Gardening Advice

Seasonal gardening guide in Preston near Hull

Get high-quality gardening supplies and equipment from Sandhill Garden Centre. Visit us for some useful and interesting seasonal gardening tips and advice.

Keep your garden great-looking all year

Top ten tips for January
  • Get rid of the Christmas tree and recycle it by shredding it for mulch
  • Repair and reshape lawn edges! Use Sandhill Garden Centre vouchers and treat yourself to an edging knife to make it easier
  • Prune back those apple and pear trees
  • Start forcing rhubarb
  • Remember to feed the birds. Pay Dave a visit in his Garden Care department for the best in bird care
  • Now’s an ideal time to plant fruit trees and bushes. View our range on our planteria today
  • Get rid of aphids, apple suckers and scale insects by applying a fatty acid-based winter wash to dormant fruit trees. Visit Julie for advice
  • Beware of leaving houseplants next to windowsills on frosty nights. Move them, especially if they sit behind curtains
  • Plant your roses and bare-rooted hedging plants
  • Be sure to brush any excess snow from branches after heavy fall. This will avoid splayed branches and damage

Top ten tips for February
  • Check out our range of high quality ‘Thompson and Morgan’ vegetable seeds, ready to be sown under cover this month
  • Chit potato tubers
  • Keep an eye on your winter flowering plants and prune those which have finished for the year
  • Divide up bulbs and plant those that need it
  • Protect any blossom on apricots and nectarines.
  • Keep pesky birds away from your veg crops with suitable netting
  • Prune your wisteria
  • Keep unruly hardy hedges in check with a good prune!
  • It’s now possible to start laying turf, provided the ground is not too wet or frozen
  • Keep an eye out for downy mildew on winter pansies and remove any affected leaves

Top ten tips for March
  • Look forward to great salads, stews and pies, fresh from your garden! Plant your shallots, onions and early spuds this month
  • It’ll be here sooner than you think! Plan your vibrant colours and warm aromas now by planting summer-flowering bulbs
  • Bring your fish out of their winter blues! Crank up the fountain, switch off your heater and start feeding them again. Little and often is best to avoid algal blooms
  • If you forgot to plant any new fruit trees, don’t panic! You still have early March to get them established
  • Bug Hunt! Check your soft fruit for aphid infestation. Check our range of pesticides and ask Dave for advice for larger infestation
  • Time to tidy up that allotment and get your veg sown! Don’t forget, sweet peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, aubergines, celery, salads, and globe artichokes need to be in a frost free environment, preferably a greenhouse
  • Keep pests at bay, the natural way! Attract wildlife to your garden with our range of birdcare and wildlife habitats.
  • Check out our stock of herbaceous perennials! Now’s a great time to get them planted
  • Check your houseplants! Pot up if they’ve become pot-bound
  • Plant your rose bushes this month. Avoid replant disease by steering clear of previously used areas

Top ten tips for April
  • If you're looking for a ready-to-use spray such as Weedol, or preventative fabrics. We’ve got plenty in stock!
  • Now’s the ideal time to sow any hardy annuals or herb seeds. For herbs etc, start them off on your windowsill and for your annuals, pots or modules are ideal to provide colour in the garden
  • Our weather is nothing if not unpredictable! Bear this in mind with fruit blossom trees, and protect them from late frosts. Check our range of Tenax off-the-roll fleeces
  • Growing is thirsty work! As the temperature rises, the more your house/conservatory plants drink. Keep them well watered
  • After a long, hard winter, your lawn will be in a state of disrepair! Tend to any bare patches or sow a new lawn
  • Shrubs and roses will need a good feed if they’re to bloom this year! Ask John for his advice. Our Levington Rose Tree and Shrub Compost is ideal!
  • Don't panic! It’s not too late to plant your container grown fruit trees or bushes! Just ensure the ground isn’t too wet or frozen
  • Don't panic! 2.0 It’s not too late to plant your container grown deciduous hedging plants, shrubs and trees
  • Plant your shallot, garlic and onion sets
  • Pot up any plants that are in danger of becoming pot bound

Top ten tips for May
  • Summer’s here, you have your shorts on, the barbecue on stand-by, and Mungo Jerry playing on your stereo. Now prepare for a good hard frost to spoil the lot. Be mindful of our erratic weather, and keep tender plants protected with our various fleeces and plant protection. 
  • Keep your garden weed free! Visit Julie, and ask him for advice on our range of garden hoes, or for tips on the best weed control chemicals!
  • Not that there’ll be too many, but watch out for warmer days this month. Make sure your greenhouse is well ventilated, keep your plants cool!
  • Check those lawn-mowers and sharpen those blades, get ready for your jungle adventure! Mow lawns weekly, to avoid showing the kids your best David Bellamy impression. Dave and Alistair are on hand to offer friendly advice (on lawn-mowers, not monkeys and snakes)
  • Dried fruit is pointless and ugly! Keep your crops moist, see John for the best advice on Mulches for your roots
  • They’re slow, they’re slimy, and they’ll eat anything they come across. Nope, you’re not at the in-laws you’re in your back garden, and slugs are destroying your displays! See Dave for our range of pest control products!
  • It rains all year, but still there’s a hosepipe ban. Luckily, you’ve seen Dave and bought a brand new Sankey Water-Butt, and have plenty of recycled rain to keep your hanging baskets looking their best!
  • Keep an eye on newly planted trees and shrubs. Keep them well watered throughout dry spells
  • To avoid brown, hard lawns, apply a high nitrogen lawn fertiliser for lush, green growth
  • We know they can’t open fridge doors, or order a pint from the local, but it’s a little known fact that birds also cannot suck through straws for tasty Ribena or other fruit based drink. Keep them happy and straw-free, with a well topped up birdbath. See John on our planteria for our range of ornamental masonry!

Top ten tips for June
  • Keep Bill, Ben and all the Flowerpot Men at bay! Hoe borders regularly to keep weeds down!
  • Pinch out troublesome side-shoots on tomatoes
  • Don’t let the horizontal rain and sleet fool you, it is summer, honest! Place your hanging baskets and containers outside this month
  • Keep your lawns neat and tidy, mow them at least once a week
  • Visit our Nursery Retail department for the best-in-summer bedding plants!
  • Prune back your spring flowering shrubs
  • Get your Greenhouse Sized Ray-Bans out and keep your plants cool! It will also prevent scorching, so use either a good shade paint or fabric
  • To avoid a scene from Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’, net soft fruit as they begin to ripen. This will protect them from our avian friends with a sweet tooth
  • Keep an eye on houseplants; ensure they are watered regularly this month
  • For a tasty alternative to Candy Floss, use a rough stick to twirl around the blanket weed in your pond. The kids may not be your best friend for a while, but at least your pond will be in tip-top condition

Top ten tips for July
  • Keep tubs and new plants watered
  • Dead head any bedding plants or repeat-flowering perennials. This will ensure continuous flowering
  • Clear your ponds of nasties such as algae, blanket weeds and debris
  • Your lawns will be starving! Give them a quick acting summer feed. This will also help any lawns stripped of nutrients, should they have spent any time under-water
  • Take advantage of the dry weather this month. Apply a quality wood-preserver or paint
  • Treat aphid infestation early. Watch out for signs of white, fluffy coating on apple and pear trees, and ask Dave for advice on the best in pest control
  • Keep down weeds by mulching around borders. A thick layer of around 2 -3 inches works best
  • Mow regularly, but take care not to mow sodden or very wet grass as this may affect your mower
  • Should the sun make an appearance this month, avoid scorching by treating your greenhouse to an extra big pair of sunglasses. If Vision Express is sold out, visit our store for shade paints and fabrics
  • Top-up water features where necessary

Top ten tips for August
  • Regularly deadhead flowering plants
  • Record rainfall levels, floods, national disaster. You can therefore guarantee a hose pipe ban come mid-August. Keep your plants (esp. containerised) well watered, using recycled water where possible. Visit us in store for advice on the best in water recycling methods
  • Ponds will dry up quickly; ensure they are topped-up when necessary
  • Harvest Sweetcorn or other veg as they become ready
  • Continue to pick summer fruits. Send any surplus here to Steve, who’ll find a great home for them. Failing that, freeze them for making jams or jellies!
  • Deal with perennial weeds during active growth. Any product containing glyphosate is best. Be sure to protect surrounding plants with plastic sheeting until the spray dries, as glyphosate isn’t selective
  • In the searing heat of this glorious summer, be sure to keep your greenhouse well ventilated. Plants will suffer if not
  • Where has the year gone! It’s time to give those hedges a final trim, the cold weather will hold up any growth throughout the winter
  • Keep your ponds clear of blanket and duck weed, using a net or rake. Be sure to leave the pile by the pond for 24 hours, to give any wildlife chance to get back into the pond
  • Protect fences and garden structures with a quality preservative

Top ten tips for September
  • It’s that time of year again! Net up ponds before the leaves start to fall, to minimise the waste in your water feature this year. 
  • Be aware that new plants will still need watering
  • A short back and sides please! Give your evergreens a final trim before autumn
  • Harvest your apples and blackberries for use in pies etc. Freeze any excess, and avoid wasting any crops
  • A fly without wings is a walk, but a moth without wings is still a moth, and still a pest. Fix grease bands to the trunks of trees, to deter these pests
  • This is a great time of year to plant perennials! Visit John in the Planteria for our best range
  • Choose from our wide range of Spring Flowering bulbs from the reputable W.P.C. Prins, and plant by mid-September for best results!
  • Toughen up that lawn for the long winter ahead! Perhaps avoid bench presses and sit-ups - Autumn Lawn food will do!
  • Keep your birdbaths clean and topped up
  • Nothing’s more evil, than a hungry vine weevil! This is the best time of year to apply Biological Controls. Visit Dave in the Garden Care department for advice

Top ten tips for October
  • Cut back any perennials that have died down
  • As the nights draw in and the coats come out of the closet, move tender plants, including aquatics, into the greenhouse.
  • Visit Dave to see about ordering seeds for next year
  • Don’t forget to mow your lawn for the last time before the weather turns!
  • Pluck the best fruit from your apple and pear trees, for eating and storing. Remember to only store unblemished fruit to avoid rotting
  • Visit John or Alistair to order your fruit trees and bushes
  • Be sure to plant your new trees as soon as the autumn weather sets in
  • Visit our Garden Care department for our range of W.P.C. Prins bulbs, ideally planted now! N.B: Remember to leave tulips until November!
  • The tepid weather and moist soil is ideal for planting herbaceous perennials!
  • Don’t forget the wildlife this month! As the weather gets colder, food becomes scarce! Have a look at our range of Tom Chambers Bird Care, and keep your chicks fat this autumn!

Top ten tips for November
  • Give Dave a visit in our Tools and Garden Equipment Department. He’ll advise you on the best methods of clearing fallen leaves from ponds and lawns this year
  • Look forward to the best in Spring Flowering, and plant your Tulip bulbs this month. Dave will guide you around our array of W.P.C. Prins varieties!
  • Winter Bedding is ideally planted out this month
  • Keep your Greenhouse Insulated with our range of Tenax Bubble Wrap and fleeces!
  • Keep pesky Winter Moths at bay by applying grease bands around the trunks of fruit trees
  • Select the best from our range of Tom Chambers Bird Feed, and keep our feathered friends full this winter!
  • Ask John for advice on the best in mulches, and apply to fruit trees and bushes
  • Keep an eye out for next years seed catalogues, and plan ahead for your spring and summer flowers and veg!
  • Once the cold weather sets in, avoid feeding your outdoor fish
  • Now’s a great time to install garden lighting, water pipes and drainage! Or plan ahead for next years

Top ten tips for December
  • Check greenhouse heaters are working O.K
  • Avoid leaks and frozen fish (not the supermarket variety) by preventing the freezing of standpipes and ponds.
  • Prune your outdoor apple and pear trees
  • Don’t forget, you’ve still got chance to plant and replant your deciduous shrubs and trees!
  • Reduce the watering of your houseplants accordingly
  • Come and see our wide range of soft fruit shrubs, it’s the best time of year to plant your Gooseberries and Currants!
  • Control any unwanted creepy-crawlies by applying a suitable winter wash to dormant fruit trees
  • Revitalise your veg plots with some digging over and adding soil improvers
  • Plant your roses now!!! Don’t miss Valentine's Day!
  • Make sure your garden larder is well stocked. Hang bird feeders and keep bird baths topped up and frost free
Our departments

Helping you become a proud gardener

At Sandhill Garden Centre, our love for plants drives us to provide top class service for gardeners in the East Yorkshire area. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced gardener, our expert staff will help you to get started with great gardening advice and up-to-date news.
Gardening
Looking for gardening advice? Speak to our experts in Preston, near Hull. Contact Sandhill Garden Centre. Call us now on
01482 898 370
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