Award won at Four Oaks Trade Show!!

Over the moon as we have just won an award, with our new Grazers G2, in the Best Retail Product category at the UKs biggest horticultural growers show at Four Oaks Cheshire.

A very busy friendly trade show, very well organised, with visitors and exhibitors from around the globe from retail, nursery and landscape sectors, a good chance to meet friends and make contacts in the trade, get a feel for the industry looking forward to next year plus of course get new retail stockists on board.
Very pleased with the show overall, a good positive outlook for the coming season - obviously as ever weather permitting!!

and of course chuffed to bits with the award!

                   Jonathan very proud winner of an award for Best Retail Product 2013

Sue on our stand at Four Oaks - amazingly hot for September and here we are in a greenhouse!!

G2 concentrate out in the autumn

We have been very pleased with the uptake and feedback regarding G2 (against slug & snail damage) 
We started with the 'ready to use' product as a way of testing the market - it was always our intention (if successful) to bring out a concentrate, which you the gardener can dilute down into your own sprayer, making it more cost effective for larger areas and repeat applications.

SO...... given how well G2 has been received from those of you looking for a safe and effective solution - this Autumn we aim to bring out a 750ml concentrate which will make up to 21 litres of ready to use product and cost in the region of £14.99.

ALSO....
Our website has been updated recently to make it easier to puchase Grazers on line particularly for multiple and combination buys.
Postage prices have jumped radically this year making us appraise how product is sent out. As it stands any one bottle of Grazers will cost £5.90 to post -  however by using a carrier we are able to send out any quantity above this at the same £5.90 carriage
So 1 bottle or 10 bottles of any combination will cost £5.90 p+p
(this is relevant to UK only - worldwide sales please continue to contact us for details)
As part of the upgrade we have amended our 'local stockists guide' to include what products each garden centre stocks eg. Grazers 375ml + Grazers G2 or just Grazers 375ml.. I still recomend phoning the relevant garden centre first to make sure they still have stock on the shelf.

Thank you and enjoy the glorious weather we are having at the moment.

Ancient woodland in the summer sky at Gill Bank

Pigeon damage on wisteria blossom !!

When our 'specialist' Wisteria pruner came to look after our Wisteria a couple of months ago, I told him how last year the Wisteria had been so bad because of the pigeons, who basically eat all the flowers.  He said that there was a spray called Grazers which may work.

We sprayed the Wisteria about four to five times in its growing season and thought you should have a picture of it as it is looking absolutely wonderful this year and its all down to your wonderful spray.  Thank you. 

R.N. Hants.

Cats & foxes?

We are often asked will Grazers help against cats and foxes?
Unfortunately Grazers in these instances won't help - the pest needs to be grazing.
HOWEVER ..... I have come across and heard good things about products from a company called Concept Research www.conceptresearch.co.uk which have been tested and approved by the RSPB
worth a look!

G2 Slug & Snail progress report

Sales to garden centres have exceeded expectation, a lot of interest and support from garden centre buyers predominantly because of the safety factor particularly pets. Also because it doesn't harm the molluscs and has no impact on the soil there is real peace of mind for the buyer.
We are presently updating our on line 'buy it here' page to add a shopping cart which will allow multiple or combination purchases without being hit with excessive postage

I am using G2 at home on a clump of hostas in a shady area of our garden next to a wall-  a real test!
Strangely I still see snails in the plant on an evening and yes there is a little damage (you can see possibly in the image) but other years the clump has been dessimated (I have never used any other slug control as we have an amazing range of birds visiting our garden from the ancient woodland in the valley) the other point is, perhaps you will see from the image, while the clump on the left gets a good soaking top and bottom, the clump on the right gets merely drift and not directly sprayed. I wanted to do this to see the difference in growth, and now after a month of treatment  you can see the left hand clump romping away.

Gardeners (and growers) are so used to using chmicals that kill pests outright and given the right conditions leave our plants untouched - obviously there are consequences to this ie. effect on other non target wildlife , and the affect on the soil and its micro organisms aswell as safety to people and pets.
My feeling is we need to be a little less ruthless about our pest control in future, perhaps accept some slight damage or blemishes to our plants but in the knowledge that you are having negligible impact on the environment and actually helping to feed other wildlife and making a healthy strong plant!

NEW product now available.......

 

 

NEW G2 formula is now available!

 

Effective against damage from

 

 

New web page is up - click on the orange tab 

Promotional literature will be sent to garden centres shortly.

Initially it will be available direct from Grazers on line or by phone

followed soon in garden centres and mail order suppliers.

Please have a look at the web page.

 

 

 



Parrots!!

It's great to get positive feedback about Grazers from other countries, particularly where the climate is very different to the UK . Its even better when we here positive news regarding different pests.

So it was interesting  to hear back from a gentleman from the Dept of Agriculture in Western Australia who has been conducting his own trials with Grazers against PARROTS - a major pest for growers and gardeners alike in Australia. A couple of examples are listed below.

1.     On Cape lilac – normally very severe damage from parrots, but so far with the double rate every 2-3 weeks, damage has been almost zero

2.     On European oaks – normally light to moderate damage but so far has been very low

He makes it clear in his that the best effect is when there is good leaf coverage, and some species saw less damage than others.

It was also interesting to note from the report the difference in growth between treated and untreated evergreen oaks – he observed a surge in growth of up to 1 metre after 1 treatment. I must emphasize that this is in the Australian climate where the growing seasons and rates are more extreme than our rather cooler conditions - but it does go to show that even if we in the UK don't see the same marked difference in growth patterns, Grazers is having a positive effect on plant health!

Happy New Year from snowy Cumbria

Happy 2013! from a snowy Eden Valley, Cumbria.

The days are slowly drawing out, but today we are having a sudden reminder that winter is still very much with us as we take the kids down to the school bus in fresh overnight snow.
It is good in many ways that we always get a natural break in business over Christmas, as Grazers is a  seasonal product and, depending on whether you are a farmer or gardener or grounds person, application is still dependant on planting seasons and of course our 'interesting' weather patterns.
This, I expect, will change when we start trading more in the southern hemisphere!
It feels exciting to get back to business in January and this year we seem to have got off to a good early start.  All the small bottles  (375ml) that we stockpiled before Christmas, ready for dispatch in early spring, went out in orders during the first week in January. So, once the snow has gone, Nicola will be back in the barn bottling again to keep in front of orders!  Our goal is to get orders out within 48hrs, whether they are direct from private online customers or from new or existing trade customers. Particularly in the spring, summer and autumn, when crops/plants are most at risk we understand you don't want to be waiting for delivery, so all orders are sent either first class post or by overnight courier.
Back to work now - but next time I'll fill you in on some more interesting feedback from Western Australia regarding parrots!!


Wishing all our customers a prosperous year ahead and a better year for growing!
Thank you for your continued custom.

From Jonathan, Sally, Nicola & Sue