Plants For Gardens – Anyone can be successful with these plants!
Lets start with out favourite garden plant of 2018:
Our vote goes to wisteria, we are totally in love with the way it clings to walls or arches and drapes down. 
With a delicate lilac/purple flower that looks like bunches of grapes hanging from vines.
Of course it looks even better when it is well established and has been growing for years. Some of the country cottages that’s have had wisteria growing up the for years are absolutely gorgeous, likewise sometimes you see a beautiful tradition London house with a tiled entrance and grand door. When you look up and see wisteria growing and hanging down it makes the property so much more appealing than it already is.
Gardening Tips – Planting
It doesn’t mater how big or small you garden is, or even if you have no garden at all.
You can still get green fingers (or dirty fingers) by planting your own things. If you have a very small or no garden, stick to things like herbs and small fruits that you can grow inside the house or on a window ledge.
Its up to you how you choose to start you garden growing. Seeds are the cheapest option and you will eventually get more plant for your money, but you also need a lot of time and patience.
Along with some good seed compost if you want to get the best results.
The other option, for the not so patient gardener, is to buy plugs. There are plants that have already been started off and are usually a few inches high. They are strong and healthy and get you on the patch to growing a lot quicker. They usually come in packs of 3-6 and are slightly more expensive than seeds because of the work that has gone into getting them to this stage.
Vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit all adore the sunshine and you will get quicker and better results by placing you plants in a sunny spot.
If you only have a shady area, don’t worry because you can still get great results from most of the popular vegetables. Also beetroot, radishes and herbs to will be fine.
Some plants are particularly happy in shady areas, Begonias, Fuchsias, Busy Lizzies all thrive in a shadier area sooner than bright sun.
Other ideas for a shady spot include:
- Japanese Maple,
- St John’s Wort
- Mahonia X Media ‘Charity’
- Hosta
- Begonia
- Rhododendron
- Dwarf Sweet Box
- Daphne Laureola
- Heuchera
- Periwinkle
Here are some plants that thrive in full sunlight:
- Yarrow
- Shasta Daisy
- Coreopsis
- Purple Cornflower
- Blanker Flower
- Russian Sage
- Butterfly Weed
- Lavender
Lavender - Sedum
- Daylily
- Verbena
- Bee Balm
- Aster
Of course that list is in no way extensive, just a few ideas to get inspiration from when you type their names in specifically sooner than just searching google for flowers to put in full sunlight.
Have fun and be creative in your garden, there is no right or wrong way to do anything and you learn from trying new things. There is nothing more rewarding in the garden that when something you have planted finally starts to shoot, how or flower.
Just remember to water everything regularly through the warmer months, avoid drowning your seeds by over watering and be sure to give trees a good amount of water via hose pipe or watering can. The rainwater, no matter how heavy the downpour does not always water potted trees.
Feeding is also required from time to time and we will explore that in another post.
To save water and money on your bills, simple install a water butt. Collect all the free rainwater that falls onto your roof into a large tap and dispense via a built in tap when you need it.
Create contrast in the garden
By using large areas of one surface material, like gravel or paving slabs, you garden can start to look stark and boring. Liven things up by adding pots of bushed and flowers to create different texture areas and heights.
Add outdoor soft furnishings with a unique pattern to bright up dull areas of the garden. A plain painted bench will look a hundred times better by adding a couple of outdoor cushions to it.
Create a beautiful hanging basket with small flowers like pansies that are easy to look after. This again breaks up a boring fence panel or brick wall by adding interesting textures and colour at eye level.
Containers For Easy Gardening and Growing Your Own
Window Boxes
Window boxes are a great way to brighten up your window with some colour whilst creating a functional use too. Just make sure the window box you buy isn’t too big for your window.
The deeper the window box you can buy, the more things you can grow. Carrots for example need around 30cm of depth to thrive.
Some great ideas for what to grow in a window box:
Radishes
Baby Beetroot
Card
Mini Spinach
Small Cabbages
Salad Leaves
These are all thing that you could use regularly, encouraging the plant to grow more leaves and produce more for you. Really easy to maintain and good for saving money on expensive preached and packaged salad items from the supermarket.
Hanging Baskets
Hanging baskets are not just for flowers and decoration, if you choose edible things to plant, you can make the most of the fact that your fruit can hang from the height and grow perfectly.
Thinks like strawberries and chillies are great in a hanging basket because they brighten up your garden with a burst of colour.
Ideas for what to grow in a hanging basket:
Tomatoes
Most Herbs
Edible Flowers
Mini Cucumbers
Dwarf Beans and Peas
Chillies
Pots and Containers
Pots are great because they can be super decorative and pretty, full of colour but also functional by growing you own fruit and veg in them and they can easily be moved around the garden. You are not tied to setting them in one place.
What to grow in a deep pot or container:
Tomatoes
Beetroot
Dwarf Runner Beans
Dwarf French Beans
Cucumber
Kale and Spinach
Peppers
Any Herbs
Grow Bags
When growing your own fruit and veg, you want to ensure you have the most amount of goodness and nutrients possible to get the best and tastiest produce. Grow bags are excellent because there is absolutely no hard work involved. You simple cut your hole, inset your plant or seeds and you’re good to go. Grow bags are also great if you don’t own many pots or you don’t want to go out and buy a window box or several. You can literally grow the plant from the grow bag which sits on the floor. The weight of the bag keeps it securely in place and when you’re done there is no mess or transferring to do.
Things to grow in bags:
Tomatoes
Beans
Courgettes
Sweet Peppers
Chilli Peppers
Cucumbers
Aubergines
Many of the above plants need heat to really thrive and will do well, this can be created using plastic sheeting, to create a ‘poly tunnel’ effect. Or by placing the grow bag into a pop up green house. These can be bought for very little money online on Amazon for example (usually with free delivery) and they can create a lot of heat to surround your plant.
Alternatively, if you are lucky enough to own a glass greenhouse, this is the absolute best way to grow your own produce as the consistent heat and humidity will give your plants everything they need and fool them into thinking they are not being grown in the UK with our fluctuating heat waves and rainy cool spells!