Gardening School
Articles with tips, advice, and lots of inspiration in gardening
Here we share tips, advice, and inspiration about cultivation from all the experience we have at Florea and our ambassadors. When it comes to cultivation, you never really stop learning, it’s always a fantastic journey for new experiences. One year, spring comes early, the next it arrives late, the third year there are extra many killer slugs, and the fourth year we get no rain. What we’re saying is that no year is the same as the other, and growing zones don’t have to be set in stone.
Our motto is that a seed always wants to sprout and it’s okay if you fail. Even the most experienced do not always succeed with their cultivation, and that’s how it will always be. Sometimes, it’s not the result that’s most important, but the journey there. Welcome to read our articles to get tips, advice, and also be inspired about what new things you should try this year?
Pruning Plum Trees
Plums must not be pruned in winter the way apples are. Here is the right timing month by month, why September is the weak link, how to build the framework of a young tree and how to thin the fruit so the branches hold.
Aphids
Aphids multiply faster than almost anything else you grow. We go through the life cycle, the part the ants play, honeydew and sooty mould, and which beneficial insects work indoors and which work out in the border.
Growing celeriac
Celeriac needs at least six months and is sown indoors in late winter. Here is the timeline month by month, why the seed should not be covered with soil, what keeps the bulb small and how to store it through the winter.
Bark mulch
Bark mulch stops weed seeds, holds soil moisture and insulates against ground frost. Here you get the layer depth in centimetres, a formula for how many litres you need per square metre, and the answer to what bark does to the nitrogen in the soil.
Growing violets
Violet, viola and pansy cover several species in the genus Viola that are looked after in different ways. We sort out which one you are looking for, which ones are scented and how violet seed is sown with a cold period. You also get the trick for stopping sweet violet taking over the border.
Grow primroses
Potted primroses, cowslips and primulas for wet ground are all sold as primula but need different things. Here is the table that separates the groups, the rules on digging up wild plants and the sowing method that works.
Grow celery and celeriac
Celery, celeriac and leaf celery are one species grown for three different crops. Here are the sowing times, spacings and harvest windows for all three, plus why celery seed should never be covered with soil.
Grow cherries
Sweet cherry and acid cherry are two different trees with different demands. Here you find out which one to choose, why cherries are never pruned in winter and how to save the crop from birds and splitting fruit.
Grow bamboo
Running bamboo can send rhizomes 1.5 metres a year and appear in the neighbour's garden, clumping bamboo stays put. Here is the difference between the types, the measurements of a root barrier that holds, and what bamboo needs.
Grow figs
The fig is an inflorescence and sets fruit without pollination. But only a fig tree with confined roots moves from leaf to fruit. Here are the volumes in litres, the varieties that ripen in a cool summer and the signs of a ripe fig.
Grow hepatica
Hepatica seed is short lived and has to be sown fresh in early summer, since dried seed barely germinates. Here is how to buy nursery grown plants and give them limy, humus rich soil in part shade under deciduous trees.
Grow quince
Search for quince and you may mean two different plants. Here we sort out the difference between quince and flowering quince, and go through site, planting, pruning, harvest and ripening indoors for both.
Grow grapes
Outdoors the harvest is decided by the variety. The article gives a variety table with ripening time and seedlessness, explains Guyot pruning and states how many bunches a vine can ripen.
Grow wisteria
Wisteria flowers in May and June, but only if the plant is grafted and pruned twice a year. The guide covers the summer and winter cuts, Japanese against Chinese wisteria and which support holds.
Planting lilac
Lilac wants lime-rich soil and sun, and is pruned right after flowering because next year's buds are set during the summer. Here you find out how to tell a grafted lilac from an own-root one and what to do about the suckers.
Building a trellis
Beans twine, sweet peas grip with tendrils and ivy fastens by itself. Here are the measurements that make a support work: batten thickness, batten spacing, height per plant and the air gap to the wall.