This week I’ve been working on improving the year round colour and foliage in our garden, starting with the borders which appear to be full of wild flowers.

Here’s a guide to taking back your borders and adding interest:

• Clear the bed, try to dig out the roots of weeds to stop them returning. If you aren’t sure what’s a weed I like this weed identification page.
• Work out how much sun the bed gets to avoid planting things that won’t suit the site.
• What kind of soil do you have?  Here’s a quick soil guide to working it out.
• Select plants, smaller ones will be more economical and grow into the space over time.
• Look at the times when plants will flower and ensure you have flowers for different seasons.

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The Border Budget Breakdown:

• 1 Marguerites - 90p @ Tesco
• 3 dahlias – £1.50 each @ Tesco
• 2 yellow wallflowers – £1.50 each @ Homebase
• Green Foliage – £3.50 @ Tesco
• 1 Agapanthus tuber – £1.74 @ Homebase
• 15 Ranunculus – £1.74 @ Homebase
• 10 Gladioli bulb – £3.49 @Homebase
• Red Campion – FREE self seeded from neighbours garden
  TOTAL: £18.87

I’ve previously dabbled in buying cut price plants and have had mixed results, however, these bulbs were reduced as the time to plant them was just about to pass.  So, as long as I planted them up within a few days of buying they would be fine. (In fact even if I planted them later and they didn’t flower this year, they will be there in the earth ready for next year)  The dahlias and marguerites were also looking a little sad for themselves, but after a bit of dead heading they were looking a lot more perky, and next week they will be full of fresh blooms.
And linking up with Mammasaurus for the wonderful How Does Your Garden Grow Linky.  Last week I loved these gorgeous anenomies.