If you want to fill your garden with colour, but you’re unsure how, then let us help you. Sutton Seeds, retailers of hanging baskets and plant seeds, can show you how to turn your garden into a hidden wonderland. Why not try some bedding plants to spring your garden back into life? After all, with so many varieties to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Choosing the right bedding plants
Seedlings, plugs, and pots are all options to choose from when it comes to bedding plants – finding the right type for you may take two minutes or two hours!
Most people choose to buy their bedding plants in either a pot or a tray. However, keep in mind that due to these plants being grown together in the same compost, there is a risk that the roots will be damaged when you attempt to separate them into individual pots.
You should keep in mind that it is always easier to grow bedding plants from plugs – as this is generally the easiest method when it comes to bedding plants. Plug plants are also usually larger than seedlings, grown in trays which contain an abundance of v-shaped cells.
Use trays that are filled with compost if you opt for seeds – and try to use 100 to 400 seeds in one tray. Be aware that you will need to pot the baby plants into little pots, or space them out into separate seed trays upon delivery, so that they are granted plenty of space to grow.
Displaying your bedding plants
It may seem like easy work when you’re purchasing your garden plants – but finding somewhere for them to go may be easier. Here’s a checklist so that your outdoor space becomes a scene that everyone will want to take the time to marvel at:
- Choose a strong colour theme that has a simple design. A selection of warm oranges, reds and yellows are one option for achieving this, while a mixture of cool blues, purples and whites are another.
- Structure your bedding by height. Taller flowers like cosmos, nicotiana and sunflowers should sit towards the back of a bed or border, while short plants like annual phlox, marigolds and petunias should take the front row to ensure they are seen.
- Height can be added to a garden bedding scheme with the inclusion of some climbing bedding plants. Therefore, it is wise to purchase some sweet peas, ipomoea lobate and morning glory plants and then support their stems using either obelisks, trellis or a teepee or bamboo canes.
- If you have many flowers in your bedding scheme, break them up with some foliage bedding plants. Coleus, senecio cineraria ‘Silver Dust’, ricinus communis ‘Castor Oil’ and nigella all make for great solutions here, as do edible foliage plants like kale or Swiss chard which include the added benefit of creating a multi-purpose garden bed too.
Caring for bedding plants
Once everything is planted, the work continues! Aftercare is very important to ensure the most spectacular of displays.
Watering bedding plants that have only recently been planted is an important task to remember. However, once they are established you will only need to water them when your garden is subjected to periods of prolonged dry weather. A general rule of thumb is to water plants daily in the summer weather, though opt to make this procedure a twice daily occurrence for any plants in containers and hanging baskets.
Winter bedding plants will not require any extra feeding, nor will any that are planted in the ground. Meanwhile, summer bedding plants which have been placed in containers should have enough nutrients to keep them healthy for six weeks of growth. Following this period, feed them on a weekly basis using a balanced liquid fertiliser; adding liquid feed into your watering can should do the trick.
Dead flowers that clutter up your garden should be removed as soon as they start to decay – so as to keep your garden clean and tidy. This also helps to encourage new blooms from the other plants.
