Welcome to our web site nursery news

On these pages we update what is going on at the nursery, what we have for sale and keep you up to date on the seasons growing with monthly hints and tips.

For updates on the dates for 2026 see News about our Shows for 2026.

If trying trying ‘Grow your Own’ for the first time, don’t be put off by a failure. As we have always said, each year is different, so never be put off by a bad years results. There is always next year, gardeners are optimists. A seed is a perfect symbol – small, full of potential, and with the right care capable of growing into something wonderful, even in challenging times.

There is always our facebook page to check for daily updates and each monthly mail shots for more information on growing month by month.

As always the nursery is open for the collection of all your vegetable plants as the seasons progress.

All our plants are grown using John Innes compost which is loam based. We use biomass boilers to heat all our glasshouses and use predator’s or a natural spray to control unwanted garden pests rather than a chemical spray.

Plants sent by mail order are packed using recyclable material.

We are committed to following the advice from the experts to deliver the highest standards of safety and hygiene for our staff and customers.

Registered on the APHA list of distance plant sellers. Plant Passport No.20404

We regret we cannot send any plants to Northern Ireland or the EU. 

 

Available now at the nursery we have

 Our full range of new season vegetable seeds

Smaller varieties leek plants for over wintering.

  Chilli Pepper for greenhouses.

Range of Brassica, Lettuce, Herbs, Spinach, Chard and much, much more.

 

Summer planting potatoes available from Mid June to August,

to mature in time for new potatoes at Christmas.

 

July nursery opening times

Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm

Saturday and Sunday – CLOSED

 

Jobs in the garden for JULY here in the UK

Dear Gardeners

July is the month when we can finally enjoy the fruits of our labour. Time spent in the garden or allotment offers a welcome escape from the political world into a simpler, natural one that cares nothing for wars or ambitions. Gardeners are, by nature, optimists.

The first broad beans, tomatoes and potatoes are always a joy to pick. Here in the North West, July began cooler with a few welcome showers, but as gardeners we simply adapt to what we cannot control.

🌿 Jobs for July

Watering

Dry spells keep us busy. Early July rain gave a short break from watering pots, but consistency remains essential.

Key points:

• Water plants thoroughly. Little and often watering encourages shallow roots, worse than not watering at all.
• Newly transplanted crops need deep watering at the roots, not on the leaves.
• Exhibition vegetables benefit from watering early morning or late evening during hot weather.
• Lettuce struggles above 30°C. When sowing, keep trays outside; glasshouses and tunnels can be too hot.
• Indoor crops lose moisture quickly on sunny days, pots may need watering twice daily.
• Blossom End Rot on tomatoes is caused by irregular watering during fruit set. Increase watering during hot spells.

🌱 Sowing & Planting in July

There is still time to sow:

• Lettuce, parsley, spring onions
• Perpetual spinach, chard, kale, kohl rabi
• Turnip, radish, Florence fennel
• Oriental salads: rocket, pak choi, mizuna, etc.

Now is also the moment to sow autumn‑planting onions such as Toughball or Senshyu Yellow. You can also sow Durham Early Spring Cabbage and Autumn King carrots.

Autumn‑planting onion sets and seed garlic will be available from September.

Second‑crop (summer) potatoes can be planted from July to late August, either in the ground or in pots. Move them under protection if you want a Christmas harvest.

Overwintering vegetables Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Leeks, Brussels Sprouts can be planted until the end of August. Traditionally, once early potatoes are lifted, the bed is replanted with winter brassicas and leeks.

Unused bed? Sow phacelia as a green manure.

For all summer and autumn seeds and plants, visit our website or phone the nursery.

🧅 Harvesting Garlic, Onions & Potatoes

Garlic is coming ready:

• Lift carefully to avoid damaging bulbs.
• Remove dirty or damaged skins immediately.
• Clean down to a white or purple skin, soil left on will stain.

Onions and shallots finishing growth can be lifted, topped, and dried under cover. Take special care with Hative de Niort shallots, they bruise easily.

Potatoes can be harvested once flowering finishes and the tops begin to yellow and die back. If Blight appears, cut off the tops and remove them completely, they cannot be composted.

🐞 Pests in Midsummer

Aphids often appear in sheltered gardens and tunnels:

• Look for ladybirds and hoverflies. they may already be controlling them.
• Pyrethrum or soft soap can be used if needed, but both harm beneficial insects.
• A strong jet of water can wash aphids off effectively.

Check brassicas regularly for butterfly eggs. The Cabbage White is not yet a major problem this year, but will soon be in full flight.

🌸 Shows & Nursery Opening

Our next show is Chorley Show at Astley Park from July 31st to August 2nd.

For all show dates, visit the News About Our Shows page on our website.

The nursery is now closed at weekends, but open Monday to Friday, 10am–4pm for plants and seeds.

 

Whatever the rest of the year brings,

Take care and good gardening,

The Robinson’s

 

W Robinson & Son (Seeds and Plants) Ltd

‘The Home of the Mammoth Onion’

Sunny Bank, Forton, Preston

PR3 0BN

01524791210

www.mammothonion.co.uk

e:  [email protected]

facebook.com/mammothvegetables

 

 A pest solution.

Use this simple garlic repellent to deter garden pests like aphids and slugs. It can also help eliminate powdery mildew on foliage.

Peel the cloves from a whole head of garlic and put in a food processor or blender with 235 ml of water. Purée the mixture (this takes about a minute in a regular food processor). Alternatively, chop or crush the cloves as finely as you can by hand and mix well with the water.

Add a further 700ml of water to the mix, along with 30ml of any liquid soap. Blend again and then transfer to a clean jar.

Leave the mixture to steep overnight, or for at least 12 hours, so that the garlic can infuse the liquid with its potent sulphur compounds.

Once the mixture has had time to steep, strain it through a muslin cloth or fine mesh strainer to remove the solid garlic pieces (which would otherwise clog the nozzle on your spray bottle).

Pour the garlic-infused liquid into a reusable spray bottle and store in the fridge between uses.

Mist plants in the evening, holding the spray about 15-30cm away from the foliage, and cover both sides of the leaves with an even coating of the garlic pesticide spray. Re-apply every few days (and after any rainfall) when your plants are suffering with an infestation, or once a week as a deterrent.

Garlic has a reputation for warding off vampires but it’s also effective against smaller blood-sucking creatures such as mosquitoes.

Add two-three crushed fresh garlic cloves to a food grade oil such as sunflower oil and leave to infuse for 24 hours.

The following day, add 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice to the mixture, along with 500 ml water.

Strain the garlic, lemon and oil mixture through some muslin cloth or a fine mesh strainer to remove the pieces of garlic.

Transfer to a spray bottle and apply this natural repellent as needed to keep mosquitoes away.

 

Below is a guide for when to feed vegetables which we hope will be of help.

GENERAL RULES FOR FEEDING VEGETABLES.

All root vegetables…..  Never. If the ground is correctly prepared.

Brassica……    Never. If the ground is correctly prepared

Chilli Peppers….. When the fruit has started to set and swell well, never feed too early.

Courgettes, Marrows and Cucumbers…… When first picking starts.

Onions and Leeks……. Never. If the ground is correctly prepared.

Onions and Leeks for exhibition……. Never. If the ground is correctly prepared.  However they respond to a feed of Nitrate of Soda if a burst of growth is needed.

Peppers and Aubergines…….. When fruit is golf ball size.

Tomatoes under glass……. When the fruit on the first truss is pea size.

Tomatoes outdoors…….. When the fruit on the second truss is pea size.

NEVER FORGET PLANTS DON’T HAVE TEETH, THEY DO NEED WATER TO TAKE UP THE NUTRIENTS IN THE GROUND!  ALWAYS WATER THE GROUND WELL IN HOT DRY CONDITIONS.

 

W Robinson & Son (Seeds and Plants) Ltd

‘The Home of the Mammoth Onion’

Sunny Bank, Forton, Preston PR3 0BN

01524791210

www.mammothonion.co.uk         [email protected]

facebook.com/mammothvegetables