Gardening Pleasures

Archive for the ‘Flower Gardening’ Category

 

Ensuring you get the best from the plants you buy

Plants for containers and bedding as well as vegetables and fruits are readily available during the spring and summer.  Many can be obtained in your local garden centres or by mail order and over the Internet.  They come in various stages of growth and sizes and the cost will depend on how much time and effort the grower has put into the plant prior to you buying it.

Take a bit of time once you get your new plants home to re-pot or plant them out.  With care and attention to watering, feeding and pest control, newly purchased plants will give you pleasure for this season, and depending on the plant, perhaps many more to come.

 

Potting
Particularly for summer hanging baskets or window boxes, use good quality compost for potting up newly purchased plants. Soil-less composts, while light and easy to handle, will dry out quickly and plants that are fast-growing, like fuchsias, will quickly be short of the nutrients they require.

Another important factor is the stability of the plant. For reliable results choose a compost (such as John Innes No.1) that is at least partially soil-based.  This will also reduce the consequences of over-watering.  To ensure the plant remains upright, use a small (3.5 inch /9cm) pot, and  lightly firm the compost. For the first time, water the plant thoroughly to settle the compost. Place the plant in a light, cool place to help it recover quickly from being transplanted and new growth should begin quite soon.

 

Growing On
As your plants develop a good root ball, they can be moved to their final positions, whether that is a container, basket or open ground. To check on root growth, carefully remove the plant from the pot, the white roots should fill the pot evenly. Using a similar compost such as John Innes No.2, and plant it out or plant in a pot.

 

Watering
During the growing season, watering is your most important task. Two basic rules apply – never allow the plant to stand in waterlogged conditions and never allow the plants to dry out completely. Water standing in a tray or plant saucer for a  short period will not create any problems, however significant over-watering can often result in leaves and flowers dropping. The best time to water is in the evening, be sure to moisten the soil evenly. An overhead spray can be beneficial to plants in very hot weather.

 

Pests & Diseases
Many plants such as Fuchsias actually suffer relatively infrequently from diseases although the most likely pests are aphids – greenfly and whitefly.  However with regular inspection, and spraying if necessary, these insects can easily be kept at bay.  Insect sprays for aphids are readily available from garden centres. Avoid treating plants during the middle of the day or in bright sunlight. Always read the label and use garden chemicals accordingly.

With fuchsias, the two main diseases to look out for are botrytis or grey mould and rust. Be careful about watering, feeding and growing conditions and inspect your plants regularly for any of the telltale signs of disease. If you see indications and treatment is required, use one of proprietary products that are widely available.

If you listen carefully and keep your ears close to the ground, you’ll hear the latest buzzword loud and clear: Organic Farming! Organics are the ideal way in which to protect your loved ones, your domesticated pets, and even the environment from damaging chemicals. Roses are pretty, elegant, and a real treasure to have around the house.

In case you like roses, try to grow them organically – it is cheap and easy. The real secret of a successful organic rose garden is a quick look at how the natural world works. Once you understand this, then looking after your own organic rose garden will be a piece of cake.

The first thing you need to do is to plan, plan, and plan. Start with where you wish to see your roses grow, what colors and hues they must sport and envisage what they will look like when they are fully grown. Evaluate the other colors in your garden or your window will, see the colors of the walls, the other flowers, etc.

Contrast works very well with roses. Brighter shades look nice in front of darker walls, and roses must set your walls or your house in sharp profile. Don’t even begin to think of large size, award winning organic roses.

Naturally grown roses don’t grow so big. But they are safe, they are healthy, and they don’t pollute your environment which is saying a lot! A yard full of organically grown roses, setting off the house that it encloses, aah, that is the home one dreams of coming back from work to. Don’t you agree?

Some years your rose gardening efforts can be severely hampered by extreme weather conditions, diseases, viruses and pests. The dreaded mosaic disease can affect 9 out of 10 rose gardens and black spot is as infectious to roses as the common cold is to humans. But don’t despair or give up.

There are several precautionary measures you can adopt to protect your precious roses.

Unusual weather conditions.  Unfortunately there is nothing you can actually do about the weather and short of erecting a greenhouse, you can’t protect your roses from extreme temperatures or weather events. You can keep an eye on the weather reports and if extreme weather is promised or approaching, take precautionary measures like covering your roses with a tarpaulin to prevent damage from wind and rain.  If extremely cold weather is predicted, wrap the roses in fleece or bubblewrap to reduce the effects of such very low temperatures.

Cleanliness. Keeping your rose beds free of dead leaves, particularly those infected with black spot will help to reduce re-infection.  Either burn or completely remove all infected leaves and other rose debris from your garden.  Do not put this vegetation onto your compost heap – black spot can lie dormant for some time and contaminated compost used around roses, will re-infect them.

Hygiene.  Make sure all clippings, stems and dead leaves are completely removed. Burn or dispose of them in the rubbish bin.

Regular Pruning. Pruning needs to take place on both the outside and inside of rose bushes.  The purpose of pruning is not only to make the bush look nice but also to allow air to circulate throughout the bush. Good air circulation can really help to reduce the spread of rose diseases such as powdery mildew.  When cutting roses for the house, think about your bush and use that opportunity to prune and shape rather than just cutting the flowers.

Seal the Cuts. When you prune, you expose the inner layers of the stems, opening them to air-borne infection and insects. Seal them up with a special plant sealant to reduce the incidence of disease and insects gaining entry to the rose’s delicate inner parts.

Roses are some of the most beautiful flowers in the garden and with regular attention, they will give you years of pleasure.

Building your own small greenhouse can be an enjoyable and economical especially if you are clever with tools. Select well-drained and level ground for your greenhouse. If you will be using it mainly in summer for plant propagation, it can be situated in partial shade to reduce heat buildup.

The north side of your garden, with some shade from a tree is an ideal location. If there is no partly or moderately shady area available, you can use white paint or shade cloth on the inside ceiling to regulate the amount of sunlight that comes into the interior of  your greenhouse.

If you will be using the greenhouse for young transplants or growing plants on to maturity and fruiting, your greenhouse should be put up in an area with the highest sun exposure available in your garden. Also, situate it where there is good air flow and reasonable water drainage. Do not construct your greenhouse in low lying areas surrounded by tall buildings or woods.  When deciding where to put the greenhouse be sure to consider how convenient the access to water and electricity is going to be.

Take into consideration the time you have for working in your greenhouse when choosing the kind of greenhouse you want and how big it is going to be. Although it’s not true that a greenhouse requires continuous attention, don’t be overly ambitious and buy something that will be more than you want to handle.  New owners of greenhouses often think they will spend far more time there than they actually can or that the greenhouse will not require as much maintenance as they do.

The greenhouse environment can be sustained often with minimal maintenance if using automated controls that operate the ventilation, heating, humidity, artificial lighting and watering. If, however, you don’t want (or can’t afford) to install an automated control system, begin with plants that don’t require specialist care.

There are many prefabricated greenhouses on the market or you can build one by using simple frames. For safety sake, make sure that a certified plumber and electrician installs any automated systems.

Greenhouse kits are widely available in various materials, styles and price ranges. Be sure to check with the local planning department if the greenhouse you choose requires planning consent.  Most won’t, but a really large one situated next to your neighbour’s kitchen window just might. Better safe than sorry.

If you are an avid DIY’er, your new greenhouse can be constructed for a relatively small outlay of cash.  A lean-to greenhouse can be built against a garage or a house, thereby taking advantage of the existing wall, but don’t forget to consider head room and sitting space.

There are some major advantages to purchasing a greenhouse kit. Details like humidity, ventilation and leakage have already been dealt with in the design. Whereas someone constructing the greenhouse from scratch must remember to consider all elements just to avoid problems in the future that could result in the greenhouse not functioning as it should.

Here are some tips to help you design and build your own small greenhouse:

1.  Begin with a design that uses materials that are readily available. Attractive greenhouses can be constructed using recycled materials such single glazed windows or reused lumber.

2.  Adapt the design to accommodate the climate in your area so you won’t have to make further adjustments later.

3. Use a design that makes use of standard-sized building materials. Specialist sizes always cost more.

4.  When planning the design of your greenhouse, take into account the type of gardening you enjoy and plan to do.  Growing rare specimen plants or hydroponic gardening is very different from growing the run of the mill vegetables and flowers for the garden.

5.  Considering the climate in your area, plan into the design any timers and thermostats needed to regulate the precise levels of heat or light you want for the plants you will be growing.

6.  Design and implement a back-up arrangement for operating heating or lighting equipment in case of power failures or extreme weather conditions.

7.  If you are building a wooden greenhouse, you can use cedar, redwood or cypress, but remember that you will have to regularly treat or paint the wood. For cost-effectiveness and economy, use pressure treated wood for the framing.

8.  Greenhouses often have glass panes installed, but polycarbonate plastic, fiberglass, plastic film or acrylic panes or sheets can also be used.

Greenhouses have come a long way over the past ten years both in terms of price and materials used.  A greenhouse is vital to a keen gardener for extending the growing season and the types of plants they can grow.