Deleted
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May 21, 2024 4:24:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2015 13:33:34 GMT
I SUCK at gardening, plain and simple, lol. I walk/drive through the neighborhood and am in awe of the beautiful flower gardens. Mine start out good, but I have to admit, I'm neglectful.  I don't know what to do year after year to get the perennials to look good, and stay looking good (besides the watering). Is there a standard perennial plant food to feed these things? I was trying to research online, and I see a lot about composting. Honestly, not gonna happen here. Is there some suggestions, or some miracle plant food, that's good? Thanks.  |
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Post by Karmady on May 23, 2015 13:41:35 GMT
Maybe look into which perennials are native to your area. Native plants usually don't require a lot of care because they are accustomed to the conditions in your area. For example, I have purple coneflowers and I barely touch them. Once the flowers die off, I let them go to seed and the birds eat the seeds. They can withstand high humidity and drought. If we don't have rain for a long time, I'll give them a drink but really I don't fuss with them much.
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Deleted
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May 21, 2024 4:24:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2015 15:24:06 GMT
Here's the cheat sheet. The numbers on fertilizers are maybe 10-10-10, right? You'll see those up front on every plant food, and the numbers will be different depending on what the food is made for. The numbers line up like this:
First number = enhances greenness (N)
Second number = favors blooms (P)
Third number = favors roots (K)
So a 10-10-10 is a balanced all around food.
A 7-35-7 is a bloom food, to get your annuals really going.
A 7-7-20 is a root pusher, to get new plants established and something you'd use right after planting.
A 10-0-0 is something you'd use on grass, where greenness is what you see and focus on.
Miracle Gro and other brands will call their foods "Bloom-SomethingorOther" to give you a hint what they're good for, but the numbers are really simple.
Green-Bloom-Roots. More is not better - follow what the directions say and have happy plants. HTH.
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Deleted
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May 21, 2024 4:24:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2015 15:33:00 GMT
I'm a pretty lazy gardener. I spend about 15 minutes a day weeding and water (if needed at all.) And that's about it. When I was putting in the gardens, I went to the nursery about once a week or so. I bought whatever was in bloom that week that fit my garden conditions (dry and sandy.) That way, I have something blooming in my garden all summer long. I don't really feed more than once a year or so.
I don't spend much time watering, because I have plants that love the conditions in my garden -- sedums, ornamental grasses, coneflowers, iris, day lilies, liatris. I only plant easy stuff, because I don't want to spend time babying my garden. They have to be tough to live with me, LOL.
BTW I have a huge rock garden, perennial garden, and a bunch of other beds for a total of about a 1/2-acre of gardens. I hire out for spring and fall cleanups, and maintain them the rest of the summer myself.
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Post by penny on May 23, 2015 16:20:50 GMT
Bookmarking this because I'm the same as you... Maybe something in this thread will motivate me - right now I'm waiting until they invent more realistic fake flowers...
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basketdiva
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by basketdiva on May 23, 2015 17:51:20 GMT
Be sure to prune or cutback athe proper time of year. Some perrennials are pruned after bloom, others at the end of winter.
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valleyview
Pearl Clutcher
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Jun 27, 2014 18:41:26 GMT
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Post by valleyview on May 23, 2015 18:10:47 GMT
My flowers start out looking well every year, and then the deer drop by.
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tuesdaysgone
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by tuesdaysgone on May 23, 2015 19:25:09 GMT
Both DH and I spend hours taking care of our yard during the summer. For us, it is a labor of love, but it is a lot of labor.
The initial time and money you spend on the flowers makes a huge difference in how easy it is in the long run to keep your plants looking good. Unfortunately, the right plant food alone won't make that much difference if the plant wasn't planted in good, amended soil and you didn't use a lot of mulch to protect the plant.They also need a lot of water in the first few weeks as they get established.
For me, these lessons were learned after many, many trial and errors!
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Post by hennybutton on May 23, 2015 19:33:18 GMT
For me, gardening books are far better than the web for learning about gardening. Look for books aimed at your area. Find a great local nursery and skip Home Depot. The local nursery will be able to provide good advice and tell you what to plant when. See if you can get help and advice from the Master Gardener's program with county extension. Check for programs at local arboretums.
Most importantly, don't be afraid to fail. Sometimes, trial and error is the best way to learn. Have fun.
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Deleted
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May 21, 2024 4:24:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2015 20:28:03 GMT
For me, gardening books are far better than the web for learning about gardening. Look for books aimed at your area. Find a great local nursery and skip Home Depot. The local nursery will be able to provide good advice and tell you what to plant when. See if you can get help and advice from the Master Gardener's program with county extension. Check for programs at local arboretums. Most importantly, don't be afraid to fail. Sometimes, trial and error is the best way to learn. Have fun.Oh, I've failed...and I'm still waiting for the fun to start, lol!  That's good information to know about the fertilizers! Between yesterday and today, I've been to 4 plant places, 2 actual nurseries and then Home Depot and Lowe's. I walk up and down the aisles looking at plants and I say, "ok, tried that one...and that one...and that one, etc." 90% of our landscaping was professionally done; some of which I like and some I don't. Figures the stuff I'm not thrilled with is what's lasted the longest. But basically we have pretty simple stuff, nothing overly fancy or exotic. I think I do need to keep trying different stuff. I guess I thought like potted flowers/annuals get fed with MiracleGro, I didn't know if perennials are usually fed throughout the season with something. Getting a book would probably be a great starting point. Thanks for the tips. |
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Post by arielsmom on May 23, 2015 22:42:51 GMT
You also need decent soil. I mix in compost and peat moss. Black dirt or top soil is just the basic starting block.
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Post by gale w on May 23, 2015 22:49:51 GMT
I think one thing that helps is to get easy care plants. Ones we have that require very little care are daylilies, false indigo, rose mallow, rose of sharon, butterfly weed, and daffodils. All of those have thrived despite my laziness. I never feed any of them, never water them unless we get a drought, minimally weed around them (I'm beginning to get them weeded and mulched though) and every year they come up like clockwork.
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Post by grace2882 on May 24, 2015 1:58:39 GMT
I am following this thread. I planted perennials for the first time this year too just because I don't want to keep buying and planting each year.
I would just love to know how to get rid of weeds so that they NEVER come back.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2015 3:27:41 GMT
I am following this thread. I planted perennials for the first time this year too just because I don't want to keep buying and planting each year. I would just love to know how to get rid of weeds so that they NEVER come back. I wish! This year our weeds are horrible, and I think 1 big reason is I didn't put Preen down. I won't make that mistake again. |
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Post by hop2 on May 24, 2015 3:44:49 GMT
Well don't have ground hogs move in. They eat everything! Down to the soil! They are worse than deer or rabbits the only thing left in one of my gardens ( nearest his house) is a nibbled on sage plant. Grrrrrrr everything else is gone.
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Post by grace2882 on May 24, 2015 12:03:14 GMT
I am following this thread. I planted perennials for the first time this year too just because I don't want to keep buying and planting each year. I would just love to know how to get rid of weeds so that they NEVER come back. I wish! This year our weeds are horrible, and I think 1 big reason is I didn't put Preen down. I won't make that mistake again. oh I forgot all about Preen. I used that years ago. I will have to get it. Thanks you so much. |
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Post by monklady123 on May 24, 2015 12:14:39 GMT
I think the key is finding plants that love the area you live in. We have a large patch (plus ones that pop up in random places) of delphinium that we never planted and never take care of. The only thing I do is pull that vine with the heart-shaped leaves that grows wild around here. Don't know its name but it can grow overnight. Also one other viney weed. That's it. In our back yard we have a grove of hollyhocks that just appeared. They come back year after year and all we do is prune them after the blossoms fade (so several times a summer). That's it. The only other "gardeney" thing we do is dump salt on the ding dang poison ivy.  |
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Post by arielsmom on May 24, 2015 13:46:07 GMT
To keep the weeds down, they need to be pulled before they go to seed......says the person who had a gravel driveway (was there when we purchased the home) that is really a carpet of weeds.
I will use white vinegar with a bit of dawn dish soap and spray the weeds. May take about three applications to knock them dead, but it is safe for the lake environment.
If you use preen, you need to use established plants. If you preen a garden and then try to plant lettuce, etc., it will not germinate. Preen only works on the seeds, not on weeds that are already there..
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I don't know what to do year after year to get the perennials to look good, and stay looking good (besides the watering).
