The garden centres are at their busiest and gardeners at their happiest on the arrival of the summer bedding season. The sun graces us with its presence for a little longer each day and we can ponder on how we want the garden to look throughout the summer months.
Endless pots and containers of instant colour to brighten up every window, patio and door.
Here are a few top tips to get the most out of your containers this summer.
- Planting Plan
Decide on a colour scheme for your seasonal bedding display and stick to it as best you can, mass planting two or three complementary colours will make the most impact e.g. Red / White / Blue – Blue/ White/ Purple
My colour scheme this year will be purples, blues, and orange.
- Container size
Remember, the smaller the container the quicker it will dry out and will need to be watered more frequently, choose a container that will hold an adequate amount of soil, larger window boxes and hanging baskets are much easier to maintain.
- Soil Preparation
A good multi-purpose compost is perfect. Add a slow-release fertiliser to the mix and the magic ingredient- Water Saving Gel. A teaspoon of these water retaining crystals mixed through your compost will cut your watering times in half.
- Plant Selection
If your containers are going to be in a suntrap, are for commercial use, won’t be regularly maintained or you’re just not the best at keeping a watering regime the only annuals for the job are: Geraniums and Begonias…they are by far the best performers of the summer season and are available as uprights, trailers and bedding fillers. Mass plant a selection of both and you won’t be disappointed with your display.
If however you enjoy tending to your colourful containers the plant choice is endless. To ensure the best display from your containers follow these simple steps:
- Uprights grow up straight and tall and should be placed in the centre of your hanging basket or to the back of your window box for height, the most popular uprights are Geranium, Begonia.
- Trailers grow down to cover your containers and should be placed to the edges of hanging baskets and window boxes, most popular trailers are Lobelia, Surfinia (Petunia) and my favourite Bacopa.
- Fillers are for all the spaces in between and are usually bedding that you buy in 6-packs, my favourite are compact Lobelia, Nemesia and Alyssum. These will bush up to fill all the gaps creating a perfectly symmetrical display. Remember to leave some space for growth and plant all containers the same for the biggest impact.
- Maintenance
Although tempting as soon as the weather improves, and you can see the introduction of bedding in the garden centres the best time in my opinion to plant up summer bedding is in May. Planting in May ensures good weather for plants to thrive and that your display will last the full season and not go over too early.
- Water containers regularly, either early morning or late evening to avoid leaf scorch. Water daily in hot weather and twice daily if we are experiencing a heatwave.
- The slow-release fertiliser in your soil will only last so long and after approx. 4 weeks you can start feeding your containers with tomato feed once every 2 weeks to promote repeat flowering and steady growth.
- Deadheading flowers regularly will keep your containers looking fresh especially on upright plants. If you feel plants have become stringy or trailers unruly, don’t be afraid to cut back plants with a scissors to tidy up the container, if we are still experiencing warm weather there will be plenty of time for regrowth.