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GARDENING ADVICE FOR THE COMMITTED & UNCOMMITTED ALIKE

17/7/2019 0 Comments

Tidy summer flowering shrubs

Early-summer flowering shrubs are due their annual prunes about now. Treat Deutzia, Philadelphus and Wiegela the same way: cut out the old flowering shoots (they will look quite ragged with side shoots) and leave the straight shoots: these are the ones that will bloom next year. If it has been a good flowering year you might want to leave some of the old shoots for bulk!

Evergreen shrubs will want different treatment. Go lightly over Cistus and Ceanothus to neaten them up and encourage new, bushy growth. You should just be cutting into soft young growth and old flowers: they do not appreciate having their old woody growth hacked into!
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16/7/2019 0 Comments

Yet more pruning advice ...

Yes, it is another post about pruning! Although most perennials should be cut back almost to the ground - including soft-stemmed Salvias – the woody-stemed Salvias, such as Hot Lips, microphylla and Royal Bumble, are an exception.

When the first flush of flowers look tired get out the scissors (or secateurs if you have mature specimens) and cut back by about half. This is also a good opportunity to tidy up scruffy, straggly plants. New blooms should soon appear to provide colour till late autumn.

Another perennial that should only be cut back by half is Penstemon, an evergreen which comes in an array of colours.
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15/7/2019 0 Comments

Don't be mimsy with the scissors!

Avoid the temptation to just snip off the old flowers of Leucanthemums (Shasta Daisies): you will not get any more blooms on the stem so you should cut it right back to base.

The same applies to the similar looking Tanacetums, Anthemis, and, later in the summer, Coreopsis, Echinacea, Rudbeckias and Heleniums.
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14/7/2019 0 Comments

Pulling Petunia petals

Hands up who deadheads their Petunias properly? If you are just pulling off the old petals the answer is, you’re not! Doing this leaves the seedhead in place, meaning the plant won’t make much effort to produce new blooms.

Nip out the whole lot to the main stem – Petunias are softer in the morning so do it then and you will be able to use your fingernails, as pictured.

If you have ended up with straggly shoots, chop back quite hard, feed and water and you will soon get healthy, bushy regrowth.
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7/7/2019 0 Comments

The Hampton Hack

Sometimes it pays to be ruthless - if you cannot see any more buds on your Lupins, chop them back to the base now and you should be rewarded with extra flowers later on, as well as attractive fresh foliage.

Other perennials which will benefit from the 'Hampton Hack' (as opposed to the 'Chelsea Chop') are Polemonium (Jacob's Ladder) and the soft herbaceous Salvias, such as Caradonna, East Friesland and May Night.

The shrubby, woody Salvias such as 'Hot Lips' are treated differently - more of that in a later post!
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4/7/2019 1 Comment

Keep the Rose blooms coming

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Keep the blooms coming on your Roses by regularly cutting out old flowers.

You should cut to just above a leaf with five ‘leaflets’ – where you should see a small nub (where arrow is pointing in the photo) also known as a bud eye.

This will become the new shoot, so pick one that is facing away from other stems to avoid congestion.

If your Rose has clusters of flowers, like this pictured Anna Ford, you might need to cut out quite a chunk of growth, as pictured, if there are no more buds.
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1/7/2019 0 Comments

Deadheading Dahlias

It's really worthwhile keeping up with deadheading your Dahlias, to ensure they will have a continuous display of fresh flowers.

It can be difficult to spot which buds have finished as the petals drop off quickly, but these photos make it clear: the purple arrow shows the fat, round new buds just ready to open (don't cut these!) while the red arrow shows the old, elongated remains of the flowers - snip these stems off just above the next new bud.
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    Gardening advice by Catherine McMillan

    Order your copy of Gardening for the Uncommitted: What You Really Need to Know, When You Don't Really Want to Know: available from Amazon.co.uk on paperback, eBook and KindleUnlimited. Don't forget to leave a review!

    Follow the Facebook pages for Bridge Farm Plants and Katie's Garden Plant Centre and tune into Felixstowe Radio every Friday for more top tips.

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