We're going peat-free in our spring baskets
We’re really behind in the garden this year and only got around to planting our winter hanging baskets last month. Normally we would have this job done in early October but our summer baskets were still so full of colour we didn’t want to disturb them! After an early morning trip to Columbia Road Market in Shoreditch we made it home on the train with armfuls of colourful spring bedding.
We always like to add some miniature daffodils to our spring
containers but we were far too late to plant bulbs and we find pots of daffs always seem so overpriced. Luckily we'd tucked last year’s spring containers away so were able to rescue and transplant the bulbs. With the addition of a few polyanthus, cyclamen and veronica, we now have colourful spring baskets that will see us through until May.
This year we’ve decided that we’ll make the switch to peat-free compost in our baskets. We started to use it last year but only for shortterm uses such as seed sowing, but this will be the first time we’ll be using it in a planted container, which normally have higher demands for water and nutrients.
As we feed and water regularly we don’t think this will be an issue but are glad to be trying it out before we make the leap and use it in our summer containers.
Back inside we’ve been trying to overwinter some of our tender plants by taking cuttings. They've taken well and some are beginning to flower.
Our attempts to propagate from our red bananas last autumn have fared well, with three out of four sections rooting and producing a mass of foliage ready to be split in spring into individual plants. With a bit of luck we should have a good number to sell at our charity open days in the summer.