Bargain beds; Gardening.

Byline: PIPPA GREENWOOD

We all love a splash of colour in our gardens come the summer and there are always plenty of gorgeous bedding plants to be had from next month onwards.

But if you feel a bit strapped for cash why not grow your own flowers from seed? If you get your skates on, they'll be up and blooming in time for a fantastic money-saving summer display.

Look for the label

Take a look along the garden centre shelves and you'll be amazed at what you can grow from seed.

In particular, look for seed packets marked HA, or Hardy Annual - these are the flower seeds that can happily be sown straight into the garden soil, where you want them to flower.

Which means you don't need to buy any compost, seed trays or pots.

Seek out the sun

Most flowers do best in spots that get a good deal of sun in warmer months and hardy annuals are no exception. The sunnier the spot, the better display you're likely to get, so choose as good a position as possible.

Keep it clean

Clear the soil of any plant remains, large stones or other debris, forking it over as you do so. This will help open up the soil, which may well have become compacted and airless, especially after the awful weather last summer and again earlier this year.

Feed the need

Hardy annuals aren't especially hungry plants but if you want them to reach the size they should and provide you with as much colour as they can, feed soil before you sow. Fork in wellrotted manure or garden compost, as it improves texture and the fertility of the soil. Or use some general fertiliser.

Plan ahead

Consider the heights and spreads of flowers you choose, as well as colours, when deciding what to sow and where. However lovely a combination looks, if one colour is obscured, the effect is wasted.

Think thin

Follow the packet instructions for sowing depth and seed spacings as closely as possible. Try to sow thinly as it will mean less thinning out later, saving time and hassle, and making the packet to go further.

Line them up

Either scatter seed on raked soil and rake it in, or sow in "drills" or lines. Much as I love randomly growing flowers, sowing seed in lines is much easier - it makes weeding a lot simpler and quicker. Once plants are growing strongly, those regimented lines are generally hidden.

Cover up

Once seeds are covered with soil, water the entire area as it settles the seeds into close contact with the moist soil, ensuring they germinate and grow rapidly.

Meanwhile, protect sown areas from birds and local cats, which may be tempted to use the seedbed as a litter tray.

Pieces of old galvanised chicken wire work well and can be removed when seedlings are sturdy.

Space out

Some seedlings need thinning out so plants aren't too cramped - check the packet for desired final spacings.

If you do this carefully, many hardy annual seedlings will transplant OK, so you needn't waste the young plants - but don't forget to water them into their new homes really well.

6 STEPS TO POTTING ON HOUSEPLANTS

It's a good time to pot on houseplants that have become too big for their current pots.

(1) Choose a new container that's just one size bigger than the current pot - if the new pot is too big the plant is likely to suffer.

(2) Try to get a similar compost to the one the plant is in now. If in doubt, a good quality houseplant or multi-purpose compost should do the trick.

(3) Put some drainage material such as pebbles in the base of the pot and partfill with compost.

(4) Remove plant from its pot and gently tease out any tightly packed roots.

(5) Ease the plant into the new pot and settle it into the compost, adding or removing compost so it's planted at the same depth as previously.

(6) Drizzle more compost between the rootball and the pot, firm and water. Put the plant in a shaded spot for a few days before putting it in its permanent position.

Half-price!

Save even more cash with this terrific offer...

Buy 10 packets of this superb hardy annual seed collection from Mr Fothergill's for only pounds 8.76 (inc p& p) - that's half the normal retail price of pounds 17.52! The collection consists of the Aster Colour Carpet mixed, Cornflower Midget mixed, Calendula Daisy mixed, Californian Poppy Appleblossom Pink, Larkspur Giant Imperial mixed, Annual Lupin Gallery Dwarf mixed, Nasturtium Gleam mixed, Salvia Blaze of Fire and Cosmos Sensation mixed.

To order by credit or debit card, call 0870 950 7916, quoting Pippa's Hardy Annuals.

Top 10 flowers for sowing now

Asters Calendulas Candytuft Cornflower Californian poppy (Eschscholzia) Helichrysum Larkspur Limnanthes (poached egg flowers) Love lies bleeding Annual lupin