Improve your garden or allotment soil with compost!

April is a good time to add a layer of compost to your beds, borders and fruit and veg plots. To help you get your best plant and food yields!

Why should you use compost in your garden or allotment?

There are so many benefits to using compost. It:

🌱  Adds nutrients and organic matter to your soil

🌱  Improves fertility and yields

🌱  Increases your soil’s physical structure and its workability

🌱  Aids water and nutrient retention

🌱  Improves weak soils and helps to break down heavy clay soils

Should you buy compost or make your own?

This is really a personal choice and can depend on how much space and time you have!

If you have room in your garden you may want to give over a corner of it for a compost heap or compost bin.

It’s a really handy way to recycle a lot of food, household and garden waste. 

You can add things like:

From the garden: Grass and hedge cuttings, weeds and nettles.

From the house: Teabags, eggshells, fruit and veg peelings, paper and cardboard.

It will take at least a few months before your compost is ready to use so it’s not an instant solution!

You can, of course, buy your compost ready-to-use.

This saves having to have a compost heap or bin in your garden. Which is especially good if you don’t have much space.

You also don’t need to tend to the compost or wait until it’s ready to use. You can collect or have it delivered and use it straight away!

Where can you buy great quality compost in Essex & Suffolk?

Well, as it happens, here at Oakley Turf Farm, we supply a range of fantastic composts, including:

🌱  Compost

🌱  Organic Mushroom Compost 

🌱  Horse Manure

🌱  Farm Yard Manure

Our compost is certified to a high-quality standard and is great for plants, shrubs, fruit and vegetables.

You can buy yours here.

🌱  We’d love to see your photos of your plants grown with Oakley Turf Farm soil improvers! You can email them to us or leave us a review or tag us on our social media pages.

Happy Gardening!

Spring into action! March garden jobs and tips!

When the sun is shining, there’s no better place to be than in your own garden.

Whether you have a cottage garden, a backyard or several acres, you can make the most of your outdoor space.

Now is the perfect time to give your garden that all-important spring clean. It’s not just indoors that benefits from a bit of TLC this time of year!

And it’s something the whole family can get involved with.

Clean & tidy

🍂 Little ones can pick up any dead leaves and debris left over from autumn and winter.

While older ones can get stuck into the weeding.

Give them a little added incentive, by making it a competition to see who can pull up the most weeds in ten minutes! The winner gets an ice cream!

Make do & mend

🔨 Fix anything that’s broken. Falling fences, the sagging shed roof etc. so everything is safe and in good repair for the coming year.

🖌️ Smarten up and protect fences and sheds with a coat of paint/wood treatment.

🧽 Clean the greenhouse inside and out, if you’re not using it yet.

Beds & Borders

🌲 If you haven’t already, add a thick layer of mulch to your beds and borders when the ground is moist.

It suppresses weeds by stopping the daylight from reaching the ground.

Mulch also creates a thermal layer in hot and cold weather and protects plant roots. So while it suppresses weeds, it actually helps your other plants to grow! 🌷

You’ll still need to weed every now and then. But nowhere near as often as if you don’t use a mulch layer!

🌲 Our specially-produced bark chips are great to use on your beds and borders. They aid weed suppression and water retention.

Plant the seed

🍓 Sow sweet peas and plant summer flowers, vegetables, and fruit.

Lawn Care

🌱 If your lawn is looking a bit worse for wear after winter – DON’T PANIC!!

As the weather warms up in spring, lawns are great at repairing themselves.

We recommend giving lawns spring fertiliser. This will help them bounce back to life and prepare them well for the year ahead.

If any bare areas don’t repair themselves, add a small amount of seed and water it in.

🌱 If you’re laying a new turf lawn this year, spring is a great time to do it.

It’ll have time to establish strong roots and be healthy and strong when you come to use it much more in the summer.

It’s a good idea to add a layer of topsoil before you lay your turf, to keep your new lawn in great condition.

You can buy your turf and topsoil from us here.

Happy Gardening!

February gardening jobs and tips!

There’s not an awful lot of gardening to do in February. But there are always a few jobs and preparation for spring and summer that you can do!

Lawn Care

🌱 Try to keep off frosty or waterlogged grass as much as you can to avoid damaging it.

🌱 Gently rake leaves and debris such as twigs from your lawn regularly. If left, they can create brown patches and even spread lawn disease.

Don’t forget the lawnmower!

🌱 Keeping your lawnmower in good condition will help to keep your lawn in good condition too!

Have your mower serviced and the blades sharpened regularly.

A sharp blade will cut the grass cleanly. Unlike a blunt blade that will tear it, which can cause it to turn brown or yellow.

If you don’t have the tools to service your mower yourself, your local tool hire company can often do this for you.

Beds & Borders

🌲 Late winter or early spring (before the weeds start to grow) is the ideal time to add a thick layer of mulch to your beds and borders.

Lay mulch is when the ground is moist.

It suppresses weeds by stopping the daylight from reaching the ground.

Mulch also creates a thermal layer in hot and cold weather and protects plant roots. So while it suppresses weeds, it actually helps your other plants to grow! 🌷

You’ll still need to weed every now and then, I’m afraid. But nowhere near as often as if you don’t use a mulch layer!

🌲 Our specially-produced bark chips are great to use on your beds and borders to aid weed suppression and water retention.

Around the garden

✂️ Prune shrubs and climbers such as clematis, buddleia, hydrangea and roses.

🌷 Plant bulbs for summer flowers.

🌱 Sow sweet peas.

✔️ Prepare as much as possible now, so you can relax and enjoy your garden in the summer!

💐 And look out for daffodils and snowdrops, for the start of the stunning spring displays!

👀 Take a look around your garden for any other jobs to do when the weather warms up, such as lawn repairs. You can usually use grass seed to repair small damaged patches in your lawn. But for bigger areas, or an instant solution, new turf might be a better option.

Happy Gardening!

Beat the Winter Blues & look after your lawn in winter!

Beat the Winter Blues

The dark and cold of winter can sometimes leave us feeling a bit gloomy, can’t it?!

So it’s important that we Beat those Winter Blues!

🧣 Wrap up warm and get outside as much as you can, even if it’s only for 10 minutes at a time. The difference a bit of sunshine and fresh air can make to your mood and health is amazing!

🏡 Stroll around your garden to simply enjoy it and/or plan it for the year ahead. To really warm up you could do a spot of light gardening or tidying!

🐦 Keep bird feeders and water baths topped up and clean. It’s a tough time of year for our feathered friends!

🛍️ Go for a browse around your local town or village shops. You might grab a bargain in the sales!

🥾 Pack a hot flask and a spot of lunch and go for a walk in one of your favourite places.

🐦 Listen to the birds sing and watch nature doing its’ thing. It’s just as fascinating in winter!

⛄ If it snows where you are, get out there and build a snowman or two or go sledging!

📷 Take photos to remember your day (if you can bear to take your gloves off!).

☕ And don’t forget to warm up with a mug of hot chocolate afterwards!

Winter Lawn Care

There’s a chance we’ll wake up to a few more frosty mornings before winter is out!

❄️ If your lawn is frosty, try to stay off it as much as possible, as walking on it can cause damage.

🌱 When the frost clears, gently rake leaves and debris from your lawn so the sun can reach it.

❄️ Clear any snow from your lawn so the sun can reach it, and the snow won’t damage it.

Stay Safe

🧹 Keep paths and patios safe to walk on by removing slippery moss and slime.

❄️ Stock up on De-Icing Rock Salt for your paths, driveway or patio. You can buy yours on our website in small or bulk bags.

❄️ Remove snow from hedges and greenhouses etc to prevent it from causing any damage.

🌲 Lay a good layer of Bark Chippings on wet and muddy gateways or unmade paths. It helps to absorb the water and makes paths easier and safer to walk on.

Happy Gardening!

Prepare for the cold of winter – look after your garden and get it ready!

As winter draws nearer, the weather’s definitely getting colder (and wetter)!

So while we’re not spending as much time in the garden, it’s still good for us to get outside for the fresh air and exercise.

Whether you simply take a short stroll around your garden, go for a longer hike, wrap up warm and get out there to beat those Winter Blues!

And of course, there’s always something to keep you occupied in the garden!

Here are a few of our tips:

Keep it covered!

Protect the soil in empty vegetable patches or flower beds from losing valuable nutrients, by covering them with weed control fabric, plastic sheeting or flat cardboard boxes.

Stay colourful!

Add evergreen shrubs and winter-flowering plants. Winter pansies are great for this!

Look after the wildlife!

Food is scarce at this time of year for birds, hedgehogs and lots of other garden visitors.

Supply birds with fat balls, seeds and nuts.

Keep water fresh and check it daily to make sure it’s not frozen.

If you haven’t dead-headed seed heads yet – leave for insects to feed from and shelter in!

Make or buy a hedgehog house! Even a safe spot under the shed will do nicely for them to hibernate in. Fill with leaves to keep them warm.

Wrap up!

Wrap plants that are vulnerable in cold weather in cloches, frost fleece or bubble wrap.

If you’re still using your greenhouse for growing, fix a layer of bubble wrap to the inside of your greenhouse to help keep plants warm.

Be Prepared!

In the heart of winter, it’s almost inevitable that paths and driveways will be icy and slippery. Something that can be really dangerous!

Slipping over on ice first thing in the morning isn’t the best start to the day, is it?! 🤦‍♂️

Luckily for you, we can help!

❄️ We supply De-icing Rock Salt in small and bulk bags. Perfect for keeping garden (and public) footpaths and driveways safe.

Why not club together with neighbours on a bulk bag of Rock Salt to spread the cost AND the safety?!

❄️ We also supply Filled Sand Bags. They are the most traditional form of flood defence for properties.

If your home or business is in a flood-risk area, stocking up on sandbags is a really good idea!

After all, as any good Boy Scout will tell you, it’s better to Be Prepared!

Happy Gardening!