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    Garden Flowers
    Garden Flowers
    Garden Flowers
    Ebook357 pages2 hours

    Garden Flowers

    By HarperCollins UK

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    About this ebook

    Whether planting with seeds or bulbs, in the earth or a container, cultivating flowers is made easy with Gem Garden Flowers. Filled with the helpful photography and easy-to-follow tips you expect from a Gem, this is the only book you need to start raising beautiful flowers.

    Planting flowers adds welcome colour, interest and fragrance to any garden, from large plots of land to the smallest windowbox. Gem Garden Flowers gives you the essential tips and details for selecting, planting and caring for flowers.

    With the absolute beginner in mind, this comprehensive guide offers an easy-to-use directory of over 125 of the most popular types of garden flowers. Essential information is covered for each plant, including where to site, when to plant, hardiness, vigour and flowering colour and period.

    Each entry also includes a ‘Care Tip’ box and a list of planting combinations to encourage gardeners to mix flowers attractively.

    An extensive section of practical information covers the basics of plant care. Particularly emphasised is planting up containers and hanging baskets, both good starting points for the first-time gardener.

    With Gem Garden Flowers, anyone can learn the basics of successful flower care.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateMay 24, 2012
    ISBN9780007483686
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      Book preview

      Garden Flowers - HarperCollins UK

      Garden Flowers

      Alan Toogood

      CONTENTS

      COVER

      TITLE PAGE

      INTRODUCTION

      HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

      PLANT CARE

      A–Z DIRECTORY OF GARDEN FLOWERS

      SEARCHABLE TERMS

      COPYRIGHT

      ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

      INTRODUCTION

      Gardeners use the term flowers to mean non-woody flowering plants – that is, plants other than trees, shrubs, roses and woody climbers.

      Paeonia ‘Bowl of Beauty’

      Tim Sandall

      Among the best known and most widely planted flowers are the perennials – plants that live for a number of years. Hardy perennials are those kinds that can be grown outdoors all year round in frost-prone climates. Tender perennials are sensitive to frost and cannot be grown outside all year round in cool and cold climates.

      Bulbs, corms and tubers form another large group of flowers and are to be seen in most gardens. As with perennials, these are either hardy, being able to survive all year round in frost-prone climates, or tender, liable to be damaged or killed by frost.

      A large group of flowers, the annuals and biennials are ephemeral, living for only a short time. Annuals grow from seed, flower, produce seeds and then die within one season or year. Most biennials that are grown in gardens are hardy. These plants grow from seed one year, flower and set seeds the next, and then die.

      HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

      This book is divided into two main parts. The opening pages guide you through all areas of garden practice, from assessing your site, through general care and pruning to propagation techniques. A directory of pests and diseases offers advice on how to solve the most common problems that you will encounter with these plants.

      Tim Sandall

      PLANT CARE

      ASSESSING YOUR GARDEN

      To be a successful flower gardener, you first need to assess the conditions prevailing in your garden.

      Aspect

      Find out which are the sunny parts of the garden and which are in shade for most of the day, and then choose suitable plants for each condition.

      Wind

      Constant wind can result in stunted and deformed growth. Therefore, try to overcome the problem as much as possible. Slow the wind down by filtering it with a semi-permeable screen.

      Soil

      It really pays to improve the soil in your garden before you start sowing or planting flowers. There are plenty of things you can do to improve it (Plant Care: Soil Preparation).

      Drainage

      If the soil becomes wet or waterlogged in winter it will need to be improved to make it drain more freely. Conditions can usually be improved by adding horticultural grit or coarse sand. Free-draining soils such as sandy and chalky types are unable to hold on to rainwater. Improve these soils by adding bulky organic matter. Choose plants suited to your soil conditions.

      Specific conditions

      Each garden is different, with its own specific, prevailing conditions. The illustration below is a representation of a ‘typical’ garden, comprising a number of different elements which often feature in most gardens.

      Tim Sandall

      SOIL PREPARATION

      Soil is initially prepared for flower growing by digging, which allows grit or sand and organic matter to be added and helps to aerate it and prevent compaction. Digging, best done in autumn, is not needed every year for permanent hardy perennials and bulbs, only before initial planting.

      Soil being initially prepared for planting must first be cleared of perennial weeds, as otherwise they will forever be a problem. This is most effectively achieved by spraying the weeds while they are in full growth with a weedkiller containing glyphosate.

      Before planting, scatter a general-purpose fertilizer over the dug soil and lightly fork it in, at the same time breaking down any lumps of soil. Firm the soil by treading systematically with your heels and then use a fork or rake to create a smooth, level surface in which to plant.

      Digging organic matter into your garden soil will help enrich it.

      Tim Sandall

      SOWING SEEDS

      Seeds of many flowering plants are sown in the open ground. Hardy annuals are sown in beds and borders in spring (or autumn) where they are to flower. Many of the easier hardy perennials such as lupins, delphiniums and columbines (Aquilegia) can be sown in a nursery bed in early summer and later transplanted to their flowering positions. Hardy biennials such as wallflowers (Erysimum), double daisies (Bellis), foxgloves (Digitalis) and forget-me-nots (Myosotis) are raised in the same way. Seeds of slow-germinating hardy bulbs, alpines and various hardy perennials are sown in pots outdoors or in a cold frame as soon as they are ripe.

      TIP: Seeds are the cheapest way to obtain new plants. A packet of seeds, promising many new plants, often costs much less than a single plant ready for planting out. Not only that, but there is a wider choice of plants and varieties available as seeds.

      Seed-bed preparation

      For seed sowing outdoors the soil surface needs to be smooth and level. Carry out all preparatory work only when the soil is dry or only slightly moist on the surface, never when wet.

      Break down lumps of soil with a fork. Then firm by systematically treading over the site with the weight on your heels. Lightly rake the surface until it is level and has a shallow layer of fine soil. Spread a general-purpose fertilizer over the surface and then thoroughly rake in. Apply at the rate recommended on the carton.

      Sowing in rows

      The usual and easiest way to sow seeds outdoors is in straight rows, in shallow furrows known as drills. To make drills, stretch a length of string, with each end tied to a short cane, where you want the drill. Using it as a guide, create a shallow furrow with a pointed stick. Sow seeds to about twice their own depth. Sprinkle thinly and evenly along the drill. Cover them by gently raking fine soil into the drill. Water the seed bed and keep the soil moist to encourage germination.

      Spread a general-purpose fertilizer over the soil.

      Tim Sandall

      Thoroughly rake in the fertilizer.

      Tim Sandall

      Broadcast sowing

      Another way of sowing seeds is to broadcast them, or scatter them thinly over the soil surface. Broadcast sowing can be used for hardy annuals, but bear in mind that thinning and weeding will be more tricky.

      Thinning seedlings

      Seedlings need to be thinned out to the correct distance apart to avoid overcrowding. Place a finger on the soil surface on each side of the seedling that is to remain to prevent it being pulled out, then gently pull out surplus seedlings on either side.

      Sowing in pots outdoors

      Use a soil-based seed compost and cover the seeds with a thin layer of compost, then a thin layer of coarse sand to prevent disturbance from rain. Sink the pots up to their rims in a bed of grit to prevent freezing.

      Use a pointed stick to create a shallow furrow.

      Tim Sandall

      Sprinkle seeds thinly along the drill.

      Tim Sandall

      PLANTING TECHNIQUES

      Plants that you have carefully raised or have purchased will eventually need to be planted out in their flowering positions.

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