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Choosing and Planting Perennials |
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Written by Rays
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Friday, 25 August 2006 |
Perennial flowers are strong, local flowers that come back every year without having to replant or do any extra work. During their off seasons, the flowers and stems die back and you can hardly even tell the plant is there (rather than just dying and looking like hideous brown clumps in your garden). When it’s time to bloom, entirely new flowers shoot up where the old ones were. Perennials come back to flower for more than one season of bloom. Most die back partially or fully at the end of the season, buy many stay evergreen in mild climates.
Choosing Perennials
1. Look for perennials at nurseries from spring through fall, or year-round in mild climates.
2. Choose perennials that grow well in your climate.
3. Buy perennials in 4-inch to 1-gallon containers.
4. Choose healthy-looking plants that have signs of new growth in leaf and flower bud in spring and summer.
Planting Perennials
1. Choose a spot for perennials that is well-suited to their needs - 'sun' means 6 hours of sunshine a day; 'light shade' or 'dappled shade' comes from tall trees; 'dark shade' comes from something solid like a house; and 'part shade' means 3 hours of sunshine a day.
2. Prepare the planting area as described in 'eHow to Design and Prepare a Flower Bed.'
3. Add a light application of organic fertilizer to the planting hole.
4. Place the plants no deeper than they were growing in the containers.
5. Set the plants an appropriate distance apart, depending on how wide they grow.
6. Mulch the plants - place 1 to 3 inches of organic compost around but not on top of the plants - to help retain water and keep down weeds while the plants are getting established.
7. Water new plants well, until soil is completely moist. Do this weekly during their first summer.
As you plant them, throw in a little bit of extremely weak fertilizer. In no time at all you should start to see flowers blooming up.
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