DECEMBER - FLOWERS & LAWNS - Enjoy the fruits of your labours

Great time of year for masses of colour & picking – keep the watering going, esp on the roses (you can’t overwater roses), & feed to replenish the energy used in flowering. 

TIME TO HARVEST...

Roses will be at their peak so enjoy picking - cut the stem at an outward-facing group of 5 leaves and cut 15mm above that point. There will be plenty of other good summer-flowering varieties for picking – cosmos, delphiniums, verbena bonariensis, perennial salvias, lavenders, larkspurs, sweet peas, plus good foliage for floral work – nandinas, purple sage, artemisia, euphorbia.

TIME TO PLANT...

Great selection of summer annuals that thrive in full sun – alyssum, lobelia, petunias, antirrhinums, marigolds, dianthus, begonias, geraniums, cornflowers, echiums, nasturtiums, nicotiana, verbenas, salvias.

TIME TO SOW...

Seeds of the above can all be planted and will flower in the second half of summer right through into autumn. Got a  few bare patches on the lawn? Use Daltons Lawn soil and lawn seed to patch – the heat will provide fast germination, just keep the new grass consistently damp.

TIME TO FEED...

Feeding regularly with small amounts of plant food is much better than a huge dollop irregularly. Depending on when you fed thgarden through spring, feed again now on any plants that are losing leaf colour or looking tired. Feeding roses – put the fertiliser around at the drip line and then leave a hose trickling steadily at the base of the plant to take the food down to the roots.

Feed if the lush green look is disappearing, and water deeply when needed. Start mowing higher as the heat increases to keep the roots self-shading.

TIME TO PROTECT...