Greetings all!
Here are a few tricks to get your annual flowers to really thrive this summer!
Plant early, but after the last frost. While it's hard to predict the exact date of last frost, Mothers day is a good rule of thumb. This season has been a bit cool after our early warmup, so we're waiting an extra week or so to begin our planting.
Amend your flower bed with compost & make sure you have good drainage. Annuals like a rich fertile, well drained soil. If your flower bed has poor sandy, gravely soil or holds standing water after a rain, your flowers won't do as well. You can sometimes mound the bed to create sufficient drainage when needed.
Select the proper annual for your location. There are a multitude of annuals out there, but here are a few guidelines: Petunias like full sun and heat and can tolerate some dryness. Impatients like partial shade. Begonias are a good general conditions annual. Buy from a reputable garden center and read the label for your choices. Buy flats that contain vigorus, healthy plants. Avoid "leggy" plants that appear too big for their container.
Give plants room to grow. While dense plantings will give a good initial appearance, the plants won't mature properly if planted too close together. Spacing will depend on variety and can vary between 6" and 9" on center.
Cultivate the bed prior to planting It is easier for the new plants to root into loose fluffy soil. We also find adding some slow release fertilizer at this stage provides continual nutrition to the flowers during the season. If possible, avoid planting on hot dry days.
Give them a boost by watering in with Rapid Gro or other liquid fertilizer. The planting process is somewhat stressful to the flowers, so giving them a shot of quick absorbing water based fertilizer helps them get established quicker. Be sure to follow the directions for your fertilizer.
Avoid mulching annual flower beds. It takes nutrients to break down the mulch, which robs nutirents from the flowers. We suggest using Preen for weed control. Avoid other stronger weed control products. Be sure to read the label, or hand weed beds as needed.
Don't let your flower bed dry out and keep them on a regularly scheduled fertilizer program. We use a "blossom boosting" water based fertilizer. A little TLC during the season and your flowers will be the best in the neighborhood.
Don't have time for all this? Give us a call. We'll be glad to help. For more info visit http:\\www.foegleylandscape.com