Gardening Bytes

Archive for the ‘Planting Tips’ Category

Ground covers for shade are sometimes harder to come by, shade can be a difficult place for some plants to survive. Shade can be dry, such as under trees, or a damper environment, such as under large ferns. Keep your perennials planted in shade watered or you may notice a decrease in blooming. Provide extra water for plants near and under trees since trees use up great quantities of water. If plants are long and leggy they may have difficulty thriving in a tree’s shade. Check with your local nursery to see if the perennial shade plants you are interested in are hardy in your region.

This plant list is for shade and partial shade plants.

Ajuga
Alchemilla
Anemone
Astilbe
Brunnera
Convallaria
Cornus
Dicentra
Digitalis
Epimedium
Euonymus
Euphorbia
Ferns
Galium
Gaultheria
Geranium
Hedera
Hellebore
Heuchera
Hosta
Hypericum
Lamium
Lathyrus
Leptinella
Linnaea
Liriope
Meehania
Omphalodes
Oxalis
Phlox
Pulmonaria
Saxifraga
Symphytum
Vinca
Viola
Sedum

Ground covers for your garden are an important part of your garden structure. Ground covers work well between plants and underneath plants to help keep weeds down and become a natural mulch around other plants. You want ground cover not invasive plants that will cover up your other plants so ask for advice at your local nursery and choose wisely. Lithodora is a steady grower with evergreen leaves covered in bright blue tubular flowers. I’ve found using low growing heathers a great ground cover, for example Kramer’s Rote has small evergreen leaves with brilliant pink and cream blooms that smother the plant in fall and winter months.

Achillea
Alyssum
Anemone
Artemisia
Aster
Aubrieta
Bergenia
Calamintha
Campanula
Cerastium
Ceratostigma
Chrysanthemum
Clematis
Coreopsis
Delosperma
Dianthus
Dryas
Erigeron
Euonymus
Euphorbia
Fragaria
Geranium
Geum
Gypsophila
Hedera
Helianthemum
Hemerocallis
Heuchera
Hypericum
Iberis
Lathyrus
Leptinella
Liriope
Lithodora
Lonicera
Nepeta
Oenothera
Origanum
Oxalis
Phlox
Potentilla
Pulmonaria
Ranunculus
Rubus
Sagina
Saponaria
Sedum
Sempervivum
Stachys
Teucrium
Thymus
Trifolium
Verbena
Veronica
Viola

As we’ve chatted aimlessly about the benefit of plug plants and how to care for your precious puny plants, you all must be champing at the bit ready to take the garden centres by storm and snap up these self-starting delights with gusto.

Before you do however, you may like to browse an Alphabetical selection of wildflower plugs on offer this time of year, their benefits, their colours, their properties, so here’s a quick glance guide on the perfect plugs for your paddock, meadow, orchard or grassland. Even wildflower borders look great with some of these plants, but don’t worry we’ll be honest and won’t let you ruin your border with wildflowers that like to strangle your lupins!

A stands for Autumn Hawk bit, looking like the swinging sixties flower girl of the plug plant world, this vibrant yellow bloom will blossom low to the ground. Personally although it looks great in paddocks, meadows and on grass verges, I think it resembles a dandelion a little too much to be given space in a precious border. However a wildflower garden would benefit from this.

B stands for Black Knapweed; this is a great addition to any border and will provide food for birds. It grows best at the side of a pond or in grass land and its allium type purple heads provide colour throughout the summer and well into autumn. A good clipping is essential if planted in a herbaceous border, however throughout meadows its best just left to roam free.

C stands for Common Sorrel – grown in grass or a border this wildflower produces red cluster heads as it seeds, giving vibrancy to any hedgerow with the double advantage of being a tasty addition to any salad.

F stands for Foxglove, wonderful in a border, these trumpet like flowers stand tall and fall under the wildflower category as they reproduce at an alarming rate. Easy to grow the plugs will flower the following year and a choice of colours mean you never get bored!

O stands for Ox Eyed Daisy, a larger variety of the more common daisy found in lawns, and just the wildflower to set of any meadow, imagine the daisy chains you could make with these?!

P stands for Primrose, spring would not be complete without these plugs, either purple, blue red or yellow, as bedding plants or strewn across the borders of a meadow, primrose bring sunshine before the weather does!

W stands for Wood Sage, a tall woody plant that gives a distinctive aroma, in a wildflower garden it attracts all manner of wildlife; however this can be its downfall as it also tastes great to sheep and horses!

About the author: Sam Goodwill can often be found enjoying perennial plants in his garden in the UK.

Everyone has to start somewhere! Gardening is a great hobby to get involved in. However, some people just simply do not know where to begin. Growing vegetables is easy and fun and not to mention extremely healthy for your diet. The following is a list of vegetables that will be easy for you to grow regardless of the experience you have in gardening. Which will you choose to grow first?

• Tomatoes. Tomatoes can be grown almost anywhere provided they have lots of sun light. You can grow them in the ground, in a bucket, or other container of your choice. With water and sunlight, you will have fantastic tomato yield all throughout the summer. Consider planting tomatoes as part of a salsa garden.

• Cucumbers. Like tomatoes, this vegetable can grow almost anywhere. Keep in mind that it needs plenty of space as it prefers to spread out. Great for pickling, growing cucumbers will be quite easy for beginners. There are small and large varieties available. Choose the one that best meets your needs.

• Radishes. These are very easy to grow and will add a great addition to your salad. Plant the seed directly into the ground and within a short period of time, you will have radishes! Other than watering, you will have to do very little to this plant.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fall bulb planting is a wonderful time to select spring bulbs you want to feature in your garden. Whether you are ordering spring bulbs through bulb catalogs or visiting your local garden center, a variety of spring bulbs in the garden can provide the first glimpse of color and cheer when spring arrives. When planting your spring bulbs spread or toss the bulbs out on the ground so they look natural. You don’t want a straight line when Mother Nature rarely draws a straight line of bulbs. Plant at least 5 or 10 bulbs in an area and place them in varying positions and spacing according to the package. Use the information from your bulb package for bulb planting depth. Have a bag of garden soil available to help fill in areas surrounding the bulbs after digging. A bulb tool, which pulls out a plug of dirt to plant a bulb is a handy tool to have for bulb planting. I have found a dibber, a tool with a long, pointy tip, is a good choice for small bulbs like grape hyacinth, snowdrops, miniature iris, crocus, and other small sized bulbs, moving enough dirt to help plant the tiny bulbs. Flexible cloth gloves and a kneeling pad or bench can also come in handy when planting a large number of bulbs. Remember some bulbs naturalize and spread so follow package directions for bulb spacing.

Perennial plants are a wonderful choice to give structure to your garden, once planted they grow until full sized and fill in spaces in your garden with leaves and blooms. Perennials should be carefully planted since once they are planted, unlike annuals, they will grow where you put them for many years. Perennials need space between plants and shrubs, follow the directions on planting labels to give your perennials plenty of room to grow in the garden. If you are concerned about planting space for perennials take advantage of your local garden center and seek out nursery personnel who can provide local planting information for plants and advice on planting space for specific plants. Perennials generally need 18–24 inches space for growth. Planting perennials closer than this provides a fuller garden but you will need to divide the plants sooner. As a general rule perennials need division after three to five years in the garden.

The beauty of a rock garden lies in the contrast between rugged rocks and delicate blooms of flowers. Japanese rock gardens have been designed as spaces to promote calm and meditation since medieval times. For today’s European gardener, the rock garden is often used to add variety to grassy areas and transform awkward, difficult-to-mow slopes into a low-maintenance landscape. The rock garden showcases those delicate flowers that elsewhere in the garden can be overshadowed by more brash neighbours. The hard work involved in creating a rock garden is an investment that pays off – once the landscaping is over, you can just step back and enjoy your garden with just some occasional light watering and weeding ahead of you.

Building a Good Foundation

A good foundation is everything – most rock garden plants need their soil to be both water-retentive and quick-draining. Here’s how to give them this:

If you are building into a slope, dig the foundation at least 300cm (1ft) deep and clear any remaining weeds and roots. If you don’t have a natural slope, you may wish to build a ‘berm’. This is a mound that slopes down at all sides to aid drainage. Plants that need more water can be planted near the bottom and the ones that require less at the top.

The first layer of your foundation is the drainage – this should occupy about half of your foundation. It will absorb excess moisture from the soil above and is made from rocks, bits of concrete or brick, and broken pieces of clay pots. Next, lay a few centimetres of sand to act as a water-permeable layer that will support the topsoil. Finally, the soil layer needs to be 1 part topsoil, 1 part leaf mould (or peat) and 1 part small gravel.

Setting Up Your Rock Garden

Place your rocks on your foundation, making sure larger rocks are buried by at least a third. Softer rocks tend to be more effective in obtaining the natural, weathered look desired in a rock garden. Once you are happy with the arrangement, you can rest. Give your garden a chance to settle, as after a few weeks you may need to top up your soil.

Choose you plants thinking about colour, growing conditions and size. Research different miniature plant options and, once you have your plants, dig them in with a trowel and scatter smaller rocks between them. Good plant choices for rock gardens include alpine forget-me-not, blue fescue grass, creeping baby’s breath, ground cover sedum, hens and chicks, moss pink, rock jasmine, spring heath, stonecrop, and Trumpet Gentian. Keep your plants watered, occasionally weeding by hand, but avoid using weed killers – remember your plants are delicate. Enjoy your new rock garden!

About the Author: Tool-NET supplies power tools and accessories to tradesmen, DIY enthusiasts and gardeners worldwide. With a massive range of power tools in stock, nearly 98% of orders are dispatched the same day, meaning you never need to be without the right tool for the job.

Spring and fall are the best times to move your plants in the garden. Spring works best for most borderline hardy plants. Wait until the last frost is gone and the days lengthen and temps start to warm before beginning moving of plants. Summer is not a good time to move plants due to of the lack of moisture in the ground compared to spring, and the typical hot weather patterns at this time of year. Fall is the best time to move hardy perennials, shrubs, and trees. If the rains begin in fall it will be easier to dig up and transplant shrubs and trees in order to move them. The fall provides plenty of time for transplanted plants to develop new roots, receive ample amounts of rainfall to help plants settle in, and time to grow and establish before spring appears. Winter in general for most areas is too cold for transplanting and is best left for garden clean-up instead.

Cottage gardens are a traditional English garden that has loose, flowing flowers instead of straight, ordered plantings. Cottage gardens often use annuals that reseed readily, adding to an already dense planting of flowers. Cottage gardens use plants ranging from annuals, perennials, roses, bulbs, vines, and shrubs for garden structure. Roses are always a good choice, particularly climbing roses. Place your roses on a trellis or archway leading into the garden. Foxgloves, lupines, hollyhocks, and delphiniums are all lovely plants with a tall vertical spires and beautiful flowers that will give structure to your cottage garden. For lower to mid-growing plants for your cottage garden bachelor’s buttons, Canterbury bells, clematis, columbines, coneflowers, cosmos, dianthus, forget-me-nots, larkspur, nasturtiums, sweet pea, wallflowers, and pansies are good choices to fill the garden.

When you collect flower seeds from your garden, wait until the seed is fully dry. Any moisture in your storage package can ruin your seed. Take dry seed, add it to a paper envelope and seal with tape to assure no moisture gets into the envelope. Write the date and year the seed was taken, all pertinent info about the growing of the plant, area you plant the seeds in your garden, and any other notes you need to keep on the plant. Store seeds in a cool area, a shoe box with small envelopes holding your seeds will be easy to sift through when it comes time for planting. Another method for storing is storing dried seed in the refrigerator in small, airtight baggies. The vegetable crisper works well, you want it cool but not freezing cold. You can use plastic envelopes from a craft store or Tupperware containers. If a refrigerator is not available a cool dark drawer or cupboard works best. Vegetable and annual seed may be stored up to 2 to 3 years in a cool area.

Annuals can be an excellent choice for filling in and brightening your garden in spring and summer months. Annuals are plants that grow from seed and bloom in a few weeks time, then dying off by the end of their seasonal life. Annuals can take some extra work to plant and maintain each season, making sure the ground is prepared well is important for optimum growth of these fast growing plants. Annuals that reseed readily are a good choice to include in your garden, thereby cutting back on your time spent planting every year. Using annuals in your garden design allows you to create a different look in your garden every year. Extend the bloom season of your annuals by deadheading regularly so the plants do not set seed and die. Annuals may need more attention with water and fertilizer than perennials in your garden since their lifespan is short and their growth pattern is vigorous.

Try these annuals for plants that reseed readily in your garden:

Alyssum
Bachelor Buttons
Calendula
Candytuft
Columbine
Cosmos
Forget-Me-Nots
Four O’Clocks
Larkspur
Lobelia
Lupine
Marigolds
Nasturtiums
Nicotiana
Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella)
Poppies
Sunflowers
Sweet pea

Containers are a great way to garden, particularly in small gardens. With small gardens a number of different sized containers will give your space a more expansive look. If you plant in containers remember to plant either from the center if the pot can be seen all the way around the top, or from the front to back if placed against a fence or wall. Use one or two tall plants in the center for a 360 degree container view, then place 3 to 5 medium height plants around the tall plants to fill the center. Use 3 to 5 medium to small draping plants around the edge of the container, creating a cascading effect with the edging plant. Plants in containers against walls and fences can be planted the same way or with the tall plants in the back of the container, the medium plants in the center, and draping plants surrounding the edges of the container. Use varying heights, textures, colors, and blooms to get the most out of your container designs. Remember container plants dry out easily so prepare to keep your containers well watered every week.

For more ideas and examples of container gardening visit BBC Gardener’s World

Perennials are one of the great additions to a garden. There are many perennials that provide blooms and evergreen foliage as well as shape and structure throughout the year. Study up on the behavior of each perennial before planting to understand the flowering times for plants, whether plants die back for winter, and if leaves drop during fall or winter months. The plant behaviors may factor into when you plant and where you plant in your garden.

Achillea
Agapanthus
Ajuga
Bee Balm
Black-eyed Susan
Bleeding heart
Clematis
Columbine
Coneflower
Daisy
Daylilies
Delphinium
Euphorbia
Ferns
Forget-me-not
Four o’clock
Fuchsia
Gaillardia
Hollyhock
Hostas
Irises
Lamb’s ears
Lantana
Lobelia
Peony
Penstemon
Periwinkle
Salvia
Sedum
Sweet pea
Verbena
Veronica
Violet
Wallflower
Yarrow

If you are a new vegetable gardener, here are some helpful tools that all gardeners should have in their shed. I am not an experienced vegetable gardener but I am learning as I go. Vegetable gardening requires some different tools at times than flower gardening. Many of the tools used for flower gardening are also used in vegetable gardening. You will always be in need of a wheelbarrow for spreading out dirt, mulch, or to use to carry plants to their destination. Shovels are needed for all kinds of gardening. A hand pruner is essential because pruning is needed at times for all plants. If you are using pruners with fruit like blackberries, hand pruners are needed, along with some sturdy gloves to protect from barbs on the plant. I find a garden tools basket is very helpful to keep tools close by as I garden.

Gardening gloves for planting
Gardening gloves for pruning
Knee cushion
Garden trowels
Hand pruner
Garden fork
Long-handled hoe
Hand-held hoe
Hand-held cultivator
Round-nosed shovel
Square-nosed shovel
Garden hoses
Wheelbarrow
Plant supports
Plant markers
Garden tools basket

Gardening tools are an important part of maintaining your garden. If you are a new gardener, here are some helpful tools that all gardeners should have in their shed. This list does not include specific vegetable planting tools (that’s another post), but many of the tools can be used for both flower gardening and vegetable gardening. I find for flower gardening I use my bypass pruners and pole pruner most often, along with my set of trowels. I use my watering wand for my hanging baskets and the rest of my watering of plants. To plant bulbs, a dibble and a bulb planter tool (one that has a handle and pulls out a chunk of dirt) are both handy to have. Dibbles with their pointy tips help with planting seeds as well. If you have roses you need a sturdy set of gloves to protect from thorns. Newer stretchy form fitting gloves work great for planting flowers and herbs. If you mow and you have a hand held mower you need a garden rake, also handy for raking leaves and debris. I received a garden knife at Christmas and have yet to try it out. It has a slightly curved in knife shape with sharp point, sturdy handle, and often features a serration edge. This tool is perfect for digging up stubborn weeds at the ground level.

Gardening gloves for planting
Gardening gloves for pruning
Knee cushion
Garden trowels
Hand pruner
Garden knife
Bulb planter tool
Dibble
Divot tool
Long-handled pruner/lopper
Folding pruning saw
Hedge sheers
Pole pruner
Round-nosed shovel
Square-nosed shovel
Garden hoses
Garden rake
Wheelbarrow
String Trimmer
Lawn mower
Chain saw
Watering can
Watering wand
Plant supports
Plant markers
Garden tools basket