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[P443]Plants For A Garden

by Jasmine Stone, Jas

Many times we buy plants on impulse then find there is nowhere in the garden that really suits them. Before buying plants carefully examine your garden to see how much sun and shade it gets, whether the soil is well drained or waterlogged and whether your aspect is sheltered or windswept. You'll then be equipped to go and buy the best plants for your situation; shade-loving plants for the sheltered areas, sun-lovers for the warm spots, drought-resistant plants for the parched areas which may be either sunny or shaded, and swamp plants for the poorly-drained parts.

But wait! Test your soil first, to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, but there are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil's pH level, but it's much easier to simply plant for the soil you have.

Now you are ready to plant. Well - almost. Will you plant in groups or singly? If you buy 'one of everything' your garden may seem rather spotty. Group plantings are organised, harmonious and you can vary the color for interest.

Before planting out, place your chosen plants around the garden bed in their pots to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied. Grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures of plants. Tall plants should go to the back, or the centre if your garden will be viewed equally from all sides. Try to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are fiercely competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your flowers.

The right color scheme is one way to maintain the harmony in your garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may clash with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.

Before you buy new plants for your garden, no matter where you are getting them from, there are a number of things you should look for to determine whether or not it is good enough to plant, although the chances are that there is less likelihood of disease if you buy your new plants from a reputable garden centre or nursery. The main thing you are looking for is the health of the plant you are thinking of buying as you don't want to introduce new diseases to you garden that might spread to your other flowers and plants.

Having said that a reputable garden centre or nursery is the best place to buy your new plants that doesn't mean it is impossible for these plants to have diseases, so you still need to be careful and inspect the plants carefully before handing over your money.

You might think that you don't know enough about plants to determine if they are healthy or not, but you can apply some common sense which will normally serve you well. If a plant looks unhealthy, then the chances are it is unhealthy and you should steer clear of buying it. Plants that are unhealthy will generally show symptoms of it.

The main things to look at are the leaves, roots and stems of the plant as closely as you can. The other thing to take into consideration is the soil the plant has been grown in as this will give you a good idea whether or not the plants has been well looked after. The wrong type of soil or compost can have a huge effect on the ability of a plant to flourish.

If you are looking to buy some nicely coloured new flowers for your garden, don't necessarily go for the ones with fully open flowers that look impressive. Normally the ones to go for are the ones that are yet to flower. One of the reasons for this is transport. If your plant has already flowered the chances are the flowers will get damaged during transportation home. Also, plants that are yet to flower have still got quite an amount of energy stored up that they haven't yet used up on flowers and so they are more able to withstand the trauma of moving
them into your garden.

If the garden centre are down to their last few specimens of a plant or flower that you really do want to buy then it may be beneficial to remove all the flowers. While this may sound counterintuitive, it is thought that this will give the plant a much better chance of survival and may actually lead to more and better flowers in the long run.

Again, all of this is mostly down to common sense. If something doesn't look right about a particular plant that you are thinking of buying the ask for advice or better still, don't buy it and find either a better specimen or go for something different.

Article Source : Pg. 17

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Both Jasmine Stone & Wayne Armstrong are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jasmine Stone has sinced written about articles on various topics from Pets, Greenhouse Garden and Health. Want to find out about and. Jasmine Stone's top article generates over 823000 views. to your Favourites.

Wayne Armstrong has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gardening, Lawn Care and Greenhouse Garden. Great tips, secrets and ideas for a fantastic garden at . Wayne Armstrong's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.