Plant Gardens 101

Many people do not realize that most bonsai plants are outdoor plants. To properly cultivate and maintain most bonsai trees they should not be kept inside but should be outside year round.

There are a group of what are called indoor bonsai trees. These are from warmer climates and are usually non-traditional species such as palm trees. Because they are from a warmer climate they do need to be kept indoors in most locales. However if you are keeping traditional native bonsai trees in the US then chances are that tree needs to be outside. Most people do not realize how important it is for these trees to be wintered outside in a natural climate. For your tree to have a healthy and natural growing cycle it is critical for it to have this period of winter dormancy.

To give your plant this necessary period you will need to winter it someplace outside. The best way to accomplish this is to remove the tree from it’s container and plant it in your yard. (more…)

Old Man Winters’ arrival doesn’t mean that the Winter garden can be neglected. Keeping the garden on an even footing against the ravages that winter can bring is an ongoing. Neglecting proper garden closing chores and winter maintenance tasks is only a recipe for a headache in the spring. Follow a few of these winter garden tips and a bountiful spring will be waiting in a few months time.

Setting the winter garden table An interesting to look at and healthy winter garden depends upon taking steps in the late fall or early winter. Clean up the garden. Make sure that any garden trash is picked up before the snow flies. If this “trash” is left behind it presents an opportunity for bacteria to find its way into any cuts in the plant or onto the plants roots. Bacteria growth, and possible disease, on the plant is the biggest danger to a winter garden.

Watch out for color when trimming If you have had your garden for at least one winter season you know what has color during winter and what does not. Trim this color judiciously looking for maverick branches, but be sure to keep the overall form of the shrub so that winter color can shine in a uniform way. If you are not sure, leave it alone and get a feel for what has winter color for next winter. If a shrub has a winter bud on it, leave it be as this is where the flower will come from next spring. (more…)

Many gardeners do not even consider fall gardening because of the winter frosts that might make an early appearance. On the contrary, fall gardening will result in excellent vegetables and will extend crops long after spring planted plants are finished. Vegetables produced from fall gardening are sometimes sweeter and milder than those grow in the summer and offer a brand new taste to the same old veggies.

What you choose to grow during you fall gardening will depend on your available space and what you like to eat, just like spring plants. Even the crops that enjoy the heat, such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, okra, and peppers, will produce until frosts hit, which can be pretty late in the year in southern areas. However, there are some plants that will quit towards the end of summer like snap-beans, summer squash, and cucumbers. If these vegetables are planted around the middle of the summer they can be harvested until the first frosts as well. Hardy, tough vegetables will grow until the temperature is as low as 20 degrees, but those that aren’t as strong will only be able to grow through light frosts. Remember that if you have root and tuber plants and the tops are killed by a freeze the edible part can be saved if a large amount of mulch is used. (more…)

With fall fast approaching, it’s that time of year when we begin cleaning up our yards and preparing for the upcoming winter. To make fall cleanup work as fast and easy as possible, it can be helpful to break the work down into the different areas of your yard. The areas that most commonly need attention are trees and shrubs, the lawn, and vegetable or flower gardens.

Trees and shrubs often need to be trimmed back in the fall, though this will vary, depending on the type of plant. If you’re unsure when to trim your trees or bushes, consult a gardening book or online resource. When doing any kind of trimming or pruning, basic safety precautions are of primary importance. If your trees are taller than 10 or 15 feet, it’s best not to take the risk of doing the job yourself. Look for a qualified arborist who can do the work for you, and be sure to check out some references before hiring anyone to do the work. This can also be a good time to remove any old or dying trees, as well. (more…)

Your outdoor plants have worked hard for you all summer, making your yard a place you’re proud to call home. Properly winterizing your lawn and garden is an important step toward healthy soil, lush grass, and happy plants next year. Remember to take care of your outdoor accessories, including your lawn equipment, gardening tools, and all of your lawn and garden decor. A little time spent this autumn will make your gardening and landscaping efforts easier and more enjoyable next spring!

Let’s start with the easy jobs – First remember to store all of your lawn and garden decor including fragile planters, gazing balls, and your deck furniture. Unglazed terra cotta planters left filled with soil outside will often break in the freezing temperatures so it is best to clean them and place them in a storage area where they are protected from the elements.

Autumn is the time to find your birdfeeders and to start stocking your winter feeding pantry. Soon your many feathered friends will be flocking to your feeders for that nutritious morsel. Remember to keep your feeders full through the winter as the birds need reliable food sources through the winter months.

Now that you’ve done the easy tasks, let’s move on to the more mundane winterizing chores. Start by simply cleaning up the vegetable garden. After the first hard frost, remove the year’s annual plants and the dead vegetation. You can add this material to your compost pile, but make sure you’re not adding material from diseased or pest-infested plants. You’ll want to pull perennial weeds before you mulch your garden down for the winter.

The best part of fall landscape chores is planting the spring-blooming bulbs. Crocus, tulips, and daffodils are a beautiful addition to the early spring landscape.

In the yard there’s the major job of raking leaves. These are great either in the compost pile or as direct mulch on the garden. Perennial flowers may be smothered by a heavy layer of mulch, however. Also, wait to prune your trees until later in the winter.

After the ground freezes you can mulch your perennial flowers and newly planted trees. Certain shrubs will need to be wrapped in burlap to protect them from wind damage, sun scald, and other winter injury.

Moving on to the mechanical tasks of winterizing your lawn and garden – While you might try to procrastinate on these jobs until spring, you’ll be well rewarded for the maintenance you perform this fall. Drain the gas from your lawnmower and string trimmer. Actually it’s best to let your mowers and trimmers simply run out of fuel. If you don’t want to ‘waste’ that little bit of fuel, add a gas conditioner before the long winter. Be sure to follow directions. Also, take the same care with your gardening equipment such as your rotary tiller.

Clean all of your landscaping equipment before you store it away for the long, cold winter. Wash with soap and water, clean the air filter, and change the oil. You’ll find that first lawn mowing job in the spring a little bit easier if you take time to sharpen the blades now. You can protect that freshly sharpened blade by applying a little spray oil to the blades. You can also apply light spray oil to other moving parts such as cables and the throttle controls.

Lastly, drain all of the water from the garden hoses and turn off the taps. Be sure to store your insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in a safe storage area that will not freeze. Make sure these materials are kept away from children and pets!

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
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About Manu Kumar
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For me, rose gardening in the fall is a little bitter-sweet!

My blooms are smaller, leaves are showing signs of wear and tear and yet the rose gardening I do now will be crucial to the success of next years growth. Lets call it rose gardening insurance.

The last rose show is over, the days start getting shorter and the children are back in school but as rose growers we still have work to do—the four most important tasks of fall.

PICK AND CLEAN

Stop fertilizing and start your clean up. From the beginning of September on, there is no need to fertilize your rose beds and pots because you do not want to encourage new shoots to develop as winter approaches. This is also the period of the highest incidence of mildew problems such as black-spot so it is time to pull away all leaves that show signs of disease and to rake the beds below to remove all traces of the black-spot or mildew spores. Yes, they overwinter so get rid of them with your garbage. Deadhead, keep the beds scrupulously clean and pick away at the damaged leaves. (more…)

For an extremely beautiful and colorful Fall Flower Garden try planting Pansies. Pansies will give you a huge display of every color in a rainbow for your fall flower garden. In some of the warmer regions in the south where the winters are considerably milder pansies have bloomed for as long as six months, from fall through winter and even late spring. Pansies grow better in the fall because the night temperatures are much cooler; they can survive temperatures as low as 2 degrees in the winter.

Pansies come in a wide variety of colors, from pansies with faces to pansies of solid colors and grow too many different sizes making your garden intriguing eyesight to behold. Pansies range in size from the smaller version called multifora, which has blooms of 1 ½ to 2 ½ inches in size to the larger sizes which can have blooms as large as 3 ½ to 4 ½ inches in size. The smaller variety can withstand heat and poorer soil conditions better than the larger flowering pansy. (more…)

Before you begin cleaning out your garden in the fall, a simple way to make sure you haven’t missed doing anything is to make yourself a checklist. As you are sitting and enjoying the last days of the summer months and your garden while also waiting for your fall garden to blossom, start noticing little thing that you will need to do and make a list of them. As you fall garden begins to die down you can start to:

1. Clean around the base of your plants (especially the roses) diseased debris can hold spores and insect eggs. 2. If you are planning on planting new shrubs, now is the time, the weather is still warm enough for them to get their roots established before winter arrives. 3. Water your shrubs and trees well, remember that winter is coming 4. Once you have cleaned out the garden and flower beds start amending the soil in them, adding fertilizer, compost and manure to them, then tilling it under into the soil 5. Get your spring bulbs ready for their fall planting (more…)

It’s almost time to begin your fall garden clean-up. Before long that spectacular summer garden will be gone and the time will be here for that fall garden clean – up. With the cool brisk days of autumn close, cleaning the garden for next years planting will be easier when you have had that fall head start. Begin by removing your dead or dying flowers a little at a time. By doing this slowly it will help to keep you garden neat, tidy, and having a presentable appearance before the frost sets in. Instead of letting your garden become overgrown and ugly, as the season starts to change, keep your leaves raked and your trees and shrubs pruned back.

Cleaning away old plants and plant matter will also help to prevent organisms such as fungi, bacteria, viruses and insect eggs from wintering in during the winter months spoiling your soil for next years spring garden. If some of your plants became infected over the summer months, remember you will need to remove the old mulch as well; it too may be infected with disease spores and insect eggs. if you have plants that did not do as well as you expected, or multiplied to more than you want, now is a good time to either discard them or thin them out and replant them somewhere else in the garden. (more…)

Fall is the best time to till your garden but when you wish to till is still a matter of preference. I prefer tilling twice a year, fall before the first frost and again in the spring after the thaw. Each time you till your garden you should add organic matters such as shredded leaves or peat moss. When composts are added and decompose they also add needed nutrients to the soil.

These added nutrients help to build strong healthy plant roots. As your soil is turned it allows for better air circulation and helps with the decomposition of any added organic matters.

Fall temperatures and the soil moisture are more favorable to tilling because they too help with the decomposition of added composts. Fall tilling also helps to prevent the growth of new weeds in the spring and prevent garden pests and insects and their nests from over wintering in the soil. (more…)

When the leaves have turned color and are beginning to fall off the trees it is time to prepare your garden for winter.

Winterizing your garden is an important step to ensuring a healthy garden next year.

Start winterizing your garden by removing the dead plant remnants from this year’s garden. Dig up all of the plants, including their root systems and either remove them from the garden or pile them on top of the garden.

Ideally it is best to remove them and to put them in a compost pile. Leaving old crop debris in the garden creates a haven for rodents and insects. Also, if the plants are diseased it is important to remove them from the garden to help prevent next year’s garden from becoming diseased as well.

If you decide to leave the plant remnants in the garden leave them on top of it to dry out and till them into the soil in late fall or early spring. (more…)

Have you shrubs or perennials that are borderline hardy? Anew Hampshire gardener placed large rocks to the northwest of his tender heathers on a south-facing bank. In summer, the rocks add a pleasing design element to the garden.

In winter, they absorb the sun’s heat in the day and retain some of that heat at night. They also protect the plants from chill northwest winds.

Put bales of hay around tender plants to protect them in winter.

Strawberry plants need winter protection. Save weeding headaches next season by using weed-free winter mulch, such as pine needles. You can give the plants a dusting of mulch after the first few light frosts, but wait until the temperature drops to 20° F before applying it to a depth of three or four inches. (more…)

So, you worked hard all week, changed the oil in the SUV, took the kids to practice and dance, and went to the Friday night football game. Now the weekend is here and you still have a list, albeit a more leisurely one, of things to do. Well, double-check it and make sure that adding new plants to your garden is right up top. I know what you are thinking – “I planted everything back in the spring and I’m done until next year.” That’s what most people do, but an avid gardener like you should realize all of the benefits of planting in the fall. Let me explain:

First, and most importantly, is the mild weather.
We love this time of year – not too hot, not too cold. And guess what, your plants love it too, and for the very same reason! If you take the time to plant hardy perennials during these pleasant temperatures they can focus all of their energy on root growth. Don’t be surprised when you don’t see much happening to the plant. The real work is going on underground. Down there the plant is busy developing feeder roots. Those are the roots that will be ready to bring water and nutrients up to the top of the plant in the spring and give your garden a big head start over the neighbor’s garden. Make sure you give your new additions a chance to get good and cozy before winter comes. You should allow six to eight weeks for trees and shrubs, and four to six weeks for perennials and ornamental grasses. A good rule of thumb is to plant by the end of August in the North and by the end of November in the South. (more…)

Some people are under the impression that once they’ve planted their gardens, apart from watering and weeding, the work is done until next spring. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There are so many things you can do to ensure a successful lawn and garden for the following year. Besides, it’s just plain fun to get back digging in those beds again.

Clean-Up

Now is the time to rake up any leaves or mulch them with your mower. Your grass requires sunlight to thrive, even when it appears dormant. Collect up all your old planters, wash them out well and stack them in a wooden crate or similar container. Set them safely on a shelf until next spring. (more…)

Autumn is the perfect time to start preparing the garden for winter. Indeed, the months of September and October present the ideal opportunity to get outside while it is still relatively warm, in order to tidy up the bedding and ensure everything is fully organised before the cold weather and frosts set in. Not only that, but laying down the right groundwork now will help the garden to reach its full springtime potential.

One of the first autumn tasks any gardener should tackle is the weeds, particularly if they have been left to run riot throughout the summer months. In addition to helping the soil prepare itself for spring, regularly removing weeds should weaken their persistence, thus encouraging them to stay away. What’s more, by pulling up any weeds now, there is less opportunity for them to spread their seeds and further infiltrate the garden. (more…)

October is the month for planting many kinds of bulbs, perennials and vegetables in the South. Lawn planting, too, is at its height, especially preparing lawns for winter color with overplantings of rye grass.

We have gone through a rather difficult summer season of extremely hot weather and severe droughts in many areas. This has left garden soils badly compacted, enough to restrict root growth of lawn grasses and garden plants. This calls for deep preparation of the soil and pulverizing it thoroughly. Ample quantities of peatmoss should be added to heavy clay and sandy soils to improve their texture and moisture-holding capacities.

Some bulbs such as Madonna lilies, freesias, ornithogalums, zephyranthes and leucojums must be planted immediately. Get these in first. The latter part of the month will be too late. (more…)

Flowers By Season Copyright (c) 2007 Kelly Staller is site manager at StarReviews.com, a site dedicated to giving YOU, the consumer, the best product and service reviews around. If you like saving time and money by having someone else review leading sites and products, then Visit our site at StarReviews.com.
Whether you’re planning a September wedding, want to send flowers to your aunt in Hawaii or simply want to plant some flowers in your garden that won’t die, it’s important to know which flowers belong in which season. Some flowers are popular year-round, such as roses, and don’t have to be reserved for Valentine’s Day. Here’s a quick-reference-guide to flowers by season:

Great Summer Flowers:

• Sunflowers
• Lilies (more…)

Gardening in the fall can be one of the most rewarding times to be outside. The weather is cooler and all of the end of season flowers and plants being to bloom. One thing to remember is that when you winterize your garden you need to take care of your hose. Many landscapers are so busy winterizing their lawns, gardens, shrubs and trees that they quite forget about a piece of equipment that has served them well on all those areas of the landscape during the spring, summer and fall — the garden hose. Our garden hoses lie around on their garden hose reels for so many months consecutively that they become a landscaping fixture that we take for granted. But northern gardeners pay a great price for this oversight when winter arrives, bringing temps in the teens. Bring garden hoses in for storage prior to winter! Also bring their reels in for storage, especially if the reels have any metal components. And more important than a garden hose being ruptured through freezing is what the garden hose is connected to — your water pipes. Ruptured pipes are costly and inconvenient to replace. So what is the answer? The easiest and best solution is get a garden hose reel. Retrieval of hose or cable is accomplished by several types of rewind: manual, spring, and powered. Manual rewinds are popular where there is no convenient power source. Four methods of manual rewind are available: disk, direct drive, gear-driven crank, and chain-driven crank. Spring-rewind garden hose reels are ideal when a power rewind is required, but there is no available power source. Reels are installed in virtually any position. Spring-rewind reels have less torque than other types of rewinds and are best suited for hose lengths from 50 to 90 ft. (more…)

November is a busy month in the garden. Time spent now in pruning, tidying and protecting your plants and trees will pay dividends in the spring.

Weeding in November prevents roots thickening and spreading over the winter months, making them a nuisance when the temperature warms up in March. So as soon as ground becomes clear, dig over the soil and spread manure. This is also a good time to double dig areas of ground where total replanting or a new vegetable garden is being planned or poor/heavy soil is preventing growth.

Just remove the top layer to form a shallow trench and then dig over the soil at the bottom of the trench adding compost. Then repeat, filling the first trench with the top soil from the second; the soil from the first trench then fills in the last trench. (more…)

One of the most essential jobs come fall when it comes to cleaning up and out your garden is the removal of any and all damaged or diseased materials. When plants have had a fungus or bacteria over the summer growing season they can over winter on the roots and stems that have been contaminated.

When removed properly it will reduce the chances of diseases in your next year’s garden. How much of the plant you should remove depends upon your garden type, so naturally anything that was infected with a disease should be completely removed.

If you brought your house-plants outside for the summer, now is the time to start bringing them in. Some will more than likely need to be re-potted and or cut-back if the grew well during the summer growing season.

Be sure to check them for insects and diseases that may be on them so as not to contaminate any other houseplants. Bring them indoors in plenty of time to re-adjust to their indoor environment.

Now is the time also to lift and harvest your young bulbs from plants such as Dahlias, Gladiolus and Begonias, three of my favorites. After lifting them and leaving the foliage around the roots intact, the proper storage of them is equally important. (more…)