Garden Q&A: What plants will grow fast and bloom this year?

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions

Consider planting a wildflower mixture of annual varieties which will germinate quickly, if sown in March/April, and will flower during summer and into autumn. Picture: iStock

Question 

I am looking for ideas for something for our garden that will grow fast and that will bloom this year. 

The ground is quite dry. 

Do I need to put in topsoil first? 

I know nothing at all about gardening, sorry! 

I would appreciate some help.

 

Answer

Well, this is about as vague a request as you can get! 

It’s also a question that highlights some of the factors that need to be thought about before starting out on your garden. 

Irish Examiner gardening columnist Peter Dowdall. Picture: John Allen

Fast-growing can lead to problems further down the line as something that is fast-growing won't just stop automatically when it has reached the dimensions that you desire and so maintenance may become an issue. 

Knowing that the soil is dry is important and best to work with plants that like this as opposed to trying to alter the soil and growing plants that like moisture-retentive soil.

Aspect, soil pH and exposure to wind need to be considered before planting

Aspect, soil pH and exposure to wind are a few other environmental factors that need to be considered before taking the plunge and planting.

In the meantime, what you could do in this garden is plant a wildflower mixture of annual varieties which will germinate quickly, if sown in March/April, and will flower during summer and into autumn.

  

Got a gardening question for Peter Dowdall? Email [email][e-mail][/email]