Job of the week: Planting up summer pots
Plant filled containers are an instant pick-me-up for any patio, and look wonderful placed into gaps among the plants in your garden. Start by filling a large container with multi-purpose compost. Water your plants thoroughly before planting, ease them out of their pots and then plant with taller plants at the centre and cascading ones at the edge. We’ve a huge range of bedding plants to mix and match so that you can create a container that just suits, whatever your style.
Flowers:
• Cut back spring-flowering shrubs like forsythia and chaenomeles
• Prune Clematis montana after it finishes flowering
• Cut out plain green shoots appearing on plants with variegated foliage
Fruit & veg:
• Sow beetroot, carrots, chard, French and runner beans
• Pull out raspberry canes which are coming up outside their rows
• Harvest rhubarb, gently pulling the stems away from the base.
Greenhouse:
• Pot on permanent container plants into fresh compost if they look a little tired and are not growing strongly.
• Use biocontrols to keep pest outbreaks under control
• Hoe greenhouse beds to keep weeds down between plants
Around the garden:
• Clean bird baths and change the water so feathered visitors stay healthy
• Feed lawns with a top dressing of lawn fertiliser
• Water plants, especially those newly planted, in any dry spells until they establish. Be especially watchful of plants in pots drying out.