Nick Steele - Landscape Juice featured member - LJN Blog Posts

Plantsman, Nick Steele, is one of Landscape juice's earliest members having joining the site in April 2008. Based just outside Newport in Shropshire, Nick runs Barlow Nurseries with the help of his team, including Louise, Steve, security officer Boris the dog and Spot the chief mousing cat. Barlow Nurseries is a retail nursery growing much of what it sells on site...they maintain an impressive plant list. Barlow's offer a garden border design, supply and planting service - specialising in trees, shrubs, and hardy perennial garden plants, garden design consultant - covering Shropshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, West Midlands..in their own words they 'only the green stuff, no concrete wood or metal'. Barlow's blog is a good way to glean valuable information...not least how customers tick and it was fun reading the post recently about a client who wanted a Phormium after theirs died over the harsh winter but couldn't understand why Barlow Nurseries didn't want to stock them because they are so sensitiveness. Why not leave Nick a message?

Hi Nick, this feels a bit like this is your life but congrats on being featured member... I've been potting up and shaping yew seedlings for several years now... hoping one day to make something special with them – the bigger ones are OK but the smaller ones have succumbed to vine weevil – My most irritating insect to deal with is the lily beetle but at least I can see them - I thought these b****rd vine weevils only went for polyanthus and fuschias etc but I remembered you'd said once about their fondness for yew – I investigated and low and behold.... (last time I used a chemical it was to try and save my outdoor toms – copper fungicide) – but I've found an old bottle of Sybol in the shed and I've root drenched 'em all. Best wishes to you for a good year Nick.

"Personally I think it's gardeners time to cash in we've been cheap for to long and now that people are lazy we have the pick. I've got 9 big jobs on a waiting list for when I have a gap.not to mention all the small gardens I'm at £35hr now and…"

"I bought a no name petrol blower on eBay for £30 as temporary fix. I expected it to last 6 months but 2 years later it's still going strong. It's a copy of the Stihl Bg 56. You don't always get what you pay for. "

"Hat's off to you for persevering with them Graham. Surely one of the best aspects of British life is blokes patiently and skillfully fixing things in the shed. Sounds a nightmare product to me, whether it was a blower or something else, I wouldn't…"

Comments

pete May 17, 2010 at 8:37pm

Hi Nick, this feels a bit like this is your life but congrats on being featured member... I've been potting up and shaping yew seedlings for several years now... hoping one day to make something special with them – the bigger ones are OK but the smaller ones have succumbed to vine weevil – My most irritating insect to deal with is the lily beetle but at least I can see them - I thought these b****rd vine weevils only went for polyanthus and fuschias etc but I remembered you'd said once about their fondness for yew – I investigated and low and behold.... (last time I used a chemical it was to try and save my outdoor toms – copper fungicide) – but I've found an old bottle of Sybol in the shed and I've root drenched 'em all. Best wishes to you for a good year Nick.