Top tips, gardening news, Plant of the Week and a dahlia bundles competition
For more gardening content, follow me @biros_and_bloom
SAVE! MAKE your lawn look neat and tidy with a half moon edger. Try Burgon & Balls’ £27.99 one from Sam Turner & Sons, left, or Wickes has a version for £11, right.
WIN! OUR friends at Westland Horticulture are offering TWO winners a lawncare bundle worth over £130, including PureGreen lawn seed 50m, SafeLawn liquid feed, lawn seeding soil, a lawn aerator and a scarifying rake.
To enter, see thesun.co.uk/WESTLANDLAWN or write to Sun Westland Lawn competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP.
Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm on March 28. T&Cs apply.
LEARN! Q) I’M growing dahlias for the first time. Should I plant them now?
Reg Harris, Ashford, Surrey
A) Start them off first in a free greenhouse or sunny windowsill. Use 2-3litre pots with potting compost.
Place the tuber with the stem end up, cover with 1-2in of compost, and water lightly until shoots appear.
Then, get them in the ground late May when all chance of frost has passed. Don’t overwater otherwise they’ll rot.
THIS WEEK’S JOB! GET your plant supports in now before your climbers accelerate in the better weather. Feed roses, shrubs, hedges, and prune jasmine after flowering.
HOWDY HEVER! HEVER Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn, is launching a brand new daffodil variety.
Grown for the Kent estate by Taylors Bulbs, Lincs, the Hever Castle bloom will be unveiled on Monday to mark the start of the week-long Dazzling Daffodils event, where visitors can enjoy thousands of flowers. See hevercastle.co.uk.
PLANT OF THE WEEK! PINK bergenia cordifolia ‘Purpurea’, above, is great for shady spots. For 20 per cent off, see thompson-morgan.com/sunoffers. T&Cs apply.
NEWBIES WILL DIG SCHEME! BRITISH Garden Centres launches its Make It Bloom spring campaign on Monday – a three-month initiative to help new gardeners discover their green fingers.
Running until the end of May, it aims to support every gardener, whether you’re nurturing your first plant or tending a thriving outdoor space.
Lucy Hewitt, of British Garden Centres, said: “Whether you’ve never planted anything before or you’re looking to expand your skills, the Make It Bloom campaign offers friendly, jargon-free advice that makes gardening accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
“The campaign is designed to help you create the outdoor space you’ve always dreamed of.”
For more details, see britishgardencentres.com.
- FOR Mother’s Day, spoil your green-fingered mum with a gift from Genus Gardening, a technical clothing brand founded by Sue O’Neil. See genus.gs.
