Gardening In May – Let The Planting Begin!

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In May we turn our attention to introducing a little seasonal colour to our gardens and what we mean by that is ‘Summer Bedding Plants’.

Although they have been on sale since Easter, unless you have an area where you can protect them from frost it is best to wait until the second or third week of May before you buy and plant. If you are keen to make an early start then ask at your local garden centre or nursery which plants on sale are hardy enough to be planted out straight away.

Take your time to work out how many plants you will need but often this is dependent on how much you would like to spend. A modest sized bed or border can easily consume fifty to one hundred plants, at 50p per plant you can soon see how much this will cost. There is nothing worse than to arrive home with a few small trays of plants only to find that they look a little insignificant in the garden. Another mistake is to dot the plants randomly in between existing shrubs and perennials; they never reach their full potential. Bedding plants give their best as bold displays. Take a look in your local park or the roundabouts to see how the local Parks put their displays together.
Bedding displays were developed by the Victorian’s as elaborate blocks of bold colours; however you don’t have to follow that style. In gardening it is my firm belief that the only person you need to impress is yourself!

Work out on a sheet of paper the area you are planning to plant and try to estimate its size in square metres. When spacing plants the general rule is the smaller plants need to be closer together. For example, traditional edging plants like Lobelia and Alyssum, are spaced four inches (100mm) apart, infill plants such as Geranium’s, Bedding Dahlia’s, and Fuchsia’s should be spaced eight inches (200mm) apart.

To introduce a little height into your bedding scheme consider planting a focal or ‘Dot’ plant, such as a standard Fuchsia, Cordyline palm or Abutilon.

An increasing range of vegetable plants are becoming available at this time of year and if space is limited then either grow a few salad crops in pots around the garden or if your soil is good squeeze then into the borders. I have two timber raised beds on my patio supplied by ‘Instaplanta’ and they are brilliant for growing small crops of fruit and vegetables. The key is to sow little and often. Ask yourself the question, how much lettuce do you eat in a week and grow accordingly.

There is nothing quite like home grown vegetables, and the great thing about small scale is that children tend to enjoy the challenge too. Check with your local nursery or garden centre for advice on which to grow in your garden I have always found gardeners keen to share their experience.

Next month we will look at jobs for June, continuing to sow salad crops and taking cuttings.

Happy gardening,
Martin

York Gate Garden is owned and maintained by the charity Perennial (Gardeners Royal Benevolent Society) which provides advice help and support in times of need or difficulty for people who are working in, or have retired from any of the gardening trades. (Registered Charity no. 1155156).

Opening times and further details can be found on our website at www.perennial.org.uk

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