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A New Creation in Gardening Gifts
Published on: July 9, 2008
Potting Shed Creations sent us their products to review – we thought we might need some extra help with this one ... who better to turn to than Diana Greenwood Mead our gardening expert?
Here's what Diana had to say:
Some weeks ago a box full of interesting packages arrived on my doorstep and I was told to "grow these, and tell us what you think of them". I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy unwrapping interesting parcels, so I was very happy to do so.
The box came from Potting Shed Creations and the mystery parcels were various types of gift-packaged seeds. The plants-to-be I had received were Basil, Mixed Herbs, Tomato, Hot Pepper, Herb Garden Kit, Herbal Tea 'Pocket Garden', Herb Garden 'In a Pail' and English Thyme 'Garden in a Bag' and Sage 'Garden in a Bag'.
The packaging is really very pleasing and beautifully designed and anyone given one of these as a gift would be thrilled.
The Basil seeds came with a very attractive pot lidded with its own saucer, and a note stating that the pot was made mainly from rice hulls and would biodegrade in about five years – I wish we had these here in the UK, the plastic pots in which plants are sold here cannot be re-cycled and are very unsatisfactory to re-use as they quickly become cracked and broken.
The germination rate of the seeds was extremely good – I'd say about 95% which means that the seeds are fresh, and additionally some of them are noted as being organic. The potting instructions are simple – my only criticism being that I would like to see a larger amount of the coconut chips supplied for drainage as the company suggest that most of the supplied packs can be grown out of the pot or pack – as a gardener I'm a bit concerned that the drainage might be inadequate.
A good point about these garden seed packs is that there is a range of sizes/prices which means that you can pick the appropriate one from a simple "thank you" to an anniversary present and feel confident your gift won't disappoint.
The Herb Garden 'In a Pail' is great fun – once my little plantlets had begun growing well, I have to admit that they got potted on to bigger pots, but the pail itself is a very good size for keeping seed packets tidy.
Several of the kits have pencils, nice wooden plant labels and their own pair of gardening gloves and all of them make you want to plant them up and see what happens...
Oh, and by the way, if you need a gift for any one you know who has a little furry friend of the feline variety - there's one here for them – an organic cat grass which is something nearly all cats love – usually to the point where you feel you should have bought two!
Thanks Diana – we'll also be including one of these products in our weekly New Product reviews soon so keep an eye out for that review!
