Nigel Fox and his team at Amethyst Horticulture in Kent produce, supply, install and maintain an impressive array of premium free standing floral planters, fixed containers and hanging baskets.   

Having looked at their bedding plant production last month, we now shift our focus to the high impact, low maintenance end products, providing abundant bespoke colour through to the first frosts of autumn. 

Planting up starts in April.  The planters are filled with a Levington growing media mix made up of 80% of a blend of medium coarse peat and 20% Fibagro – our quality wood fibre product offering cost effective peat reduction without compromising quality. 

Following careful analysis of the water supply, and taking in to account Amethyst’s objectives, our AngelaWeb precision nutrition programme recommended switching from standard Osmocote (5-6 month) to Osmocote Hi.End with 8-9 month longevity.   A fourth generation Osmocote product, 25% of the granules are dual coated offering programmed release. The delayed start encourages strong early rooting.   Nutrient release then increases through subsequent months delivering more when plants’ demands are higher. 

With low maintenance a key objective, the need for supplementary feeding is minimised.  Amethyst provides flexible and bespoke maintenance options for customers.   In the South East region, taking in to account the hard water, the team relies on Peters Excel ‘Acidifier’ for hard water and our new Universol Hard Water pH Control water soluble fertilizers.   

Inclusion of H2Gro water management granules in the Levington Advanced Solutions mix ensures water spreads evenly throughout the growing media, promoting good early establishment.   H2Gro helps to minimise nutrient leaching and confers a range of benefits though the season, including providing an additional 24-48 hour buffer to the two-weekly watering regime.   Amethyst planters, containers and baskets feature design registered integral reservoirs - once filled and saturated they only require topping up every two weeks. 

Staying with the theme of high quality but low maintenance, Amethyst chooses to simplify aphid control using Exemptor, ready mixed in to the growing media – another option in the growing portfolio of Levington Advance Solutions.