Summer is nearly here and our glass house and polytunnels are bursting at the seams. This is by far our favourite time of year when all of the beautiful colours light up the nursery and definitely brighten our day.
Here are our top tips for your May garden from Jordan, our in-house expert:
Summer bedding plants are now available. With everything from Begonias and Bizzie Lizzies to Snapdragons and Surfinias, we have it all! Better still, we have an amazing special offer in-store on our standard 6 pack bedding plants: Buy 4, get 1 free! Please do beware of late frosts as these tender plants will get too cold if left out. We highly recommend our Erin Mutipurpose Compost for bedding plants, pots and hanging baskets, which is currently 3 x 70l bags for just £11.99 (available in-store).
Summer containers need the maximum feed and water as the plants are short-lived and have a short time frame to put on a show. You can help them reach their absolute best by doing the following:
- Add a slow release fertiliser into the soil when planting.
- Add water retaining crystals to the soil when planting hanging baskets or anything in full sun or a windy position to prevent them from drying out.
- Feed once a week with Tomerite. Yes, its tomato food but it encourages new growth and more flowers (which means more tomatoes) but in this case, more flowers on your bedding plants!
- We currently have on special in-store offer a 1l bottle with 30% extra free, so you’ll have 1.3l of Tomerite for just £4.29.
Potatoes are now showing foliage, this is the time when they need earthing. This means adding more soil around the new growth to form a ridge. This will exclude light from the tubers preventing them from going green.
Weeds are popping up everywhere, this is due to the damp but warmer weather. Regularly hoe off weeds to prevent them from getting out of hand and taking over.
Mow lawns weekly to keep then neat and fresh. If you are to apply a weed and feed, apply this on a dry day that is not windy before a wet day forecast. If there is no rain due for a day or two after you have applied the weed or feed, water it in so that it does not burn the grass.
Make sure you check for nesting birds before clipping hedges.
Be wary of lily beetle as they are most prominent this time of year.
Open greenhouse vents and doors on hot days to increase airflow and reduce humidity.
Enjoy your garden this month, we’ll be back with more of Jordan’s top tips in June 🌺🐝