Flowers are a beautiful way to brighten a garden and a classic symbol of love and affection. Some flowers are highly allergenic, so you may have to experiment a little to find the flowers that don’t irritate your allergies, but once you do you will be able to enjoy the beauty and fresh smell of flowers in your home without sneezing and suffering from watery, itchy eyes and without allergy pills.
Animal pest problems occur in all seasons of the garden, but fall and spring are peak periods for plunder. Luckily these seasons, and fall in particular, are also the best times for beleaguered gardeners to mount a defense against foraging four-legged gourmands such as deer, squirrels, rabbits, voles, moles and other assorted animal pests. In fall, a good garden clean-up tops the list of animal deterrents.
Certain varieties of perennials can be used to create new plants. This is accomplished by the use of various propagation methods. The general methods used include cuttings, division of old clumps, propagation from leaves, and budding. Some varieties can be propagated by a number of methods; for others, only one way works.
Cutting is the process of removing a small portion of a growing plant and treating it so that roots are developed.
Mulch is a term used in the agriculture and gardening industry to refer to a protective layer of covering placed on top of the soil to tame the effects of the climate. Mulch can be composed of natural or synthetic materials or the combination of both to form a wide assortment of covering substance.
Farmers and gardeners cover soils with mulch for various purposes.
All plants need nutrients to survive and grow. In the garden they will obtain most of their requirements from the soil but because the area and soil volume in containers is limited and because they are watered more frequently, container-grown plants need regular feeding to thrive and produce the best crops.
Basic chemistry
The three main nutrients required by plants are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Spring is one of the most enjoyable times in the garden. In cold regions the weather can still be icy in early spring, but in mild climates you can make a start on many outdoor jobs. If sowing or planting outdoors, bear in mind that soil temperature as well as air temperature is important.
Beds and borders. One of the biggest bugbears of gardening is the amount of time spent watering over summer. The best way to avoid this is to wait until after a few days of heavy spring rain, when the soil is deeply saturated, and then spread a thick layer of mulch such as mushroom compost over the soil. This locks in the moisture now, and after subsequent waterings. It also keeps down weeds and helps condition the soil.
Freesia is a type of about 14 different species and all the Freesia species are of African origin. 12 of the 14 species are native to Cape Province in South Africa and the other two are native to tropical Africa. Freesias are very fragrant and usually come in white or yellow.
Growing freesias is relatively easy because these plants are hardy and can survive in a variety of different climates. They do best, however, when they are kept in well-drained soil and not allowed to get too hot. Freesias should be planted in full sun during a season that will give the plants plenty of time to establish their roots and to flower before the heat of summer sets in.
A true bulb is formed from fleshy leaves or leaf bases, and often consists of concentric rings of scales attached to a basal plate. True bulbs include the daffodrils, reticulata irises and tulips. If provided with enough nutrients, they will often flower for many years.
There are bulbs for all seasons of the year but their glory is in spring when they epitomise the regrowth of a world that has seemed dead all winter. Among the first are the snowdrops (Galanthus) with snowy-white flowers and trim clumps of leaves.
Soil is a composition of weather-beaten rock, minerals, decayed plant materials and other organic ingredients. All this takes a long time to develop, but can be damaged by our action or neglect in a single season. Plants can obtain nutrients from the soil using their roots and change them to usable materials to grow new roots, leaves and flowers.
All gardeners are to be custodians of the soil, taking the time to replace food and other elements as they are used. We need to treat it like we want to be treated, not like dirt.
Healthy soil should contain a mix of air, water, nutrients and organic matter. We can protect this mixture by:
