If you will maintain a regular gardening
schedule of feeding, watering and weeding your perennials will reward you with healthy
lush foliage and beautiful flowers. As with most gardening tips the techniques are
simple and easy to follow. Discipline is actually what separates the successful gardener
from the novice. You must stay on top of all your gardening routines to achieve the
results you see in magazines, books and TV. True gardeners don't look at gardening
as a chore - its more of a labor of love.
Watering Perennials:
Along with soil and sunshine, water is the most crucial ingredient needed for
proper growth and flowering. It is a must that you water all newly planted
perennials in their first year of getting established. After the first year only an
occasional watering will be needed during hot dry spells of summer. When watering always
water deeply to encourage deep root growth. You can do more harm than good by just
lightly dampening the surface of the soil as the roots of the plant will come to the upper
part of the soil for the water and risk being baked by the hot sun. Deep watering is
achieve best by using soaker hoses. These hoses emit water droplets a little over time and
allow the water to seep down into the soil rather than running off the surface, If
you do use sprinkler always water during the early morning hours. Watering in the
evenings subjects the plants foliage to staying damp through out the night which promotes
fungus and diseases.
Feeding Perennials:
Your perennials will thrive if you will give 2 - 3 light feedings per growing
season. We strongly encourage our customers to use organic supplements such as bone
meal, blood meal, and fish emulsions in place of commercial fertilizers. The feeding
program should start immediately in the spring when new growth starts to appear and be
followed up with a second feeding in mid summer. We use fish emulsion for liquid
feeding once a week through out the growing season and love the results we get. If
you do use a non-organic fertilizer be careful not to over do it or you risk burning the
plant (something that organic fertilizers will not do). Always follow the
instructions given on the manufactures label.
Weeding Perennials:
Weeding is the least desirable task on all gardeners list but it must be done if
you want your gardens to look their best. This best defense against weeds in the
perennial garden is good layer of mulch. Mulch will help smother out any weed seeds
and will help maintain the soils temperature and moisture levels. Mulch is only part
of the defense - it is by no means a solution. You will need to hand pull or hoe any
seedlings that do emerge. If you get lazy and let the weeds grow they will do what
all plants do - produce seeds - and more seeds means more weeds. We do not recommend
using any sprays or granular products to control weeds as many of these will also kill
certain perennials. Beautiful weed free gardens can be achieved by simply staying on
task and not getting lazy with your weeding chores.
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Easy to grow and beautiful for years; Peonies are a true perennial
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