Gardening Category:                              

      Weed Control
      Plant Locations
      Rose Gardening Specifics
      Fertilization
      Insect & Disease Control
      Watering Requirements
      Gardening Hardiness Zones
      Montlhy Gardening Chores Timeline 
      Landscape Design Essentials 

      

Key success factors for perennial gardening:

• Bed preparation -- use roughly one-third organic matter, one-third topsoil and one-third sand.  This of course could change depending on your native soil content.  When preparing my beds, I used a water hose to layout and visualize the shape of the beds.  Once I had identified the shape of the beds with the hose, I then sprayed Round-Up on the grass, waited 3 days and sprayed again to rid the area of all vegetation.  Once all grass and weeds were dead, I began tilling the area with a walk-behind roto-tiller (i.e. tines).  Once the ground was broken down to a depth of about six to twelve inches, I began amending the site with plenty of organics.  In my case, the organics were delivered by fifteen yard dump truck loads at very reasonable prices--about $250 per load.  I continued amending the earth with this organic matter and loads of topsoil until the beds were raised by about twelve to twenty-four inches.  This height is not necessary, but in my case I had to correct several drainage issues as our landscape is very flat.  The soil was heavy with clay materials and this coupled with the drainage problem forced the height buildup on the beds.  The organic material used contained sand, rotten rice hulls and rotten cotton seed hulls in equal portions.  These items, of course, in southern Louisiana are readily available from the local farming industry.  This was gradually tilled into the top layer of earth.  I can't stress enough--SPEND THE TIME ON BED PREPARATION!  You will reap the benefits later. 

• Mulching for weed and grass control --  I used pine needles, another renewable and organic resource.  Pine needles will need to be replaced at minimum once per year, typically in the fall or early spring before growth emerges.  I have found that grass and weed control is a never-ceasing activity.  If you plan to rid your beds of weeds and grass, my advice is to derive contingency plans immediately because you'll need them.  My daily routine in the garden involves a regiment of weed and grass pulling.  In addition to this manual effort, twice per year I put out products such as Preen and other control chemicals.  The combination of mulch, chemicals and organic mulch certainly helps.  The other thing I've found that helps is to ensure every square inch of bed is eventually overgrown with perennials and other "wanted" vegetation.  This cover will reduce the lighting that reaches the soil and thus will reduce the germination rate of the unwanted vegetation or weeds.  When applying the mulch, apply generously.  I typically put a good 6 inch layer of pine needles...this is a large amount, but I feel it's well worth the effort and money.   The straw or needles also look nice in the landscape.

• You can also watch my video podcasts on weed management in the home and garden.  To jump to the podcast section of the site, click on Gardening Videos.

• Location and Plant Needs -- It's time to do a couple of days worth of research.  Try and document the lighting conditions in the bed areas as some spots in the beds get more light than others.  In addition, make notes about drainage as some bed areas may dry out much quicker than other areas of the bed.  With this information in hand, you can make better educated decisions about the plants you invest in and can greatly increase your success rate with the whole gardening experience.  When purchasing plants at local nurseries you can now check your research results to ensure you're purchasing the right plant for the right location in your bed.  Tip:  Choose plants that are tolerant of your geographic location.

Focusing on these key areas will set your garden up for success!  The main key of these is bed preparation.  With a good bed makeup your thumb will surely turn green or at minimum a shade of green.

Perennial gardening can be fun since there are so many different varieties, sizes, shapes and forms to choose from.  When purchasing your plant, be sure the location you plan to place it adequately meets its needs.  You can experiment with the location too.  If one location doesn't seem to be working, feel free to relocate the plant to another location.  I would recommend, however, not moving the plant during the dog days of summer as too much stress might cause irreversible damage to the plant.  Any other time is game for moving!  For those that like a formal-looking garden, I might suggest that perennial gardening isn't for you (with some exceptions, of course).  As you can see in some of the photos, one perennial rests on another and the look is very informal, but within a certain boundary (i.e. border).  With our perennials, in addition to the easy feed and other fertilizers, once annually in early spring, I put out Osmocote pellets around all the plants to help with that first spring flush of growth.  In addition, now is a good time to prune out all the overgrowth and dead wood and conduct general clean-up duties.  Once the beds are clean of debris one can start putting down new mulch and preen, etc. to help with weed and grass growth later in the season.  It's also a good time to divide any plants that have gotten too big or have become leggy and unproductive (small/little blooms).  Remember spacing requirements for the plants as you don't want to overcrowd them.  Unlike annual bedding plants, perennial plants for the most part spread from season to season and thus why important to follow the spacing protocol.  Finally, I usually spot- plant annual bedding plants for added color during the growing season.  These can be "spotted" in the gaps throughout the garden.

Rose gardening, in my opinion, can be a bit more complex especially when growing hybrid tea roses.  Why do I say this?  Well, in order to grow beautiful HT roses, one must adopt a regular spray regimen that involves preventative and post measures for disease and insect control.  This involves spraying, fertilizing and pruning on a regular schedule.  The bed preparation for roses is noted in the preceding information.  An online retailer for anything you could want for rose growing is Rosemania.com.  In addition, located on the rosemania site is a very useful spray recommendation document. Another site worth a visit is the American Rose Society.  These sites coupled with your local extension service should provide ample information on products and information. 

For the roses I maintain the following schedule.  Once I started this routine, the roses out-performed my every expectation!  I attribute some of my success with rose gardening to a mentor of mine, Mr. Ted Mills.  Ted is the inventor of Mills Magic Mix and Easy Feed.  His products can also be purchased online via Rosemania.com.  Rosemania is a site well worth a visit with several informative articles.

Fertilization:
      Mills Magic Mix - twice per year at double the rate called for.
      Mills Easy Feed (liquid) - half dose twice as frequent as called for.  Bi-weekly
      Fish Emulsion (liquid) - once per month

      Click for my personal fertilizer calculator -- use and change formulas at your own risk.

Disease and Insect Control:
      BannerMax + Mancozeb + Merit (insecticide) every 10 days
      BannerMax + Conserve SC (insecticide) every 10 days (alternate the Mancozeb)
      Conserve SC, Talstar One and Merit alternated for thrip control when needed
      Orthene is also a very broad spectrum, systemic pesticide that works quite well.

Disease and Insects: Most perennials that I grow in my garden for the most part are not susceptible to the pest and disease damage that would require chemical control. However, having said that, I typically like to maintain the "perfect" look, so I have chosen to spray my perennial beds each time I go out to spray the roses for pests and disease. The main pest I'm faced with each growing season is Thrips (very hard to see in the blossoms). With my routine of BannerMax and Mancozeb (alternated), I have NEVER had blackspot or other fungal diseases. These products are amazing, especially given our hot, humid climate and all the water I put on my plants. Spider mites were a problem in years 1 and 2 of my garden, but in the past 2 years I have had no problem with them. These insects scurry about on the undersides of leaves and can be somewhat destructive before their ever noticed on the plants. One needs to proactively look for these critters as they're difficult to control once established in your garden.

Watering and Drainage: Watering your perennials including your rose bushes should be determined by the specific plants needs. A good rule of thumb that I use is to water roses in raised beds 1 to 2 inches weekly, especially in times of no rain. Roses, especially like to be watered regularly. However, like most any plant, good drainage is a must. Water in quantity (not frequency) while ensuring that the water can drain down and out. In our hot Louisiana climate, starting in May - Frost, I water my perennial beds about 3 times per week or the equivalent of about 1.5 to 2 inches. You can test how much water you're putting on your plants by placing a small cup in and around the beds. When the watering is done, you can then measure how much water is standing in the cup. This should help gage how much water you're providing the plants. I would rather a plant be too dry than drowning (which will certainly foster root rot). 

Gardening Hardiness Zones:  When purchasing any type of gardening plant you should find listed on the plant label a hardiness zone or zone range.  For instance, here in Northeast Louisiana our gardening zone is 8.  That zone is further broken down into a subzone.  Thus, Northeast Louisiana landscapes are located in specifically zone 8a.  To determine which zone you are located in use the map below as a guide.  You can also always check with your extension service for your specific state.  Just remember when purchasing plants, make sure it will grow properly in your gardening zone.  If you live in zone 8 and the label says the plant will grow in zones 4-9, then you're covered!  One other side note.  Some plant labels are now including references to heat zones.  Click here to view a large map of the USA detailing our various heat zones.  This will help you determine if your plant will grow well not only in the hardiness (cool temps) zones but will also provide an indicator if it will grow well in the various heat zones.

For gardening advice and my opinions, feel free to send me an e-mail at growit@perennialandrosegardening.net or visit my forum to get help from me and others.