Planting out dahlias

Planting Out Dahlias

It's the middle of May, but because it's been such an extraordinarily wet and cold year, things haven't grown as much as they usually would by this time. But now the frosts seem to have finished, it's a very busy time for us.

We planted our hardy annuals in mid April and they're beginning to take off now, and will be ready to pick in season two - from mid May until mid July.

But now it's time to start planting out tender perennials, in this case dahlias and cobaea, which will be picked in season three and four - from mid July until mid November.

I planted these dahlias in their tray in mid March and now they're ready to go out and will bloom until November, while the cobaea might still be providing flowers until Christmas time.

At this time of year, you can start doing a little light weeding with a hoe too.

Planting out the dahlias

Dahlias will grow quite substantially once they have been planted out, so you want to leave around 75 cm between plants. By giving them the space they need you'll get stronger and healthier plants and therefore more flower growth.

• Dig a hole twice the size of your plant and double the depth
• Add compost into each hole which will help your plants to retain water
• Add the plant to the hole and make sure the tubers are buried
• Water in your plants

Organic seaweed feed and slug-repellent

We add an organic seaweed feed to our dahlias as it acts as both a feed for the plants and also as a slug and snail repellent. Thankfully, we don't have a big issue with slugs and snails as we have a large bird population.

The hawthorn that surrounds the garden attracts nesting birds, which then feed the most common garden pests such as aphids, slugs, snails and caterpillars. They also protect our garden against the wind too.

• Scatter the seaweed feed around the dahlia plants

Pinching out the dahlias

Once the dahlias have been planted, pinch out the growing tip. This will help the roots to grow nice and strong and the plant will start forming axillary buds too.

And remember, the more you cut, the more dahlias will flower.