Don’t let winter’s gloomy grey stop you from creating a colourful spectacle in your garden. Simply follow GARDENA’s top tips on planting and caring for violas, pansies and English daisies. These three winter wonder blooms are resilient and require similar care manageable by gardeners of all skill levels. They also make exquisite cut flowers with a long vase-life – a lovely reward for your gardening care and effort!
Before you embark on your winter gardening adventure, we suggest starting with the essentials: a good set of gardening tools. With GARDENA Hand Tools you can tackle almost any gardening task. Different hand tools make up different hand tool sets. Each set is assembled as a specialised kit, suited for a particular garden type or size. The GARDENA City Gardening Basic Set, for example, includes a hand trowel, weeding trowel, secateurs and a pair of gardening gloves – all cleverly packaged in a multifunctional jug that can be used for watering or shovelling soil and stones.
For those with limited space, the GARDENA Balcony Box is a great choice for a balcony or patio garden of plants with similar care needs. The Balcony Box can be mounted against a wall or remain freestanding. Tools can also be stored in the box and the box cover doubles as a dustpan to collect debris.
Now that you’re all set, put on your gloves and let’s dig into GARDENA’s top picks.
1. Violas
Violas, also known as Johnny-Jump-Ups, are a beautiful and versatile addition to any winter garden. These charming flowers are perfect for borders, containers and rock gardens, and come in a variety of vibrant colours. Violas are hardy and easy to grow, making them an excellent choice for experienced and novice gardeners alike.
How to plant:
- Use your hand trowel to plant violas in well-drained soil, in a location with full sun to partial shade.
- Space plants 10-15cm apart for optimal growth.
- Water consistently, keeping the soil moist but not waterlogged.
- Remove weeds from your newly planted patch with your weeding trowel.
Care tips:
- Deadhead spent flowers with secateurs to encourage new blooms.
- Fertilise every 4–6 weeks with a balanced fertiliser to promote healthy growth.
- Protect from frost by covering the roots with mulch.
2. Pansies
These delicate flowers are known for their stunning, frequently variegated blooms and are a favourite among gardeners for their long-lasting beauty.
How to plant:
- Use your hand trowel to plant pansies in well-drained soil, in a location with full sun to partial shade.
- Space plants 20–30cm apart for optimal growth.
- Ensure you water at the base of the plant, close to the soil, to keep the leaves dry and prevent fungal disease.
- Keep the soil moist but not waterlogged.
- Remove weeds from your newly planted patch with your weeding trowel.
Care tips:
- Deadhead faded flowers with secateurs to encourage new blooms.
- Fertilise every 4–6 weeks with a balanced fertiliser to promote healthy growth.
- In very cold weather conditions, you can protect the plants by covering it with a light cloth or plastic sheet, removing once the cold passes.
3. English Daisies
These beautiful blooms are perfect for creating colourful edges along pathways but also look great when bunched together in pots.
How to plant:
- Use your hand trowel to plant English daisies in fertile, moist soil with partial sun exposure.
- Space plants 10-12cm apart to form a dense carpet.
- Water consistently, keeping the soil moist but not waterlogged.
Care tips:
- Use good quality tools to prevent damage that makes your plants vulnerable to infections. Recommendations are to use the GARDENA Bypass Secateurs for young, green shoots and the GARDENA Anvil Secateurs for dead or dried branches.
- Deadhead spent flowers regularly with secateurs to encourage fresh blooms.
- Fertilise every 4–6 weeks with a balanced fertiliser to promote healthy growth.
- These flowers are frost hardy, but it is still recommended to cover the roots lightly with mulch when severe frost is expected.
We hope these pretty plant picks inspire you to flex your green thumb! All it takes is a little attention and care for your garden to burst with colour all winter long.
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Author: Nasreen Badrodien from Tinkwe on behalf of GARDENA.
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