Gardening and Greenhouse

Green Thumb answers:

You can move your established bushes in any month that has an R in it as long as the ground can be dug. Since lilacs establish their bloom buds the year before you will lose those blooms, and 3 years or longer you won’t see any blooms. Just depends on how hard the transplant was to your bushes. I would say that fall is a better time than spring to move these plants based on experience, because they begin to prepare for the long rest period of winter and begin to go dormant. Spring they begin to put their energy into growth and can be shocked terribly. Hope this helps

Green Thumb answers:

Contact your county extension office and ask for a master gardener……..
MG’s need to volunteer time each year in order to keep their status. They’d be more than happy to help you plan and they have a world of information at their fingertips to help you!

Green Thumb answers:

From my experience, the most important thing for beginner is to understand the sun requirement. If you know it, you will have 50% success. The rest is good soil, water, fertilizer and prevent bugs or other creatures from eating your plants.

Most beginners are more likely to under estimate the sunlight, I’ve been there so I know
All sun lover plants need at least 6 hrs of DIRECT sunlight and this is called full sun. So no big tree around or shade from house.

Part Sun: 4-6 hours direct sunlight.
Part Shade: 2-4 hours direct sunlight. Need protection from hot afternoon sunlight.
Full Shade: less than 2 hours of sunlight. Avoid direct afternoon sunlight.

If you’re not sure with the light in your garden, you can plant full sun annual this year like Zinnia, Cosmos and Marigold. If they bloom alot and grow strong, it means you have full sun, if they get leggy, weak and only bloom one or two, it means part shade.

I suggest you start with annuals before you buy more expensive perennial plants. I started gardening because I want cutting flowers and I grew zinnia from seeds. You can buy plants from local nursery if you don’t want to start them from seeds just start small first since you’re not sure about the light condition. Start with zinnia, coleus and impatiens, place them in your flower garden and see which ones grow happy there. Zinnia is sun lover, Coleus is partial sun/partial shade, Impatiens is shade lover.

After you are sure about the sun condition, you can buy perennials or mix 80% perennial and 20% annual. Perennial is your money saver and annual will give you lot of flowers.

Perennial for landscape:
Daylily, Hosta, Hydrangea, Azalea, Peony, Asiatic Lily, Clematis, Heuchera, Rose, Crocus, Daffodils, Hardy Hibiscus, Baptisia Australis, Geranium, Bleeding Heart.

Perennial for cutting:
Echinacea, Bearded Iris, Shasta Daisy, Oriental Lily, Columbine, Gladioli.

Annual for landscape:
Petunia, Coleus, Bedding Begonia, Impatiens, Marigold, Pansy.

Annual for cutting:
Zinnia, Cosmos, Statice, Carnation.

Green Thumb answers:

BEWARE…vegetables and flowers are mostly broad-leafed plants, and the product you mention is NOT going to know weeds from your garden plants. If it was applied to open soil it does absolutely nothing, as it must be applied to actively growing weeds.
Now if it was a PRE-Emergent control…that stops seed from sprouting if applied before they grow, it should have been applied after planting what you wanted, and I feel it should never be around food crops even if labeled as safe. There really is no good science to guarantee it is not going to hurt you later.
If it was a “weed killer” either remove the top inch of soil to get it out, or add lots of organic amendments to soil and till it all very deep and mix it well. Unless it was over-applied (too much put on soil) that should safeguard your new plantings.
Finally, tell the company that did this, that they should consult with you BEFORE doing any applications, and if you don’t trust their knowledge, find out at a local nursery or here before approving it…better yet, get a company you can trust to know better.

Green Thumb answers:

Greetings!

Different Herbs for different climate zones-ask your nurseryman.

Try to have Flowers that are edible, and not just for Humans-there are specific Flowers that produce Nectar that Bees and other Winged Creatures need!

/!

Green Thumb answers:

You don’t say which part of the country you live in so it’s difficult to be specific. I would recommend you look around the neighbourhood and see what grows well in the area.

I garden in scotland where we don’t have huge extremes of temperature, so I can grow a huge variety of plants. I start with spring bulbs, planted under or next to early herbaceous perennials. The perennials grow up and cover the dying foliage of the bulbs and flower all summer.

Mixed with these is a range of prairie plants and grasses which look great in the late summer.

Try a book by Christopher Lloyd called Succession Gardening for Adventurous Gardeners for some fantastic ideas and funky plant combinations. This isn’t for faint hearted wishy washy colour combinations.

Http://www.amazon.co.uk/Succession-Planting-Adventurous-Gardeners-Christopher/dp/0563521104

Good luck I hope you enjoy your new garden.

Green Thumb answers:

Well,some seeds are a little costly too, but worth it in the long run.It is March 18th and I live in zone 4, I started my seeds on March 6th, Look at the back of the seed packet, it will tell you the germination times and how many weeks to start them in doors. I have planted Bells of Ireland,Zinnias, Mallow,Mini Pinwheel Zinnias, cucumbers, tomamtos,peppers.The Zinnias and some of the other you can just direct sow in to the garden, but I like to start them inside so that they bloom earlier.

Some perennials will bloom the first year if you start them indoors. I did this with Echinacia , (purple cone flower).Lobelia,(purple)
Annuals will bloom the whole summer up til the first hard frost.When they start to look gangly and look like they need a little pick-me-up, then shear them down a little, this will help to bring back a new flush of flowers.You can also save seed from your plants to plant next year. This year I decided to try the peat pellets, They come as flat discs and you put them into your flats and pour warm water over them ,( you plant the pellet right into the ground) wait til they expand and get 1 to 2 inched high, put 1 to 3 seeds in each and then cover with the clear plastic dome that comes with your flats, put them under florescent lights. When you see them sprouting then take the cover off and leave it off, make sure they don’t dry out. Once they get their second set of leaves, the ones that look more like the true leaves, then you can pinch them off and it will make your plants get more stocky and fuller. Once they sre ready for planting outdoors, you have to harden them off, meaning that you have to get them used to the outside climate, you can take the flats outsidein a sheltered spot or put them in the shade ,or dappled shade for a few days. If you just plant them ouside right away they will suffer shock and will die.
Some plants will re-seed themselves, Poppies,Phlox,Sweet Williams,etc… There are so many that will do this. If you want to plant Poppies,then you can do so in the Fall, Just scatter them on the ground, they need the freezing temps of winter in order to grow and bloom the same year.
I hope this helps. And Happy Gardening.

Green Thumb answers:

Dianthus (Pinks) will live and spread year after year, and they bloom several times if trimmed back after blooming. They can also be bought as Annuals, very cheap. They do well in containers besides. There are several different shades available and you can get them anywhere that sells annuals.

Zone 6 Green Thumb

Green Thumb answers:

Be sure your hydrangeas are the kind that bloom on old and new wood… Ones like BLushing Bride or Endless Summer…. Regular plants prob cant’ survive your winters…. Here’s a good site for hydra lovers.. Lots of good info in the FAQ’s, too…

Http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/

http://www.endlesssummerblooms.com/en/consumer/plants/blushingbride