The Garden Minute: Sunflowers, Showbiz Gardens and Saving Water
☀️ Happy Friday Gardeners. The weekend is beckoning. Let's ease in with a little gardening goodness.
✂️🌱 Curated Cuttings
A round-up of tips, tricks and news snippets on all things garden-related.
🪴 You Should NEVER Bring a Plant Home Without Doing This First, According to Experts
☕ We Asked a Garden Pro If You Can Use Tea Bags in Your Garden—and Their Answer Surprised Us
🌻 Want a sunflower-filled garden? Here's how to get it for free
🦋 A guide to attracting butterflies to your garden
🍅 UK Gardeners Urged To Take An Electric Toothbrush To Their Tomato Plants
Plant Offer: Last plants for this week at £2.99 each at the Secret Gardening Club
🗒️ If you do one thing this weekend …
Timely tasks for every stage of the season
The heat continues, and with it comes news of a hosepipe ban in parts of the UK—no surprise really, given how dry it’s been lately. I’ve been adjusting my watering routine accordingly, switching to watering cans and making the most of saved rainwater. It’s definitely a time for being more mindful about when and how much to water.
Just as I was getting into the swing of lugging cans around, we had a brief but very welcome midweek rain shower. It wasn’t much, but enough to give the soil a drink and perk everything up. The garden seemed to sigh with relief—and so did I!
With water use on my mind, I’m thinking more about how to make the garden more resilient in dry spells—more mulch, more shade, maybe even a water butt (finally). And I’m noticing how well some plants are coping naturally—my herbs, for example, are absolutely thriving in the heat, while the salad leaves are already starting to bolt.
Tip of the Week: With hosepipe restrictions in place, try watering in the early morning or evening to minimise evaporation. Mulching around your plants helps retain moisture for longer, and grey water from washing-up (as long as it’s not too soapy or greasy) can be used for ornamentals in a pinch.
How are you keeping your garden happy in the heat?
🗺️ Let’s explore …
A spotlight on spectacular gardens
Five British gardens have a starring role on the New York Times's list of 25 must-see gardens — here are the ones they forgot.
📍 Local news
From the weird to the wonderful. What’s happening in gardens around the UK?
📍 The other millennium dome: how Wales’s National Botanic Garden came back from the brink
📍Vital grant helped Dorset gardener’s business to bloom
⏰ Thank you for reading The Garden Minute.
What are your green-fingered plans for the weekend? I’d love to hear what you’re getting up to in your garden. Leave a comment👇
Happy gardening!