Lazy Susan Furniture » Flowers

Garden clean up time…

Lazy Susan — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:12:42 +0000

Now that the clocks have gone back, the nights have started turning a little colder and those last not-so-red tomatoes in your greenhouse don’t taste nearly as good as they did a few months back, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about cleaning up your garden and getting it ready for winter. By taking a few simple steps now, you’ll be well on your way to an even healthier garden come Spring 2012, not to mention the time you’ll save come the start of the busy growing season. In general, vegetable gardens need a little more attention right now than your flower gardens which generally have a mix of annuals, perennials and shrubs. Your perennial borders are very forgiving, and to be fair some of that clean up can always wait until spring if you simply don’t have the time now – just the thing for all you Lazy (Susan) gardeners.

So in no particular order, here are a few of Lazy Susan’s Autumn clean up tasks that you should keep in mind as you begin the Autumn tidy up of your garden…

Feed your compost pile
Try to leave everything up until you have no new

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The Lazy Susan guide to watering your garden

Lazy Susan — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:04:51 +0000

No doubt, hands down, the most time-consuming part of growing in containers or achieving the perfect lawn is the watering. During the peak of summer you may need to water your containers twice a day, as even with a water retaining granules/soil, they’ll dry out pretty fast. However, we’ve picked up a few tips over the years and if you follow Lazy Susan’s simple guide, I can guarantee that you’ll make light work of the task. As we realize that water is a precious resource, many homeowners are changing their habits and finding new ways to maintain their lawns and containers whilst using significantly much less water.

Pots and other containers hold a comparatively small amount of compost, which dries out fast, particularly when plants are growing and taking up a lot of water. The compost in containers is also usually warmer than soil at ground level, which encourages it to dry out in hot weather. Every year at Lazy Susan we become more conscious about water conservation. Learning ways to reduce water consumption by watering our lawns and containers less and more efficiently will go a long way in saving our precious water supplies. Fortunately, there are several simple ways to…

Lazy Susan’s guide to planting flowers in spring

Lazy Susan — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:36:28 +0000

Spring is just around the corner, we’re still seeing a little light frost in the morning but the sun is starting to shine and it won’t be long till winter is a distant memory… That also means your local garden centre is going to start getting busy, car boots will be packed with newly purchased plants and every green fingered soul in the UK will have dirt on their knees, dirt under their finger nails, and will be getting excited about the weather warming up. To ensure that this excitement yields positive results this year, at Lazy Susan we wanted to share a some of the basics of spring planting. Spring is the optimum time for planting a variety of shrubs, trees, annuals, perennials and seeds but, before you start tilling the earth, it is important to consider the specific needs of your garden.

The correct time to start planting spring flowers can be a little confusing and really does depend on the type of plant and the climate. In the UK, you should be thinking along the following lines in terms of each season:

In Autumn
Early-blooming spring bulbs need to be planted in the Autumn before the

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How to get your flowerbed ready for spring

Lazy Susan — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 11:27:08 +0000

A good garden always starts with good soil. Since most garden soils in the UK have some limitations in terms of their pH balance, drainage, nutrient content and a whole host of other factors, the soil in your garden alone is usually a little less than perfect for planting. New build properties can be a nightmare in this respect, and the soil can by more building sand than anything else, trust me I know…

Spring planting should always start with a basic soil test and the proper amendments needed to improve the soil every year need to be made to give you the best possible start. Most soil testing kits are pretty easy to use to be honest and they are available at any garden centre, while the BBC have a really simply to follow guide to Soil Testing that will help you establish your soil type and what you can do to improve it for planting.

Good soil should basically compact into a ball that crumbles apart when released and this is what will allow air and moisture to reach your budding seeds. The soil type/PH side varies dramatically from…

Planting the perfect containers & our top plants for containers

Lazy Susan — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:57:12 +0000

You can grow almost anything in a container, from Herbs and Tomatoes to Fuchsia and Marigolds. Gardening in containers and pots gives you the ability to plant in good quality fertilized soil, experiment with colour, brighten up a concrete/paved back yard area, move your garden with the sun and raise your garden to a comfortable working level. Maybe the best aspect of container gardening is the ability to create a whole new garden every year without too much effort or expense. Our office is surrounded by containers and it was a great way to brighten up what was a dull paved area and add a splash of interest and colour. So here’s some of Lazy Susan’s tips for great container gardening…

Purchasing the right container

There are so many different plant containers and pots available for use in the garden, on your deck or patios and even inside your home. So how do you choose the right one? Too often we are guided by the look/style of the container, choosing form over function. However, to keep your container gardens growing aplenty, you should give some consideration to the needs of the plants you’d like to…

How To Create the Perfect Hanging Basket

Lazy Susan — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:47:10 +0000

Hanging baskets look great in any setting and you’ll be surprised by the difference they can make to an otherwise dull brick wall. There’s no better way of bringing some outdoor colour to eye level and one of the best things about them is that you don’t even need a garden. You also don’t have to be an expert gardener to create a stunning hanging display – it’s easy, fun and pretty rewarding. Just follow our simple guide…

Choosing your hanging baskets

There are many different types of hanging baskets to choose from and each are suitable for different styles of planting. You can now choose from a large variety of shapes, designs, sizes and patterns. Vibrant and pastel shades can make them look even more appealing and some of the popular types of basket include:

Coir lined basket
Peat lined basket
Plastic basket
Plastic lined rattan
Galvanised wire or wire mesh

Each of the different types of hanging basket have their own merits, but it often depends as much on the plants you want to have in your hanging baskets as to what is most suitable. Wire baskets will allow you to plant through the sides, but as…

Lazy Susan’s passion for plants: Our top ten Spring Flowers

Lazy Susan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:26:41 +0000

At Lazy Susan we love gardening, it’s one of the reasons we started Lazy Susan. And plant-wise, when it comes to our favorite season, you simply can’t beat springtime. Spring flowers are beautiful and fragrant, while springtime brings with it a renewal of plant life after the frost and snow of winter. It is a wonderful time of the year for fresh spring flowers, particularly spring flower bulbs. Many different species of spring flowers grow from bulbs and gardeners and flower lovers alike can often overlook some of the minor bulbs in favor of larger popular bulbs such as Daffodils, Tulips, and Hyacinths that bloom a little later in the season.

Some of these minor bulbs do have a very useful place in home landscapes. They will extend the spring season of bloom and give the gardener colour in their garden for longer. They are best purchased and planted in the winter so that they flower in early spring. The Crocus is considered by many to be the first sign of spring, however, many minor bulbs will bloom even earlier in the season. These early bloomers are usually short stemmed and have small flowers, but if planted in large bunches, they…