The BBQ season is well underway.  The whiff of charred sausages is hanging in the summer haze and men across Britain have claimed their place at the BBQ grill to begin their Bear Grylls pretensions!  I’ve already indulged in one too many burgers and a glass of Pimms (or two!).

However, it’s not just us that enjoy extra fuel during the summer months – plants need their own summer feast too!  Plants are able to make their own food by capturing the energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar.  But in order to stay healthy and give the best results, they take additional nutrients out of the soil or compost, so it’s important to provide them with supplementary fertiliser.  The basic nutrients required by plants are nitrogen (N) for leaf and stem growth, phosphorus (P) for root growth and potassium (K) for flowers, fruit and to maintain healthy growth.

Fertilisers are concentrated sources of plant nutrients, usually in compact form such as pellets, granules, powders or liquids.  They are used to improve plant growth and yields.

Here are our suggestions:

Good ‘All Rounders’:

Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food
The number one selling plant food that helps plants grow twice as big (versus unfed plants).  It has all the basic nutrients required by plants to help grow bigger, lusher plants with noticeably more blooms.  It’s a great ‘all rounder’ for bedding, shrubs and roses.  Feed every two weeks from March to September for stunning displays. Miracle Gro feed is available in different forms, the quickest to nourish your plants is Miracle-Gro water soluble).

Vitax Q4
Vitax Q4 is another well balanced fertiliser and is best applied after pruning to encourage healthy growth and flowers.  It’s a pelleted fertiliser that produces excellent results on fruit, vegetables, roses and shrubs.  Similar to Miracle-Gro, it contains all the vital plant foods and trace elements essential for vigorous growth, abundant flowering and ripening of fruit: Apply throughout the growing season.

Ideal for Bedding:
As an alternative to ‘Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food’, we also recommend:

Scotts Osmocote Tablets
A ‘slow release’ fertiliser – particularly good for bedding plants and other greenhouse crops.  The tablets are pushed straight into the compost and are ideal for use in tubs, containers and hanging baskets.  The controlled release of the nutrients means that they are not removed from the soil when watered.  The tablets contain extra trace elements to that container grown plants never run short of vital elements for healthy growth.   The controlled release action feeds plants for up to 6 months.

Perfect for Roses:
Roses are heavy feeders and thrive best in rich, fertile soil.  They will benefit from specific nutrients to help their growth to enable them to produce flowers.  We recommend:

Bayer Garden Toprose
Britain’s best-selling granular rose feed which boasts the perfect balance of nutrients for bright and beautiful roses and shrubs.  It also contains long-lasting nitrogen for balanced growth and Iron and Magnesium to guard against premature leaf drop.  We would suggest using in Spring after the roses have been trimmed back and then again when they have had their first flush of flowers.

David Austin Rose Food
This organic based rose food is specially formulated to release nutrients over a long period and as with the Toprose it contains essential trace elements to promote strong healthy growth and fine blooms.

All products mentioned are available in our store.

Happy feasting!