Whether you’re planting only one shrub or fifty annuals, it’s important to prepare the soil. This is true even if you’re planting in an existing flower bed. Prepare new flower beds well. In existing flower beds, work a few spadefuls of soil ammendment, such as compost, into the area you’ll be planting. Especially if planting annuals, work a slow-release fertilizer into the ground. Annuals are hungry, fast-growing plants that thrive when given plenty of nutrients.

Before planting, make sure your plants are well-watered and not wilting. If they are looking droopy, water them in their existing pots and wait a day for them to recover. If a plant is a bare-root, soak the roots in cool water for several hours before planting.

To plant, remove the plant gently from its pot. If the roots are wrapped in circles or are thickly knotted, loosen them with your fingers. If the roots are very large and tough, you may even need to slice through them slightly with a space to loosen them.

Position the plant so the soil level is the same as it was in the pot. If the plant is bare-root, plant it at the depth specified in the package.

Difficult as it may sedem, pinch or trim off any flowers. They’re taking energy that would be better put into establishing the plant’s root system for bigger, better and more flowers later on. You’ll lose a few pretty blooms initially, but you’ll be rewarded with a healthier, longer-blooming plant.

Water the plant well. If it’s a shrub or a rose, position a hose at the base just barely at a trickle and let it run for half an hour or more. For annuals and perinneals, water so the soil is soaked a foot down.

Keep the plants well watered for the first two weeks, checking them daily for soil moisture and signs of wilting. Once they’re established, they’ll need less water.

Hot Tips!

Get those roots going! When planting, it’s a good idea to add something that will get the roots off to a FAST start. Well-developed root systems make for healthier plants that are better at taking up water and critical nutrients. A so-called starter fertilizer is heavy on phosophorus, which encourages growth. Another way to get roots going is to use a root stimulator. Root stimulators contain hormones that encourage rapid root growth.

Happy planting!

Thought we would join in the Thursday Thirteen fun this week. Instead of 13 things about Me - I have created The Garden 13 with 13 interesting gardening tips and tricks I’ve come across over the past week.

To start off our first Garden 13 - we have information on cutting flowers from your garden. Nearly any flower, twig, berry or leaf can be brough indoors and put in a vase. If you have the space, you can indulge in a cutting garden just for flowers from your regular beds and borders. In fact, cutting them makes your garden prettier, because it encourages flower production. Another way to grow flowers for cutting is to plant them in rows in your vegetable garden. This is especially practical with fast-growing annuals planted from seed, such as zinnias and cosmos.

Here are thirteen great flowers for cutting:

1. Aster
2. Baby’s breath
3. Black Eyed Susan
4. Dahlia
5. Gerbera Daisy
6. Iris, all types
7. Lavender
8. Lily-of-the-Valley
9. Peony
10. Roses
11. Shasta Daisy
12. Snapdragon
13. Sweet Pea

Arbors are old fashioned favorites that have become popular once again. I love them and use them throughout my garden to create some lovely borders and shade with some very gorgeous climbing flowers and vines.

An arbor can be large, with a grid overhead and enough space for a sitting area. Sometimes arbors are long and narrow, designed to follow a path. And sometimes they are only wide enough to accommmodate a bench or porch swing or other modest seating.

The most common type of arbor looks like a little doorway. And that’s exactly what it is, and attractive entry to a place at the beginning or end of a path or even to straddle a path somewhere along its middle.

Avoid the common mistake of plunking one of these doorwaylike arbors in the middle of the garden - - that’s like putting a door in the middle of a room!

Arbor Materials
Arbors are made of a variety of materials: wood timbers, lumber, metal and vinyl. Wood is a favorite, and an excellent material, but it presents a maintenance problem because an arbor, with its intricate design, can be hard to paint.

Many gardeners leave the wood unpainted, perhaps treating new wood with a deck sealer. Others add a traditional coat of paint, or use a stain to give the wood color while preventing the peeling problems that occur with paint.

Erecting an Arbor
large arbors can be securely mounted in concrete to prevent settling. Small arbors can benefit from being seated on concrete pilings, too, though teh cnocreate can contribute to rot problems with wood structures.

Kits are available that secure the arbor to the ground with chains and ground screws. One of the easiets ways to secure a wood arbor so it doesn’t settle or blow over is to screw two sturdy flat steel strips or stakes a couple of feed long onto each of the four corner legs and insert teh stakes securely into the soil.

Popular vines for arbors and trellises:
Black eyed Susan
Chocolate vine
Clematis
Jessamine
Morning Glory
Moonflower
Passion flower
Climbing roses
Jasmine, star
Sweetpea
Trumpet honeysuckle

I have heard everything about growing roses - - everything from how very difficult it is, to how very easy it is. In reality - roses need precious little in order to be sucessful. Count on the basics: water, food and the right place to grow its roots. Pretty much like us humans, eh? The sucess of your roses is dependant upon the quality of those three items, really.

Rose growers have their own ’secret recipe’ for growing the perfect rose. Seek them out and start asking questions. If you remember the three basic ingredients (water, food, good soil).. you’ve got a great jump start.

Water: Roses LOVE water! You should provide your roses with the equivalent of one inch of water per week.. that’s the general rule of thumb. This is generally one gallon of water - so if it’s not raining in your area, be sure to give your roses a good, healthy drink of water. Although, the roots will rot if the roses are ’standing’ in water - so make sure the soil surrounding the roses is well-draining soil. Allowing your roses to dry out between watering will stress them out - so make sure to keep them well watered.

Food: Just like us, roses need basic nutrients in order to thrive. These basic nutrients should include: nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK). These are listed as numbers on fertilizers labels: 5-5-5. NPK are the building blocks of life for plants. Nitrogen promotes new, green growth; phosphorous helps with root growth, photosynthesis and flower production; and potassium helps to strengthen canes, improve vigor and increase winter hardiness. Basic rule of thumb: If possible, apply fertilizers right after it rains to help move it through to soil to the plant roots. (but not before a rain - that will wash the fertilizer away) When in doubt? Give your roses a good, healthy shovel-full of compost or rotten maure (mmmmm!) around the base of each rose every year…preferrably in the beginning of growing season.

Soil: Well draining soil is the best place for your roses to be, along with soil that is rich in nutrients. Adding compost to your soil will help with that. pH is also a factor - - my Dad taught me that if my roses were yellowing, I should check the pH of the soil. A neutral pH makes the nutrients, especially important micronutrients like iron, more readily available to the plants. If the soil is too acid or alkaline, it binds the iron, making it unavailable to the plant. This may cause the chlorosis (yellowing) or other problems. If the pH is acid, add lime; if it is alkaline, add sulphur.

In a future post we’ll talk about pruning and ‘dead heading’ your roses.

What are your secrets?