It’s time to get excited about creating some fantastic summer displays! Get it completely right now and you can have billowing baskets of blooms up till September or beyond, with just a little maintenance to keep them going.
Mini-plugs of bedding are easy and cheap to get hold of now, online or in garden centres – this is the most cost effective way to plant up your displays, as there’s a wide range for very little outlay.
Unless you like a mish-mash of lots of colours fighting for attention, keep your flower colours simple, stylish and matching, for a more eye-pleasing effect.
For a little more depth of planting style, add some filler foliage such as sedges and ivy.
Planting it up right is the next job. Line your basket and cut three 2cm holes in it at the bottom for good drainage.
Use multi-purpose compost, unless you are planning a more permanent display, when a loam-based compost (such as John Innes no.3) will be a more long-term choice.
Plant up and backfill with compost, firming in and watering in well. Add some slow-release fertiliser pellets for a summer-long dose of food for your plants.
Frosty nights may still be in the offing, so if any are forecast, be sure to put your new baskets in the greenhouse for protection until all risk has passed.
GN Recommends – Four Brilliant Bedding Choices
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Verbena – Bedding verbena spreads or trails – perfect for a hanging basket. Flowers all summer into autumn.
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Calibrachoa – Pretty petunia-like blooms, but neater and a little smaller. Flowers all summer.
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Lobelia – The ultimate trailing filler plant with tiny pops of purple. Four months of summer blooms.
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Nemesia – Pretty butterfly-like scented blooms that are semi-trailing. Covered in flowers all summer.