Clueless

[BiWinning]

I have a concrete garden in my rented property. It is spacious with a 10ftx10ft raised patio at the back with ivy coming all down the back wall. There's a lavender bush out there already and fresh mint overruns us.

Around the edge of the raised patio there's soil that I could put flowers in. I'd also like 4 or 6 large pots out there (either side of the rabbit hutch, either side of the back door and maybe elsewhere).

What the hell do I need? I'd like colourful flowers but do I buy seeds or already flowering flowers and depot them? How do I take care of them? Is normal compost alright? When do I plant them?

I am so clueless it's unreal.

If you are clueless (in the nicest possible way) then start by buying plants. You don't need to worry about that until the weather warms up so treat yourself to a gardening mag or two (Gardener's World is good for beginners) and look at the pictures. You can also go online and look at the people who send plants out like Suttons Seeds or Thompson & Morgan, or Sarah Raven for lovely stuff but pricey. Yes, you will need to 'depot' them into your soil. You can buy very good plants at places like B&Q and Homebase, or go to a garden centre. If you want stuff right now they have winter-tolerant stuff like pansies and primulas but wait till it's not so nithering cold; these can be replaced later on with summery stuff like bizzie lizzies.

If the mint is in your flower beds you will need to dig it out. It is an absolute thug and needs to be contained or it is all you will have. Very satisfying to dig out, it's quite shallow rooted.

Regarding your pots, in a small space it is quite stylish to stick to one design for your pots - i.e. all blue, or all terracotta, or all Found Objects like old kettles, or whatever, rather than end up with a ragbag assortment.

Lots of plants are 'consumables' - designed to look great for a short while then be replaced. Stuff does die, but some lives. Just give it a go, it will be fine.

You could buy geranium plug plants(baby plants) places like suttons do them online. Quite tough,pretty and low maintenance. They send all of their plants with a care guide leaflet.
Look at Gardeners World online for lots of other ideas.

Just a plea, when choosing what plants to use, try not to have just the bog standard stuff you see in the local council verges and flower beds. They use things like bizzy lizzies and begonias which look great and colourful but are useless for the bees and hover flies etc because they do not contain much nectar. If you want to help our bees, many of which are now endangered, use mainly nectar rich flowers, like lavendar, Dhalias and buddlia, (butterfly bush).

You can buy packets of the right sort of seeds, and sow into pots or in a bed, just follow the guidance on the packets. Too early to do much yet, wait until early May when the risk of frost has gone. Have fun, don't be afraid to try stuff and good luck.