Early Spring in the Garden

I couldn’t be more excited to show you around my early spring garden today. Every year it transforms as I gain more knowledge and more confidence in the growing process. After taking the amazing Floret Farm Online Workshop in January,  I feel both ready and a little overwhelmed (it’s fine, it’s normal!) to convert as much of the garden as I can into a working cut flower garden so I can offer seasonal blooms for the everyday and special occasions.

I have measured and calculated every inch of spare space the garden can offer and dream of perfect plant positioning and drip irrigation! If this is the year you are setting up a cutting garden too then early spring is a great time to start. I have noticed in the past week self seeding poppies are just appearing which is an indication to start sowing in ernest. It is also a great time whilst the ground is damp from winter to secure a patch of earth for a cut flower garden. I am taking a big chunk of the back section of the garden for two 14 x 5ft flower beds as well as starting a bed for perennials – hello peonies!

Dan (my husband) dug us a new gravel path which has already transformed the garden and stopped the mud from travelling into the dining room. Whilst I have been edging beds with branches cut from the lilac tree. I simply used 12 inch stakes hammered into the earth and merrily screwed small branches to create an edge, laying cardboard to stop weeds and a thick layer of manure and compost to finish.

My autumn sown seedlings have made it out of the greenhouse and are hanging out ready to be planted up once I have finished the beds. If you have never sown seeds in autumn, it really is the best and I can’t recommend it enough. I planted a mix of Ammi, Cornflowers, Nigella, Sweet Peas, Snap Dragons, Larkspur, Orlaya, Sweet Rocket, Ranunculus and Anemones, some from homegrown seed and others bought online. My favourite places for seed are Swan Cottage Flowers, they sell out fast so make sure you sign up to their mailing list, Chiltern Seeds and Sarah Raven. When it comes to buying seed it is really easy to get carried away, I would stick to a few varieties rather than buying everything that looks good. You get a lot of seeds per packet, if sown right then one packet will take you far.

If you are nervous about starting to sow seeds, you are not alone I got a bit stuck after my course too. My advice would be to get everything prepped – seed trays, compost, vermiculite, watering can etc. and then sow little and often. The season is still young and there is plenty of time to get it right and to get it wrong. Gardening is about finding your rhythm and it can take a few years to get there but you will only get there by taking those first steps. I got started by sowing Stocks, Cornflowers, Sweet Peas and Bunny Tail grass there is still plenty more to come, the first step is always the scariest but once you start you won’t look back.

You can find more on me on Instagram, if you have any garden questions then leave a comment below.