This is Kayleigh’s winning Valentines poem:

Matthew you are my Valentine as you have been for 13 years,
To think how on earth we’ve managed it reduces me to tears,
I met you when I was 14, I thought I was a lucky girl,
Now i’m almost 27 and you still have me in a whirl.
We’ve done a lot together, been to paradise and back,
How on earth you’ve put up with my PMT, I take off my hat!
We have a baby daughter and another one on the way,
I know we’ll all be together forever and a day.

Kayleigh Sheppard

Congratulations Kayleigh – Your prize will be send to you within the next 7 days!

Have a look at the other entries into the 2012 Valentines Poetry Competition.

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The Tree2mydoor Valentines Day Poetry Competition

Good news, The annual Tree2mydoor Valentines Day Poetry competition is back once again so hope you are all ready with your wit and wisdom to try and write a wonderful Valentines poem to be entered for a chance to win £100 Tree2mydoor gift voucher.

Tree2mydoor Valentines Competition at a glance:  All you have to do is write your very own Valentines poem for your Valentine and send it to us. We publish all the submissions on our website and pick our very favourite to win £100 in Tree2mydoor gift vouchers. Woooop. And what’s more, there great runner up prizes up for grabs also.

What type of Valentines Poetry?

If you are looking for a little inspiration, then why not check out some previous valentines poetry entries from last year to whet your appetite. We are sure it will help you get in the right mood for penning a valentines day classic and bag you £100 in Tree Gift vouchers in the process. Just remember your Valentines Day poem can be soppy, romantic, funny or silly, whatever floats your boat.

Who can enter?

The 2012 Valentines Poems Competition is open for entries now, so you can get scribbling or typing as soon as possible. Please note that the competition is only open to residents of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Entrants from other countries can still have their poems published on our website, but will not eligible to win a prize in the competition. This is because we only currently send out trees to the UK and Republic of Ireland.

How to enter the Valentines Day Poetry Comp

You can enter our 2012 Valentines Day poetry competition by typing up your own poem and e-mailing it to us or by making your own poetry video and sending it to us via our Grow Your Love Youtube channel.

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Roses for sale at Tree2mydoor.

Pruning roses is an essential task if you want to make sure your roses do really well the following season. Read on and find out about pruning roses especially if you have one of our fantastic rose bushes.

Why prune roses?

Pruning helps to speed up the growth of young healthy shoots, by removing the older weaker ones. Pruning roses is also essential if you want to maintain an attractive shape to your rose bush and sometimes if you just leave your rose bush to grow it can get a bit top heavy in places and be susceptible to wind damage and so on. You also should know that if you don’t prune, your rose flowers will grow on the new shoots and so get higher and higher every year. So there are plenty of good reasons to get those pruning shears out and do a job on your roses.

Here’s what you will need.

Remember to wear gardening gloves when pruning roses.

Pruning roses isn’t difficult so you won’t need lots of equipment. All you need is:

· Good Secateurs, sharp ones really make your job a lot easier and cleaner.

· Some gardening gloves; to protect you from the thorns when you are holding those roses back.

· A good gardening sack or similar to carry away the left over branches.

When to prune ?

Mid-winter is the best time to prune your rose bushes. They will dormant at the moment, so it is great to get in there and do a bit of pruning before new growth starts occurring. Early spring is also a time when you can prune, at this time the rose bushes will still be dormant or at least semi dormant.

How to prune?

Trim the roses slightly above the bud.

· You can afford to be fairly harsh when pruning. Remove all unproductive growth to between 8-10 inches in height (or around knee height). Keep taking a step back and looking at your rose bush so you can keep an attractive shape.

· When cutting, make sure you make a clean (where the sharp secatuers come in) cut about a quarter of an inch above an outward facing bud. Be careful not to cut to close or this will dry out the stem.

· If there are any dead shoots or ones that look very thin and weedy it is a good idea to trim these right back, because it will encourage lots of strong and healthy new growth.

· When you are done you should be left with a small rose bush with all stems facing outward, with an open centre.

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Lime Trees; great for cocktails and they make great gifts too.

Hello everyone, hope the new year is treating you well and you are not getting too down with the cold weather and dark days. Hopefully you checked out our blog post on gifts to end January blues and got some good ideas on perky tree gifts to cheer everyone up.

Anyway now’s time for a look at our favourite tree gift for this month: January.

Lime Tree Gift:

The lime tree is a fabulous tree, part of our citrus tree range and a firm favourite with us at Tree2mydoor and customers also.

Limes are some of our favourite trees here at tree2mydoor, because as with other citrus trees like the Lemon tree and the Orange tree, because they fruit so frequently. So for example, even in the middle of winter, citrus trees can fruit and are boxed and sent out with fruit already on them. This makes them ideal gifts for really special occasions, like as anniversary gifts or birthday presents or even just to send to a lime loving friend.

One of the other benefits to having your own fab lime tree is that you get to enjoy the fruit it produces right from the tree. So whether you are a cocktail fan, looking for fresh lime for your gin and tonic or an oriental foodie enthusiast searching for some zest for one of your special creations, a lime tree would be an excellent gift to send or receive.

Care advice for Lime trees:

Lime trees, as with all our other citruses, are classed as ‘indoor plants or trees’, however this doesn’t mean they are best kept directly inside the house, but rather in a porch, airy hallway or in a conservatory. Citruses don’t like to be in very hot places, like nest to radiators for example.

Citrus trees also prefer to dry out totally before being watered. If they are watered continually the roots get damp and can rot, so it’s best to keep and eye on them.

Citrus feed can really help your plant grow. We have winter citrus feed and summer Citrus feed available especially formulated to help your tree develop.

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Blue Monday is known as the saddest day of the entire year and usually falls on the 3rd Monday in January (this year it will be on ^16th of January). Was the 16th of January really the saddest day of the year, what do you guys think?

Anyway, January definitely can be a bit of a slog some years definitely, so in light of this we have come up with some Blue Monday busting natural gift ideas for this month.

Top ways to beat the January blues by sending wonderful natural gifts.

Love in a bag: get rid of someone’s January blues by letting them know how much you love them and what better way than send one of our fantastic ‘Love in a Bag’ gift bags? Our ‘Love in a Bag’ wildflower seed gifts contain a lovely mix of red wildflower seeds that can be sown and then enjoyed year upon year, a great alternative to cut flowers and a wonderful way to remind someone of a love you share.

Send some love with our 'Love in a Bag' seed gifts

Sunshine in a bag: Spread some sunshine and with our fantastic ‘sunshine in a bag’ seed gift. Like the ‘Love in a bag’ our sunshine gifts can be sown and will come back year on year, a great alternative to sending cut flowers and a more eco-friendly one too. Our sunshine seed bags give you lovely golden/yellow colouring.

Citrus Trees: Citrus trees are just fantastic! They fruit up to four times per year (in December/Jan too), have a gorgeous smell to them and are great in cooking/cocktails. The citrus fruits also have lots of lovely Vit C to help with colds in January.

Garden fruit trees: Most fruit trees are dormant at the moment, so it’s a perfect time for them to be planted out in the garden, ready to bring years and years of fruit enjoyment. A lovely idea to send as a gift to cheer someone up this January.

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January is always a time when people are thinking about getting on with New Year’s resolutions and perhaps cleansing the body after too much Christmas excess.  Since health is a thing on the tip of nearly everyone’s tongue at this time of year we thought it would be a nice idea to do a light-hearted blog based on natural cold and flue remedies to combat some of the common January ailments.

Remedies for colds and flu’s

Eurgh… nothing worse than a cold in January, you’ve made it through Christmas and New Years at least, but still none could be more annoying. Everyone knows that oranges contain loads of vitamin C but so do all citrus fruits.

Get yourself some vitamins to fight the colds and flu’s hanging around at this time of year. Our Lemon trees, Orange trees and Lime trees grow delicious fruits and are all great and at this time of year should still be fruiting.

Remedies for coughs and tickles

Scratchy, annoying and usually the first signs of getting a cold, soothe your tender throat by making yourself a wonderful hot honey and lemon and ginger drink.

Lovely hot cup of organic honey and lemon to soothe your cough this January

How to make a soothing honey and lemon drink for a cough:

• Boil up a cup amount of water
• Add in a desert spoon of organic honey
• Cut 2-3 slices of a lemon, picked straight from your own lemon tree
• Add 2-3 thin slices of root ginger
• Stir well and start sipping!

Help your headaches

Sort out your headaches with Bay Leaf Tea. Apparently Bay leaves have certain properties in them that have made them useful as a natural remedy for headaches for thousands of years.

How to make Bay leaf tea:

• Pick 8-10 bay leaves from your bay tree
• Add them to a pan of water and bring to the boil
• Once the water turns a light pinkish colour it is ready
• Add sugar to taste if you wish
• Pour the water through a sieve into a cup
• Start sipping and loose that headache.

Alternatively you can use dried bay leaves in a strainer to make a headache remedy.

If you are interested, check out our bay trees and grow your own bay leaves.

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Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years everyone, plenty of food and fun with the family and all that business. Now it is 2012 and we can’t wait to start a new year of tree growth and life. January is not a month where there is much to do (lucky with the cold weather, I hear you say!) and you’d be right aswell, the weather has been really terrible recently and that in part is why we are doing a little January gardening blog post.

Rather than give an exhaustive list of all the gardening jobs that could be done, we thought we’d just outline a few ones that will help you take care of your trees.

Gardening jobs for January

The weather has been particularly bad recently in the UK and we have been experiencing lots of wind (lots!!!) and particularly strong winds at that. Young trees are particularly susceptible to getting damaged in these conditions, if they get split now it can affect their growth later. So the best advice possible is to get your trees tied back to a fence or strong post if possible, to reduce the amount of effect that the wind has.

Leaf drop

Leaf drop is a common problem that a lot of citrus trees can get at this time of year, especially if they experience sudden dramatic changes in temperature. Have a look at our how to deal with leaf drop blog post.

Lemon leaf close

Young trees

Young trees are particularly prone to damage with the frosts. Evergreens in particular can suffer, so give them a helping hand by placing them nearer the house to give them a little extra protection from the elements. Frosts aren’t good for plants like the Olive Tree so giving them a little covering if we do get bad frosts would be a good idea.

Bay trees and olives can be treated harshly by the frosts.

Deciduous trees

Deciduous trees and most native trees, like most in our tree sapling range will be absolutely fine at this time of year. They are dormant at the moment and so won’t be affected by the temperature. If you have received a sapling then they can be stored in a cool dark place for a couple of weeks before you get the chance to go out in the garden and plant it.

Holly Trees

Holly trees are really thirsty trees, so if you haven’t had a chance to pot out your tree into the garden and your holly tree is still in the pot it came in, make sure it receives plenty of water so it doesn’t dry out.

Berries on holly trees looking great at this time of year

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A big thank you to our lovely customers in 2011. We have lots of really exciting developments for 2012, including a new look website and some fantastic new gift products – watch this space.

Christmas Closure Dates:

Our office and nursery is closed from 4pm on Friday 23rd of December 2011 and will re-open on Wednesday 4th January 2012.

Getting in touch over Christmas:

If you need to get in touch when we are closed during the Christmas holidays, you can email us at hello@tree2mydoor.com or you can leave a voicemail message by calling 0161 870 6368.

The Tree2mydoor team wishes you and your family a wonderful Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year. xxx

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Leaf drop can be alarming

Leaf drop is a common stress related issue which is really common in citrus plants, were it is nothing too serious to worry about, it can be very alarming to witness your lovely tree loosing all of its leaves. It is important not to panic and realise that your Citrus tree is still very much alive and healthy and is effectively going through a bit of a ‘strop’ in protest to changes to its environmental conditions!

Leaf drop happens when a Citrus plant becomes stressed and this can be caused by one or more of the following:

Dramatic changes in temperature: For example if the tree is used to conditions in our nursery (12°C) then is delivered to a home where temperatures are significantly warmer (20°C and above). It is common for leaf drop during Winter months in the UK, particularly if Citrus plants are in transit during very cold weather. Try to limit big changes in temperature, particularly during Winter by placing Citrus trees in airy porches with no central heating nearby.

Citrus Trees need extra TLC during Winter months

Overwatering or underwatering: Citrus Trees like a good soaking with water (preferably at room temperature, not straight out of the tap) and then to be fully dried out before they get watered again. This depends on the time of year and humidity in the home.

Don't underwater or overwater Citrus Trees

Poor ventilation / too close to central heating: Never position your Citrus tree in a room with central heating or poor ventilation. They like good air circulation, so remember that when your central heating gets turned up in the Winter, your Citrus trees will let you know if they don’t like it.

Keep Citrus Trees Away from Radiators

Poor light: Citrus trees really need to get a decent amount of light to flourish. Place them in an area that receives plenty of sunlight throughout the day for the best results. Low light in mid Winter might cause a little bit of leaf loss, this is the trees way of adjusting itself to the conditions.

Don’t Panic – your Citrus tree is not dead!

When citrus trees lose their leaves it can be very alarming, however, it is important to bear in mind that this is natural for Citrus trees and it is their way of letting us know that they are not happy about something.

Here are some handy hints and tips to make sure that your Citrus Trees are in tip top condition.

1. Positioning: Make sure your tree is positioned in an enclosed porch, conservatory or greenhouse. If keeping the tree indoors, do not position close to any radiators or fires as your tree wont like this.
2. Watering: Leave your tree to dry out completely before watering and use water at room temperature instead of straight from the tap during winter months. Don’t let your tree stand in water as this can rot the roots.

If your Citrus tree has experienced leaf drop and you follow these instructions, your tree will begin to grow new leaves within the next 4-6 weeks and should grow and last for years and produce a crop of Lime fruits 3 times a year.

Do you have a question? Add your comments…

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In a hurry and forgotten to get your xmas presents, or perhaps been too busy and now can’t think of any unique last minute Christmas gifts? Here at Tree2mydoor we have come up with a few last minute gift options that should help you out.

We are still accepting orders up until the 20^th of December for standard delivery and the 22^nd for Premium delivery (Christmas tree deliveries). However with the snow that has started to fall, it might be a good idea to get your tree deliveries in as soon as possible. That being said we still always try our very best to get our trees out to you on time whatever the weather, but if we know that your tree will get stuck in transit and be left in a delivery truck for a few days we’d rather take care of the tree.

Same day delivery & next day delivery options.

Choose to buy a last minute Christmas gift like a lemon tree or lime tree and have it sent extra speedy to you. Last orders on the 22^nd of December.

Immediate gift receipt

If you have left it too late to buy a gift, let us help you out with our immediate gift receipt service. How it works – as soon as you place the order, we send the recipient an email message with all the info about their lovely tree and telling them that you have bought them a gift and we will be sending it as soon as possible.

Last minute Gift Vouchers

If you have run out of time to choose a Christmas present, don’t fret, you can send them a last minute gift voucher. How it works: You buy a last minute gift voucher from us and we send it to the recipient via email. This way they know you have bought them a lovely Christmas gift and also they can choose which tree they want and when will be convenient for them to have it delivered.

We always want our trees to arrive to you in tip top condition therefore if extreme snow delays are expected or it could be that your tree will be stuck in transit for a number of days, we’d rather not send it out for the sake of the tree. We will take care of it at our nursery and make sure that we can send it out in great condition as soon as possible. See all our Last minute present options.

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