Annual Care & Tips
Not getting the desired growth and look from your annuals? Well there are several things that can be done to increase growth. The first is to fertilize them regularly when entering the growing season to assist the process of production. Best time to re-fertilize annuals is when the first set of flower growth begins to dissipate. Try using “blossom booster” fertilizers marked 10-20-20 to further facilitate the growth process.
If you want your annuals to have a fuller look to them, consider snipping off the growing tip of a stem. This might seem like the opposite thing to do but snipping stems off actually stimulates side shoots to sprout out and encourages new growth. Certain types of impatiens, marigolds, and other annuals have actually been genetically bred to self branch during certain times. They have more of a natural fuller appeal to them and do not require any pinching.
When the blossoming period has passed, the large flowers that grew will now start to die off and leave you with a faded brown mushy looking flower head. It is recommended that you start deadheading these flower heads. This process in encouraged because when you snip off the flower cluster and stem, you prevent seed production. Seed production consumes a large amount of the plant’s energy. By removing unwanted unattractive flower clusters energy can be redirected towards producing new blooms.
Whenever you have plants growing in your garden, you will have numerous pests trying to eat them. These pests range from bunnies, chipmunks, slugs, caterpillars, and more. I always make daily or weekly checkups to observe any signs of pest damage. If there is, I usually go to my local garden center and pick up some pest remedies like barriers, earth friendly pesticides, and netting. Remember that the quicker you act on these pests, the less damage you will have in your garden.
Here are some tips to enjoy flowers in the winter and fall time. Take stem cuttings of tender flowers during the summer time before temperatures fall below 50° F. Root them indoors and bask in their greenery as they start to grow. Furthermore, with a little bit of luck, you might see a few flowers blooming in the winter. Best part is that you can now take more cuttings and place them out in the upcoming spring. It is better to use cuttings rather than old type garden plants because cuttings are more compact and versatile. Basically they blossom with little effort and space.
Save your seeds. Seeds turn from green to tan colors as they become riper and riper. It is important to note that seeds are not usable unless they are completely ripe. The seedpods open and sometimes explode when ripe. If they do explode, take a piece of net cheesecloth or even pantyhose and wrap it around the exploded seedpods to trap the seeds themselves inside. Place them in an envelope and store them for the planting period next year. Biennials, and sometimes hardy annuals, can have their seeds planted immediately.