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How to get bedding plants right

Finding the right bedding plants for your garden can often be difficult, so why not let us help you? Why not try some bedding plants to spring your garden back into life? With so many varieties to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. With the help of Suttons Seeds and Dobies of Devon, retailers of hanging baskets and flowering plants, we can help you transform your garden into a sanctuary of rich foliage.

Choosing the right bedding plants for your garden

Finding the right bedding plants for you can be difficult, but you have many options; you can choose from seedlings, plugs, or pots.

Normally, those purchasing bedding plants will often choose those in a pot or a tray. However, keep in mind that due to these plants being grown together in the same compost, there is a risk that the roots will be damaged when you attempt to separate them into individual pots.

If you’re unsure, it’s always easier growing your bedding plants from plugs. Plug plants are also usually larger than seedlings, grown in trays which contain an abundance of v-shaped cells.

If you opt for a seedling option, then you should use a tray. Within your tray, you should use at least 100 to 400 seeds. Just be aware that you will need to pot the baby plants into little pots, or space them out into separate seed trays upon delivery, so that they are granted plenty of space to grow.

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How to display your bedding plants properly

Once you’ve purchased your plants, it may be difficult establishing where to place them within your garden. Here’s a checklist so that your outdoor space becomes marvellous:

  1. Choose a strong colour theme that has a simple design. A selection of warm oranges, reds and yellows are one option for achieving this, while a mixture of cool blues, purples and whites are another.
  2. Structure your bedding by height. Taller flowers like cosmos, nicotiana and sunflowers should sit towards the back of a bed or border, while short plants like annual phlox, marigolds and petunias should take the front row to ensure they are seen.
  3. Height can be added to a garden bedding scheme with the inclusion of some climbing bedding plants. Therefore, it is wise to purchase some sweet peas, ipomoea lobate and morning glory plants and then support their stems using either obelisks, trellis or a teepee or bamboo canes.
  4. If you have many flowers in your bedding scheme, break them up with some foliage bedding plants. Coleus, senecio cineraria ‘Silver Dust’, ricinus communis ‘Castor Oil’ and nigella all make for great solutions here, as do edible foliage plants like kale or Swiss chard which include the added benefit of creating a multi-purpose garden bed too.

How to care for them properly

You’ve got your work cut out for you until all of your plants are placed in your garden correctly, remember – don’t rush – this may take some time. Aftercare is very important to ensure the most spectacular of displays.

Bedding plants that have only been recently planted need plenty of water, so make sure that you pay them close attention. However, once they are established you will only need to water them when your garden is subjected to periods of prolonged dry weather. A general rule of thumb is to water plants daily in the summer weather, though opt to make this procedure a twice daily occurrence for any plants in containers and hanging baskets.

Don’t worry if you’re going for winter bedding plants outside of the summer season – they don’t require any extra watering. Meanwhile, summer bedding plants which have been placed in containers should have enough nutrients to keep them healthy for six weeks of growth. Following this period, feed them on a weekly basis using a balanced liquid fertiliser; adding liquid feed into your watering can should do the trick.