Help with flower beds

Hi.

I look after a house for someone who is away for the majority of the year. I cut grass, trim hedges, control weeds...general outside maintenance.

This guy has two concrete flower beds about 5ft by 5ft with 9 inches of soil in them. He has asked me to plant some flowers in to bloom for the summer.

1. Any suggestions on some nice flowers I could plant and maintain. I have absoluty no experience in planting or looking after flowers. He would like a few different colours

2. Is it too late to plant bulbs for this summer?

3. There are also some wild daisies growing at the edge of the garden. They take over a bit of extra ground every year. How should I control and maintain them

If there are other beginners out there I can keep people updated on the progress of the flowerbeds and what did and didnt work well

wildlifeboy

tulips tulips tulips... you can plant them up to march april. there are loads of bulbs you can plant. gladioli are lovely too. go into the garden centre and look at the back of the bulb packets. it clearly states planting and flowering time. its very early yet for sommer bulbs. I would go with a mixute of perrenials in the middle with bulbs around them. small perrenials like geraniums would be perfect. I have started my geraniums off already. you have lots of time. i think your best bet is to go into the garden centre and have a 5 minute chat with the staff. they will give you great advice.

redser7

From now onwards Lidl and Aldi will be doing their bulbs etc. Check them out online. B&Q and Woodies also do good displays of various bulbs and nicely priced.

Thanks to you both for the advice. I will look at getting some tulips and other bulbs and give it a go. Hopefully I can get a "my first flower bed thread" going in the summer

cosbawn

Bulbs are great because you have them year after year.

You could also try some Perennials - like Herbaceous Perennial Geranium. They are mostly low growing and flower the whole summer long. There are many many varieties. Some flower very early for the spring.

Personally I am not a big fan of annual plants because they die off in the winter and I consider it a waste of money - thats purely personal opinion though. Hope of some help. Good luck and happy planting