Perennial Garden Basics
By admin | October 30, 2008
Perennials are any plants which live for more than two seasons and produce stems which die back to the ground each fall. They’re at the heart of most flower gardens and offer wide ranging benefits to the landscape gardener. Perennials are treasured for their ability to flower, spread and multiply year after year. They’re also noted for their form, texture, vibrant color and their ability to attract birds and other wildlife to the garden. Perennials can stand on their own in the landscape but can be complimented by a few well placed annuals. While perennials are easy to grow, there are a few basic maintenance guidelines to follow which will help your garden flourish.
In the spring, the first task is an obvious one; remove any debris which has collected over the winter. After that, cut back to the ground any plants which were left standing the previous fall. When cleaning out the garden tread lightly and rake lightly. You don’t want to disturb any new shoots. Once the garden is cleaned out, look around the garden to see if there are any empty spaces. If there are, you may want to add a few new plants. Ideally, the perennial bed should bloom from spring through the fall so if the garden in September seems a bit sparse add late season bloomers such as autumn sedum joy, chrysanthemums or asters. Another way to add color in the garden is to plant annuals in the spring. Though they last only one year, annuals bloom all season long.
Fertilizing with a general slow release garden fertilizer and adding lime to the garden early in the season will get the plants off to a healthy start and feed them throughout the entire season. Each spring spread compost throughout the perennial garden to improve soil consistency.
In the summer the main task is deadheading, the process of clipping off spent blooms. This won’t encourage continuous blooms in perennials but will keep the garden looking fresh all season. With annuals, however, deadheading will encourage continuous blooms all season. Cultivating the garden soil is another task which should occasionally be through the summer. Cultivating keeps weeds from taking hold in the garden and it loosens up the soil allowing water and nutrients to reach the plant’s deepest roots.
Towards mid-summer the taller plants may begin to lean or fall as they become top heavy. This often occurs most noticeably after a rain shower. Staking the plants is important and keeps them from falling into one another thus reducing the chances of mold and disease.
Continuing with the above tasks is important though the fall months as well. Late in the season, however, perennials will begin fade and eventually their foliage dies back to the ground. The roots are still alive but the above ground part of the plant is done for the season. Cutting back the plants that have gone by is generally done for aesthetic reasons. It can be done in the spring but I recommend this task for the fall as there are alot of other things to do in the spring.
Dividing perennials is easily the best way to increase your plant stock. A few years after you’ve planted a perennial you’ll probably notice that it begins to outgrow its allotted spot. Dividing large perennials into smaller plants will solve the problem of over crowding in the garden while giving you new plants to add to other gardens. In the fall when the plants are beginning to die back prepare new planting areas somewhere on your property. If you don’t have any space for new plants, give some away to your friends. Simply dig the perennial you intend to divide out of the ground making sure to preserve as much of the root system as possible. Take a spade or a garden edger and chop or divide the plant in half. Remove any foliage which may have been severed. Replace the perennial back in the ground and back fill with a mix of compost and existing soil. You’ll need some extra soil to fill in properly. Some of the easiest perennials to divide are daylilies, hosta, iris and sedum.
Perennials are adaptable to a variety of landscape conditions. Most can survive a few hours of shade each day but there are those which will require full sun and those which will thrive in the shade. Study the conditions of your own garden and have a plan or list in hand before you head out to the greenhouse. Once planted, the perennials you choose will provide years of gardening enjoyment
Early Blooming perennials: Iris, poppy, aneome, primrose, lily of the valley, coral bell, Solomon’s seal, leopard’s bane, foam flower, lungwort, globe flower, epimedium, bleeding heart, speedwell
Mid Season Blooming Perennials: daisy, dianthus, hardy geranium, saliva, campanula, delphinium, coreopsis, daylily, hollyhock, yarrow, lady’s mantle, phlox, bee balm, catmint, goat’s beard, astilbe
Late Season Blooming Perennials: Aster, black eyed Susan, chrysanthemums, michaelmas daisy, lilyturf, monkshood, cardinal flower, sedum “autumn joy”, goldenrod, hosta, globe thistle
T Hallinan is a landscape designer and builder in Massachusetts. Visit his garden resource website http://www.gardenlistings.com for all kind of helpful information. For more garden guides visit http://www.gardenlistings.com/resources.htm
Tags: Garden Guides, gardening, gardening tips, Gardens, landscaping, Perennial Gardens, PerennialsTop Tip for a Perfect Garden Makeover
By admin | June 11, 2008
Without a doubt, the most important thing to get right when planning any future garden makeover project is to set clear objectives.
Trying to makeover a garden without clear objectives is a bit like building a house without a plan. Only a fool would undertake to build anything without a clear idea of what or how it will all look when completed.
Your objectives should include some or all of the following:
1. Decide what you want to include in your new garden
2. Know what you want to get rid of/or disguise in your garden - eg, that ugly rear fence needs cloaking or finally ridding yourself of that terrible shed, which blocks all your light.
3. Whether you want to increase the time you’re going to spend actually working in your garden, or you want to create a garden where you work less and relax more (the low maintenance garden)
All too often I come across unfinished garden makeover projects. You’ve probably seen them in your own neighbourhood.
Gardens dominated by unfinished patios complete with faded blue tarpaulin; pathways leading to nowhere; large mounds of compacted soil where eventually ‘the lawn will be’, and so on.
The standing joke at every year’s barbeques is when will they get around to finishing it.
Of course there’s nothing funny about unfinished garden projects. There’s nothing relaxing or inspirational arriving home every day from work to be greeted by mounds of earth, overgrown weeds and building materials strewn everywhere.
An unfinished garden isn’t the only consequence of poor planning. It also invariably represents foolhardy spending.
Remember that Saturday morning trip to the garden centre where you loaded your trolley sky-high will all sorts of plants and shrubs that you really have no idea about? Then grabbed a second trolley for those irresistible ‘buy two get one free’ offers? And finally on the way out you treated yourself to an early Christmas present with that third trolley for that special Mediterranean thingy, which you thought would look great on the new patio.
When finally you reach the checkout your bill is something resembling the Third World Debt, but nevertheless you smile through it all telling yourselves it’ll all be worth it in the end.
Outside in the car park you cram and slam all your purchases into your car breaking off branches, leaves and stems as you try and squeeze it all into an impossibly small space.
Back at home you start working on planting them all up, but you’ve failed to realise how hard the ground is. Not to mention you’ve hurt your back lifting that hypera-something out of the car.
So it’s a quick tea-break and then you get caught up with the children/telly/favourite book etc and before you know it the weekends gone and all your new purchases will just have to sit it out in their pots until time allows.
Unfortunately next weekend you don’t have the time so you postpone planting for another week and on it goes until your shrubs are well and truly pot-bound and overgrown with all sorts of undesirable pests and start to die off.
Trust me. If you haven’t already been there, you soon will. Unless of course you take a tip from top gardeners as to how they plan and create their gardens.
Next time when you look at a beautiful garden remember that it’s about 1% creativity and inspiration - the rest is down to great planning.
So when deciding on any makeover, regardless of how small - begin by setting your objectives.
Decide what you want from your new garden and then agree how much you’re willing to spend.
Get this part right and you’re far less likely to end up with something unwanted, unfinished and unloved.
Paul Power is the author of Starting Your Own Gardening Business and Planning and Creating Your First Garden. He runs a number of workshop based gardening courses throughout the year and for those who cannot attend in person can take a E-course. Visit his online Top Tips for Gardener’s Website at http://paulpowergardener.blogspot.com.
Tags: garden design, gardening tips, top tips for gardeners