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Achillea Spacing?

Robert WestRobert West Posts: 241
in Plants
Hello, I want to plant a few Achilleas (Cloth of Gold) but everywhere I look seems to suggest different spacing between the plants. Seen everything from 45cm to 1m. I want them to be reasonably densely planted, but not so crowded that it impacts their growing. Has anybody here had experience of planting these as a group?

Also, whilst I think of it, do they need staking at all? They seem to grow very tall and it's a relatively windy site. 

Thanks in advance,
Robert
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Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    No more than 50cm. in width, so 50cm apart should be fine,
    They are a taller variety, so could need staking.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Robert WestRobert West Posts: 241
    Thank you. Label was one of those vague ones that said width 50-100cm. 
  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 835
    I bought two 9cm pots of Achillea Terracotta a couple of years ago and only planted them a couple of inches apart as I wasn't expecting them to grow that much initially but they really did. 



    I ended up putting circular support around them (albeit a bit later than I should have) because they were falling all over the place. I'm going to have a crack at the Chelsea chop this year rather than using the support but I don't know how that's going to work out. I have now separated the two Achilleas, I kept one and divided and gave away the other, simply because I wanted the extra space to grow some annuals.     
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    50cm is definitely not too close; there will be a fair bit of bare soil between the plants at that spacing at least for the first year or two. You could go tighter if you wanted, the plants will knit together into one big clump more quickly. 
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    I haven't grown Cloth of Gold but generally they are real thugs. They clump up, spread and try to overwhelm all your other plants. They do need really careful staking in a windy site, but it's worth it.
  • cooldoccooldoc Posts: 853
    This is less than a years growth on my Achillea.. it was bought as a 1Litre pot from garden centre.. must be easily a meter across at the top with lots of clumps below which you can divide in autumn..






    A rose lover from West midlands
  • Robert WestRobert West Posts: 241
    Thanks everyone. Pictures look great. What, if anything did anyone do to prepare the soil before planting? Either adding anything nutritious or adding grit to improve drainage. I'd love mine to look like yours! 
  • cooldoccooldoc Posts: 853
    I did not add anything special while planting it @Robert West
    But it used to get occasional seaweed drench...
    A rose lover from West midlands
  • Robert WestRobert West Posts: 241
    Thank you. So just straight into the soil, no compost? How often do they need watering? They'll be in a very hot, dry, full sun position alongside daylilies that I never water. Obviously I don't mind watering the achillea, just don't want to have to do it every few days. I have enough containers that require that! 😊
  • AstroAstro Posts: 433
    I find they need some water until they settle if in dry soil and then after not any additional. From experience they flop less in unimproved soil, in full sun. 


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