Marshalls stand for all seasons at RHS Hampton Court 2011
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The stand of Marshalls, the kitchen garden specialists, at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2011, was a true stand for all seasons, and it brought in a gold medal too.
Divided into four quadrants, representing the four seasons, each featuring a greenhouse to show just what can be achieved in an unheated greenhouse throughout the year.
Each greenhouse showcased seasonal produce, reflecting Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter planting, using the Marshalls unique Four Seasons Greenhouse Gro-Bed system.
The Gro-Bed system, designed to fit perfectly through the door of a greenhouse, comprises a collapsible bag, which just needs four bamboo canes sliding into specially designed sleeves for rigidity. To maximize growing potential, six Gro-Beds will fit neatly into an 8ft x 6ft greenhouse. Once filled with good loamy soil or compost, you are ready to grow.
Using a relatively deep soil bed which you, theoretically, never compact by walking upon or such, you can pack the plants much closer together than you can in ordinary ground, as we have already discovered as regards to the Burgon & Ball 5-A-Day Garden.
With the interest in Grow-Your-Own showing no signs of fading, which is also good so for we all need to do some own food growing for food security, Marshalls were showing visitors how even the smallest space can be used productively – whatever the season.
Marshalls managing director, Martin Harvey, said: “The nation is hungry to grow fruit and vegetables for health, economic and taste reasons, and this year we wanted to inspire people to become more productive and optimize the use of their unheated greenhouse all year round.
“The RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is a great opportunity for us to provide beginners and expert gardeners with the inspiration and practical ideas to grow great tasting fruit and vegetables.”
The Gro-Beds, from what I saw, appear to be of woven polypropylene or such material – I forgot to ask – and are a bit a small and more rectangular version of the builders' bag, the tonne bags, that nowadays are so commonly thrown away into the skips at building sites.
It is those bags – not the Gro-Beds – that I make my “planters” from in my garden, as they also beat any raised bed. They exclude, for instance, the mole who caused serious havoc amongst my Dwarf Beans in my remaining raised beds and I am not going to have that happen again.
I will, from now on, and I need to get a few tonnes of soil, use only that kind of bags as planters. It works and they have a great deep soil. The Gro-Beds from Marshalls, obviously fit into greenhouses while the builders' bags do not and thus it is, as with so many things, horses for courses.
© 2011
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