Blog Archives

Plants for pollinators ... in August

8/8/2025

0 Comments

Graceful grasses

7/8/2025

0 Comments

Gently wafting in the breeze, adding punchy upright focal points, carpeting the ground or providing fireworks of sunlit flowerheads, ornamental grasses bring a multitude of qualities.

August through autumn is when many really come into their own as they reach their full flowering heights.
Grasses are an easy-care option, needing only one cut a year - in spring - if at all.

Mostly coming in muted tones they can give borders a sophisticated restful feel, although that’s not to say that some can’t bring the drama too!

They are particularly prized for their sensory benefits, bringing movement and sound into the garden as their foliage rustles in the wind.

Others have temptingly tactile fluffy flowerheads that demand to be stroked, although beware Miscanthus and Cortaderia (pampas grass) have deceptively sharp-edged leaves that are best left untouched - instead admire their spectacular arching habits.

Stipa tenuissima is one of the best for gravel gardens and the coastal garden look.

If you want to add neat vertical growth to your borders, the Calamagrostis are the ones to go for.

Low carpeting evergreen grasses can keep the weeds at bay, and are particularly effective in Japanese style gardens.

But probably the finest way to use ornamental grasses is by combining them with swathes of late-flowering perennials in prairie gardens.

Find a varied choice of ornamental grasses this August at Katie’s Garden Plant Centre

0 Comments

Plants for dry & sandy soils

6/8/2025

0 Comments

Don’t be a slave to the hose: if your soils are prone to drying out then make your life easier by putting in plants that can cope with the conditions.

Succulents, alpines, herbs, lavenders and many ornamental grasses have low watering needs and are able to cope with drought, as are a good number of shrubs and perennials.

Find lots of suggestions at www.katiesgarden.co.uk/advice

0 Comments

Keeping the show going

5/8/2025

0 Comments

Increasingly common Indian summers are giving us ever longer seasons for spending time outside in our gardens … so make sure there is still plenty to enjoy in yours in the months to come.

If you ‘Hampton Hacked’ your perennials in July you should now have fresh flushes of flowers and regrowth reinvigorating your beds and borders.

And there are plenty more perennials that only reach their flowering peak in later summer and autumn, helping you to ring the changes.

Having had the advantage of a long growing season many of these plants provide plenty of height, creating a cocooning effect in your garden, including many of the Verbenas, Asters (Michaelmas daisy), Helianthus (sunflower family), Rudbeckias, Japanese Anemones and statuesque Salvias such as Amistad and Phyllis Fancy.

These are generally best planted in clumps towards the backs of borders, with shorter earlier flowerers nearer the front, to allow you to achieve a succession of blooms.

Hot colours come to the fore at this time of year with the likes of Kniphofia (red hot pokers), Dahlias, Fuchsias, Heleniums, Lysimachia, Alstroemerias (Peruvian lily) and Crocosmia.

Penstemons will also provide reliable interest over a long period, as will shrubby Salvias.

Modern breeding has given us lots of new varieties that are improvements on their traditional counterparts, either by having stronger, stockier growth, longer flowering seasons, or better disease resistance, so if you didn’t have luck with a plant in the past, it might be time to try again!

0 Comments

Picnics for pollinators

3/8/2025

0 Comments

Make sure butterflies and bees still find plenty of nectar to feed on by planting up for later season colour.

Top picks for ticking both boxes include Asters, Echinaceas (coneflowers), Verbenas, Sedums, shrubby Salvias, thistles such as Eryngium and Echinops and the aromatic Agastache (giant hyssop).

Pollinator-friendly shrubs for August include Hydrangeas, Hebes, Ceanothus and Abelia.

Order Bee and Butterfly Friendly Perennial Packs at www.katiesgarden.co.uk/shop-online

0 Comments

Planting for nature's prettiest pollinators

2/8/2025

0 Comments

Think pollinators and you probably think bees, but there are many more besides that can help you in the garden, as long you help them.

Butterflies are hands-down the showiest of the pollinators, with moths taking over when the night-shift rolls around.

Most species first emerge in spring. There is a lull in June while life cycles restart before they reappear in full glory for midsummer into autumn.

Butterfly-friendly planting can be worked into a variety of themes, including cottage gardens, meadow-esque, prairie planting and dry gardens, as well as more tropical and exotic looks.

The best known butterfly-friendly plant is, with good reason, the Buddleia, aka the Butterfly Bush. These days they come in a wide choice of colours with dwarf varieties available too, all beautifully scented.

Add in other plants for the moths and butterflies and your garden can be transformed into a relaxing haven for you as well as them, especially if you like to sit out in the evenings.

Caterpillars are considered the enemy by many gardeners but with butterflies and moths in steep decline it is vital they are tolerated in their larval stage so they can be enjoyed and admired as adults, and there are various plants that help them at this stage.

Hedges can be a big help for both butterflies and caterpillars, as can grasses.

Shallow dishes of water are the finishing touch to give pollinators the chance to drink.