Watch these tidy planting tips from AG’s gardening editor, Kris Collins, for success with your summer patio containers
Posts Tagged ‘Kris Collins’
AG video: Planting summer containers
Weed control: beds and borders
Keep bedding and border displays weed free this season with top tips from AG gardening editor Kris Collins
Aim to dig out weeds growing in border soils unless you’re faced with persistent weeds that re-grow from bits of root left in the ground (ground elder, bindweed and couch grass spring to mind) .
Digging is eco-friendly, cheaper, and it removes the risk…
Weed control: Patios and paving
Keep patios, paths and drive weed free with top tips from AG gardening editor Kris Collins
Allow weeds to mature in the joins between patio slabs or block paving and it can be a real problem to remove them by hand. With no room to dig out tap roots, perennial weeds will likely return soon after pulling off or scraping away…
Weed control: Hoe, hoe, hoe!
Stay chemical free with regular soil cultivation, says AG gardening editor Kris Collins
Regular hoeing or cultivation of garden soils is the best way to prevent weeds taking hold. Scratch over the soil weekly with a hoe or clawed hand cultivator and it’s an easy job – but watch out for emerging perennial flowers. The soil never has time to compact,…
Kris’s blog: catch up on the veg patch
When it comes to planting potatoes, the old saying goes, “Get your earlies in late and your lates in early”.
Just as well considering the weather we’ve been experiencing this spring. Last weekend was the fist chance I’d had to get on the soil and plant out my chatted first early Pentland Javelin, even then I had to do it in…
How to sow and grow a crop of basil
Kris shows how to start off crops of basil
Fill a pot with a good quality soil-based seed compost. Tamp down the surface. Lightly sprinkle a few seeds on the surface, then water.
Cover with a ¼in (6mm) layer of vermiculite. Label, then place in a light, warm place. A temperature of 13˚C (55˚F) is needed.
I place the seeds under a clear-domed…
Quick Easter containers
Kris creates an Easter hanging basket
Place a liner into the basket and secure with plastic ties if required. Once in, start by covering the base of the liner with multipurpose compost.
I’m positioning some sprouting dwarf narcissus in the centre of the basket. The blooms will be held above surrounding plants.
Next to go in are some coloured hybrid primroses. Three, planted…
Sow now for summer colour
Join Kris in starting summer bedding plants from seed on windowsills
Small scale sowing for windowsill growing
Fill small pots,trays or modular cell trays with sieved seed and cutting compost, tap down to knock out air gaps and level the surface.
Drench the compost with a fine-rose watering can and allow to drain. This will further settle the compost and create depth and…
Kris’s blog: Adding extra spring colour
I’ve recently moved house and taken on a block paved front garden, without an inch of open soil. This is a no-no in my book and I’ll be looking to add some planting space down the line. Ahead of that, I’ve added a few pots of winter bedding for a bit of colour and have placed my potted camellia by…
Kris’s Blog:
I took my daughter to nursery this morning to find that the stately cedar tree in their front garden has lost some huge limbs under the weight of the snow that fell last night (I’m going to pick some of the cones from the fallen branches when I pick her up later, they make a nice feature when brought in the…
