Gardening Bytes

Archive for the ‘Planting Tips’ Category

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

Spring is the time of year when flowers start to bloom again after the cold dark winter months. Spring bulbs are a great choice to fill out your garden and provide spring colors between established shrubs and plants. Many bulbs manage to naturalise once planted, multiplying your bulbs and color in your garden year after year. Here are some good choices for spring blooming:

Early Spring:
Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow)
Eranthis (Winter Aconite)
Galanthus (Snowdrop)

Mid-Spring:
Anemone (Windflower)
Crocus (Crocus)
Hyacinthus (Hyacinth)
Muscari (Grape Hyacinth)
Narcissus (Daffodil)
Scilla (Bluebell)
Tulipa (Tulip)

Late Spring:
Allium (Allium)
Convallaria (Lily of the Valley)
Sparaxis (Harlequin Flower)
Trillium (Wood Lily)

Herbs are great for cooking, but flowering herbs can also add color and definition to the gardening. Herbs make a great companion plant next to flowers in a border. Many herbs provide green for months on end in the garden and bloom as well. Here are some great herb plants that provide beautiful flowers when blooming: sage blooms with pink flowers; thyme blooms with tiny pink flowers; chives bloom with rounded pink flowers; and rosemary blooms with tiny blue flowers.

Planting under trees can be a difficult task. Finding plants that thrive under what trees where it is often dry and shady can be daunting. Early spring bulbs are a good choice for planting under trees. Good choices for bulbs to plant under trees include bluebells, snowdrops and wood anemones. Hardy bulbs such as crocus and miniature iris may also be worth trying at the base of trees.

My favorite colors grouped in the garden are blues, pinks, and purples. These are cool colors, which makes the garden area recede. Cool colored flowers give a peaceful, cool feeling to the garden. Hot colors, such as red, orange and yellow, makes the garden stand out, making a statement and brightening the garden landscape. The addition of whites, greens, and yellows are good accent colors for your garden. Consider using different tones of one color flower in a section of your garden. A trio of pink colored flowers is a great combination and an eye catching theme.

Azaleas are an ideal shrub to provide structure in your garden. These colorful, smaller shrubs have green leaves that are deciduous and beautiful flowers in spring. Azaleas require a shaded site, or a site with morning sun and afternoon shade. Azaleas prefer well-drained acid soil. You can add pine needles, oak leaves, or peat to increase the acidity of the soil surrounding your azaleas. Dig the planting hole for your azalea 6 to 8 inches wider than the roots or root ball of the plant, and dig deep enough to accommodate the root ball. Plant the azalea so the soil line on the plant is the same depth as it was in the shrub’s original pot. Apply a layer of mulch about 3 inches deep, and keep the plant moist, but not wet, until the azalea is well established.

Set up your garden to look good in fall and winter. The use of structural plants will provide your garden shape and color during colder months when little is blooming. Plant trees with interesting branch shapes such as curly willow. Trees with interesting and colorful bark, like dogwood, japanese barberry, scots pine, and japanese kerria, provide interesting shapes and texture in the garden. Include shrubs with evergreen leaves that do not drop for green throughout the cold seasons. Plants with seed pods are also a decorative choice for the winter garden.

To gain a more natural style in your garden, use a few tricks known by professional gardeners. Plant three or four larger plants at intervals throughout the garden. Use groups of smaller plants to complement these larger plants, also planting the smaller plants in groups of three or four around the large plantings. Do not line the plants up in a row, instead stagger them within each of the groups to achieve the most natural look in the garden. Using larger and smaller plants with colorful flowers will fill your garden with shape and color in an easy, natural planting look.

Ever thought about growing your own coffee at home? The most common coffee plants used for consumption are arabica and robusta beans. Coffee plants will do best with a combination of heavy rain and abundant sunshine. To start a plant from seed, plant a freshly picked coffee cherry. A coffee plant is able to grow under artificial lighting indoors, such as a greenhouse. Coffee plants prefer filtered sun and need an average temperature between 65 to 75 degrees to grow best. Keep the plant’s soil moist but not soggy. Once a coffee plant hits 3 to 4 years of age it is ready to produce coffee beans for up to 15 years. When the coffee cherries reach maturity you can harvest the beans, pulp, ferment, dry then roast, grind, and drink the coffee. Pulp the coffee cherry by washing with water, then fermenting in a container until the pulp falls off, made easy by rubbing the coffee bean in your hands. Coffee beans that float during washing should be discarded. Coffee plants can grow from 8 foot up to 32 feet high, so pruning to 6 to 8 feet tall for a home coffee plant is in order.

I have a tradition I have carried on from my childhood at Christmas. My father planted a small pine tree in a container, leaving it out in the garden during the year. At Christmas he brought it inside and the tree was used for a number of years as our Christmas tree. After a number of years when the tree was too large to be brought in my father planted it out in our two-thirds of an acre yard to continue its growth. This was very earth friendly idea of my dad’s, who was a true home gardener with a green thumb. Our first potted Christmas tree began life as a two foot tall gallon container blue spruce that grew to three or four feet tall in its container. When we moved we left it for the new homeowners and bought another one, this time a foot tall redwood in a gallon container. After three years our container grown redwood looks great and grows slowly, it will always need to remain a container redwood to keep the size down. After three years this holiday season the redwood Christmas tree is three feet tall and two feet wide. The needles fall off the branches into the container, providing natural mulch all year long. After the holidays the Christmas redwood sits on our deck in semi shade, making a terrific container plant the rest of the year.

An easy way to plant up seeds without using plastic pots is to save toilet roll holders to use for growing new seeds for your garden. Stand the toilet rolls together in a square container to hold them upright, fill with potting soil and plant seeds in the top of the roll. Water carefully to maintain the integrity of the paper roll. When seeds start sprouting and grow taller, thin out the seedings so the strongest stems remain. When you are ready to plant out your seeds, bury the roll and seedling in the ground. This keeps the fragile seed roots from being damaged when transplanting to the ground, and the toilet paper roll will degrade over time naturally into the soil.

Companion plants often help keep a garden healthy. Nasturtiums attract aphids before they attack your other plants, sacrificing these bright, easy to grow plants for others the aphids may attack. Nasturtiums also attract ladybugs who will eat aphids. An adult ladybug can eat up to 5,000 aphids during its year of life, making ladybugs a friend in your garden. Some gardeners plant chives as a companion plant to roses, believing they help avoid blackspot on roses. Marigolds planted near tomatoes helps deter whitefly away from your crops.