A guide to using annuals to fill gaps in your ornamental garden border
By late spring, your ornamental garden will be starting to hum, with hardy annuals such as sweet peas, snapdragons and poppies flying into action. Deciduous shrubs such as hydrangea and roses will be filling out and you may even be getting the first buds and flowers beginning to form for the summer to come.
It’s an exciting time to take a wander along your garden border and notice all the areas that are starting to fill out with fresh growth, and also the areas which need a little more attention. You may also realise that some perennials have not survived the winter, due to the wet and cold.
Using annuals in the garden
Typically, we use annuals to fill these kinds of voids in the garden as they provide a burst of seasonal interest quickly. Starting from seed is a cost effective and sometimes the only way to grow certain varieties. But a trip to the garden centre can be fun at this time of year, and may be necessary if you are pushed for time.
Tips for buying annuals from a garden centre
1. Don’t buy anything that is flowering – they have passed their prime at this point and you won’t get as long out of them.
2. Be mindful of the seasonal gap in the garden you are trying to fill. Try to come away with five plants that flower at different times. This will give you a long display of colour.
3. Know the height that you need. Garden centres typically favour shorter, bedding varieties that have less tendency to flop. This is good if you want to fill containers or the front of the border. But these bedding varieties will quickly get swamped by the other perennials and shrubs in the mid to back of the border.
Top 5 annual varieties to look out for at garden centres for seasonal interest and height:
- Nicotiana langsdorfii – late spring (this green works well with almost anything in the border)
- Madame Butterfly Snapdragons (Antirrhinum Majus) – early summer
- Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Sensation’ tall mix – late summer
- Zinnia elegans Tall Mix – early autumn
- Salvia ‘Amistad’ – late autumn
