Sow hardy annuals

And enjoy bloom-filled summer borders

There’s a wealth of hardy annual flowers you can be sowing into borders now to get going early with your summer garden. They have to be hardy annuals, as these are the seeds and plants that will be able to withstand any remaining frosts the changeable spring weather may bring. Any others – tender or half-hardy annuals – still need sowing inside now, before planting out in late spring.

Annuals are a good value, easy way to fill your borders with colour and life and, as they’re not permanent and live and die in one season, you’ll have the space back by autumn to plan something else.

It’s simple to do – choose colourful favourites, lightly rake an area of soil in a sunny spot and thinly scatter seed evenly over the designated area. A useful tip is to fill a bottle with horticultural sand and mark out separate areas to make it easier to see where you’ve sown, and distinguish these marked out seedlings from weeds. Just watch out for slugs and water these patches well as they’re establishing.