Outlook


MAY is the month to give your garden an instant lift with the help of bright bed­ ding plants. They are excellent value


for money: for the price of a bunch of cut flowers you could buy two or three geraniums which will go on flowering all summer through, long after the flow­ ers have been flung away. It is only now that these


kind give instant colour wherever you put them — just a few will brighten up a drab corner or enliven a flower bed. They are also perfect for growing in con­ tainers to brighten up walls, window ledges and porches. Container choice.


colourful plants can go out into the garden. Half hardy plants of this


Containers for plants come in a great variety of shapes — tubs, boxes, bowls, urns, b a s k e t s e tc — and materials. Plastic is the cheapest,


HAZEL EVANS, gardening editor of Good Housekeeping, writes about what you can do to improve your garden this month


can be used for home-made window boxes, provided it is varnished, painted or treated with wood preser­ vative to guard against rot. Hanging baskets used to


most popular choice. It is tough, lightweight, comes in almost any shape and keeps the soil moist; but long-term exposure to strong sunlight tends to turn it brittle. Glass fibre is longer last­


ing but more expensive. Reconstituted stone


makes good imitations of traditional stone urns and troughs — splendid for ter­ races or larger gardens, but very heavy and therefore not altogether suitable for balconies. Terracotta looks attrac­


tive but tends to be a little fragile, so is best used for small pots or pieces that do not have to be moved around much. Wood looks good in almost any surrounding and


be made only from wire, but you can now buy more solid plastic ones complete with a “saucer” underneath. Half baskets or “hay racks” are particularly attractive; space several at regular intervals on fences or walls to make a pattern for dra­ matic effect. Filling your containers. Your containers are going to work hard all summer, so don’t skimp on the soil. It pays to buy special compost which is of the right texture and is weed-free. To save money very large tubs can be half-filled with garden soil, then topped up with compost; but hanging bas­ kets and small pots must have the best possible growing medium for plants to flourish. Wire baskets can be lined


the liner at intervals all round (or in the case of half baskets, at the front). Push in more trailing plants, roots first, and continue to fill the inside of the basket with compost, firming it with your hands as you go. When you are nearing the


top, stop short with the soil about one and a half inches from the rim, to allow space for the main plants to go in. Put in more tra i le rs


around the side, planting them at an angle so that they will grow outward and downward, rather than up, and covering the roots well. Then put in the main


make a hole in the bottom of it. Lift the basket and gen­ tly ease in a trailing plant, roots first from underneath, and cover the roots with two to three inches of soil. Make holes in the sides of


which make hard-working, good-natured occupants for co n ta in e rs , flowering through the summer. Geraniums (pelargon­


types: the trailing ivy­ leaved varietiees and the standard varieties that grow anything from 12 to 16 inches tall. Fuchsias come in all the


iums) come in a wide choice of colours. Apart from the usual reds, pinks and white, you can now buy them in near lavender shades and in two-tone colourings. You will also find geraniums with pointed petals and looser flower heads. There are two main


with spaghnum moss, or you can buy liners made from compressed brown fibre, or flexible disc-shaped liners made from foam plas­ tic which can be cut to fit almost any size basket. How to plant a hanging


basket. First, sit the basket in the top of a bucket or, in the case of a half basket, across the top. Put in the lining, then


plants on top, covering the roots and firming them down well. Leave a small, bowl-shaped depression in the soil in the centre to help keep water in and stop it from splashing over the side.


a good soak and leave it in the bucket to drain properly before you hang it up. Make sure that the bracket or hook on which it is to hang is secure — a fully planted basket is surprisingly heavy. Basic bedding plants.


Finally, give your basket Here are six basic plants


long way since the original rather simple flowers. Some have petals striped with white and double-flowered versions are available. Lobelias look very pretty planted under larger, taller


flowers. They are usually sold in dark or light blue, but you’ll also find white and red varieties. Be sure


trumpet-like flowrs, can be bought with ruffled edges, with windmills of white on them, and in double ver­ sions. Like fuchsias, they fall mainly in the pink/crim- son colour range, but you’ll occasionally find pale yellow ones. Busy Lizzies have come a


pink and mauve shades. You can get double or single fuchsias, and choose either upright or pendulous types. Petunias, with their lush,


to check whether they are upright or trailing in habit. Begonias come in two


foliage to go with these plants, try senecio maritima (also known as cineraria) with its silvery leaves; or coleus which can be grown perfectly well in boxes or baskets from June on, then be brought in for the winter — or try two-tone ivies with leaves splashed with yellow or-white. Apart from these basic


completely different types: compact fibrous-rooted ones, which have small pink or white flowers; and the larger tuberous ones which have large camellia-like flowers in a wide range of colours and can be upright or pendulous in habit. If you want interesting


i3 NOW THAT MAY IS HERE


Pink and silver: pink ivy­ leaved geraniums and fuch­ sias with silver senecio maritima (cineraria) or pyrethrum.


Hot orange: African or French marigolds (tagetes) with trailing nasturtiums and ivy.


White and blue: white busy Lizzies with white geran­ iums and blue lobelia and ageratums.


Reds: salvias and red begonias with red and white lobelia.


Blue and p in k : pink petunias with blue campan­ ula and variegated ivy.


plants, there are dozens of others you could use, so be adventurous. Here are some suggestions:


Yellow and red: yellow and red gazanias with small white chrysanthemums.


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