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Aquilegia seedlings taken out from the lawn - what next?

EscapetothegardenEscapetothegarden Posts: 188
in Plants
Good morning! ☁️

I have a few aquilegia dotted about, and they have seeded in the lawn.  I took them out and potted them up in little pots, and popped them in the (mini) greenhouse temporarily.

What should I do with them? Should I plant them in the borders? Or should I wait till they are a little bigger?

I was wondering whether I should have just placed them in their locations straight away so they become accustomed to the surroundings, but thought that perhaps I should let their roots develop a bit more incase I have damaged them while extracting them.

Thank you 🌼

Posts

  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    Depends a bit on your soil. If it's quite heavy I'd definitely wait until the roots have developed a bit more before planting them out. If it's lighter you'd probably get away with planting out now (aquilegias are forgiving plants IME).

    Either way they won't flower this year so, personally, I'd let them grow on a bit. Not much to lose doing that beyond a bit of faff looking after them.🙂
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • EscapetothegardenEscapetothegarden Posts: 188
    @Topbird my soil is quite heavy clay - thank you for your advice 👍
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I agree - they're very adaptable plants, so you could experiment if you have lots. I have clay soil, but I often just stick them in places without bothering too much.
    I have spent a lot of time improving it though, but it's surprising how well they can cope   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • EscapetothegardenEscapetothegarden Posts: 188
    Fairygirl said:
    I agree - they're very adaptable plants, so you could experiment if you have lots. I have clay soil, but I often just stick them in places without bothering too much.
    I have spent a lot of time improving it though, but it's surprising how well they can cope   :)
    Thank you - I will try a few out in the borders… the lawn is actually really heavy clay and they seemed happy there; the borders have better drainage so we might be ok!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    There's a slight difference between physically planting something, and self sown seedlings establishing somewhere, so it doesn't always follow that you can plant successfully into the same conditions as the self sown ones, but if the spot they're going into is decent, they should be fine  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Escapetothegarden The seedlings are often a dark purple as that is the dominant gene. A colour that goes with most things. Aquilegias are great plants, they flower at the time spring moves into summer a great asset. Useful at the front of a border where they offer a change of height to ground hugging plants. However they are light and airy plants too which always adds interest.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • EscapetothegardenEscapetothegarden Posts: 188
    @GardenerSuze they were in the garden when we moved in, and they have happily spread.  I actually love them, I love the airy look and the flowers look unique 💕
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    They come in lots of different shapes and colours. You can have some fun if you buy one or two packets of seed that are different from yours, sow them, plant them out and then wait for the bees to do their thing. You then get lots of different ones popping up, including some that look nothing like yours or the seed packets :)
  • EscapetothegardenEscapetothegarden Posts: 188
    @Buttercupdays that’s sounds like fun! Will def try it out ☺️ 
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