Garden novice. Please help!

[witchespocus]

I would really love a pretty, colourful garden this year but have no idea where to start. It’s part patio part lawn so I think pots would be the way to go. I’m envisioning different size/colour pots rather than borders etc. Wouldn’t mind trying to grow some herbs also.

Can anyone recommend some flowering plants that will be colourful and easy to look after? When should I start buying and planting? I have looked online but it’s all a bit overwhelming 🤭.

Most plants flower at the times of year that benefit the insects that pollinate them. I have plants flowering all year around. I choose mine for the smell so I have sarcococca and winter honeysuckle which will stop around the time that stocks and carnations take over for example.

Without any information to go off, you could just go to a garden centre and buy say one flowering or close to flowering plant and put that in a pot with some multipurpose compost each month, and over time you will have a seasonal collection of flowering plants. As long as you keep them watered, fed and not drowned you should be pretty much ok.

You could go and buy some pots and just put in some bedding plants for that season. Or you could choose a colour palette and find plants that flower that will complement each other, so in my UK garden the palette was blues and purples with some whites and a pop of orange so I'd choose things that fit in with that when I was buying plants and seeds.

Everyone who responds will name their favourites so it really is up to you what sorts of things you like. Best thing to do is to go and talk to someone local in a garden centre or nursery and buy some things you like the look of.

Decent sized pots are expensive and small ones are high maintenance. They can need daily watering in the summer. But it can be nice to potter outside watering in the evening .

Have a look at Anya Lautenbach, she's on Instagram as anya the garden fairy. She also has a book called Money Saving Containers.

nasturtium is very easy to grow as is love in tbe mist. Be warned they spread like weeds from seed. Rosemary, sage, lavander also very easy.
Youtube is your friend here.

How exciting!
Key questions are:

• How much light do your pots get? This is important because plants in too much shade/too much sun won't thrive and won't flower so well.

It's a good idea to make note of how much sun different parts of the garden get.

Plants will require 'full sun' which is over 6hrs direct sun a day, 'partial shade' (say 3-6hours direct sun) or 'full shade' (none or little direct sun).

• what type of plants would you like? Perennial plants are either evergreen or herbaceous (die back over winter and come back in spring).

Annual plants are ones that last the summer and then die, so need replacing every year. There are many easy to grow annuals which are very floriferous and colourful all summer. You might want to consider larger pots with a shrub or small tree to add interest and height to your garden.

• are you drawn to a particular type of garden that you have seen? For example, cottage gardens, Mediterranean garden. If so, you could begin by looking up common plants for those types of garden.

When you know the light levels you have, report back and we can give some specific plant ideas :)

Plants in pots will need watering once (sometimes twice) on really hot summer days especially if it is windy. If you go on holiday in summer you will need to arrange for someone to water them while you are away or you'll return to find them dead. Plants in the ground don't need as much care and attention and can usually look after themselves once established.

The majority of plants will only be in flower for a part of the year. You need to get a range of different ones which flower at different times in order to keep things looking good in the garden for longer.

Summer bedding plants are tender annuals. That means they grow, flower and die all in the one year, and are usually killed off by frosts. The best time to buy those plants is from the middle of May onwards, when all danger of frost has passed. Same goes for things like tomato plants.

Look at plant labels. If anything says 'hardy perennial' it means that it can cope with British weather all year round and the plant will come back year after year. Some will die back to ground level in the autumn and grow again in spring, some will stay green all year round.

Try to choose plants which have seasonal interest - eg their leaves have good autumn colour, or they flower earlier in the year then produce a show of berries later on.

I have quite a few pots, and I have found that a drip irrigation system really helped me keep on top of watering. This system works well - once you’ve got the hang of it you can extend it with additional components https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hozelock-Easy-Micro-Watering-Containers/dp/B01AXKVWV2

Pots also need feeding, not just water. You can use various different things like liquid seaweed, tomato feed, chicken manure pellets, slow release fertiliser - but if you don’t feed regularly, most potted plants won’t flower well (there are exceptions but that’s the general rule).

Get the largest pots you can afford - they will have more impact and will retain moisture. Small pots especially terracotta will dry to a crisp really quickly. You can get cheap pots from places like Home Bargains, or ask your neighbours - I get a lot of free pots from people on my street. As a general rule of thumb aim for pots that are at least 30cm wide, unless you want an arid garden with succulents and drought tolerant plants.

If you do a list of flowers you like, we can advise if they are suitable for pots.

Make sure to get things in varied heights, not just bedding plants. Pots are a lot more impactful if they have something big in them. I like to grow cannas in pots, they get huge (2+ metre high) and have a real wow factor. I also like to scatter Californian poppy seeds in lots of pots around other flowers, they are very easy to grow and look gorgeously dishevelled.

Also think about adding foliage plants like ferns, coleus, ivy, mind your own business and creeping Jenny. They give texture and structure around flowers and prolong the season.

Another gardening novice here. Thank you for posting @witchespocus and all the responses. I will be following!