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Due to the extreme temperatures being forecast we will be CLOSED on Monday 18th July & Tuesday 19th July.
Orders can also be placed on our supplier nursery's website: www.katiesgarden.co.uk/shopfront We hope to return to normal opening hours from Wednesday: 10am - 5pm. It's July which means it's Hampton Hack season (named in tribute to the Hampton Court Flower Show). At this time of year many early summer perennials are running out of steam, with flowers finished and leaves looking grotty. The good news is that the correct pruning will give you a second chance to enjoy fresh growth & new flowers in the same season! For Penstemons, Phygelius (cape fuchsia) and woody-stemmed Salvias, such as 'Hot Lips', you are looking to cut the plant back by half - but only once the first flowers are finishing.
Following the shearing give your plants a drink and a multipurpose feed to boost them into second growth. You will be surprised at how quickly you are looking at beautiful flowers and healthy leaves again!  The Salvia nemerosa bed looked lovely in June ...  But was looking tired by July, with most of the colour drained out ...  So it got Hampton Hacked, and there is now a second flowering to look forward to! Other perennials which can be cut back hard once the first flowers start to fade include:
Delphiniums Geraniums Lupins Campanula (bellflower) Nepeta (catnip) Acanthus (bear's breeches) Achillea (yarrow) Alchemilla (lady's mantle) Centranthus (valerian) Centaurea (perennial cornflower) Coreopsis (tickseed) Gaillardia (blanket flower) Knautia Leucanthemum Lobelia Lysimachia Lythrum (loosestrife) Monarda (bee balm) Oenothera (evening primrose) Papaver (poppy) Phlox paniculata types Polemonium (jacob's ladder) Scabiosa Tanacetum Veronica Head to the Katie's Garden YouTube channel for tutorials: click here. Videos starring Bridge Farm Plants manager Catherine McMillan! Are you watering your plants … or just giving them a wash?? With the hot, dry weather set to continue make sure you’re giving the plants in your garden the amount of water they need. Roses on watering cans and sprinkle settings on hoses are great for watering delicate young plants and large numbers of small plants, but in this weather plain spouts are what’s needed. A light sprinkling will likely evaporate away before it ever reaches the roots, and when watering pots there is also the danger that much of your water will run off the leaves and away from the pot!   At this time of year watering in the early evening gives the water the chance to really soak in. If you have a big problem with slugs & snails it can be better to water early in the morning, so you are not giving them helpfully moist conditions to travel around in during their nocturnal activities! If you are not sure you are giving your plants the right amount of water poke a finger into the soil before watering to test how damp the soil has stayed since the last time, and then give more or less accordingly.  |
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