Rhododendrons and azaleas are at their breathtaking best now.
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Early rhododendrons turn on their show in August or even earlier. Others are as late as December.
No shrubs can be more brilliantly decorative than these. If you’re going to buy one, do so when it is flowering at the garden centre, and you’ll know exactly what colour you are getting.
They range in size from tree-like giants to prostrate dwarf azaleas.
They are no trouble to grow as long as you give them their two main requirements - an acid soil and some protection from hot sun.
They like direct morning sun and some shade from hot summer afternoon suns.
Yet how often we see rhododendrons stuck out in the middle of a lawn where they get the full strength of the sun and still seem to thrive?
Gardeners planting these shrubs around a newly-built house often fail with them because there is lime, plaster or mortar in the ground.
They need deep, rich, acid soil to grow to perfection.
Azaleas and the smaller rhododendrons always look most effective when used boldly in a mass planting.
The large rhododendrons are best planted with a mixture of other plants to ensure maximum effect during the long flowering periods.
The larger-flowered rhododendrons produce such a mass of colour that, unless they are in a very large garden, are best used as accent plants among other shrubs and trees.
They don’t mix with dwarf conifers but work well in a mixed border of assorted deciduous shrubs and trees.
Camellias are also ideal for growing with rhododendrons, needing the same conditions.
Many ground cover plants and ferns with fine, contrasting foliage can be grown effectively among rhododendrons. Holly thrives among them too.
Colour your summer
This is the time to plant out flowering annuals for a colourful summer display.
Petunias, phlox, marigolds, zinnias and asters can be planted as seedlings or easily raised from seed. And they will give you a mass of colour all through summer.
The colourful plumes of celosia will last into autumn.
Cornflowers also have a long-lasting display.
There are also several small-flowering bulbs that are ideal for the front of a border or for containers. These include the colchicums, often called autumn crocus and the smaller sternbergia lutea, known as the yellow autumn crocus. They can be planted now, or if you already have them, they can be lifted carefully, divided and replanted. Dig a little blood and bone into the soil.
Water Wise
There has certainly been no shortage of moisture this spring, but we can be sure that the soil won’t stay moist for much longer.
Some tips for getting the best results from the water you give your garden:
- Don’t use dishwater or any water used for washing clothes. Soap and detergent residues can interfere with essential soil life and aeration. So can bleaches, grease or other impurities.
- Combine a careful watering programme with year-round soil improvement. Organic matter in the form of compost, manure, turned-in cover crops or plant wastes improves the soil’s water-holding capacity. It corrects poor drainage, run-off and puddling caused by hard-packed surface of subsoil and it helps water do a better job of getting to plant roots to deliver food and moisture.
- Mulch for all you’re worth. Besides helping to conserve and hold moisture through hot, dry spells, a constant organic-matter covering suppresses weeds that compete for water and nutrients, cuts direct surface evaporation and helps improve soil structure by decomposing..
- When you water, do it thoroughly. A good soaking once a week is far better than frequent sprinkling.