Celebrating
93 years, 1914-2007 Celebrating
93 years, 1914-2007
Are your flowerbeds and flower pots looking a bit tired. If you have not been deadheading on a regular basis and pinching back the tips of petunias, marigolds, etc. you will end up with straggling flowers
All plants respond to deadheading by sending out new flowers. If you do not deadhead then the plants will start to prepare for winter by forming seeds. This is great if you wish to collect the seeds for next year but you can deadhead up to the middle of September and still get good seeds.
This practice is another summer long ritual that will bring you good results. When your plants start to get a bit leggy, cut back every third stem about two or three inches the first week. The second week cut back one third of the remaining long stems back the same amount and the third week cut the last third. This will allow the plant to send out new shoots without sacrificing the overall look of the plant.
After you have deadheaded and cut back your plants, give them a little water soluble fertilizer to encourage growth. Follow package directions. Remember that pots dry out quickly and therefore you need to water and fertilize on a regular basis
There is nothing like a trip to your favourite garden centre this time of year to pick up some mums, winter pansy’s and other varieties of plants that you can add to your planters (keep in pots and tuck into your planter). You can spot these plants around to make a more colourful garden and to fill in bare spots.
Watch for more helpful hints in the future. Do you have any gardening questions? Send them to jeany@newcastlegarden.com and I will try to answer them.
Jeany Barrett is
Vice President of the Newcastle Horticultural Society with special emphasis on
the youth gardening program. Ours thanks to Jeany for this contribution,
we hope you enjoyed this article and those to come.
The Webmaster