With Spring officially here from the 20th March, we visit Otley Garden Centre for some gardening inspiration for the season.
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00:00 I'm Andrew Bradley, I'm the garden centre manager here at Otley Garden Centre, part
00:06 of Yorkshire Garden Centre Company.
00:07 It's coming into our busy time of year now, coming up to spring.
00:11 We've had a big move around and a big push to get set up for spring, setting up garden
00:17 furniture, barbecue area, getting all our plants seen, bulbs.
00:22 It's coming into our really busy time of the year now.
00:25 My name's Chris Jubb, I'm the outdoor manager here at Otley Garden Centre.
00:29 We're just on the edge of having a really good season really, with the weather just
00:36 on the turn hopefully.
00:37 You can just tell that all the gardeners are just waiting to get out into the garden, just
00:42 because it's been so wet.
00:43 Everyone's coming in for sand, compost, mainly into pots just because the ground's so wet
00:48 at the minute.
00:49 So we're just at that edge of getting all the plants in now, ready for them to start.
00:54 Ideally I'd probably always start with just test your soil, that's the number one thing
00:59 - see what you've got, if it's clay, chalky or anything really.
01:03 And you can work from there on.
01:04 You can always come down, speak to any member of staff outside, just tell us what your soil's
01:08 like, and we can always advise what plants you want to plant really.
01:12 It's coming into more of the propagation season now, so it is sowing your seeds and planting
01:16 your seeds.
01:17 Tomato plants have just arrived in just last week, so it's about getting your tomato plants
01:23 out, your veg plants, and start growing them in your greenhouses.
01:26 It's a perfect time of year now to get your rhododendrons into pots, or we've got plenty
01:32 of ericaceous soil to pot them in, so yeah, it's a perfect time.
01:38 Just as they're budding up now, so planting them up's not a problem.
01:43 As a rule of thumb, ideally twice the size of the pot that it's in, and then as long
01:47 as it's in ericaceous soil, we can mix in some ericaceous feed with it as well, like
01:51 a slow-release fertiliser, and plenty of drainage at the bottom as well.
01:56 Just got these ones in, and you can just start to see them budding up now, so this year,
02:01 definitely early time spring, you'll see them in flower, full flower, and then you get the
02:07 evergreen foliage afterwards, so it's a great plant for a pot in a space, really.
02:13 I think for those who are wanting to get back out into the garden, especially new gardeners,
02:20 start slowly, get everything neat and tidy, get some nice new soil compost in there, get
02:27 some nutrients in there, and don't be afraid to give anything a go, really.
02:32 We've got some beautiful primroses that have just come in last week, we've got some beautiful
02:38 hardy plants if you struggle to look after your plants in your garden, we've got a great
02:45 team out there, so don't be afraid to ask a question.
02:49 There's no other better job, really, you're outside, I mean, you sometimes don't say that
02:53 too much when it's snowing, but you've got to clear the car park, but other than that,
02:58 it's a great, you know, you can't go wrong with the chevron in the background as your
03:02 office window.