Container Garden 411

Choosing Plants for Your Garden

Many times we buy plants on impulse then find there is nowhere in the garden that really suits them. Carefully examine your garden before buying plants to see how much sun it gets, to see whether the soi is waterlogged or well drained. Then you’ll be ready to go and buy the best plants that suits you; shade loving plans, sun-lovers for warm spots, drought-resistant plants for parched areas that could either be sunny or shaded.

But hold on! Test your soil first, to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, but there are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil’s pH level, but it’s much easier to simply plant for the soil you have.

Now you are ready to plant. Well…. almost. Will you plant in groups or singly? If you buy ‘one of everything’ your garden may seem rather spotty. Group plantings are organised, harmonious and you can vary the color for interest.

Before planting out, place your chosen plants around the garden bed in their pots to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied. Grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures of plants. If you have tall plants, they should go towards the back or center for equal views from all sides. Try to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are fiercely competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your flowers.

A way to maitain harmony in your garden is choosing the right color scheme. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may not go with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This signifies that they’re still in good standing well past the blooming season and therefore have value.

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How to Do Indoor Gardening

Plants are just as popular as furniture when one is deciding on furniture and soft furnishings.
Aside from the aesthetic value plants provide your home with, there are also health benefits – grade school science class tells us that plants cleanse the air through utilizing the carbon dioxide and producing more oxygen. Here is some important information on how to care for your indoor plants to gain the optimum health and aesthetic benefits.

Lighting

Most indoor plants need good lighting. You can provide this through natural lighting in the room of your choice or there must be electric lighting. Darker leaved plants usually don’t need as much light as others.

Here are the varieties of plants (usually those that only require medium to low light) that are known to be suitable for indoor gardening:

a. Philodendrons
b. Boston ferns
c. African violets
d. Cyclamens
e. Creeping Fig

Watering

A common mistake most people make in indoor gardening is they tend to over-water the plants, which may lead to rotting roots.  Make sure to research the type of plant you have, because each kind of plant varies on their watering needs.

Potting

Choose good quality and attractive container for your indoor plants. Make sure that the pot is clean before placing your new plant into it to prevent infection and to encourage healthy growth.

Humidity

In indoor gardening, humidity is a big issue.  The amount of moisture in the air has effect on the growth of the plants. During mornings, you could spray the plants with water for their much-needed moisture. Make sure the leaves don’t get covered in dust.

Fertilization

Just like watering, fertilizing depends on the type of plant.  If you have managed to supply your indoor garden with the right amount of light, water and humidity, fertilization may not need much attention. A good indoor fertilizer can be bought from most home depot or hardware stores. Orchids need the special fertilizer available.

Wilting will naturally occur when you cut flowers.To get the maximum out of your flowers however, there are a few different tips and tricks that will keep them looking their best for a lot longer than normal.

1.) Make sure your glass vase you use is very clean. If there have been other flowers or plants used previously in the same vase, clean it out thoroughly to get rid of any plant chemicals or bacteria than have probably built up

2.) If you are using your own flowers, pick them either in the early morning or in the evening. This will help the flowers survive as their body will be at it’s coolest. If can pick them in the early part of the day, the flower will have more nutrients stored within it so this is good option if you haven’t got flower feed to hand

3.) For your own flowers, place them in a bucket of water up to their heads overnight to allow them to soak up as much as possible. This is something that gets done already with purchased flowers so you will not have to repeat the process.

4.) When you cut the flower stems, cut at an angle to expose as much of the inner stem as possible. This will provide a larger surface area that is in contact with water and will mean the flower is able to soak up more.

5.) Place the flowers in maybe a clean crystal vase permitting the water about 3/4 of the way up the stem. Use a flower feed that contains a sugar, an acidifier and some form of biocide. The sugar is what the plant will feed on, the acidifier enables better soaking up of water and the biocide should help fight bacteria and other baddies.

6.) Make sure you change the water every couple of days rather than just top it up. This will supply the stem with clean fresh water and will get rid all the surrounding dead cells in the water

7.) If the base of the stems get dirty or clogged up, take the flowers out and re-cut the stems a little further up.

To enjoy the best results make sure you use all this advice and you’ll be amazed how well they work

Should I start seeds (cheaper) or buy plants (more reliable) greets the gardener at the beginning. Both have their own benefits. If you plant seeds and care for them every day, you will find it is a much more rewarding experience when you have a full, healthy plant. Of course, this method is more open to failure. I can’t tell you how many seeds I’ve planted and never seen any trace of whatsoever.

If you choose to buy the plant from a nursery and install it in your garden, it reduces a lot of the work involved in making it healthy. However, I have found in the past that many incompetent nursery workers will absolutely ruin the future of the plant by putting certain chemicals or fertilizers in. I have adapted to this incompetence by learning to choose the healthiest plant of the bunch. Here I will discuss some of the techniques I use in my screening process for plants.

It may sound superficial, but the one thing you need to check for on your prospective plants is how nice they look. As far as plants go, you can truly judge a book by its cover. If a plant has been treated healthily and has no diseases or pests, you can almost always tell by how nice it looks. If a plant was raised in poor soil or is buggy, you should be able to tell by small holes in the leaves and soft stems.

If you’re browsing the nursery shelves looking for your dream plant, you want to exclude anything that currently has flowers. Plants are less traumatized by the transplant if they do not currently have any flowers. Look for one with just buds. However if all you have to choose from are flowering plants, then you should do the unthinkable and sever all of them. It will provide for the future health of your plant. A blooming plant will surely result in almost in a dead plant.

Don’t buy the plant prior to determining the condition of the roots. Root problems can be immediately evident if the plant doesn’t look healthy. But if the roots are just slightly out of shape, then you probably won’t be able to tell just by looking at it. Make a careful inspection of the roots and look for signs of rot or dead root material. The roots should always be a firm, perfectly well formed infrastructure that holds all the soil together. One can easily tell if the roots are before or past their prime, depending on the root to soil ratio. If there are a ridiculous amount of roots with little soil, or a bunch of soil with few roots, you should not buy that plant.

If you find any abnormalities with the plant, whether it be the shape of the roots or any irregular features with the leaves, you should ask the nursery employees. While usually these things can be the sign of an unhealthy plant, occasionally there will be a logical explanation for it. Always give the nursery a chance before writing them off as horrendous. Normally, the professionals you deal with are well-experienced with plants.

So if you decide to take the easy route and get a plant from a nursery, you just have to remember that the health of the plants has been left up to someone you don’t know. Usually they do a good job, but you should always check for yourself. Also take every precaution you can to avoid transplant shock in the plant (when it has trouble adjusting to its new location, and therefore has health problems in the future). Usually the process goes smoothly, but you can never be too sure.