The Accidental Gardeners

Category: Tips

Three things to do NOW in the garden

September 26, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We can all feel the weather starting to change, right? The mornings are becoming crisper and the days are getting shorter. Hopefully you still have a lot of colour in your garden right now. I want to share with you my top three things that you can do right now in your garden that you’ll thank me for later.

1. Start Collecting Seeds

Now is the time to start thinking about collecting seeds from your favourite flowers. I’ve let some of my Echinacea go to seed as they were definitely starting to fade with the change in temperature. Some of my other plants aren’t at that stage yet, but now is a great time to start collecting. I always use a paper envelope, don’t forget to label it! If you’re short on time just snip off the whole dry seedhead and pop it in. You can separate the seeds out when you’ve got more time. Make sure you store them somewhere cool and dry. Oh, and did I already mention to label them, well here’s your second reminder.

2. Make Wreaths

Now is the perfect time to make wreath frames from living greenery and dry them out in time for, well I’m not going to say the C word. I’ve experimented this year with using Wisteria and they’re drying out really well so far. You can literally use anything that is soft enough to twine round into a circular frame. Make them as big and full as you like and pop them somewhere cool to dry out. I’ve got mine in our small greenhouse but you can dry them out indoors too.

3. Cut Flowers for Drying

Another thing to do now, especially when your flowers are still looking their absolute best! Think how great they’ll look on your handmade wreath frames too. There are quite a few different methods for drying flowers so find a way that works best for you. I do two different things depending on the flowers. For Echinacea and small Dahlias I place them in empty vases with enough airflow around them to dry properly, so leave a bit of space between them. For dinner plate Dahlias and fancier flowers I hang them upside down with a piece of string. You can bunch a few together this way to save space too. Then for things like Amaranthus and grasses again I just pop them in empty vases.

We live in a tiny house, but we’re fortunate to have a dark pantry where I can dry my flowers. You want the room you store them in to be kept fairly dark to prevent the colours fading too much. The colours will fade, but personally I think they look so interesting and sometimes quite unexpected.

I hope you’ve found these reminders helpful. I know I’ll be glad I’ve done this preparation now when I’m making my dried flower wreaths and sorting my seeds out in the winter months.

Have you got any tips you’d like to share?

Sharing my mistakes, to save you money.

September 20, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the garden which have cost me. I want to share with you three of the mistakes I made so that you can save your time and money.

  1. Not reading/not taking notice of plant labels

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes that I have made, and it seems like such a simple one. But, when you’re wandering around the garden centre or browsing all the beautiful plants online, it’s so easy to get carried away. Those fabulously flamboyant flora that just jump in your basket and before you know it they’re on their way to your garden! You know exactly what I’m talking about, we’ve all done it. Well, if you don’t read the label and find out what conditions those plants need to thrive you’re making a big mistake. I’m not going to tell you how much money I have spent on plants that weren’t suited to our growing conditions, because I don’t precisely know the answer, but it was a lot. They looked stunning for about a week or two before they ran out of fight and withered away. So, always take notice of the conditions and hey if you’re dream plant won’t like your garden, don’t break your own heart trying to force it.

2. Being impatient

This mistake can come in so many different forms, but it’s all basically bringing the same message, give things time. This could be anything from giving your seeds time to germinate and grow before giving up, to giving your garden time to show you what it can do. I’ll go into a little more detail. With the seeds, remember that they need so many different kinds of conditions to even germinate in the first place (again, read the packet) and they need time to develop as seedlings. Don’t rush them, and give them enough time to get strong before you try and plant them on. Yes, I am very guilty of being impatient with seeds, and it has cost me money. Granted, seeds aren’t that expensive, but think of the time that you invest in them. Now, when I talk about giving your garden time to show you what it can do I mean give perennials a chance to come back. Don’t give up on them dig them out to replace with something more erm, visible. If you do, you’ll probably find that you’re digging up pretty healthy growth. The return of perennials can also be very dependant on the weather too. In the UK our weather is so unreliable these days that it definitely has a big impact on our plants. I’ve had Dahlias flower in June before, but this year my first flower appeared at the very end of August. Thankfully I didn’t dig them up, but I will admit that I have before. So, have patience with your plants.

3. Protect your Plants

My final costly mistake that I want to share with you today is this. Whatever you do, protect your plants! The irony of me writing this today, as the wind is blowing very strongly outside is not wasted on me. If your plants need to be staked, do this well before they need to be staked. Build the cages, webs or forts (sometimes) that your plants need before they put on a lot of growth. I’m going to mention Dahlias here as a prime example. Personally, I think they need a really good system of support around them, however you decided to do it. I thought I had done a pretty good job of it this year using tall bamboo canes and string. Turns out, that wasn’t enough. The wind has been too strong and the rain too heavy over the last few days and all of the tall plants have fallen or snapped. It’s too wet out there to really assess the damage right now, so don’t make the mistake I have. Give them the forts they need before they need it. I’m going to also mention here briefly about protecting your plants from pests. I’ll keep it short as I’m going to write a separate article on this. Pests are needed in our garden, in fact they’re only really pests to our plants. They’re such an important part of the eco system so I am completely against eradicating them with chemicals. They should be encouraged and naturally their predators will arrive. However as this article is about mistakes that can cost you money, there are a few things you can do to protect your young plants from pests. I do use Slug Rings https://www.slugrings.co.uk/ (Copper rings that you place around the base of young plants) and I have also used Nematodes https://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/ (microscopic creatures that act as parasites on other creatures). These methods both work really well to prevent slug damage. I have no solution to Lupin Aphids though, sorry. Other than spraying them off with water and hoping for the best.

I hope by sharing my top three mistakes that you don’t have to make them. Are there any mistakes you’ve made that could help others?

    © 2025 The Accidental Gardeners

    Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑