What’s Green in Brum?

Order using our contact form, or text or phone Chris on 07952 909804.

Plants normally collected from Balsall Heath by arrangement. Free delivery on orders of £30 or over to Birmingham 13 postal district only.

10% discount on orders over £50.

Hedging plants - great for wildlife.

Another plant which is great for wildlife is the rowan tree

Not expensive - inquire re price.

Field Maple (great autumn colours), Hawthorn, Hazel, Hornbeam (rather like beech) , Wayfaring tree. (10 available of each) can be used as mixed native hedging. Field maple and hawthorn can also be grown as small trees, and the others can be grown as shrubs.

Lonicera nitida (10 available) Not native. It’s also known as box-leaved honeysuckle, but it’s nothing like climbing honeysuckle. It’s like box: a small neat evergreen hedge with small dark green leaves. Dense, bushy and fast growing. Shade tolerant. For hedges 2-5ft high (60cm-150cm). Plant it 9-12ins (23-30cm) apart. Trim in April and September.

Rosa rugosa: (10 available) Not native. Lovely magenta flowers. Best grown to at least 4′. Bristly stems.

Yew & holly (£5 each, 2 litre pots)

Yew and holly both have separate male and female plants, and ours could be either, so they will not necessarily bear berries. They can both be grown as trees or as part of a hedge. (4 Holly and 3 Yew plants available)

Yew seeds (but not the red “berry” round them) are poisonous.

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Blackcurrants £ 7 each.

Blackcurrants are easy to grow and can be grown in tubs as well as in the ground. On planting, cut any long stems almost to the ground and plant 20-25cm lengths of these in well drained soil or compost. They root fairly easily, giving you more plants next year.

BALDWIN 4 available

Mid-season. Medium berries, hang well. Good for vitamin ‘C’. Still the best flavoured blackcurrant. (UK 19th Century)

BEN CONNAN® 4 available

Early to mid season. Large berries on short trusses. Good flavour. Generally an all-round improvement on Ben Lomond. (Scottish Crop Research Institute, Scotland 1993)

BEN SAREK® 4 available

Early season. Large berries, short strigs. Small, compact. Heavy cropper. Some rost and mildew resistance. (Scottish Crop Research Institute, Scotland 1980)

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Gooseberry

The first two varieties below are normal bush forms. They should be pruned every year to keep a very short trunk (cutting off new branches which emerge at ground level), and to stop crowding in the centre.

MARTLET £8 each in 3 litre pots, 2 available

This is a red form with part Invicta parentage, has excellent dessert fruit quality (hairless) and resistance to American gooseberry mildew and leaf spot.

PAX® £8 each in 3 litre pots, 2 available

Mid-season. Red, sweet, medium size. A new red gooseberry of excellent quality and disease resistant. Few thorns. (HRI, East Malling, Kent 1983.)

INVICTA® cordon, £20 each in 7 litre pot, SOLD OUT

Mid-season, large pale green fruits for cooking, jam or freezing. Heavy cropper. Mildew resistant. Prickly. Vigorous, spreading. (HRI, East Malling, Kent 1967). The
cordon form means that the plant has been trained in a straight vertical line, suitable for planting against a fence. It needs careful pruning every year to maintain this form.

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Hazelnuts, Jostaberry, Loganberry & Tayberry, Kiwi

Hazels produce more nuts if two varieties are grown close by. These are varieties specially bred for their nuts, not the standard hedging hazel. These varieties fall into two main types, cobnuts and filberts. The Daily Telegraph website has an article on growing hazelnuts by Bunny Guinness, and another one by Sarah Raven with some hints on pruning and keeping the squirrels off

Hazelnut GUSTAV ZELLER £15 each in 7 litre pot, 1 available

One of several more recent commercial selections producing 2 or 3 times the crop of the old Kentish Cob and much larger fruit.

Hazelnut COSFORD FILBERT £15 each in 7 litre pot, 2 available

Slightly larger than the Cobnut with a long husk (full beard) Good pollinator for other varieties.

JOSTABERRY £5 each, 5 available

A thornless blackcurrant x gooseberry hybrid with shiny black fruit the size of small gooseberry. Resistant to mildew. Strong growing and, like most currants, needs protection from early frosts - but this is not usually an issue in Birmingham. (Germany, 1977)

KIWI SOLO £20 each in 7 litre pot, 2 available

Luscious health giving fruit for sheltered sites. Also very hardy twining climbers excellent for covering old walls or stumps as their leaves are very ornamental. This is a self-fertile variety.

LOGANBERRY £8 each in 3 litre pot, 2 available

A thornless form with large long oblong dark red fruit. Mainly for culinary use (depending on your taste!).

BUCKINGHAM TAYBERRY £8 each in 3 litre pot, 2 available

The thornfree Tayberry, large and succulent. Sometimes mistaken for a loganberry, but the fruit is larger.

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Blueberries

(£10 each in 3 litre pots)

BLUECROP sold out

Early-mid August. Large, light blue fruit. Good flavour. Good autumn colour. Vigorous upright grower. SOLD OUT

DARROW® 1 available

The largest fruit known, late season, (mid to late August), upright compact. Lush and orange autumn tints.

EARLIBLUE sold out

Selected as the best early season variety, superior to Bluetta. Upright bush, easy to grow, medium to large light blue, good quality and flavour.

NORTHLAND sold out

An early midseason, spreading habit, extremely productive. Medium size and very sweet. SOLD OUT

PATRIOT 1 available

Early season, vigorous bush, highly productive bearing medium slightly flat fruit of excellent flavour. Easy for picking. Suits UK climate.
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Grapevines

(£10 each in 3 litre pots)

VINES (OUTDOOR)DORNFELDER (RED) 1 available

A good red grape combining heavy crops of very edible grapes as well as having stunning autumn leaf colour.

MUSCAT BLUE (BLUE/BLACK) 2 available

This is the modern resistant outdoor blue/black eating grape of choice replacing Queen of Esther in our excellent variety range.

PHOENIX (WHITE) 2 available

A very large berry producing a fine Muscat aroma. A heavy yielding variety ripening early October turning yellow when ready to pick.

REGENT (BLACK-BLUE) 2 available

Extremely versatile, this very large blue-black grape has a sweet refreshing flavour which will mature to a true black in the best summers. It also has beautiful red vine leaves adding to its good value.

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Raspberries

£5for a bag of 10 canes, roots wrapped in compost

AUTUMN BLISS® sold out

An early autumn fruiting variety picked from early August to October. Heavy cropper. Outstanding. (HRI, East Malling, Kent 1974). SOLD OUT

GLEN AMPLE® , 4 available

Mid-season, high yielding, spine-free variety with large fleshy quality. Fruit picking over a long period. (Scotland 1978)

GLEN CLOVA , 3 available

Early. Good yielding firm medium size fruit. Very good cropper. Particularly suitable for freezing. Vigorous. (Scotland 1960)

GLEN MAGNA® , 2 available

A late and very large dark red fruit up to 7gms. each. Excellent flavour and appearance. Canes have few spines. (Scotland 1980)

OCTAVIA® , 4 available

A very recently introduced variety of high quality uniquely positioned to pick late summer before the autumn primo cane varieties.

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Ornamentals: Crab Apple, Laburnum, Lilac, Magnolia, Rowan, Wisteria

MALUS (Crab Apple) RED OBELISK

® in 12 litre pot. £29.50, 2 available
A new, compact, upright cultivar from Belgium. The pink buds open white and are followed by attractive, conical, red fruits. Foliage is purplish-brown at first, later becoming dark green. Suitable for small gardens and other restricted spaces. ‘D.V. P. Opel’ Small tree – up to 4m/13ft

LABURNUM x watereri ‘Vossii’

in 7 litre pot. £19.50, 2 available
The most popular of Laburnums, with extra long yellow pea drooping racemes. The seeds are poisonous. Small tree – up to 4m/13ft

MAGNOLIA wilsonii

in 7 litre pot. £9.50, 2 available
A large wide spreading shrub with lance-shaped matt green leaves which are Silky underneath. The pendant fragrant saucer-shaped white flowers have crimson stamens. Small tree – up to 4m/13ft

SORBUS aucuparia (Rowan, Mountain Ash)

in 7 litre pot. £17.50, 2 available
The rowan has a lovely succession of colours through the seasons, and attracts birds. Medium size oval or round headed tree. Lance-shaped leaves are dark green above, blue-green underneath, turning red in autumn. Large clusters of small, creamy-white flowers. Bright red bunches of fruit. Medium tree – up to 6m/20ft. Good for small gardens - it does not cast much shade. It’s important to let the ‘leader’ (one upright central branch) grow straight upwards -don’t prune it. If you need to prune the tree in later life, take out lower branches: don’t prune the top.

WISTERIA macrostachya ‘Blue Moon’

in 7 litre pot. £23, 1 available
Very hardy selection from Northern Minnesota with repeat bloom, perhaps even 3 times in a good summer. Lavender blue racemes, up to 30cm long, also a vigorous grower.<

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‘Top fruit’: Mulberry, Plum and Family Apple Tree

FAMILY APPLE TREE: Bramley+Cox+Worcester Pearmain

in 12 litre pot. £30, 1 available.

This has three varieties grafted onto one stem, two eaters and one cooker. It needs careful pruning to keep it in balance. Remember the paradox: prune the more vigorous growth lightly.

Pruning vigorous shoots hard just leads to vigorous regrowth - and less fruit in the following year. Worcester Pearmain is a tip-bearing variety. As with all tree-shaped fruit trees, don’t let it get crowded in the middle: leave space for air to circulate and light to penetrate. Get in touch if you need more information on pruning.

MULBERRY KING JAMES I

in 7 litre pot £25, 2 available
For eating or cooking. Pick in August. An intensely rich flavour second to none. Originating from the Chelsea Physic Garden in early 17th Century during the time of King James 1. Self-fertile.

PLUM HERMAN

in 12 litre pot £20. SOLD OUT
An eating plum, ready for picking in late July. Medium fruit, blue/black, very early, excellent quality, freestone (the stone easily separates from the flesh). Self-fertile. (Sweden 1970)

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ABOUT THE PLANTS

The plants come from Frank P. Matthews Ltd., a large wholesale nursery near Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire. Unfortunately they are not organically grown, as we have not yet found an organic wholesaler. If you would like organically grown soft fruit, try Welsh Fruit Stocks, and for organic apples and pears, try Walcot Nursery

The winter is an excellent time for planting trees and shrubs, while they are dormant. Earlier is better, as the roots will grow a little even in winter, so December is ideal, as long as the ground is not waterlogged or frozen very hard. Most of our plants are container grown, which means they can also be planted in spring or early summer, but in that case they need more care. All trees and shrubs should be watered deeply once a week in their first year, unless you are sure they are getting enough moisture from the rain.

You are welcome to Contact us for advice on plants you have bought from us during their first year. We are planning to have a section of the website celebrating the trees and plants of Birmingham, and we hope our customers will join it!

Please contact us to check availability.

Remember: plants grown in tubs need more looking after. They may need watering even in rainy weather!

We hope to include detailed pruning notes on fruit trees and soft fruit on this website in future. Meanwhile, please contact us for information if you need it - or buy RHS Pruning and Training (external link).

The plants are not guaranteed and are sold as seen. We will try to give useful advice if you contact us but this is not guaranteed and no after-sales plant care is included in the price.

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