limousin, France

More a little bit of help than a question,
Ive noticed a few new to gardening members asking the same question ie what do i plant now?

Well to help and to introduce the newer folk to the gardening world as a hobby i'd like to offer this bit of help,
A big part of the excitement in gardening is to see what you'd like to grow already grown and on display,
take for instance a hanging basket,
the ones you buy ready made look good & in the good gardencentre they'll have these hanging up for you to see with all the verious plants looking good,

Now after you've admired these ready made!
If you look on the display units you'll see everyone of those plants in the ready made baskets there for sale in individual pots etc.

this should be telling you two things (a) what you need to make your own basket (b) this is the time of the year to both buy and grow on the plants they have for sale.

The same applies for veg plants /tomato/herb etc etc,

Now another little thing to look for in the better larger garden centre's is the location of the plants /shrubs your looking at,
ie if the plants are inside! with full roof cover and a mild tempature, then thats what you'll proberly need for those plants when you get them to your home,

But if your outside in the open part of the garden centre and your looking at plants in this section! such as for an example lets say box hedging! then these plants/shrubs will be happy to go outside when you get them home.

And one last bit of help, look to see what soil conditions the plant your thinking of buying needs! ie is it an lime loving plant or is a plant/shrub that needs a more acid loving plant And find out what your soil is ie lime or acid!
if you plant a plant in the wrong soil conditions the plant wont be happy.
For the newer garden person it is well worth while paying a regular visit to the garden centre at least once a month and you'll see whats best to buy to keep your garden in season as the yearly seasons move on.

If like some of the larger garden centre have a membership its worth while joining as you'll save on members special offers throughout the year.

A regular visit will help you understand what & when to plant or sow.
And it can be a very enjoyable experience and a money saving one at the same time.

After a while you'll soon ask and know why some plants being sold in supermarkets under the wrong conditiond have big log shoots sticking out of them and what to expect should you buy & plant such a plant outside in cooler conditions (likely to die)

I hope this little info will both help and bring you into a better gardening experience.

• 9 May, 2013