.
Damping off: refer to my previous post, prevention is really the best way
Glasshouse/spider mites: examine plants especially older leaves for discoured areas of what should otherwise be a health green colour, look under the leaves at these patches. If you see tiny moving yellowy or orangey coloured creatures order in biological control right away (I find this is generally the most effective method) . Lots of suppliers around just look up Phytoseulius. There are also some sprays available some organic based and some non-organic options. Most work by contact action so repeat sprays coating all surfaces of the plant are required. Follow label directions carefully!
Whitefly: look for discoloured spots/dots or patches on healthy leaves or tiny white flying iscects when plants are disturbed. Sticky patches or sooty mold can also be a sign. Biological control and sprays are available. Again follow all directions carefully.

Outdoors:
Slugs and snails: look for chewed leaves and slime trails especially after warm damp evenings. There are organic iron based slug baits available as well as water in biolocal control based on nematodes that mean risk to beneficial animals is negligible. A few slugs can cause major damage to young seedlings so prevention better than cure. Be wary of traps as non target creatures can be caught. For pots copper bands can help. If using standard pellets use very sparingly.
Pigeons/deer/rabbits: cover your crops with fine insect netting, horticultural fleece and/or use a fence (pigeons obviously laugh at fences and deer use low fences as exercise ;)
White butterflies: these are likely to be a late spring and summer issue on all your brassicas (broccoli and cabbage family) look for ragged holes in the middle of the leaves and presence of caterpillars or 'frass' caterpillars droppings!
Prevention best using insect netting or fleece, make sure any holes are closed the butterflies get in through than a 5p coin size or bigger. If using plastic netting with slightly wider holes support it above the plants with lots of room to grow...butterflies wil reach though to lay eggs and leaves are touching these type of netting its too easy for them. They can't lay eggs through fleece or fine insect netting.

That's it for now my 'granny typing' can't handle more! Obviously tonnes more pests but these are the most serious and worth doing daily inspections of your plants. Any questions just drop me a line. Happy to cover any others and on other plants to just let me know.

So for some our little seedling are pushing their way through the soil and its very exciting. Some seed we have to be mo...
09/04/2020

So for some our little seedling are pushing their way through the soil and its very exciting. Some seed we have to be more patient with. Here are few more tips on working with seed to maximise success.
1. To get the best start in life and grow away 'unchecked' it's important to provide as even, stable growing conditions as possible during germination and the young seedling stages. Propagators (pic below) are useful and not difficult to make your own. Because they trap heat and moisture the seeds germinate quickly and grow away well (I find placing a seed tray in a standard white plastic shopping bag and tying the handles works well for seeds and cuttings). A spot that stays evenly warm 15 to 18c is mostly recommended. Sunny window sills can work if they don't get too warm. Light is very important once seeds germinate to put them in the brightest spot with natural light possible as soon as signs of germination appear. A place I have found my worst seedling failures is a 'cold greenhouse' i. e. An unheated greenhouse. The reason being the extreme fluctuations in temperature: heat in the day and serious cold at night if it gets frosty. Controlling ventilation and using shading to reduce heat on sunny days and using heating or lots of protective fleece, bubble wrap etc in evenings or cold days will help. It's a pain but only for a few weeks!
2. Watering: aim for evenly moist, too wet and seeds rot, too dry and they shrivel before they can grow strong. Use clean tap water! Water butt's are fine for larger plants generally (exceptions are the tender vine family e.g. All the cucumbers, melons, pumpkins etc) but they can harbour 'damping off diseases' fungi or bacteria which attack young seedlings and cause them to just fall over and rot away. Over watering is another factor that encourages damping off.
3. Clean compost: reusing old compost can encourage problems with pests like tiny slugs and snails, vine weevil and damping off problems etc so avoid reusing if you can. If you have to then set up your seed tray as usual before seeding but pour boiling water over the compost very carefully and allow to drain and cool before sowing. Don't add more compost later unless it too has been treated.
4. Clean containers: always clean tools, propagators and containers for use with seed to avoid problems described above.
5. Artificial light: where natural light is difficult these can be helpful. Modern led grow units have become easy to find and are easy to use nowadays. These can be very successful you may have seen giant futuristic indoor growing facilities on TV where plants are grown just using this technology.
Happy growing everyone! Pest control next. This is a big area though so will cover them in order of likely relevance during the season.

07/04/2020

Loads of people have started growing veg, herbs etc. A whole bunch of you who've never done this are going to discover a brilliant secret... Nothing tastes better than superfresh veg! Loads of science behind this but partly because volatile flavours are often lost really quickly after picking. There's tonnes of info in books and online. Allotments, experienced friends etc would always be happy to share but people obviously distancing now which hampers this. To help avoid some easy beginner mistakes thought I'd share some of my hopefully helpful tips especially regarding seed as these are bit slower and possibly harder to get hold of right now so I'll concentrate here:

1. Seed tends to lose ability to germinate once packs are opened. Warmth and moisture are the enemy. Fold seed packets over carefully to exclude air and moisture and keep them in a cool dry environment. Old fashioned film cannisters work well but tupperware etc good. Save silica gel packs to put in tlwith seed and store airtight containers in the fridge or a very cool room (not the freezer though! ). The worst offenders are the carrot family so parsnips, parsley, dill, etc are best not kept over but bought fresh and used up.
2. To prevent a glut and wastage plant short rows, every 3 weeks or so.
3. Invariably we always plant 'a few extra' as percentage of seeds planted don't germinate for lots of reasons but that often means we end up with more plants than we need. Arrange a plant swap with friends and family as someone always likes to try something new, forgot to grow something or had a seed failure.
4. Top varieties to plant now: all the roots and cabbagy stuff (they are called the Brassica family) eg. Broccoli, caulis etc. Wait till mid May for tender stuff like sweetcorn, squash, beans etc as they grow quick but late frost is very damaging and disheartening. If you run out of space and have to get them outside use a double layer of horticultural fleece!

Next I'll focus of pest problems as lots you can do now to help avoid and also interesting ways of growing veg for those without space, lack or light etc. If you think of bits you want me to cover just shout.

Feel free to add your own and I'll post back here as I remember more! Happy planting 👍

24/03/2020

Dear Clients are seeking further clarification regarding the government announcement last night about only travelling for essential work and which of our services are to be considered 'essential'. We are temporarily suspending service today and will confirm as soon as we are confident about the right way forward. The safety of clients, staff and families is our first priority. Thank you.

20/03/2020

Hi All
Self isolating is going to be a really common thing. After 4 days for me already it's highlighted the importance of activities that engage us physically and mentally.
Gardening is the activity equivalent of a superfood!
Everyone can enjoy getting outside into gardens and there are tonnes of benefits. Sunshine on your skin makes vitamin D and makes you feel good. Physical activity and all the benefits of that are really well studied and known but really importantly the huge mental benefit we get from the achievements little and big in nurturing plants and life outdoors are immeasurable.
You don't have to be a gardener or ever have gardened before to do it and start benefitting right away. Mow the lawn, sweep the patio, do some weeding, plant some veg seeds, put up a bird feeder or make a bat/bug/bird box, feel free to add your ideas to this post and circulate to everyone!
Don't have a garden at home? There are lots of community spaces you can use, allotments etc. Our local allotments have plots free, our community garden needs people.
For more ideas there is loads online, via gardening clubs, speak to your local garden centre and you must know someone who gardens already. Gardeners love to share tips etc and help out.
If I can help answer question or if you want to chat I'm here!

Awards have started early on our table! We'll done Mike and thank you Bradstone.
13/03/2020

Awards have started early on our table! We'll done Mike and thank you Bradstone.

12/03/2020

Starting an E-weeding service for self isolating clients soon. Get some decent gardening gloves and Whatsapp video me and I'll guide through which ones to pull up and which ones should stay 😉

10/02/2020

Dear Clients
Please bear with us while we try to attend to urgent storm damage enquiries. Some tips in the meantime. If fence panels are down and no immediate threat to security or privacy leave them down rather than propping them temporarily in case of further winds. If security is a problem please let us know.
In the case of partly downed trees of broken hanging broken branches it's best to avoid going near these!
Many thanks
Robert Smit

Honoured to win a coveted Marshalls award in the regional finals! Well done to our teams for continued high quality work...
10/02/2020

Honoured to win a coveted Marshalls award in the regional finals! Well done to our teams for continued high quality work and great attention to detail.

20/11/2019

Just wanted to share the great buzz we're feeling this morning!

It was an honour for our team to stand alongside other winners of ProLandscaper 'Small Project, Big Impact' awards at Futurescape yesterday. When we heard HortiServices Ltd won the award for the Hard Landscaping category the feeling was indescribable . Thank you to the organisers, judges and everyone who supported the event and we hope to see you again next year at the new Excel venue.

https://www.prolandscapermagazine.com/auto-draft/

I shall endeavour to get pics out this afternoon or tomorrow!

12/11/2019

Anyone heading to Futurescape on Tuesday?

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