Bedding plants
January
Keep cyclamen blooming
Action time: 10/01 - 10/01
Prolong your displays of winter cyclamen by deadheading your plants and removing any yellowing leaves.
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February
Deadhead winter bedding
Action time: 11/02 - 14/02
Deadhead faded flowers from your winter bedding plants to keep them tidy and encourage more colourful blooms well into spring.
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Sow bedding plants
Action time: 28/02 - 14/03
If you have a heated propagator, make the first sowings of summer bedding plants, such as petunias.
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March
Keep winter bedding in flower
Action time: 09/03 - 12/03
If your winter bedding plants are still going, continue to deadhead the faded flowers to keep them tidy and encourage a few more blooms.
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Sow summer bedding seeds
Action time: 12/03 - 19/03
Start sowing summer bedding plants that need a longer growing season.
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Order bedding plants
Action time: 28/03 - 28/03
Now is a good time to stock up on young plants like fuchsias, geraniums and marguerites.
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April
Buy healthy plants
Action time: 23/04 - 23/04
Make sure plants are healthy before you buy them. Plug plants should be damp and have green leaves and roots that appear through the bottom of each cell.
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Grow cut flowers
Action time: 30/04 - 07/05
Sow fast-growing plants directly into the ground for summer colour. Zinnias, cosmos and snapdragons all produce good flowers for cutting.
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May
Refresh flower beds
Action time: 04/05 - 18/05
Clear away spring bedding plants as they come to the end of their flowering season and prepare the ground for your summer display.
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Harden off tender bedding
Action time: 24/05 - 01/06
Start hardening off any greenhouse-grown tender bedding plants now to prepare for planting out in a few weeks.
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June
Sow biennials
Action time: 01/06 - 30/06
Sow biennials such as sweet williams and wallflowers now so they will flower next summer.
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Plant out tender bedding
Action time: 02/06 - 15/06
After hardening off, tender bedding plants can now be planted outside.
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Stake sunflowers
Action time: 27/06 - 30/06
In exposed sites, stake tall varieties before they become too top-heavy. Keep plants well watered to encourage strong growth.
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July
Keep bedding plants vibrant
Action time: 10/07 - 10/07
Keep your bedding plants healthy and in bloom with regular deadheading, watering, and feeding with a high potash fertiliser.
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Grow flowering plants for enjoying indoors
Action time: 24/07 - 28/07
Pick flowers regularly to encourage more blooms and to prevent plants from putting energy into seed production.
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August
Maintain healthy bedding plants
Action time: 07/08 - 07/08
Remove dead flowers as they fade to keep them tidy and to encourage new blooms. Water plants daily and feed once a week.
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Enjoy cut flowers from the garden
Action time: 15/08 - 22/08
Most flowering plants prefer a sunny but sheltered spot with well drained, fertile soil. Grow them in your borders and pick regularly to enjoy indoors.
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Keep bedding plants vibrant
Action time: 21/08 - 21/08
Keep your bedding plants healthy and in bloom with regular deadheading, watering, and feeding with a high potash fertiliser.
Read moreSeptember
Keep bedding plants watered
Action time: 04/09 - 04/09
Deadhead the last of your blooms and continue to water them, particularly if there's a dry spell.
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Take pelargonium cuttings
Action time: 06/09 - 13/09
Get a head-start on next year's bedding displays by taking cuttings from summer-flowering pelargoniums.
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November
Plant out wallflowers
Action time: 08/11 - 12/11
Plant out your wallflower seedlings to fill in any gaps in borders. For extra spring impact, plant tulips in a contrasting colour between them.
Read moreDecember
Use cyclamen for colour
Action time: 06/12 - 06/12
Plant pots of cyclamen in several shades of red or pink to create a cheerful, festive display.
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Tips calendar
Your gardening year
If you want to see all of our gardening tips for the year, try out our new year planner.
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