Garden Jottings from Ken
Ten years… impossible!
Ten years.. really?
Yes, it’s our tenth birthday, and we can’t believe how quickly it has passed.
I know in the big scheme of things it’s only a short space of time, but a decade… we must be doing something right.
Our customers know that they’ll find a wide range of plants here for all types of gardens, from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary, whether it’s trees, shrubs, perennials or seasonal bedding we’re here to help.
For instance super tough shrubs such as dark-leaved Sambucus ‘Black Lace’, and fragrant Viburnun carlcephalum (as sweet smelling as a daphne without the fuss), to specialist shrub choices such as Cornus florida and chinensis (‘flowering’ dogwoods with amazing petal-like bracts), Cercidiphyllum japonicum (its leaves fill the air with the smell of candy floss when they fall in the Autumn), or Piptanthus nepalensis (glossy leaves and black stems make an attractive backdrop for the bold yellow pea-like flowers in late Spring).
Almost all of our plants are sourced right here in East Anglia from dedicated nurserymen and women who grow an enormous selection of plants, which gives us the best quality at sensible prices, and means that if we haven’t got it in stock we may be able to find it for you.
For those of you who have been visiting since we opened, you’ll know that we pack a lot into a small space, and even as we have expanded over the years this hasn’t changed, more space has resulted in more choice to help you make the garden of your dreams.
Popular additions include timber arbours, and timber or metal arches, obelisks and trellis for beautiful climbers to scramble over or twine through. Blousy clematis, fragrant honeysuckles, exotic-looking kiwi, and wonderful wisterias will all put on a reliable show every year and are easy to grow (we supply grafted varieties of wisteria at flowering maturity so you won’t have to wait seven years or so for a blooming display!)
Alpine plants are once again in fashion, giving you the chance to enjoy some of nature’s more diminutive treasures. With plenty of varieties to choose from, these miniature wonders look fantastic planted in shallow bowls topped off with a layer of horticultural grit or small stones. Choose a few containers to make an arrangement, or really go for it and create a rockery using stone from our selection of rocks and boulders, surrounded by a decorative weed-suppressing shingle or slate mulch.
Plants are a bit like pets, they need to be looked after, provided with food and water, given shelter from the elements, and trained to keep them under control. Our shop is stocked with everything you need to keep them happy, tools and quality composts, fertilisers and chemicals, water butts and hoses, canes and ties, and more. As we all like our creature comforts we also stock bird food and pet supplies for our wild and not so wild friends, plus gifts, greetings cards, preserves, sweets and snacks for everyone else.
A big thank you to our customers for supporting us in our venture.
Ken and Angela
The Garden Enclosure, Banham – not just a garden centre, but a centre for gardeners!
