Garden Checklist ...

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

1. Spring Bulbs  -If you had any leftover bulbs from last Autumn that you potted up into small pots then now is the time to find a spot for them. You could simply put them together into a decorative pot as a focal point or use them to plug any gaps in your borders!

2. Herbs - Fresh herbs are important in the garden if you like to cook or simply love the scent. Right now Garden centres have small pots of herbs at an extremely low price so now is the time to get stocked up! I recently purchased some Apple & Chocolate Mint, Hot & Spicy Oregano, Marjoram and my favourite of them all ... Lemon Thyme. 

Pot them up into pots the next size up and finish with a layer of grit.

3. Soil - If your hoping to get started on sowing direct soon then it's worth helping your soil to warm up. You can use Cloches or if you don't have any a layer of fleece, I have kept mine in place with plant stakes.

4. Pests - This may be something I mention a lot but it really is worth checking daily for pests in a Greenhouse. As you can see here some Aphids have taken a liking to one of my Fuchsia's! The easiest way to deal with this is to squish them with your fingers!

5. Re Potting - If you have permanent containers featuring Shrubs / Evergreen it's worthwhile re potting them every 2 or 3 years into fresh compost. The easiest way to do this is to scrape away the top layer of compost and ease the plant out of the container. Pot them on into a pot slightly larger if the roots have filled the previous container, not forgetting a layer of crocks at the bottom. Use John Innes no.3 or Ericaceous compost if the plant prefers acidic conditions (such as Hydrangeas, Rhododendrons). 

I also like to add a little Fish, Blood and Bone into the mix to give the plants a bit of a boost! Water well and cover the surface with a layer of Horticultural Grit to prevent weed seedlings .... plus it's a nice finishing touch!

4. Borders - This time of year is also a good time to get any borders mulched that you didn't get the chance to do in Autumn. You can use good quality garden compost or composted bark. I always like to mix in a little Blood, Fish and Bone in too to give the plants a Spring feed. 

This also gives you a chance to see if there are any gaps that could be filled with Spring flowering bulbs instead of just having bare spaces of soil next Spring! You can also remove any plants that you're not overly happy with any more which is something I will be doing after looking at the below photo lol

NOTE - Always mulch when the soil is moist, never dry.

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 Monday so it is time for another Weekly Garden Checklist. 

Incase this is the first time you have seen this particular themed post, it's a quick list of jobs you can be doing in the garden this week.

Let's get started!

1. Glazed Pots - Now the temperature's are starting to drop it's a good time to clean and bring glazed pots under cover for Winter. If left outside they could crack and break.

2. Sow Sweet Peas  - If you haven't already, now is the time to sow Autumn sown Sweet Peas.

3. Hardy Fuschia's - To help protect Hardy Fuschia's over Winter give them a layer of mulch over the plant's crown. You could use bark or if you haven't got any, garden compost.

4. Lettuce - Now is a good time to sow pots of  hardy Winter Lettuce.

5. Herbs - To continue using herbs such as Chives throughout winter, pot them up now and bring them under cover into a GH.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Weekly Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!

It's Monday so it is time for another Weekly Garden Checklist. 

Incase this is the first time you have seen this particular themed post, it's a quick list of jobs you can be doing in the garden this week.

Let's get started!

1. Pull Out Tired Annuals - Now that were reaching the end of Summer and experiencing rough weather some Summer Annuals will be looking past their best. Pull out tired bedding to give your garden and pots a tidier look. You can replace them with Wallflowers that are ready for planting out.

2. Prick Out Winter Bedding - You will have seen from my last post the Mail Order Winter Bedding is starting to arrive. If yours does make sure you prick it out straight away to give it the best chance.

3. Sow Herbs - Sow herbs such as Parsley now to keep you going through Winter.

4. Close the Greenhouse - Temperatures are starting to drop on a night now so keep an eye on the temperature where you are, and remember to close Vents / Windows on a night if it gets cold.

5. Apply Lawn Feed - Prepare the grass for Winter with a feed which will also help promote strong root growth.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Alpines & Newbies ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is a mix of things from last week that I hadn't had the chance to share with you all yet. 

The first is an Alpine Trough that I planted up for my parents. Apologies that the photo's aren't too great, the gravel around the trough in the background makes it a bit tricky to see it properly.

When making Alpine troughs you need to ensure that it has drainage holes and you use a mix of John Innes & Grit for drainage. I have also included some herbs in the display at the back of two different Thymes, which work well with Alpines. In the centre is a Dianthus and either side of that are Arabis & Aubrieta.

Once your trough is planted up cover the soil with more grit.

Last week I also bought myself a Winter flowering climber to go alongside the Summer flowering Clematis, which will give a year round display of flowers. This one is Clematis 'Napaulensis' which flowers November - March and is scented. Perfect for when there isn't much else in the garden! Don't panic if you are thinking it looks a sorry state in the picture, the clematis loses all it's leaves in the Summer then puts on it's growth in the Autumn. 

I also bought a Salvia to go in a pot at the back of the garden near the GH to add some height where there is a clump of Geums. I also couldn't resisted the two Dianthus's which caught my eye.

Lastly is the 'Lobelia Speciosa Fan Red', I bought this to fill a gap in the side border in the garden which will spread about 30cm with a height of 75cm, I love the shock of red the petals provide.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Good Friday ...

Good Morning!

I hope you all are enjoying your Easter break. Unlike most of you lucky people I had to work yesterday (Good Friday) and will also be doing so on Monday but I did manage to get a few bits done before I went. Due to starting work half an hour later I had the chance to potter around my garden doing some watering before I started and also managed to get a quick herb pot planted up. I had some leftover herbs from last year and decided it was finally time to do something with them!

I filled the pot with a mix of compost and grit as herbs like free draining soil.

I quickly decided on an arrangement and after adding some chives along with a decorate label I was rather happy with the outcome, especially as it only took a few minutes.

Whilst watering I also took a few photo's of how one of the hanging baskets is looking, the spring bedding is looking colourful and has finally filled out a bit but I have to admit I am already imagining what my Summer baskets will look like!

The buds on the Alliums are slowly developing a purple tinge so we are getting closer to a display ...

The next thing I have to share with you is something a little different. Some of you may already know that I work in a Plant Nursery and today I thought it would be fun to share a few snaps of what I have been up to at work. Mostly the past few weeks have been spent pricking out (I won't even begin to tell you how many I  have worked through so far) but today and yesterday was spent doing something a bit more decorative!

However I couldn't resist sharing a photograph I managed to get of a bumble bee that was trapped in one of the offices. Unfortunately I couldn't giver her any sugar solution but hopefully being placed on this Surfinia did some good.

Okay so over the past few days I have been filling and planting up these wall baskets ...

Sprucing up and filling up some hanging baskets ...

Then to finish off I filled and planted up an array of various sized ceramic pots, which you have to admit is not a bad way to spend Good Friday. For all the baskets and pots I used a variety of Basket & Bedding plants along with a few Shrubs in the larger pots. Now all we need is for somebody to buy them!

Happy Easter!

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX