The onset of spring is the time of year when most of us begin to look at our gardens with a critical eye. The onslaught of wind, rain, and snow over winter often leaves them looking a little worse for wear, your lawn probably looks patchy, your shrubs may look worse for wear and you might even need to call a company like https://www.thelocaltreeexperts.com/wa/edmonds/ to remove unruly trees that have grown too big over the months and years. So with the return of the sunshine it's the perfect opportunity to get things back in order. We had a day of beautiful weather last week, and I sat outside in the garden for the first time since last autumn and thought- I really need to do something about this space! The patio needs jet washing, the lawn needs overseeding, and the flowerbeds needs more than a little TLC so that will keep me busy over the next few weekends. Injecting a bit of colour into the borders, beds, pots and baskets really makes it feel like spring and can transform the space, but it doesn't have to mean spending a fortune at the garden centre. It's surprisingly easy to grow your own from seeds, bulbs and plugs- here's what you need to know.
It's an opportunity to grow a wide variety of different plants
While it’s relatively easy to find a number of ready-grown plants and flowers, the varieties available tend to be somewhat restrictive. If you’re looking for marigolds or a strawberry plant for example, then you’ll have plenty of options - but anything more exotic and chances are you'll struggle finding what you're after. Growing from seed on the other hand ensures you can take your pick of thousands of different plants, vegetables, flowers, and shrubs, so you can create a garden that entirely suits your personal preferences. One thing to bear in mind is that if you're buying your seeds online or from overseas, you'll need to check that they'll grow in the climate that you live in. For example, if like me you live in the UK you won't be able to grow something like a pineapple or avocado tree (sadly!) at the bottom of your garden.
Greater satisfaction
Planting ready-grown plants can help to create a magical garden, but there is something inherently satisfying about being able to look out on a garden that's full of plants that have been grown from seed. A beautiful plant is great, but a beautiful plant that you nurtured from a single seed has an extra quality that gardeners who start from seed find incredibly enchanting. One thing I love about planting perennial plants (these are the varieties that die down after blooming but come back the following year) is you forget exactly what you've planted. When spring comes back around it's exciting to see everything pop back up again!
Better opportunity for organic gardening
Organic gardening is becoming increasingly popular but is unfortunately next-to-impossible to achieve if you buy ready-made plants. Even if you buy plants that are labelled to be organically grown, there’s no real way of being 100% sure. In contrast, growing your plants from seed ensures you're in control, so you can guarantee they have been organically grown and maintained right from the start of their lives.
What do you need to start growing your own plants from seed?
The process of growing your own plants from seeds is relatively easy, I'm not green fingered at all and even I've had success with planting in the garden. Check the back of your seed and bulb packets, and do a bit of research online if you're not sure. There are lots of high maintenance plants which need certain pH of soil, the right amount of water, shade and other things. However, if you want to keep it simple choose easy to grow options as they'll pretty much thrive wherever you plant them, without the need for fertiliser or extra watering (except during really dry spells). If you do want to get a little further into gardening as a hobby, it can be worth investing in something like a Cultivar greenhouse to help to extend the growing season, and ensure your seedlings are protected from the elements. Ultimately, however, the process of growing from seed is incredibly simple; if you provide the right environment, water, and soil, nature will take care of the rest.
