Bulbs

It may seem like far away but now is the time to start thinking about next spring.  A splash of Spring colour (especially after a bad winter) can be glorious and now is the perfect time to plan spring flowering bulbs before the ground gets too cold.

Bulbs do fine in a sunny spot in the garden or in pots but only if they have plenty of drainage, if too wet bulbs will rot.  For this reason it’s advisable to use a specialised bulb fibre/compost and/or add additional drainage by way of grit.

Check the bulb packaging for height and flowering time.  It’s a good idea to mix and match different heights, colours and flowering times to maximise your display.

Beds & Borders

By September most perennials and shrubs will be past their best and the soil will be depleted of nutrients after the busy growing season.  Now is an ideal time to not only tidy up your plants but mulch your beds & borders.

What is a mulch? Quite simply a material spread over the top of soil and around plants.

What types of mulch are there? The most common are organic mulches such as bark, compost, soil improvers, manure etc. Inorganic mulches are gravel, rocks etc.

Why mulch? Mulching does lots of different jobs. It keeps the garden looking tidy, blocks weeds from getting sunlight, protects plant roots from weather extremes and retains water.  In the case of organic mulches these also break down over time and add nutrients back into the soil underneath.

Cut back any faded perennials, remove any summer bedding plants that are past their best (you can compost this material as long as it’s healthy). Get rid of any weeds. You can also now divide any spring flowering perennials such as hostas, phlox, astilbe and dicentra (who doesn’t love free plants).

Once you have everything cleared away and positioned it’s time to apply your chosen mulch. The ideal thickness is between 2-3 inches, this depth retails soil moisture, insulates roots and supresses weeds without suffocating the soil.