Garden Tips of the Week

No matter how you classify yourself as a gardener, everyone is looking for some great gardening tips.  Through the years I’ve tried this and that “best new thing” only to find that it really wasn’t.  I’ve listed a few of my favorite tips; I hope you find them useful in your own garden.

Tip #1- Right plant, right place.  I know this sounds like a simple and logical concept and really not a good gardening tip at all, but hear me out.   You can be the best gardener and have the most interesting plant material in the world and if it’s not planted in the right spot, you will be doomed to failure.   Check out the tag that is attached to the plant you are purchasing.  It’s there for a reason; it’s an aid to assist you in putting it in the best location in the garden. The tag will let you know what sun exposure is best, as well as type of soil.  Believe it or not, some shade plants do great in dry soils.  Epimedium and Solomon’s seal are great shade lovers for dry soils.  Plant a fern in dry soil and it will struggle all summer long.   This also goes for the plant material you buy.  If you’re perusing a rack of hostas in the nursery, and they’re being stored in the sun, what shape do you think they’ll be in by the time you plant them in your garden?  Yup…they’ll be toast before you even get them in the ground.  Never buy shade plants that are showcased in the blazing sun. 

Tip #2- Give your container and bedding plants Miracle Gro every two weeks.  This single tip will take your garden from being good to being great.  Many years ago I went on a garden tour and learned the importance of fertilizer.  This garden was just spectacular.  Every container was blooming its head off and all the annuals in the planting beds were huge.  I was so impressed; I kept wondering why Donnas’ garden looked so great even though it was late September.  I asked her what the single most important advice she could give any gardener.  It was to water every other week with Miracle Gro.  Now it’s my best piece of advice!  I use Osmocote, a slow-release pelletized fertilizer every three months in my containers and planting beds, but the addition of Miracle Gro has made the biggest difference in the way my containers and beds look.   I’ve made it my routine to fertilize my plants every other Friday.  On the Friday that I don’t fertilize, I spray Liquid Fence to keep the deer away from my cherished plants.   It’s become a habit and one that I strictly adhere to.

Tip #3- Visit the gardens at Missouri Botanical Garden every six weeks.  Make note and take photos of planting schemes you like.  I also take photos of the tags that list the plants in a particular bed.  During the winter, I can sit at my computer and make a list of the plants I’d like to try out in spring.  Another good reason to visit the garden every six weeks is that you can see plants coming into and out of bloom.  If you visit in April, you’ll be amazed at the amount of bulbs and pansies that adorn the containers and planting beds.  Arrive in mid-May you’ll see all the iris blooming.  Visiting in mid-to- late June will allow you to see the abundance of daylilies.  You get the picture; there is always something to see and delight in at the botanical garden.  It’s a world-class resource.  Use it!

Tip #4- Are you in the process of building and adding to your perennial bed?  If so, this tip is for you.  Photograph the bed you are working on from many different angles.  Make note of the areas that need some color.  Perhaps you have a gap with nothing blooming in late July.  If so, go to the nursery and buy what is in bloom in late July.  Many gardeners buy plants they love, not paying attention to the bloom time.  This can cause gaps in your flowering mixed borders without you realizing it.  Another tip for someone beginning to build a perennial bed is to hit the nursery the first week of every month and only purchase the perennials in bloom.  That way, you will be guaranteed a succession of blooms all year long.  Don’t forget to plant bulbs in the fall for color and interest every spring.

Tip #5- Plant a Witch Hazel in a place where you can see it bloom in late winter.  Feel like spring will never arrive?  Nothing eases the soul of a gardener in winter better than the clear, yellow blooms of the Witch Hazel in February.   The native shrub blooms before the snowdrops and crocus.  Oh, and while you’re purchasing your Witch hazel, pick up some Helleborus as well.  They’re the first flower to bloom in late winter.  The common name is “Lenten Rose.”  It’s the “rose” that blooms during Lent!