Play catch up in your garden!

May and June have been two difficult months in the garden this season but now is a good time to take stock and prepare the garden for mid and late summer colour,the trick to keeping the garden looking good and full of colour is too look after the existing plants you have and add in some “colour fillers” to gaps in the existing flower borders and patio planters.

Garden plants will benefit from some liquid feeding with one general purpose liquid feed, one is ideal for flowering and foliage plants and will encourage both vigour and the production of both flowers and fruit on many of your garden plants Click here to see our One Liquid Plant Feed. Regular watering will also be important this and next month in particular on larger flowering plants like Hydrangeas, clematis and roses Click here to see our Flowering Plants

Remember mid summer is also the ideal time to sow new plants from seed, its an easy and very effective method of raising new plants to add colour and interest for autumn, winter and spring. I recommend you sow wallflowers, scented Brompton stock, sweet William and winter flowering pansies, simply sow out of doors in seed trays and transplant the young plants in august to their flowering position Click here to see our Flower Seeds

Jobs in the garden this week..

20th June 2011

1. End of June is a great time to sow a new lawn, I recommend green velvet lawn seed mix for a quality hard wearing lawn that looks great but stands up to some wear and tear. Take my advice and add some Scott’s sportsmaster pre seeding fertiliser to the soil before sowing the green velvet seed. Lawn seed sown now will germinate in less than two weeks Click here to see our Lawncare

2. Blue hydrangeas are now available for planting and will reward you with lots of colour from now until early winter. Click here to see our Hydrangeas Blue hydrangeas are ideal for both shrub borders and patio planters, remember to water them well and feed weekly with one liquid feed Click here to see our One Liquid Plant food

3. If you have sweet peas flowering in your garden, then lucky you, remember to cut the flowers each week, this will help to promote new flowers all summer long. Feed your sweet peas with a dressing of one liquid feed each week Click here to see our One Liquid Plant Feed

4. Early July is the ideal month to sow shamrock seed, its easy to grow and can be sown out of doors in seed trays or directly into the soil. Shamrock seed sown now will provide you with lots of rich green shamrock for March 17^th. Shamrock can also be grown in pots or window boxes Click here to see our Shamrock Seed

5. variegated popular is showing super colour this summer, the large pink, white and green leaves are produced all summer and now is the ideal time to plant a young variegated popular in your garden. Remember to prune the stems hard back in winter for a strong show of colour next summer. V. poplars are easy to grow and suit all soil types.

6. There is still some time to plant tomato and pepper plants for lots of great pickings this summer. Look for strong mature plants and place in a warm sunny sheltered location Click here to see our Tomato and Pepper Plants. Remember to feed weekly with one liquid feed and you can look forward to great tasting home grown fruit this summer Click here to see our One Liquid Plant Food

7. Trailing petunias are one of the best summer flowering basket and patio plants you can plant this summer. Hot pink and Barney purple are two of the best varieties and will flower from now until early winter. They are ideal for creating a strong vivid display of colour. Take my advice and plant 3 trailing petunias in your baskets or window boxes for a stunning show of colour Click here to see our Trailing Petunias

8. There is still plenty of time to sow garden herbs and vegetables from seed, soil tempetures are ideal at present for fast germination and quick growth. Sow herbs like chives, parsley, thyme, rosemary and lavender directly out of doors in seed trays or directly into the garden soil. Veg plants including cauliflower, cabbage, leeks and lettuce can be sown now Click here to see our Herb and Vegetable Seeds

9. Potash is important for all fruiting plants – Apply a dressing of Sulphate of potash to all fruiting plantings now, simply apply a handful of potash to the soil around the fruiting plants. Potash is beneficial to apples, pears, Plum, cherries, blackcurrants and gooseberries Click here to see our Sulphate of Potash

10.  Blight protection is still important on tomatoes and potatoes apply a dressing of Promoximil blight treatment to potato crops and tomato plants every two weeks throughout July for maximum protection Click here to see our Proxanil Potato Blight Treatment

11. July is an excellent month to plant flowering and foliage climbers; I recommend summer flowering clematis, scented honeysuckle, flowering hydrangeas and the lovely free flowering wisteria. Remember to add organic compost to the planting hole when planting Click here to see our Climbers

Join us for Sunday carvery lunch at the bay leaf restaurant, families welcome. Afterwards take a stroll through the Edinburgh woollen mills centre at Horkans lifestyle & Garden centre – we open 7 days – every Sunday from 12 to 6pm.