Harrod Horticultural Cream of the Crop in 2011

Superior products to grow your own

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

For 2011 Harrod Horticultural has an impressive line up of new and improved products and some of those shall be made mention of below:

The wise gardener is always looking ahead and there isn’t a better place to kick-start gardening plans than with Harrod Horticultural’s new inspirational catalog which is full of innovative and exclusive product for long lasting solutions.

Mini Allotments on the Patio

2011 Cream of the Crop_page1_image5 After being inundated with customer demand in 2010 the exclusive, in-house designed and manufactured range of Timber Patio Planters has evolved even further!

Using 55 years of manufacturing experience, finest quality materials and workmanship they are built for long lasting use – not to be mistaken with cheap imitations!

2011 Cream of the Crop_page1_image6New for 2011 is the Mini Manger (GPL-695) which together with the existing Maxi Manger (GPL-700) offers a deep centre and shallow sides for growing a variety of crops, all at waist height.

Something that is also enables people with disabilities, even those using wheelchairs, to grow some food themselves, and pottering about in the soil with their own hands, without having to get down to the ground.

The popular Freestanding Ladder Vegetable Garden (GPL-708) is now joined by the compact Lean-to Ladder Vegetable Garden (GPL-711), that secures to any wall or fence. If space for a freestanding one is at a premium this may just be a solution and I am sure there could be a number of walls and fences where such a Len-to Vegetable Garden would fit the bill.

Then there’s the new Mini A-Frame Vegetable Garden that would look perfect sitting alongside its big brother, the Maxi A Frame Vegetable Garden. A variation on the space saving growing theme, it too is complete with removable trays and has the added advantage of optional seed trays and propagating lids for all year round growing.

Reliable Protection

There are new crop protection ranges for Timber Patio Planters, Timber Raised Beds and for the open ground too.

These include Harrod Horticultural's fitted hoops, tubing frames and cover kits for the Timber Patio Planters and Raised Beds, which now include Butterfly Netting and a greater range of sizes than ever before.

On the open ground, a 1.5m high Vegetable Cage Kit has been introduced with tubing frame, build-a-ball connectors and is supplied with a sheet of soft butterfly netting. It’s the ideal height for brassicas and is available in sizes from 1m x 1m up to 6m x 5m.

If you have problems with pigeons, like many of us have, this is a definite must for growing any kinds of cabbages and members of the brassica family. Otherwise your cabbages, kale and Brussels will end up in the squab and not in you.

Meanwhile, for those who might appreciate not having to wrestle with excess netting, cage kits with fitted stitched covers that are a real time saver for accessing the plot. Available in soft butterfly and insect mesh, they’re of high quality and there are kits to fit an area from 1m x 1m up to 2.2m x 1m.

To maintain the “high quality, low price” status of the heavy duty netting range, even more saver packs have been introduced to the bird, butterfly and now on the super strong knotted range too. With the 5 new galvanized steel hoop sizes it’s easy to create high and wide cloches!

Getting seeds off to a flyer

Get the soil and the plants in shape with a healthy diet by using Harrod Horticultural's extended, well balanced feed and fertiliser range that is sure to optimize yields – all organic, of course.

Then there’s the exclusive Timber Cold Frame (GDN-444), with all the hallmarks of Harrod Horticultural quality – chunky, thick pressure treated timber and long lasting fixings – with a hinged lid and thick twin walled UV stabilised polycarbonate glazing that creates the ideal growing environment. Great for the open ground and ideal for securing to the top of 4ft square raised beds too! But make sure you do anchor such a frame well. I have had one take off in string winds, and getting smashed to pieces. If you want to use it in a more or less permanent position for starting off plants in plugs or pots, I suggest fixing it to a transport pallet – those that can be found thrown away all over.

2011 Cream of the Crop_page1_image3 If space in your garden restricts the purchase of a greenhouse why not consider an inflatable version? Ideal for seasoned gardeners or enthusiastic beginners alike, the Inflatable Greenhouse is a perfect temporary solution – great as an overflow – and doubles as a portable cold frame to achieve year round controlled growing conditions.

They look very “interesting”, for lack of a better word, but again I would suggest to find a way of grounding it securely if you do not want it to toke off during strong winds, literally.

2011 Cream of the Crop_page1_image2Another new item for this year is the other highly original use for their timber raised beds – Raised Bed Pond Kits (GDN-553). It is a great a way to transform an empty garden space into an attractive pond feature in a matter of hours, and it also adds great wildlife space to your garden. You could even, maybe, grow watercress in it. 

Get hold of the catalog or visit the website at http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/ and have a look. I am sure you will be able to find something that you just have to have for your garden.

© 2011

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.