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Spring Advice ?
Scott Purdie
Posts: 1
in Plants
hi, new to the forum, and basically new to garden stuff, basically have dug a border of 12 inch wide around my garden and want to put in some plants with my daughter, just any advice on which plants would be best with the winter coming up or if i would be better waiting for the spring ? also would i be better adding some better soil to mix in with my stuff for anything i do, thanks in advance Scott
0
Posts
Hi Scott - 12 inches isn't very wide so probably best to go for smaller, low growing planting. You could have a mix of perennials and evergreens and if you want your daughter to get interested, you can sow some little annuals in spring with her. Nasturtiums are one of the easiest for children and they grow quickly with bright flowers so they're immediately appealing to them.
As Logan says , check what the soil's like, and see what's growing in neighbouring gardens too. You can always ask other people what they have. The aspect is also important - no point growing sun lovers if the site's in full shade for instance.
This is a good time of year to plant all sorts of hardy plants, and many GCs, DIY stores and nurseries have sales so you can often pick up some bargains. Adding compost to the existing soil will help with the structure, and if it's sticky, heavy clay, well rotted manure and grit will benefit it. You can get manure in bags from garden centres etc if you don't have access to a riding school or similar to get it fresh
Lastly, have a think about how you want the garden to look - bright colours or a simpler palette for example, and also how much time you have to spend in it. No point in having high maintenance plants if you don't have time to attend to them. Then we can all come up with lots of suggestions for you.
Hope that's of some help.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
agree with logan. also have a good look at plants you like first or can imagine in your borders, Involve your daughter too! read up on them and what they like/don't like then you can see if they suit your soil, plenty of of seeds can be sown outdoors now or start them off inside end of feb/march and then plant them out after frost. Also bulbs are good to plants now. make sure you put plenty of slug pellets down they love green babies.. or you can do what I done last year, bash a load of plants in and hope for the best!!
(the latter normally results in disappointment!)
You can get lots of bulbs in supermarkets just now. Lidl has lots and they have coloured photos on the packet which make it easy to choose and appealing to your daughter. Its a bit of a wait, but so exciting in the spring to see them poking up through the soil. You could do some hyacinths inside to come a bit quicker and give her an idea of what will happen, we used to grow them in glass jars so you can see the roots. I think you should make the border wider, you are bound to get the gardening bug and you will need the space! Maybe make them into a more interesting shape, and encourage your daughter to help dig. Have fun!
I'd steer clear of bulbs this year unless you put other plants in at the same time. If you wait till spring (or later on in autumn) to put the other plants in, you risk digging up and through the bulbs unless you're very careful. Much easier, and safer, to put bulbs in after the perennials /shrubs .
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You can easily mark where the bulbs are with a stick or too, and it means you have some colour and excitement as soon as spring starts
Sorry Fairygirl looks like I ignored your post, sound advice about putting bulbs in borders after the perennials. Makes so much sense. Seen my father dig up bluebells earlier this year for me and he severed most of them..me and my mother were horrified. Out of what should of been 50 plus I had about 15..