Latest news with #Echinacea
The Sun
3 days ago
- General
- The Sun
I'm a Gardening pro – do these 6 tasks this weekend to fill your outside space with colour plus the time to water plants
WITH June starting tomorrow, it brings the promise of better weather and the longest day – but it can also bring a feeling of mild panic to gardeners. Whether it is worry about having planted enough seeds or what do to with all the overgrown bits, we have got lots of June jobs to get you organised. 5 THE CHELSEA CHOP This cutback is usually done around late May or early June, the same time as the Chelsea Flower Show. It means cutting back your herbaceous perennials — flowers with non-woody stems that come back year after year — by a third. This encourages a second flush of blooms and extends the flowering season. Good plants to practice on include Asters, Echinacea, Phlox, Sedum, Rudbeckia and Helenium. SOW SEEDS As the soil has warmed up, sow your seeds straight into the ground instead of messing around with pots. Broccoli, carrots, swede, beetroot, runner and French beans and sweetcorn can all go in now. Courgette can still be grown in pots for a later harvest. You can also scatter Nigella seeds on the soil for lovely blue flowers later in the season, and plant marigold and nasturtium seeds. WEEDING June is the month in which weeds flourish. A Hori Hori tool, below, is fantastic for getting them out, especially those with long roots. Just spending five minutes getting your hands dirty will make it feel much less tiresome and out of control — and is also good for your mental health. WATERING We have finally had rain but after months of dryness your garden still needs a in the early morning or late evening and avoid sprinkling the water all over the leaves. Concentrate on watering around the roots. BEDDING Fill your gaps with summer bedding but try to protect it from slugs and snails. Lobelia brings a lovely blue while fuchsias and petunias are always good around this time too. LAWNCARE Because it has been dry and warm, you need to raise the cutting level to avoid scorching. If you haven't already, apply a spring/summer lawn feed to provide nutrients for healthy growth. Or you could consider using a weed and feed fertilizer to control weeds while feeding your lawn. Saving tip 5 BE precise in your Chelsea chop with these £42 Niwaki Mainichi Secateurs, top, or cut the price with Burgon & Ball's Flora brite version, below, for £18 from B&Q. Alan is garden chief 5 DAME Mary Berry is stepping down as the president of the National Garden Scheme after ten years – handing the baton to Alan Titchmarsh. The NGS helps gives visitors unique access to more than 3,300 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. Alan said: 'There is nothing quite like the National Garden Scheme, either in the world of gardens and horticulture or beyond. 'Not only does it offer thoroughly affordable enjoyment and education – while championing the varied gardening skills of the British nation – it also raises and distributes quite extraordinary sums of money.' To find out what National Gardening Scheme gardens are open this month or inquire about opening up your own garden, see Win! WE'VE got a stunning Copper & Green water feature, worth £250, to giveaway. It is handcrafted in the UK using traditional, power-free techniques – and showcases Copper & Green's signature copper lily, cascading bowls and leaves. To enter, visit or write to Sun Copper & Green Competition, Sun PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. Open to UK residents aged 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm, June 14, 2025. T&Cs apply. Kate is so rosy 5 B&Q will be the main stockist of Catherine's Rose, bred by Harkness Roses and named after Her Royal Highness, The Princess of Wales. Launching in stores in late September, the rose seeks to raise awareness of the important role that spending time outdoors plays in bringing us joy. Funds from every sale of the rose will go to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. - JOIN Hever Castle & Garden's historic rose tours – taking place June 23 to July 6. See
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- General
- Boston Globe
Chelsea Chop is the catchy new name for a classic gardening technique
And that's a good thing because it popularizes a useful technique. What's involved in the chop The method involves pruning certain perennials — those with clumping roots, like coneflower (Echinacea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), goldenrod (Solidago), sneezeweed (Helenium), Salvia and yarrow (Achillea) — by cutting each stem back by one-third to one-half its height in spring. Cuts should be made on the diagonal, just above a leaf node. Related : Advertisement The 'chop' forces plants to produce bushier growth, resulting in sturdier, tighter and fuller plants that aren't as likely to grow leggy, require staking or flop over by the end of the season. It also delays blooming, which can benefit the late-summer garden. You might get creative and prune only alternate stems so that some bloom earlier and others later — or prune only half of your plants — to extend the blooming season. Do not attempt this with one-time bloomers, single-stemmed plants or those with woody stems; the amputations would be homicidal to the current season's flowers. Advertisement This image provided by Jessica Damiano shows the pruning of the top third of a chrysanthemum plant. Three such carefully timed prunings each year will result in fuller, sturdier plants. Jessica Damiano/Associated Press When should you chop? Gardeners should consider their climate and prune when their plants have grown to half their expected seasonal height, whenever that may be. (The Chelsea Chop is done at different times in different places, depending on plant emergence and growth.) A variation for late-summer and fall bloomers To take things a step further, some late-summer and fall bloomers, like Joe Pye weed, chrysanthemum and aster, would benefit from three annual chops. Related : In my zone 7, suburban New York garden, that means cutting them back by one-third each in the beginning of June, middle of June and middle of July. Customize the schedule for your garden by shifting one or two weeks earlier per warmer zone and later per cooler zone, taking the season's growth and size of your plants into account. Make the first cuts when plants reach half their expected size, the second two weeks later and the third about a month after that. I'd like this fall-plant pruning tip to catch on as well as the Chelsea Chop has. Maybe I should call it the Damiano Downsize and see what happens. Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter.
The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
What is the Chelsea Chop? And how it's vital for your plants' growth
The 'Chelsea Chop', a pruning method named after the Royal Horticultural Society 's Chelsea Flower Show, has gained traction on social media. The technique, which involves cutting back certain perennials in late May or early June, encourages bushier growth and delayed flowering. This results in sturdier plants and a prolonged display of blooms. While the name may be relatively recent, with references dating back to the early 2000s, the practice itself is not new. Gardeners have long employed similar methods to manage plant growth and flowering times. The Chelsea Chop simply provides a catchy name for a well-established technique, making it more accessible and popular among gardeners. What's involved in the Chelsea Chop? The method involves pruning certain perennials — those with clumping roots, like coneflower (Echinacea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), goldenrod (Solidago), sneezeweed (Helenium), Salvia and yarrow (Achillea) -- by cutting each stem back by one-third to one-half its height in spring. Cuts should be made on the diagonal, just above a leaf node. The 'chop' forces plants to produce bushier growth, resulting in sturdier, tighter and fuller plants that aren't as likely to grow leggy, require staking or flop over by the end of the season. It also delays blooming, which can benefit the late-summer garden. You might get creative and prune only alternate stems so that some bloom earlier and others later — or prune only half of your plants — to extend the blooming season. Do not attempt this with one-time bloomers, single-stemmed plants or those with woody stems; the amputations would be homicidal to the current season's flowers. When should you chop? Gardeners should consider their climate and prune when their plants have grown to half their expected seasonal height, whenever that may be. (The Chelsea Chop is done at different times in different places, depending on plant emergence and growth.) A variation for late-summer and fall bloomers To take things a step further, some late-summer and fall bloomers, like Joe Pye weed, chrysanthemum and aster, would benefit from three annual chops. In my zone 7, suburban New York garden, that means cutting them back by one-third each in the beginning of June, middle of June and middle of July. Customise the schedule for your garden by shifting one or two weeks earlier per warmer zone and later per cooler zone, taking the season's growth and size of your plants into account. Make the first cuts when plants reach half their expected size, the second two weeks later and the third about a month after that. I'd like this fall-plant pruning tip to catch on as well as the Chelsea Chop has. Maybe I should call it the Damiano Downsize and see what happens.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Chelsea Chop is the catchy new name for a classic gardening technique
What's the deal with the Chelsea Chop? Are you gardeners familiar with it? After hearing about it recently, I did a bit of research. The earliest reference I could find dates back to the early 2000s, so it might appear I'm late to the party, but I'm not — and you might not be, either. After all, the pruning method, named for the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show, which is held every May in the U.K., is one I've been practicing and advocating for all along, without the garden show tie-in. But things with catchy names tend to take on a life of their own, as the Chelsea Chop has on social media. And that's a good thing because it popularizes a useful technique. What's involved in the chop The method involves pruning certain perennials — those with clumping roots, like coneflower (Echinacea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), goldenrod (Solidago), sneezeweed (Helenium), Salvia and yarrow (Achillea) — by cutting each stem back by one-third to one-half its height in spring. Cuts should be made on the diagonal, just above a leaf node. The 'chop' forces plants to produce bushier growth, resulting in sturdier, tighter and fuller plants that aren't as likely to grow leggy, require staking or flop over by the end of the season. It also delays blooming, which can benefit the late-summer garden. You might get creative and prune only alternate stems so that some bloom earlier and others later — or prune only half of your plants — to extend the blooming season. Do not attempt this with one-time bloomers, single-stemmed plants or those with woody stems; the amputations would be homicidal to the current season's flowers. When should you chop? Gardeners should consider their climate and prune when their plants have grown to half their expected seasonal height, whenever that may be. (The Chelsea Chop is done at different times in different places, depending on plant emergence and growth.) A variation for late-summer and fall bloomers To take things a step further, some late-summer and fall bloomers, like Joe Pye weed, chrysanthemum and aster, would benefit from three annual chops. In my zone 7, suburban New York garden, that means cutting them back by one-third each in the beginning of June, middle of June and middle of July. Customize the schedule for your garden by shifting one or two weeks earlier per warmer zone and later per cooler zone, taking the season's growth and size of your plants into account. Make the first cuts when plants reach half their expected size, the second two weeks later and the third about a month after that. I'd like this fall-plant pruning tip to catch on as well as the Chelsea Chop has. Maybe I should call it the Damiano Downsize and see what happens. ___ Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice. ___ For more AP gardening stories, go to
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
Chelsea Chop is the catchy new name for a classic gardening technique
What's the deal with the Chelsea Chop? Are you gardeners familiar with it? After hearing about it recently, I did a bit of research. The earliest reference I could find dates back to the early 2000s, so it might appear I'm late to the party, but I'm not — and you might not be, either. After all, the pruning method, named for the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show, which is held every May in the U.K., is one I've been practicing and advocating for all along, without the garden show tie-in. But things with catchy names tend to take on a life of their own, as the Chelsea Chop has on social media. And that's a good thing because it popularizes a useful technique. What's involved in the chop The method involves pruning certain perennials — those with clumping roots, like coneflower (Echinacea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), goldenrod (Solidago), sneezeweed (Helenium), Salvia and yarrow (Achillea) -- by cutting each stem back by one-third to one-half its height in spring. Cuts should be made on the diagonal, just above a leaf node. The 'chop' forces plants to produce bushier growth, resulting in sturdier, tighter and fuller plants that aren't as likely to grow leggy, require staking or flop over by the end of the season. It also delays blooming, which can benefit the late-summer garden. You might get creative and prune only alternate stems so that some bloom earlier and others later — or prune only half of your plants — to extend the blooming season. Do not attempt this with one-time bloomers, single-stemmed plants or those with woody stems; the amputations would be homicidal to the current season's flowers. When should you chop? Gardeners should consider their climate and prune when their plants have grown to half their expected seasonal height, whenever that may be. (The Chelsea Chop is done at different times in different places, depending on plant emergence and growth.) A variation for late-summer and fall bloomers To take things a step further, some late-summer and fall bloomers, like Joe Pye weed, chrysanthemum and aster, would benefit from three annual chops. In my zone 7, suburban New York garden, that means cutting them back by one-third each in the beginning of June, middle of June and middle of July. Customize the schedule for your garden by shifting one or two weeks earlier per warmer zone and later per cooler zone, taking the season's growth and size of your plants into account. Make the first cuts when plants reach half their expected size, the second two weeks later and the third about a month after that. I'd like this fall-plant pruning tip to catch on as well as the Chelsea Chop has. Maybe I should call it the Damiano Downsize and see what happens. ___
