TIME-SAVING BEDDING PLANTS
Traditional summer bedding involves a lot of time and work. Even if you buy all the plants from a nursery to avoid the annual rituals of sowing, labelling and potting on, they still have to be planted out in the garden. However, if you like the instant cheerful brightness of seasonal bedding rather than the predictable show from shrubs and border plants, you can compromise by mixing a temporary selection of seasonal bedding with established planting. The bedding plants will add splashes of bright, long-lasting summer colour among the more permanent plants. A low-growing perennial, such as sedum, can be used as a neat year-round edging that requires at the most an annual trim to keep it looking tidy. The centre of the bed can then be filled with spring bulbs and summer bedding plants.
If you choose bedding plants such as begonias or petunias that flower prolifically over a long period without much attention, you will further cut down on the amount of work involved. The plants listed below will continue to flower for many months without requiring deadheading, regular attention or watering. They are some of the most trouble-free and spectacular bedding plants you can use.
Begonia semperflorens
Impatiens
Lavateratrimestris
Osteospermum
Perlagonium
Petunia
Tagetes patula
If you choose bedding plants such as begonias or petunias that flower prolifically over a long period without much attention, you will further cut down on the amount of work involved. The plants listed below will continue to flower for many months without requiring deadheading, regular attention or watering. They are some of the most trouble-free and spectacular bedding plants you can use.
Begonia semperflorens
Impatiens
Lavateratrimestris
Osteospermum
Perlagonium
Petunia
Tagetes patula
PLANTING A PERMANENT EDGING
If you want to add small permanent plants at the front of a border that will give seasonal splashes of colour rather than temporary bedding plants choose from the wide range of miniature bulbs or creeping plants.
1 Dig over the ground at the front of the border and clear it of weeds. Rake in a general fertilizer if planting in spring to encourage vigorous early growth and help the plants to knit together. (Wait until spring to do this if planting in autumn or winter.)
2 Space the plants out in their pots and adjust them to go evenly around the bed. About 15cm (6in) apart is suitable for most plants if you want quick cover, further apart if you don’t mind waiting a little longer. Plant using a trowel.
3 Firm in to remove large pockets of air, then water thoroughly. The bed may be planted immediately with bulbs or spring or summer bedding plants as appropriate.
1 Dig over the ground at the front of the border and clear it of weeds. Rake in a general fertilizer if planting in spring to encourage vigorous early growth and help the plants to knit together. (Wait until spring to do this if planting in autumn or winter.)
2 Space the plants out in their pots and adjust them to go evenly around the bed. About 15cm (6in) apart is suitable for most plants if you want quick cover, further apart if you don’t mind waiting a little longer. Plant using a trowel.
3 Firm in to remove large pockets of air, then water thoroughly. The bed may be planted immediately with bulbs or spring or summer bedding plants as appropriate.
SELF-SUFFICIENT SHRUBS
Some of the most popular shrubs, like roses and buddlejas, require a lot of attention. Regular pruning is necessary for many of them to remain looking good, and others may be prone to pests and diseases, which require time and effort to prevent or eliminate. Fortunately, there are many low-maintenance shrubs that are just as attractive and almost trouble-free.
You can choose from hundreds of well-behaved compact shrubs that will not require frequent pruning or hacking back. Check with your local garden centre to make sure the shrubs you select won’t need regular pruning, won’t become bare and leggy at the base with all the flowers at the top, and aren’t susceptible to diseases.
Viburnum tinus is useful for its autumn and winter flowers, but it can grow tall and require pruning to keep it compact. Many hebes are naturally compact and so require little pruning; most have pretty flowers, but some need protection during cold winters.
You can choose from hundreds of well-behaved compact shrubs that will not require frequent pruning or hacking back. Check with your local garden centre to make sure the shrubs you select won’t need regular pruning, won’t become bare and leggy at the base with all the flowers at the top, and aren’t susceptible to diseases.
Viburnum tinus is useful for its autumn and winter flowers, but it can grow tall and require pruning to keep it compact. Many hebes are naturally compact and so require little pruning; most have pretty flowers, but some need protection during cold winters.
LOW-MAINTENANCE BULBS
Producing flower colour for virtually any time of the year, bulbs make a valuable contribution to the low-maintenance garden. Many bulbs will flower reliably year after year, with the clumps improving all the time, and once they have been planted they need very little attention.
Most summer-flowering bulbs, such as alliums and lilies, are best planted in groups in a border, but the easiest way to grow many spring- and autumn-flowering bulbs is to naturalize them in grass. This eliminates the need for annual replanting and means that you don’t have to cut that part of the lawn until the leaves have died down naturally. It is better to keep naturalized bulbs to one small area of the lawn so that the rest can be cut normally and it won’t look too untidy.
Most summer-flowering bulbs, such as alliums and lilies, are best planted in groups in a border, but the easiest way to grow many spring- and autumn-flowering bulbs is to naturalize them in grass. This eliminates the need for annual replanting and means that you don’t have to cut that part of the lawn until the leaves have died down naturally. It is better to keep naturalized bulbs to one small area of the lawn so that the rest can be cut normally and it won’t look too untidy.
