Care of the Flower Garden
Knowing how to care for your flower garden can make a big difference in the look
and over-all health of your plants. Here are some simple hints to make your
garden bloom with health
1. The essentials must always be given major consideration.
Your flower garden must have an adequate supply of water, sunlight, and fertile
soil. Any lack of these basic necessities will greatly affect the health of
plants. Water the flower garden more frequently during dry spells.
When planting bulbs, make sure they go at the correct depth. When planting out
shrubs and perennials, make sure that you don't heap soil or mulch up around the
stem. If you do, water will drain off instead of
sinking in, and the stem could
develop rot through overheating.
2. Mix and match perennials with annuals.
Perennial flower bulbs need not to be replanted since they grow and bloom for
several years while annuals grow and bloom for only one season. Mixing a few
perennials with annuals ensures that you will always have blooms coming on.
3. Deadhead to encourage more blossoms.
Deadheading is simply snipping off the flower head after it wilts. This will
make the plant produce more flowers. Just make sure that you don't discard the
deadhead on the garden or mildew and other plant disease will attack your
plants.
4. Know the good from the bad bugs.
Most garden insects do more good than harm. Butterflies, beetles and bees are
known pollinators. They fertilize plants through unintentional transfer of
pollen from one plant to another. 80% of flowering plants rely on insects for
survival.
Sowbugs and dung beetles together with fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms
are necessary to help in the decomposition of dead plant material, thus
enriching the soil and making more nutrients available to growing plants.
Other insects like lacewings and dragonflies are natural predators of those
insects that do the real damage, like aphis.
An occasional application of liquid fertilizer when plants are flowering will
keep them blooming longer.
Always prune any dead or damaged branches. Fuchsias are particularly prone to
snapping when you brush against them. The broken branch can be potted up to give
you a new plant, so it won't be wasted.