A simple garden rule – one weed out, one plant in

The title of this post really sums up what I want to say but as I’m writing I might as well elaborate. For me half my gardening time is spent pulling out weeds, there are some corners where grass and dandelions look magical and others where weeds are just a pain. I wrote earlier this year about how I’ve dealt with bindweed but today I want to talk about how I get my everyday weeds under control.

It’s a busy time in the garden, hence the lack of posting here. The seedlings that I’ve been nurturing for months are ready to move to their final spots unfortunately the weeds have had the same idea. During the warm evenings I’ve been outside pulling up buttercups, bindweed and anything else I don’t recognise. Instead of leaving the ground empty I have filled each spot with dahlia’s, scabiosca and cosmos. If your garden is looking more weed filled than wonderful – for a summer I recommend you fill your beds with annuals (annuals are plants that grow, flower and set seed within a year). With garden centres re-open you can pick up plants really easily and a jolly bed will be far more inspiring than a weed filled space of earth.

I have used annuals for the past few years as a gentle way of keeping the weeds in my garden under control. Every time I have gone to put a plant in I have been able to pull out another length of bindweed or clump of buttercups (I love buttercups but they really take over quickly). As annuals need to be taken out at the end of autumn it gives me another opportunity to weed again when I take them out. I can the give my flowers beds a good mulch over the winter – giving the next summers plants a head start.

If you have empty beds but not too many weeds maybe start to fill with roses or hydrangeas. David Austin roses are a total dream but I’ve had just as much joy and success with cheaper roses I’ve picked up in B&Q and online. From my beginners experience there is never a right time to start a garden, each season brings its own benefits and challenges. My advice is to start with what you’ve got if something doesn’t work, learn and google and try again. Happy gardening, I share more on my instagram account @lottsandlots if you want to see more.