Need answers to your growing and gardening questions?

As a general calender

• January -Plan your garden with a warm cup of tea.
• February- From the mid point in the month you can begin to sow some hardy annuals somewhere warm and light like a greenhouse or window ledge
• March - Continue to sow hardy annuals inside. Begin to prepaire any ground ready for planting.
• April- You can begin to plant out any Hardy annuals that have been gradually acclimatised. Begin sowing Half hardy annuals somewhere warm and light.
• May - Stay ontop of garden maintanance, the weeds will be starting to grow and need to be removed ASAP. Make sure all plants are watered if it is dry. Continue to plant out hardy annuals. If the risk of frost has passed in your area at the end of the month begin to plant out acclimitised Half Hardys.
• June - As you did in May. Dont bother sowing anymore Hardy annuals. You can begin to sow Biennials though.
• July- As you did in June.
• August -Dont sow anymore seeds apart from Biennials.
• September- Begin to sow Hardy Annuals again towards the end of the month. Plant Daffodil bulbs.
• October- Plant out any Hardy annuals and Biennials that you would like to over winter out side. Continue Spring bulb planting.
• November- The perfect time to plant Tulips
• December -give your self a month off, you deserve it.

Seed sowing is something to take you time over. 

My key advise is buy good quality compost for sowing seeds, and water your compost before you sow into it. 

Firstly think about the space you have to germinate your seeds in. If you are limited to a window ledge or two. Consider small posts that you can sow multipl seeds in and then prick out and pot on. if you have more space in a greenhouse you can save a lot of time sowing into seed trays with individual cells

Place pots and trays in a warm enviroment with good sunlight. Check trays and pots regually and dont let the copost dry out. Every seed is different in terms of planting depths please reffer to the seed section of the shop for individual sowing depths. 

Ground peperation is key to sucsess when it comes to growing. There are many different techniques and different gardeners have vairying views on best practices ( some dig daily some never turn their soil) But one thing is true of all methods. Weeds must be removed from the ground you wish to grow in. soil should be free from large rocks and debris. water should be able to drain away easily.  If you feel your soil needs impovement i would recomend a good layer of compost ontop.

If you have bought plug plants from Picked at Dawn please refer to the Plug Plant FAQs. Generaly all plants require a few things to thrive. 

All plants should be graduallly aclimatised to their surroundings (callled hardening off). Your soil should be well prepaired. Most cut flowers require a good sunny position. Plants must be watered regually during dry spells, and fed as you feel approprite to your soil conditions.

A hardy annual is a tough little plant that can stand up to cold weather and is still able to provide you with a mass of  beautiful flowers during summer.

These plants will flower for around 4 weeks before getting a bit tired. Some varieties will go on a little longer than others.

Hardy Annual seeds can be sown Sept- Nov or March-May .

This selection of plants are the sun lovers, they don't like the cold and will be killed by a frost. 

As they only grow during the warmest part of the year they tend to be quick to develop and produce flowers as they are trying to get all their work done as soon as possabile, knowing that they have a limited window in which to shine. 

As these guys dont like the cold, please dont plant them out until after your final frost this will vary between regions. Im Up North and i wouldnt plant them out until Mid May and even that is me living on the edge!.

Dont bother sowing Half Hardys inside until 4 weeks before your regions final frost date. as they will become pot bound before its warm enough for them to go out.

There is a simple rule to follow with bulbs they should all with the exception of Anemones be planted at 3 times the depth of the bulb its self.

The great thing about bulbs is that all the nutrients they require to grow are stored in the bulb its self. All it requires is soils that will drain away all the wet in winter. 

Plant Daffodils and all other spring flowering bulbs when they arrive, Apart from Tulips which shouldnt be planted until November.

After you have planted you cutting patch to get the most from the flowers you will need to make sure they are going to be secure in their growing situation. Taller plants are better supported in some way, netting or growing frames need to placed in situe for the plants to grow into. This nneds to be erected before the plants get to big or it will cause you much frustration (belive me Ive been there). 

The other big issues are weeds, they need to be kept at bay to stop them compeating with the flowers. Ensure that the plants are getting enough water during dry spells. Look out for pests like slugs, catapillers and earwigs and remove from your plants. If you see discolouration on any leaves this normally signifys a neutrient defficancy.

This will depend on your soil type and the plants you are growing. Always check for moisture in the the soil a few CM down from the surface rarther than on the actual surface as this area can look unrealisticly dry.  If you do water your plants, water at the base where ever possable, and my opinion is that one long drink helps root establishment better than a few short sprinkles. 

If you have lovely rich soil or soil that is improved with organic matter regually, then possabily not. If you find your plants are dicolouring then your soil maybe lacking in some nutrents and may require some level of fetilisation.  Feeding plants can be done through mulches and or liquid feeds for quick results.  there are many organic mulches and fetilisers on the market now.

 I areas of my growing space are quite sandy and low in nutreients so I use a mulch of peatfree compost ,chicken manure pellets and water with Alpaca tea great r

Spring bulbs -will flower over a stagared period the best way of increasing your season lenght is to grow a range of varietys.

Annual flowers -will bloom for around 4 weeks on average before becoming tired and slowing down in flower production.

Perennials-Some perennials will produce 2 flushes of flowers, if cur back after the first showing.

As you may have gathered from the name dawn is the best time to pick your flowers. If dawn is just too early then if you could pick them as early as you possabily can the flowers will condition better. If your not an early bird more of a night owl then thats fine, pick your flowers at dusk. Please try to avoid picking during the middle parts of the day. Before you begin to arrange with your flowers always put them into water ASAP and place them somewhere cool and dark for up to 8 hours idelaly.