thebestgardentips.comHandy Lawn Maintenance and Fine Gardening Tips

Perennial: A plant that lives for over two years that is herbaceous ( dies down for winter and revives in spring from root stalk) and is not a tree or shrub.

Attributes of perennials:

1. There are an abundant variety of perennial plants to choose for your landscaping .
2. They revive every year, mature in about 3 years and can last for several years before spent and can then be divided for new plants. Perennials are ready to be divided when flowers become smaller and bloom less, foliage has empty ring in the center of the clump, or when they run out of space.
3. Plants are available to buy throughout the growing season and can be planted at any time. Early in the season is best so roots can become established but with care and protection with mulch can be planted into the fall.
4. There are perennials for suitable for sun and shade. Plan your bed accordingly.

Starting a perennial bed :

1. Remove all perennial weeds. This can be done with an herbicide such as Round-up. To do this spray growing plants and wait until weed is brown and dead. If  new weeds are appearing in this time span within the designated bed area spray again and wait again until weeds are dead then you can prepare the bed.  If you have lots of time to wait you can use black plastic or newspaper to smother the weeks. This takes several weeks.
2. Till the area mixing in organic matter such as peat moss, compost, leaf compost so that it is about 25 percent of the soil.
3. Add about 2 pounds of a 5-10-5 fertilizer to an area of about 100 square feet.

Planting:

1. Plant perennials from containers in the ground  so that the top of the dirt is level with the ground.
2. Tickle the roots a bit so they are loose.
3. Plant in soil with good drainage. A test for this is to dig a hole about a foot to a foot and a half deep, fill with water and let drain. Fill the same hole again with water and if the water drains within an hour , the drainage is suitable. Low lying areas are usually a poor choice for good drainage.

Care:

1. Mulch around plants with about 2″ of mulch.
2. Weed control is best done with cultivation using a hoe.
3. If an herbicide is used, put the weed killer solution in a container where you can dip a foam applicator into it and then paint the weed killer onto the leaves of the weed thus lessening the chance of accidentally killing a plant.
4. Dead head flowers to get more blooms for most plants.
5. It’s better not to cut down your perennials during fall cleanup, wait until spring. Besides the seeds on many plants provide food for birds, and the foliage left in place will protect the roots over winter.
6. To divide…dig up the whole plant and cut into sections with enough root to form a good starter plant.

Tip: For landscaping with perennials remember to combine spiky (tall) , roundy and fluffy plants for the best overall look.

Easy perennials:

Click on an image in gallery.

Photography by Connie