01 May 2017

What to do in your garden - May 2017

May is a wonderful month to let your imagination run riot and make your garden look fabulous, with annuals, perennials and trees and shrubs. Our garden centres are full of inspirational ideas and products to ensure you have all you need for the peak gardening season.

• Summer bedding plant season– we now have our full range of summer bedding plants in stock! We have everything you need for your borders, hanging baskets, and containers –in all the colours you could wish for. New Guinea impatiens and Osteospermums are looking fabulous, as are all the traditional favourites such as geranium, fuchsia, petunia and lobelia. We also have ready-made hanging baskets and patio pots for instant impact. A massive range of beautiful and exotic plants from colourful canna lilies to dahlia, marguerite daisies, standard fuchsia and pots of nemesia for delicate fragrance.

• Rhododendrons and Azaleas : select from a range of fabulous flowering plants: dwarf types can be grown in containers using ericaceous (acidic) compost if your soil is alkaline (limey).

• Fruit and vegetables: grow your own strawberries to tomatoes, chillies to melons – whatever you like to grow for home grown flavour, we have so much to choose from. We have individual pots and packs of many different varieties

• Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis) repotting - now is a good time to repot your orchid if it has become too large for its pot, or hasn’t been repotted for the last two years. Find out more by clicking here.

• Now is the time to plant herbaceous perennials: a massive selection is now available in store. Plant in groups of 3 or 5 for impact in beds and borders. Choose from pollinator attracting salvia species, foxgloves to phlox, agapanthus to astilbe. Good sized plants starting from £3.99 each. Varieties will vary depending on availability.

• Box topiary is looking fabulous right now – a great plant for any garden or container and tolerant of deep shade. We have all shapes and sizes from spiral to pyramids or box balls. Ensure you keep plants well-watered in containers, and feed with continuous release fertiliser granules such as Miracle Gro. For our guide on how to grow trees and shrubs in containers click here.

• Climbing plants - evergreen and deciduous types for every aspect in your garden. From clematis to ivy, jasmine to wisteria, we have vigorous vines and fragrant climbers such as honeysuckle or jasmine, to exotic passionflower to give colour this summer.

• Shrubs looking good for summer flowers or foliage: Hebe, Buddleja, Philadelphus, hibiscus, euonymus, pittosporum and roses galore. Come and see what we have in store for more inspiration!

• Alpines are looking stunning with colourful flowers and foliage, and are a useful addition for containers, raised beds or borders in a sunny position in well-drained soil