Our top ideas to celebrate National Gardening Week
Get your spades and watering cans ready! National Gardening Week takes place from 1st – 7th May and is a great way to get your family outdoors and motivated for all things gardening!
Launched by the Royal Horticultural Society, the theme this year is the King’s Coronation. Gardening is not only great fun but also educational and good for the soul - so why not get outside and enjoy the outdoors with our ideas?
Coronation containers
Pairing up pots and plants in a red, white and blue display will give you instant impact in your outdoor space. Your local store has a coronation collection of red, white, and blue bedding range with specially selected packs of red, white, and blue petunias available to create a potted display fit for a king.
Choose from trailing lobelias in blue as well as geraniums in red and white to make planters or hanging baskets right for a royal occasion. We also have ranges that will create a regal riot of colour - bacopa, verbena, surfinia, ageratum and salvia are ideal for a royal flower bed while fuchsias, impatiens and pansies will thrill and spill in hanging baskets.
Make a seed bomb
A fantastic gardening activity that is easy and that the children will love. All you need is some wildflower mix, some clay and compost which are available from your local British Garden Centres store. Mix all of this together with water to form small balls. Look for mixtures that include poppies, daisies and cornflowers that will create a coronation colourway.
Once they have dried, simply throw them onto your lawn or into your flower bed and watch how your meadow grows and brings pollinating insects to your garden.
Plant a green roof
A green roof is a fantastic example of sustainable planting. Increasingly popular in landscaping, a green roof can be home to wildlife as well as pollinating insects and invertebrates.
Having a green roof in your garden has many environmental benefits, including improving air quality, slowing water runoff, absorbing rainfall, providing insulation and preventing gutters from overflowing. They work best when the roof pitch is less than 20-30 degrees, so a shed, or bike store is perfect for this small organic garden and be easily done at home.
First, make sure that the roof is covered with a waterproof membrane. Then add a light layer of compost and plant hardy, shallow-rooted alpine plants, which require very little maintenance. This will brighten up surfaces in your garden and make your garden look elite throughout the summer.
Build a raised bed
If you have poor or compacted soil in your garden, raised beds are great and can revolutionise your planting space. You can grow any type of plant in a raised bed, especially vegetables or flowers which will thrive in the space.
Giving the soil a bit of height can greatly improve drainage and allow the bed to thaw out a bit quicker in spring. They are easy to make too and don’t require any special equipment apart from some treated wood, a screwdriver and a saw.
You need to be able to reach the middle of the bed when standing or kneeling at the side. Therefore, it is best to keep a bed to a maximum width of four feet (1.2m).
Pick your length and cut a few boards for the siding. Make sure you level the ground and pull large weeds out before placing. Assemble the bed using some corner brackets then fill it with a nutrient-rich compost and you’re ready to plant whatever you desire!
Visit a garden
Whether you’re an amateur gardener or a lover of all things nature there’s no denying that a walk around a pretty garden is a relaxing way to spend the day. There are hundreds of amazing gardens in the UK that are ideal for a family day out and are just waiting for you to visit.
The National Garden Scheme, RHS Gardens and their Partner Gardens are great places to start looking for an open garden near you. These gardens will inspire and encourage people to garden and live more sustainable lives by connecting with nature.