Reaping the rewards of nutrition re-set

• Stayed with same growing media manufacturer out of force of habit
• Bespoke mixes with new nutrition programmes delivering better growth rate, saleable plants earlier, and fewer P&D issues
• Individualised advice to help the nursery adapt and change.

Experienced perennial grower, Paul van Leeuwen, admits hindsight is a wonderful thing.  Having relied on the same growing media manufacturer for years, it took a costly crop failure to make him reassess the situation. Switching to two bespoke peat-reduced Levington Advance mixes, he says the results are unbelievable.

Paul came to the UK in 1982 from the Netherlands.  Aged 21, he came to work on a wholesale nursery for a year but stayed and started his own business.  Together with wife Sara, he now owns a thriving wholesale and retail nursery from their well-located 5-acre site at Sevenoaks, in Kent, producing quality nursery stock – climbers, shrubs and conifers – plus a full range of perennials in 2, 5, 7.5 and 10-litre pots.

Reinvention 

Over the years Paul has reinvented his business several times. Starting out producing mail order hedging, when internet ordering decimated sales, he switched to Hederas, which proved very labour-intensive. When local perennial operation, Kipling Nursery, came to the market in 2000, Paul bought the equipment and goodwill and diversified – growing perennials and nursery stock and trading as Kipling Plants.

“An open site with good road frontage, we saw the retail potential and started selling direct to the public,” says Paul.  “Then in 2009, after years of negotiations, we received final notification of a new national grid gas pipeline, planned to run right through our site.”

Looking back philosophically, Paul says the disruption and compensation provided the impetus to start again. “We invested more on the retail side, setting up Greenacres Garden Centre and Farm Shop, which has brought more financial security to the business. “We currently wholesale 90% of our perennials to garden centres in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. We’re planning to expand our retail side and are starting to produce our own bedding plants.

Crop failure 

“For many years we remained with the same growing media supplier,” says Paul. “While convenient, the products generally met our expectations, and we battled hard to make them work. However, after several issues the turning point came when we had a costly crop failure involving our jumbo perennial plugs – at this point, we decided to give ICL a go.”

Plant quality has improved unbelievably 

“We haven’t looked back – the results are tremendous!” he says.  “Growth rates are better, plants are stronger and are saleable earlier, pest and disease issues have diminished, and the additional technical support is helpful – overall plant quality has improved unbelievably.”

Working with technical area sales manager, Steve Chapman, the nursery relies on two bespoke Levington Advance mixes.

“The 40% peat-reduced herbaceous mix contains 30% Fibagro Advance and 10% pine bark together with base fertiliser, our Micromax Premium trace element package and Osmoform High N,” says Steve.  “This slowly releases N over an 8-10week period, compensating for any locked up by the wood-based ingredients.  The final component is Osmocote Exact High-K, which releases over an 8-9month period and promotes compact growth.

“We’ve increased the Osmoform High N rate to deliver more N in the early vegetative stage,” says Steve. “This means crops like Nepeta and Geranium established quickly, but don’t continue to romp away through the summer.  Growing shorter and stronger plants helps eliminate the need for costly trimming exercises.”

Heavier mix for tall crops 

The second mix is for Kipling’s Paeonia and Allium crops.

“45% peat-reduced, it also contains 5% loam to make it heavier,” says Steve. “It’s quite an exposed site and these crops can get tall and tip over – the loam also helps with water retention.”

Resetting nutrition 

“Heavy rainfall events can wash out water-soluble products,” says Paul.  “ICL’s nutrition package has been a reset – performance is noticeably better and it’s saving labour and time. For late-flowering crops and hungry ones, such as Hemerocallis, we topdress with Osmocote Bloom – containing high levels of potassium.”

Individualised advice 

“With hindsight, I wish I’d moved to ICL years ago,” he says.  “It’s a company at the forefront of new developments, innovations and change.

“I’ve put my trust in Steve – from a growing background, I feel we talk at the same level.  He’s genuinely helping us adapt and change. We have fruitful conversations, and I feel I’m getting good, individualised advice.”