Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!
Here's a few things that you can be getting on with over the weekend in the garden ...

1. Seedlings  - If you're sowing plants from scratch, once they have germinated and developed their true leaves it's time to pot them on. When doing so always make sure that you handle the seedlings via their leaves and not the stems. Pot them on into either small pots or plug trays, multi purpose compost is fine. Once pricked out place them somewhere light and warm but out of direct sunlight for the first 3 or 4 days to prevent the seedlings being scorched by the sun.




Marigold 'Vanilla Cream'

2. Protect - New shoots of Delphiniums and Lupins will be pushing through the ground and they need a little bit of protection from slugs as they have a particular fondness for them! A simple way of protecting them is by using copper rings around the young plants as slugs won't climb over them.

3. Spring Bulbs - Spring bulbs such as daffodils will be coming to the end of their flowering. Once the blooms have faded they need dead heading so that the plants energy can go back into the bulb. Dead-head daffodils by snapping the heads off between your fingers on the green part of the flower stem about 1cm below the brown part that you can see below. 

4. Root Prune - If you are growing permanent pots, such as Tree's or large shrubs in containers and haven't checked them for the past couple of years now is the time to do so. 

Once you have removed the plant from it's container, start by scraping away the top layer of compost and ease the plant out gently (this may take 2 people depending on the plant size) and check the root growth. If the roots have completely filled the container and you don't have any pots larger than the one it's in you can prune some of the roots off with secateurs. 

This won't damage the plant. 

Add some fresh compost into the bottom of the container so that the plant has something to grow into and re pot. To avoid air gaps you may need to use a stake to push the compost down the sides and make sure that you plant to the same soil level as before. Finish with a mulch of gravel.

5. Support - Large growing Perennials will be putting on good growth in the coming weeks and some need support to prevent them falling over later in the season. Position your supports now so that the new growth can grow into the the supports giving them a more natural look, Plants with supports placed after heavy rainfall and winds have already done their damage never look as good as those with supports that have been there all along! Once the plants have grown the supports will no longer be visible so if your not a fan of how they look don't worry, you won't have to look at the supports for long.

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget you can find all the previous Checklists on the page tab above.

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Weekly Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!
It's time again for my Weekly Garden Checklist, let's get started!

1.Poppies- Once Poppies have finished flowering, if you don't like how they look and would rather not have the seed spread around the garden, then you can cut them back to the ground. This will encourage fresh foliage so that you will still have ground cover. However I like to keep the seed heads intact as it's adds some interest to my garden.

2. Delphiniums - Along with Poppies you can also dead head Delphiniums and Foxgloves once they have finished flowering. For example with the white Delphinium below the middle spike will finish fist, so I will cut that out to allow the plant to focus it's energy on the two smaller spikes either side. Once these are over I will cut the who plant back down to the ground, this will encourage another flush of flowers later in the year.

3. Acid Loving Plants- Plants such as Rhodoendrons, Azaleas and Camelia's would benefit from a feed and a good soak right now, specially with all this warm weather we've been having. All I do is mix some Liquid Feed specially for these plants in a watering can with Rainwater, then give the plants a water. 

4. Apples- If you have Apple Trees, Pears or Plums and they are starting to set fruit then it's a good idea to decrease the number of fruit in each crop to two or three to increase the size and quality of the fruit. Unfortunately my Apple Trees did not flower & fruit this year but this can happen if they are only young plants. 

5. Baskets & Pots - Lastly don't forget to keep up with the Weekly feeds for Hanging Baskets and Pots. A solution of Liquid Seaweed or Tomato Feed encourages more blooms and tops up the soil with nutrients which can be lost when watering.

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget you can find all the previous Checklists on the page tab above.

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Weekly Garden Checklist & Blooms ...

Good Morning!

Happy Weekend to you all, I am back with some things you can be getting on with in the garden this weekend ...

1. Daffodils & Tulips - The blooms are slowly starting to go over in my garden so once this happens to you it's a good idea to pick the faded flowers off. Do this by simply nipping off this flower head and this will help focus  all the plants energy back into the bulb instead of setting seed ... along with looking much tidier!

2. Delphiniums - The fresh young shoots should be putting on good growth so now is the perfect time to stake them before it's too late.

3. Sowing Seeds - This is the prime time to be getting on with your seed sowing, so don't delay much longer if you haven't started already.

4. Primroses - Once Primroses have finished flowering, why not divide them up giving yourself more plants? I will be doing this and then potting them up, which will give me extra plants for next year.

5. Summer Bulbs - Now is also the time to get bulbs such as Lillies & Gladioli planted in time for the Summer!

Finally I thought I'd leave you with a few snaps of what is looking good in my garden right now.

The Euphorbia's are looking striking with their contrast of Red & Lime in their pots ...

The Pink Wallflowers I sowed last year are starting to come into bloom...

My dark foliaged Primroses are blooming ...

Cowslips and Daffodils are looking cheery, I really like these dainty Daffs, they look much more delicate to the usual larger varieties ...

My Outdoor stand of Alpines and Primula's is providing a colourful display ...

The Azalea next to the back door has also come into flower this week with some striking pink blooms ...

And finally more of my Auricula's are starting to flower, I can't wait to see what colours the remaining 40 odd will produce!

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Weekly Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!

I thought I would start a Weekly post with little tips on things that you could be doing this week in your garden. Kind of like a Garden Checklist! We shall see how it goes for a few weeks and please feel free to give me any feedback, good or bad, so I can try to make it more helpful to you.

1. Cut Back Delphiniums - If your Delphiniums are going over after blooming for the past few weeks (e.g. withering up & falling over and flowers turning brown) then it is time to cut them back. Cut the flower stalk right down to the ground to help the plant reserve it's energy and you never know, you might be one of those lucky people who get a second flush of blooms later in the year! 

If there are some flowering side shoots that are still looking good and you can't bear to put them in the compost bin then do what I do and pop them in a vase, you can then appreciate them for a little longer.

2. Deadhead Iris's - Iris blooms don't last very long so once they are finished the best thing to do is to cut them down. The petals turn brown which isn't the nicest thing to look at so just like above, cut the flower stalks down to the base. 

3. Water Hanging Baskets & Pots - Now the weather is getting hotter it's essential not to let your baskets and pots dry out. Trust me it only takes forgetting to do it for a day or two and before you know it they're a dried out flattened mess! Check them every evening and give them a good soaking and if the weather is really hot check them on a morning too! If however you do forget simply dunk them in a water butt and leave to soak on the floor for a couple of hours to try and revive them.

4. Start Sowing Winter Bedding - I know it may feel like a long way off but now is the time to start sowing your Winter Bedding or ordering it before it sells out.

To start off with I have already ordered some Bellis - Pomponette & Trailing Viola's along with sowing some Wallflower - Aurora Seeds. To do this simply sow them in a seed tray, cover with a light sprinkling of compost and then place somewhere outside but not in direct sunlight to germinate.

5. Spray Roses - If you haven't done so already this time of year is when you should be spraying your Roses. I use 'Rose Clear' every 6 weeks which helps control diseases and aphids. Make sure you read the instructions before use, this is the only chemical I use in my garden, we can't all be perfect! lol

I hope you have found this Checklist helpful!
Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX