The Pride of Sudbury gardening competition is now open to entries - get yours in by clicking here - and we at Bridge Farm Plants are delighted to share some of our expertise to help you along!

We share which hanging basket plants are perfect for pollinators; which plants are best for container growing (and how to look after them); how to reduce water usage in the garden; how to help wildlife in the garden; and how to grow the tallest sunflowers!

Click on the images to enlarge, or click on the files below to download.
You can also pick up printouts from Sudbury in Bloom's stalls at the Green Sundays events on Market Hill.

Sudbury in Bloom and Bridge Farm Plants share a love of Salvias, and with good reason!

They start flowering in early June and with minimal care can keep filling your borders with colour until November. They are suitable for sun and part-shade and are perfect for pollinators.

There has been a huge number of new varieties of woody-stemmed Salvias introduced in recent years, and you will find many of them around town. Hot Lips is best known, with it's red and white flowers, but they come in virtually every colour of the rainbow.

Once the late-autumn flowers start to fade, simply cut back the whole plant by about half to a neat shape. This stops long shoots get damaged in the winter winds, and also stops the plant developing a messy, sprawly shape.

Ideally cut back to directly above leaf shoots, as this is where the plant will start to regrow next year. Easy!

Earn your green fingers young!

Our special children's category is for youngsters living in the Sudbury and Cornard districts - aged 10 years old and under. Can you grow the tallest sunflower in town??

Watch our video tutorial to learn all about growing sunflowers.

If you don't already have a plant, come and claim a free one from us during the Green Sundays event on Sudbury Market Hill on Sunday 20th June, 10am - 3pm!

Get top tips on filling your patio pots and planters this summer, and then enter our competition for residents of the Sudbury district.

You could also get creative and see what other items you can plant up - just make sure they have drainage!

Take a photo or two and upload them to our Pride of Sudbury competition form!

Deadline for entering is Friday 16th July 2021

Need some pointers on planting up hanging baskets? Watch our video tutorial, have a go, and then enter our competition!

Our Pride of Sudbury competition launches on Friday!
It is open to all residents in the Sudbury district, including Ballingdon, Great Cornard and Little Cornard.

One of the categories is best Wildlife & Eco Friendly Garden. Our video gives lots of tips and advice for achieving this. If your garden ticks a lot of the boxes then get your entry in to us!

In late May or early June chop off the top third or top half of the plants. Ideally cut immediately above leaf shoots, as plants will regrow better from these points.

Come flowering times you will have shorter, stockier, stronger plants that shouldn't need staking - and are therefore lower maintenance!

If you have never dared to plant up your own hanging baskets and planters, now is a great time to try, as the winter ones are simpler to do than the summer ones!

If you want to give yourself something to look forward to in the spring, add in a handful of dwarf daffodils or other low-growing bulbs under the planting!

At this time of year we are lightly trimming most of the plants we use to encourage them to bush out, for more flowers and better displays, as we do with our summer baskets.

If you leave doing your baskets till later in the season you are likely to need more plants as they will not grow much in the colder weather.