In October’s Love Your Garden, Dennis share some tips on how to get your garden winter-ready and bring geraniums back to life for a burst of spring colour.
Want a plant that won’t let you down, combines flower color, and will work in just about any soil and site? Geraniums are the answer, and if taken care of properly, can keep blooming all year round.
If you want to keep geraniums for next spring, lift them out of containers and store them safely, says Dennis.
Did you know?
Hardy geraniums, also known as cranesbills, are one of the UK’s popular drought-tolerants hardy perennials. They are often used as groundcover and as partners for other perennials; they intermingle well with shrubs and roses; most are very well-behaved and many are so easy to grow that it’s possible to build up quite a collection in no time at all.
Click below to watch the video tutorial on stripping geraniums so they’ll bloom again next spring.
October Jobs for a Brighter Spring
Now is the time to clear out summer bedding plants and weeds that may have sprung up.
Check they haven’t gone to seed before adding them to the compost heap.
This is also a good time to add a handful of fish, blood and bone fertiliser to your beds between your bedding plants. It will give your spring plants a healthy start.
October is bulb-planting season, with garden centres offering a wide choice. Before planting bulbs, put in wallflowers, sweet williams, forget-me-nots, or other spring plants into your beds. Once you’ve done that, fill the gaps with daffodil or tulip bulbs.
I’ve planted a mix of spring plants in my own garden to give a nice display around April.
With bulbs and bedding tucked in, you can sit back and look forward to a bright flush of colour in spring.
