Our first visit to the Newark Garden Show

You’ll know that I like a garden show or two. Along with MOH I’ve been to Gardeners’ World Live a few times, and we’ve also been to the Chelsea Flower Show too, so when I saw that Newark had its own Garden Show I was keen to go along and see what it had to offer.

The show took place last weekend at the Newark Showground, and we went along on the Friday. The weather wasn’t its best (no surprises there - it’s not been its best for a while has it?), but armed with footwear for muddy paths (which weren’t needed) we were prepared. It wasn’t my first time at Newark Showground, as I’d been along to the Newark Quilt Show in January there too. The garden show was on a different section of the showground and with more exhibitors and mostly outside it took up more space too.

We pre-paid for our tickets online and while there was the opportunity to purchase tickets on the door when we arrived, I’m not sure if this would be the same on the most likely busier weekend days. Entry seemed a bit chaotic and somewhat relaxed, but as it was the first day I’m sure that improved.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as the information ahead of our visit was sparse; a list of exhibitors would have been useful though not having this clearly didn’t stop us attending!

Plants galore

As soon as we entered the show we were faced with plants galore - what struck me though was how reasonable their prices were. We spotted some pretty decent sized (but not huge) olive trees for around £60 - an absolute bargain. But as we’re not in the market for an olive tree we moved on pretty quickly before we were tempted.

Actually we weren’t in the market for much on this visit. We were keen to continue our research into garden furniture, and to generally be inspired. We definitely left with inspiration for our future garden plans, but that was mostly plants and sculptures rather than furniture based - and we left with a couple of plants for the patio too, but more on those later.

I’m a big fan of lupins, and have tried several times to grow them successfully in my last garden. However it wasn’t to be, I think because we had so many snails and slugs, and to be honest it wasn’t worth the effort and disappointment, as just when I thought we’d be ok, the local slimy population enjoyed their feast. However I’m nothing if not persistent, and with a new garden which seems to have significantly less lupin destroyers, I’m trying again. This time though I’m trying with two of these bigger plants, which are now on the edge of our patio - wish me luck, and let’s hope that these lupins don’t act as calling cards for the local slugs and snails which so far have been giving our garden a wide berth! I’ll let you know how it goes in my regular monthly garden updates.

A plant trend to watch for?

One stand we visited had the Mother Plants and its seedlings on display, which was something I’d not seen before but it was an approach I liked - as there right in front of you was the inspiration to purchase and care for the seedling, showing you what you could aim for. Given the notices on each mother plant I suspect a fair few people would like to skip the nurturing stage and take home a larger plant, but the smaller plants are clearly more preferable pricewise.

That’s not the trend though, I also spotted quite a few fiery flowered plants, whether the flowers were deep oranges, reds or yellows I wonder if this is a plant trend to watch for this year. Only time will tell, but it’s a plant trend I could get on board with!

Going large with plants and garden ornaments

It was harder to leave this red leafed banana plant though - at just £50 it was a bargain. It’s a beauty isn’t it?

I know MOH is a fan of more exotic plants, and I've a tentative idea forming for our future garden plans, but we’d seen this too early for us. I’ve noted it mentally (and now here too) as something to build into our plans, and the Newark Show as a future source for this and other plants, but not just yet. I want a bit more time getting to know our garden and how we’ll use it before working out what to do in our new space - and for this summer I’ve set ourselves the target of working that out, much to MOH’s amusement.

I fell for the iron garden ornaments. That wasn’t a surprise to me or MOH. The five rings sculpture mounted on a mill stone was three times as much as the banana plant, and that also was hard to leave there. In fact I liked this and other garden ornaments on this stall that I contacted the show’s organisers later that day when I realised I’d been so smitten with the items on display I had no idea who was selling them. And the show’s organisers came through for me really quickly, with a brief description of the items and where they were located they were able to provide the info I thought I’d captured, but hadn’t. Phew.

These wheels were from another stall and also appealed, as I’m keen for our new garden to not be ‘brand, brand new’ everywhere but for the space to acknowledge that our new build barn and its garden were built on the land of a former farm. Clearly it will have brand new things too, as it won’t be a heritage garden, and because it already has the modern patio and heat pump in the space.

Reconditioned tools and more plants

The wheels above where on the same stand as these reconditioned work tools - it was another fascinating stand with many things to look at and admire. There’s something about old tools isn’t there? For me its the craftsmanship, but also the memories they evoke - as well as the wonder at doing everything by hand and without our go to electric garden tools of today.

We left with a couple of ‘spanner hooks’ because we liked them, and they made us smile - and at £6 each it was worth that alone. We’ll probably use the in the garage somewhere, rather than the house (mainly as we don’t need any more hooks indoors) but their exact location is not yet decided.

There was still plenty more to see, and plenty more temptation too.

As well as the exhibitors outside there were a number of stalls inside which we had a wander around. There were food stalls in here as well as outside, and while we left with some pistachio baklava and Turkish Delight and ate the most wonderful chicken gyros during our visit, for us these weren’t the main purpose for our visit.

One of the indoor stands is worthy of a mention though. I’ve not seen anything like these chicken wire spheres before, but think they could also have a use bringing height and interest to a flower bed. For me I prefer the natural chicken wire silver version and straight poles and for outdoor use as they’d weather and get more interesting, but speaking to Papa T’s Crafts he said that people have said they’ll use them indoors too, which I can also see.

So not a bad first visit to our own very local garden show. It’s likely that we’ll be back next year to see what they have and maybe even to buy more plants - but first we need to do the basics and understand our garden more, and actually I think we’ll need to get a new lawnmower soon too. That was one of the things we’d hoped to scope out at the show but it wasn’t to be, which was a shame.

A great fact finding visit, and hopefully next year we’ll have some more spring appropriate weather!

Garden ornaments and Bramley Apple Day

One of the things we like about Newark and the surrounding areas is the relatively large number of independent and antique-type shops, but one of the things we’ve done very little of since we’ve been here is visit shops like this. In fairness we’ve had a lot going on with getting our new house how we want it, and our trips into Newark have been almost entirely functional.

However after having dropped MOH off at the station and with some time to myself ahead of an appointment I had time for a little mooch around, finding two new-to-me vintage shops which I know I’ll be back to visit.

One of them, based in an old Methodist Chapel has plenty to explore, but what caught my eye immediately were the iron garden ornaments and signs.

They were reasonably priced too, so I’m sure I’ll be back at some point as these would look great in any garden, but something that adds height and structure is definitely something I’m keen on for our new build garden. While I have some ideas, they’re very early stages and something like these garden ornaments could definitely help both in the short and more longer term.

There were also stacks of the traditional hooped plant supports, what I would have done to know about this place for our previous garden. I’d often see these types of plant supports in gardens we’d visit and admire them, but the garden centres near us in London had nothing like this, or at least not at prices I’d be willing to pay. Now though, I just need some plants to support but that will come!

The only other picture I snapped in here was of these vintage metal signs, mainly to remind myself to go back and look at in more detail, as I’m sure there will be ones that will make us smile, some for brands we may remember and many more to admire too.

I’m very much of the opinion of the more you look the more you see.

Which I know makes sense, but often when you look regularly inspiration strikes and if you’re very lucky then you might find something that’s absolutely perfect that you didn’t know you were even looking for! As someone who likes a quirk to their decor (which is thankfully mostly accommodated by MOH), these shops provide plenty of opportunities to add something with character into the mix.

Bramley Apple Day

Being new to the area one of the things we’re doing is keeping an eye out for local events, mostly this is through Facebook groups, but not always. There’s a lot going on, especially in the run up to Christmas with plenty of local fairs and Christmas Markets appearing almost weekly.

We went to one, and not a Christmas related one, last weekend. We saw that Southwell Minster were holding a Bramley Apple Food and Drink Festival in the Minster, and as it’s somewhere we’ve been a couple of times now we thought we’d go along.

We didn’t realise the significance of the event, or of Bramley Apple Day (28 October), though as we approached the town we started to get an idea that it was bigger than we’d anticipated as car parking spaces were few and far between. We tried our usual two car parks, both were full and ended up in a third getting lucky with a space.

As we walked back through the town towards the Minster we spotted a lot of apples, and a lot of shops adding them to their windows, this one even had a sign.

Still not realising the full significance until later, when I learnt that the first Bramley apple tree was sown in Southwell in 1809, and the original tree is still there, which seems incredible. To be honest I’d never thought about when or where an apple would originate, but there’s a lot more information on the Bramley Apples website if you want to know more.

Consequently it’s a day, a week after the UK’s national Apple Day, that is celebrated in a town that’s about half an hour down the road. Who knew?!

But anyway, in the Minster there was a throng of food and drink stalls and plenty of people. The church was decorated with apples too and it seemed unusual to see the refrigerated cabinets in the main body of the church, until you think back to the bible stories and illustrations with traders and markets doing this very same thing. Then it’s not such a giant leap from our more established and traditional views of what a church is and should be used for. I’m also sure that churches, of all denominations and sizes up and down the country, like many businesses need to diversify and work with and alongside their communities to survive, and this is no different. It seems odd at first, but it makes an awful lot of sense.

We’ve been to a couple of events where the traditional church set up has been very much not the setup, and it’s great to see. We left the food and drink festival armed with some local cider, and more unusually a homemade keema lamb curry, samosas and a huge onion bhaji, which are now in the freezer ready for a day when we need an easy evening meal.

Obviously the cider’s not in the freezer, that didn’t hang around for long as while chatting to the brewer he helped us match cider to our dinner the following night - a pot roasted chicken cooked with fennel, celery and white beans. And both were very nice indeed!

Southwell has some great shops too, and once again I found myself looking at things I didn’t know I needed, and wasn’t even sure I wanted. These large glass jars caught my eye, and the ones with the larger necks could potentially be used with a candle, similar to a hurricane lamp I think.

And you can’t beat a florist’s display can you? Hydrangeas and eucalyptus are both favourites, but even so I left the bouquet there - and remembered to add both to my plant wish list!

It’s good to get out and do something for fun every now and then, especially when it reminds you of where you are in the country, and why.

Pots of garden inspiration

I’ve marked this post as an Ad for transparency as I was invited to attend the Garden Press Event where I spoke to suppliers about their products. I am under no obligation to post about the products I saw, and as usual all views and opinions are my own.

Last week I went along to the annual Garden Press Event held at the Design Centre in Islington - you may have seen my Instagram stories on the day. The event was a show for companies to showcase their products to catch the eye of the press and bloggers alike. It was another great day, and although it’s been a few years since my last visit in 2019, but I found it as useful inspirational as I did back then.

It’s also an opportunity for companies to showcase their new products, and there was a notable increase in sustainable products, which can only be a good thing. I spoke to many people learning about their products, and even managed to get some photos of some of them. Not all, though which is frustrating now - but if you get a chance do pop over and check out the Kindling Cracker over at Fandango Firetools, the galvanised steel water butts over at Arthur Jack & Co, and the beautifully colourful bulbs over at Taylors Bulbs.

So what caught my eye?

These garden wool pads by Hortiwool are fantastic - I’ve already seen something similar, mostly when I’ve had cheese delivered! However these 100% British Wool pads can be used extensively in the garden, and won a sustainability award at the show. I’ve previously used as a liner for hanging baskets, but they have so many more uses including as something to kneel on, protection from frost and something I’m keen to try, deterring slugs.

These small bottles from Azpects promise to have a big impact, with each bottle making up to 3 litres of either a deck, algae, patio or exterior fabric cleaner - and let’s be honest at some point we all need some additional help cleaning parts of our garden. And like some of the kitchen/bathroom cleaning products available now, these are concentrated so you can dilute them at home when you need them, which also saves on the amount of packaging too.

I wasn’t the only one to think these Wool pots were fantastic, they one the ‘best new product’ for the day which is voted for by attendees at the show. It was great to speak with this company which I learnt is based in Hammersmith - the sheep capital of the world, or so I’m told. I have some of these and will be testing them out, and will share how I get on.

A lot of gardening is about confidence, and when you’re faced with a blank canvas that must be quite daunting. The Garden on a roll aims to help people overcome that, and with planting schemes for shady, evergreen, Mediterranean and English Country Garden there looks to be something for everyone and every garden.

Unbelievably these pots have been made from ocean waste using reclaimed fishing nets, trawl ropes and boxes which significantly reduces the amount of manufactured plastic by Woodlodge, they also have a range made from wood waste.

Earthy Sustainable also uses waste products made during harvest for their products. They use straw, coffee husks, wheat chaff and bamboo fibre for a range of products, but the ones that caught my eye were these bee, butterfly and bird boxes. They’re frost proof and can be hung from a branch, or can be screwed to a fence or tree with inbuilt fixings.

There were some great gift-type products from the collaboration between Blue Diamond and the National Trust, including seed and twine sets - or Grow & Tie with a sunflower and sweet pea version - two of my favourite garden flowers. The second photo shows one of the ready to grow plant trays which includes bulbs in a biodegradable tray - you simply take off the lid and place the tray in your pot, cover with compost and water and wait for the bulbs to do their thing. The bulbs have been chosen to perfectly partner the height and flowering times, and I’m assured that there’s more to come from this range both on the pot size and bulb varieties, so keep a look out for these and the developments.

And finally there were a couple of things I have my eye on for our potential future garden. These solar powered drop bulb lights by The Solar Centre, which were a winner of the garden lighting, water features and ornamentation award at the show. We have our sparkly little lights, which look fantastic but give out little light so I expect that to be something I’m after this year.

The other thing is on a future garden wish list is an aluminium garden pergola, and the Maze Living pergolas and outdoor furniture at the show were fantastic. I was just glad MOH wasn’t with me, as with their outdoor kitchens I was pretty certain his wish list would be growing way longer than our budget, and I don’t even know what our budget is!

So all in all, a good day with pots and pots of inspiration. I plan to share some of these in more detail over the coming weeks, so look out for those, but in the meantime what caught your eye?