Plants2Gardens Blog

Displaying big, blousy flowers and fabulous foliage, peonies look spectacular in your garden will make you the envy of all your friends. These early summer beauties are easier to grow than some might think and with a small amount of care you will be rewarded by their stunning performance each summer for years, even decades.

Removing any diseased leaves whether they be on the plant or on the ground is helpful at this time of year as it will reduce the chance of potential re-infection on new growth. Top Tip – Make sure that you destroy this foliage and don’t add it to your home compost.

The term ‘Perennial’ is used most frequently by gardeners to refer to a non-woody plant which performs year after year.  These can also be evergreen or semi-evergreen and many of them can give us interest in the garden even throughout the Autumn and early Winter.

The soil is desperately clinging on to the last bit of warmth meaning it’s the perfect time to plant your Autumn/Winter bedding and this will give them the ideal start. Other than replacing your summer flowering bedding it’s also time to reduce the watering of your patio pots. Most perennials and shrubs, particularly Mediterranean palms, cordylines and lavenders, do not like wet feet. A good idea now is to make sure all pots are stood on pot feet or pieces of wood or if you are using a saucer, turn it upside down so water can escape easily from the bottom of the pot.

Giving our lawn some Autumn/Winter fertiliser will offer nutrients to encourage growth and help protect from disease. This also prepares the soil for the tough months ahead and it is geared up for the better weather. Once fertiliser has been applied its best to keep off the lawn as much as possible to avoid compacting the soil too much, except if it snows, sorry lawn but you will have to take one for the team if this happens as playing in the snow will be priority

You will need enough compost to ensure that the first layer of bulbs are sitting roughly 20cm from the top of the pot (maybe a little extra depending on the size of you Autumn Bedding which is to be planted on the top). Add some more compost, plant your Tulip bulbs and after the next layer of compost, add your Iris bulbs. Spread the bulbs approximately 3-4cm apart from each other;

Plant the bulb approximately twice the depth of the bulb, pointy end upwards, in either containers or in your garden bed/border.  Bulbs are great for planting in groups rather than singly and they can be layered for a full season long performance.  Simply layer them in a container with the larger bulbs being the deepest, add some compost, then place the medium bulbs and so on.  The depth of the first layer of bulbs depends on how many layers you are aiming for.

When considering your zone, consider the prevailing weather conditions in your local area and soil types can also make a plant more or less hardy. Free drained soil and a sheltered position can also help plants survive outdoors even when the plant is not classified as hardy.