GardenMaid| Choosing and Planting Perennials

Choosing and Planting Perennials

I started my gardening experiences with a vegetable garden many years ago. That which worked well on the farm wasn't quite as pleasing to look at as I would have liked when moved to the home landscape. Then I discovered that the use of perennial flowers could be a great way to liven up my garden while without adding very little extra work for me once the planting was completed.

Perennial flowers are strong, regional flowers that come back every year without having to replant or reseed. Regional means they are perennial for certain regions. For most perennials during their off seasons, the flowers and stems die back and you can hardly even tell the plant is there (rather than just dying and looking like hideous brown clumps in your garden). When it's time to bloom, entirely new flowers shoot up where the old ones were.

To simplify this explanation, let's say there are two broad types of perennial flowers, those grown from seed and those grown from roots, bulbs or tubers. In this article we will talk mostly about those grown from seed and that reseed themselves.

Before deciding whether to plant this type of perennials or not, you need to make sure that your soil has proper drainage. If the ground stays saturated with water for long periods of time, you should build a raised bed. To test, dig a hole and fill it with water. Wait a day, and then fill it with water again. All traces of water should be gone within 10 hours. If the hole isn't completely drained, you will need to build a raised bed.

Picking your perennials can be a complicated process. The goal should be to have at least some of them flowering as much as possible during the year, so you should create an outline of the year. Research the different types of flower you want, and create a timeline of flowering. If you plan it right, you can have a different type of flower blooming at any point in the year. Getting just the right mixture of perennials can give your yard a constantly changing array of colors.

When you go to buy the seeds from your local florist or nursery, you might be able to find a custom seed mixture for your area. This takes the really tough research part out of the job. Usually these blends are optimized for the local climate, and do great jobs of having flowers always grow in your yard. If one of these isn't available, you can ask the employees what they think would be a good mixture. They should be happy to help you put something together which will be optimal for whatever you desire.

You should definitely use mulch when planting perennials. This will reduce the overall amount of work you have to do, by reducing the amount of weeds and increasing the water retention. Bark or pine needles work great, I have found, and depending on the rest of your yard you might have them on hand at no charge. As for fertilizer, you should use it sparingly once your plants start to come to life.

When you actually go to plant the seeds, you should put them in small, separate clumps according to the directions. This is because they tend to spread out, and if you have too many too close together then they will end up doing nothing but choking each other out. As you plant them, throw in a little bit of extremely weak fertilizer. In no time at all you should start to see flowers blooming up.

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