While most perennials are very easy to grow, proper care and routine
garden chores will provide you with professional results that really make your gardens
stand out. Like most plants, perennials require only the basics for good growth: a
reasonable fertile soil, proper drainage, sufficient sun
and water and little attention from you the gardener. Provide these basic needs and
your plants will remain healthy for years.
Proper soil preparation:
If you just happen to live in an area with fertile, well
drained soil consider yourself blessed. Most of us will have to
amend our soils to prepare them for new perennial gardens. If we
had to offer just one bit of advice to new gardeners it would be
on proper soil building. You will not achieve the results you are
after without first building a loose, well drained soil. The
best time to improve you soil is a few months before you intend
to plant. To improve your soil you will need to add some type of
organic material such as compost or
manures. > Learn more on improving
your garden soil
Soil pH:
It is always a good idea to test your soils pH before planting
a new garden. You can purchase easy to use kits at most nurseries
and home centers that will allow you to test the soil yourself or
you can have it professionally tested by your local county extension
offices. Most perennials will do best in a neutral to slightly
acidic soil, somewhere between a pH of 6.0 -7.0. If you find
that your soil is to acidic you can add limestone to help correct
the pH. If alkalinity is an issue you can add sulfur or ferrous
sulfate. Again this is an area where your local county extension office can
be of assistance.
Nutrients:
As with soil structure, most of us are not lucky enough
to have a extremely fertile soil so its always a good idea to incorporate
nutrients into the soil during the soil amendment process. Commercially
packaged fertilizers are readily available and easy to apply. A
well balanced fertilizer such as 5-10-5 will do the trick.
We strongly encourage our customers to move away from the practice
of using commercial or chemical fertilizers and learn more about
organic gardening practices. We strongly believe improving the soil
with organic methods is far better for the environment and will
yield healthier plants for years to come. Read our introduction to organic gardening for
more information.
More Info on caring for your perennials:
Water, weed and feed
Pruning and dividing perennials
Planting your new perennials
USDA Gardening Zones and Microclimates
