Growing sunflowers and lettuces - 20 hours in garden for £20

Whether you have a big back lawn, a few planters on your drive or space for a window box, there are many green-fingered activities than can keep you busy this Spring.

Evergreen Garden Care, owner of leading garden brands such as Miracle-Gro, Roundup and Tomorite among others, has created a gardening recipe for beginners, where for only £20 and 20 hours of your time, you can create your own green oasis at home!

The first recipe will guide you to create a few DIY planters - and then there’s another 19-and-a-half hours of other gardening activities to keep you entertained while around the house.

A recipe for your green oasis:

Timing 30 minutes prep

Months of beautiful flowers

Ingredients

• Gardening gloves £2

• Trowel £3.50

• Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Potted Plants Compost £6.99

• Empty pots or containers from around your home £0 • Seeds and bulbs - £7.50.

TOTAL = £19.99

Method

1 Scour your garden and house for suitable containers that you could reclaim and transform into stylish planters. Make sure they are frost-proof. You don’t need to have acres of space or buy brand new pots. See what you can find hidden in the shed or garage such as old watering cans, biscuit tins or tin buckets.

2 Ensure there is a drainage hole in the bottom - if necessary, make one that’s at least 1cm diameter. Fill the bottom of the container with a layer of ‘crocks’ (broken pots or stones) which helps prevent the drainage holes becoming blocked.

3 Containers are prone to drying out so fill with Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Potted Plants Compost, which is 100% natural and organic and specially formulated for plants in pots, baskets or containers – perfect indoor or outdoor.

4 Now it’s time to add your plants - if your containers are really plain then mix several different types of plants for a more eclectic feel. Blues and yellows suit old metal containers (like vintage watering cans) and trailing plants suit taller pots so they can tumble over the sides.

5 If you’re a first-time gardener, try thinking about what kind of garden you want to build and make a plan before choosing your seeds. Do you want a flower garden, vegetable patch, herb garden, or a bit of everything?

6 To kick start your garden with some good all-rounder flowers, choose some bold coloured and low maintenance options that are simple to grow, such as sunflowers, fuchsias or sweet peas.

Growing Sunflowers:

7 If you’re sowing outside, get your sunflowers started by finding a sunny spot which gets around 6 hours of direct sunlight and improve the soil by digging in some compost.

8 Once your planting area is prepped, sow the seeds straight into the soil where they are going to flower, being careful to keep seeds 25cm deep and 10-15cm apart.

9 When the first true leaves appear (the second set of leaves), thin out taller varieties to about 45cm (18in) apart, dwarf or medium-sized varieties to 30cm (1ft), leaving the strongest plants to grow on.

10 For indoor growing, sow 1 seed into a 7.5-10cm (3-4in) pot filled with seed sowing compost.

11 Place the pot in a heated propagator to keep the compost and seedlings warm and wait for you flowers to grow.

12 To care for your sunflowers (inside and out), water regularly with a liquid feed such as Miracle-Gro All Purpose Concentrated Liquid Plant Food

13 Green-fingered vegetable growers can try some hardy options like potatoes, runner beans or salad leaves, which are a big win come the summer months and can be trimmed before allowing to regrow.

Growing Lettuce:

14 Lettuce leaves need a bright and sunny position in the garden with some soil that’s been fortified with a good quality compost, so find your patch and get started!

15 Choose your favourite lettuce variety. There’s a huge range to choose from, with everything from Cos and Crisphead to Butterhead and Loose Leaf.

16 When you’ve got your seeds, sow a short row every fortnight, to ensure you have a continuous crop for your needs.

17 For best results, be sure to keep the soil moist at all times. If the soil tries out, then the plants may run to seed prematurely.

18 To encourage get results quickly but stay 100% organic in the process, feed your lettuce every three weeks with a liquid feed such Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Liquid Food.

19 When your lettuce is ready to harvest, a firm heart will have formed. Cut the stem with a sharp knife (they’ll be freshest to cut in the morning) and enjoy.

20 The most important thing to remember is that regular watering and feeding will keep your plants and planters looking fantastic!

If you’re looking for further inspiration to get outside at home, here are some other ideas and tips for green fingered activities:

Pruning/Cutting Back Hedges – 2 hours

This is a commonly neglected job in the garden. You can make your garden seem a lot bigger by doing this.

Levelling the Lawn – 2.5 hours

Most lawns go through wear and tear over time, so it can be a big job to get it right depending on the state of it. There are a number of reasons for this which you can identify and resolve in our lawn levelling guide.

General Weeding – 1.5 hours

This is another neglected job and can vary in severity. It helps to do a thorough once-over of all paths, patios, lawns and beds in your garden.

Bringing the outside in – 30 mins

Try potting up a couple of low maintenance houseplants, like Aloe Vera, Snake Plant or Zamioculcas zamifolia, the ZZ plant.

Don’t forget plant food, like our Miracle-Gro Push & Feed All Purpose cones, which can be pushed into the soil and will release food for your plants over six months, helping them produce greener, healthier leaves.

Ravishing radishes – 1 hour

Have a go at growing some veg, which can easily be grown in containers – try radishes, sow now and then fortnightly and harvest in 3-4 weeks from planting.

Love your lawn – 2 hours

Make sure your grass is kept in tip-top shape by giving it a good feed. With warmer weather on the way, now is the perfect time! Take a look at whether you need any specialist help, such as moss control or weed control. Pop the lawn fertiliser on and water once a week if there’s no rain due. You should feed your lawn every 6-8 weeks and mow once a week.

Weeding, naturally – 1 hour 15 mins

If you’re noticing a few weeds around your garden, that’s because they are actively growing at the moment.

So now is a good time to sort them out. You can tackle them first with digging them out, working to pull the roots too, but if they’re putting up a fight, Roundup NL Weed Control can be used to kill a broad range of garden weeds and is suitable for use on flower beds, vegetable patches, as well as gravel paths and patios.

Spray onto the leaves of the weeds only and see visible results in 3 hours. The spray naturally breaks down in the soil, so you can replant within three days.

Stop and smell the roses – 1.5 hours One of the best-smelling garden gifts, make sure your roses are pruned to perfection. Ensure they are fed with a continuous release rose plant food, but established roses generally don’t need watering.

Now is a good time to prune your roses too as the weather gets warmer. Finally, make sure to watch your roses for signs of disease or bugs like aphids – spray with RoseClear at first signs and then every 21-28 days to protect your precious plants.

We recommend spraying early in the morning or in the evening when bees are less active so as not to affect them.