Containers of flowers bring colour to patios and places where there is little soil. Hanging baskets, window boxes and pots bring masses of colour to our homes and gardens. They should be looking their best right now but summer heat and especially holidays can quickly cause them to look awful. Whether baskets of begonias or pots of petunias, they rely on use for their water and fertiliser and as the plants get bigger they need more and more water and feeding.
It seems that summer has really arrived, and with a vengeance this weekend. So before you pop to the pub for lunch or down to Nags Hall for a coffee and brunch, get those hanging baskets watered so you can relax!
Hanging baskets need watering daily in most cases and patio pots will need regular and frequent watering too. Try not to let the pots dry out. Wilting plants may recover after watering but they will never be quite the same again and it may damage flower buds and make plants more prone to mildew and other problems including greenfly.
If you put controlled-release fertiliser in the compost at planting time this will be starting to run out now and the plants will be much bigger so extra feeding is needed from now on. I feed once a week. There are lots of liquid or soluble fertilisers available and you will choose your favourite. I grew up using Phostrogen and it is great for all flowering and fruiting plants. I like to use a fertiliser that contains seaweed extract too. Be aware that seaweed extract on its own is not a complete fertiliser so you need to add it to the can as add your fertiliser. But there are some fertilisers that contain added fertiliser – just read the packs carefully. I like to add seaweed extract to the feeding of tomatoes because I think it improves the flavour of the fruit, with all the added trace elements, but I have no scientific evidence of that – just a feeling!
Many gardeners use Miracle-Gro and it is higher in nitrogen than most soluble fertilisers, which is why they claim it grows bigger plants. It is useful at this time of year when plants in pots start to ‘run out of steam’. I just wish it didn’t stain my fingers blue. It does remind me that I have fed the plants though!
What a difference a few months can make. Last year this pot with Begonia luxurians, a canna and arum lily looked less than impressive in June.
But by September it was spectacular, thanks to lots of feeding and watering. There was a problem, however. The canna rhizomes grew so much they actually split the pot!
The other key to your pots looking good for the next few months is deadheading. Many bedding plants need to be deadheaded because it prevents the plants from setting seeds.
If you remove the dead and fading flowers it prevents seeds being formed and so the plant is forced to produce more blooms. It also keeps clumps of plants looking tidy and attractive.
Of course, you can leave some seeds to form if you want to collect some or if you want to leave some seeds to form for the birds to eat later in autumn.
When you deadhead some plants, like petunias, do not just pull off the faded petals but cut or pinch off the seed pod behind it. Coleus are great plants for summer colour with brightly marked leaves but they tend to start to produce spikes of lilac flowers and this results in less colourful foliage so remove the flowers as they form.
Other reminders
Water camellias in pots and in the ground if the weather is dry to prevent flower buds from dropping
Sow annual herbs like coriander and dill and parsley
Lift onions ready to dry off for storage
Remove lower leaves from tomatoes if they are turning yellow