Things Will Soon be Brighter in the Garden

Even though our weather patterns seem to be chopping and changing lately it wont be long before we have said goodbye to the final frosts and can move our tender bedding plants out into the garden.

Normally the rule of thumb for our northern climate is that we are probably safe to plant bedding plants out in the first weekend of June, saying that – last year we got milder weather sooner and was able to plant mine out in the second week of May!

normally it is best to play things by ear and keep an eye on the weather and stick to the June theory, rather than go mad at the garden centres and buy all your plants at once then to get a sudden late frost and loose the lot!
 
Normally when i buy any bedding plants i like to harden them off for a couple of days before i plant them out, i do this by placing them outside in the day time and bringing them in at night just to acclimatise them a little as these plants can burn off and scorch if they have been inside and get put straight out, so i like to be safer than sorry and as a result end up with stronger healthier plants in the long run.
 
This year i am growing a lot of my own plants from seed, firstly its a lot cheaper than buying ready grown ones and secondly its great to have plants thriving outside that you have grown yourself, and it gives me a buzz to see my garden blooming with all the delights that i have nurtured and raised myself.
 
I am in the process of getting my own allotment which i intend to grow all my own vegetables on, i love fresh food and begrudge paying over the top prices at supermarkets so will also save a few pounds this year, I also want some hens which will in turn give us a nice supply of fresh eggs and a continuous flow of chicken manure which is great for the compost bin and vegetable borders, so im busily sowing all-sorts of vegetable seeds to get me started there too.
 
All of my winter hanging baskets are looking a bit sad and bedraggled now so this weekend i intend to clear them all up and empty the baskets ready for the summer display, this year i want to have a couple of baskets filled with Surfinia petunias, i had a couple dotted around last year and they flowered there socks off, i added water retaining gel in the compost to help keep moisture around the plants and this proved to work really well and cut down on the watering so intend to repeat this again this year.