Annual Plants

You can get some good bargains. Young plants in six or eight packs of the same variety are often sold at a very low price. The seedlings should be well rooted but not need be in bloom. Beware of starved and dried-up left overs once planting season is over. Climbing annuals will disguise a chain-link fence or screening around garbage cans. Morning glory, scarlet runner beans, black eyed susan vine, sweet peas, and hyacinth bean are some good climbers. For shady gardens Impatiens,fiberous begonias, coleus, wishbone flower, and monkey flower are good shade- tolerant plants. Use bushy or trailing annuals for pots and window boxes. Marigolds, heliotrope, petunias, verbenas, thunbergia, and lobelia are idea. But avoid tall plants like sunflowers, which look awkward in small containers. A sunny location with good drainage is more important to most annuals than soil quality. Plant them in the empty spaces between shrubs, foundation plants, perennials, or rows of vegetables. To give half-hardy annuals a head start plant them indoors. Place chicken wire over your seeding tray, put a seed in each hole so that they will grow evenly. This will make it easier to separate the seedlings for transplanting. Dress up your garden with annuals, while you wait for perennials to take hold. Since they germinate, bloom, and die within a single season, there is no need to dig them up once the perennials are established. Massing a single color will create a elegant, unified effect suitable for terraces, planters and window boxes. Pastels such as whites, lavenders, pinks, yellows show best in early morning and evening light. Plenty of moisture is essential for young plants. First soak them in a tub of water, plant them only after the root ball is thoroughly wet. Also soak the planting hole with a good watering. Annuals DO NOT like manure. Too much nitrogen results in plants with too many leaves, too many stems and few flowers. The only manure suitable for use on annuals is one that has been dried for at least 2 years. Pinching young plants helps them become stockier and bushier, but will delay blooming. Annuals such as sweet pea, godetia, coleus, clarkia, snapdragon, petunia, red salvia, and nicotana benefit from pinching. To do this use your thumb and forefinger to nip out the growing tip of the main stem just above a leaf or a pair of leaves. To dead head use shears or scissors to remove dead flowers from annuals that bloom in flushes, like petunias, California poppies, marigolds, and coreopsis. Put annuals into pots at the end of summer. Species such as coleus, impatiens, browailia, geranium, wishbone flower will provide attractive blooms in your home for several months.

Aluminum Foil

By wrapping trunks loosely in sheets of foil to height of 45cm(18in) you can protect trees from mice and rabbits. The glittering, rattling surface keeps them away. To speed up growth and protect against insects use aluminum foil mulch, stretch it between the rows of plants and use rocks or bricks along the edge to anchor. The light the foil reflects can increase yields. especially in cloudy regions, and speed up the ripening of tomatoes or the blooming of a rose bush by 2 weeks. The foil also keeps thrips and aphids away. To save money if you are going to use a large amount of foil, use black plastic mulch and paint it with aluminum colored paint. Keep birds away with cut-out patterns of cardboard such as stars, circles, seashells, wrapped in aluminum. Hang them from the branches of ripening berry bushes and trees. If you want to boost winter light for your house plants, cover a panel of cardboard with foil and position it on a wall so that it reflects the light from a window onto your potted plants. It will not boost their growth but will keep them evenly shaped. To give forced crocus and hyacinth bulbs the darkness they need. Place them on a chilly window sill and cover them with a cone of foil. Remove the foil when crocus shoots reach 5cm(2in) and when hyacinth shoots reach 10cm(4in).

Altitude

The climate varies with altitude, if you live in a mountainous or hilly region you move a full hardiness zone to the north for every 1,000m(3,000ft) you climb. Elevation also effects the lenght of the growing season. Mountainside gardens are subject to drought: rainwater runs off before it can sink in. Terraced plantings will slow down the run off and absorb it. North-facing slopes receive less sunshine than south facing slopes. This can be a liability in winter, but on the other-hand it can be an advantage in mid-summer when heat sensitive plants such as alpines or ferns find the north slope more suitable. Plants may need extra shade at higher elevations. A garden on a clear day at 915m(3,000ft) above sea level will get 20 percent more sunshine ten one at sea level. If you live at a high elevation, keep plants well watered and avoid sun-sensitive species such as impatiens. But tomatoes and many other vegetables thrive in the intense sun of high altitudes. Frequent doses of organic matter(compost) greatly benefit gardens on hillsides and in mountainous regions. Keep conifer branches from breaking under the weight of heavy snow by tying them with rope. Flowering shrubs and trees which adapt in higher elevation are French hybrid lilacs, the Colorado spruce, high bush cranberries, and the hawthorn. Rosa hugonis and R.rugosa species of roses and their hybrids prosper at high altitudes. Annuals such as the cosmoses and morning glory adapt well in higher altitudes.

Aloe

These African native plants grow best, in warmth and sunlight, so place in full sunlight―except those with speckled leaves, which need midday shade. Regular summmer watering, rich soil, good drainage are also important. Most species will not survive temperatures below 4°C(40°F). The sap from the homegrown salve will sooth minor skin rashes and sunburn. Cut a leaf of the plant at it's fleshy base and split it open with a knife or razor. Scrape out the sap with a spoon and apply it to the skin. But be sure to handle it carefully as it can leave a ugly yellow stain on your clothes. The Aloe vera, the most commonly grown species, is used more for it's medicinal attributes then it's beauty. The Variegata a more attractive plant has leaves edged in yellow. If you choose to grow it, never allow water to collect at the base of the leaves it will rot the roots. This plant has a strong dislike of chalky water. When growing aloes in pots, provide a moist porous potting mixture by using 2 parts soil, 2 parts perlite or course sand, ¼ part bonemeal, and ½ part dehydrated cow manure. Keep your potted aloe at a minimum temperature of 10°to12°C(50°to 55°F).

Alkaline Soil

By adding a few drops of cider vinegar to a soil sample, you can test the alkalinity of the soil. If it fizzes the soil is alkaline, or use a home test kit. To reduce alkalinity add acidic materials such as peat moss, sulfur, or aluminum sulfate to your soil. Add 2.5kg(5lb) of peat moss, 350g to 1kg(¾-2½lb) of sulfur, or 2.5 to 7kg(5-15lb) of aluminum sulfate per 9m²(100ft²) to lower the pH by one unit. Use smaller amounts of additives in sandy soils and larger amounts in heaver (clay) soils. By improving drainage you may help reduce alkalinity by allowing water to wash through and carry away alkaline salts. Place plenty of dead leaves, compost-or other organic matter into the bottom of planting holes. Coffee grounds also help to reduce alkalinity too. Dig a good helping into the soil. Spreading a organic mulch on the ground like a blanket prevents surface evaporation of water and the build-up of alkaline salts. Use straw or dead leaves. Some desirable flowering plants that like it best in a alkaline soil include madonna lily, purple cone flower, candy tuft, and phlox. Some alkalinity loving shrubs include liliac, juniper, hawthorn, peas shrub, and Russian olive.

Air Plants

Air plants grow without water. Many species of Tillandsia grow on trees and rocks and can absorb water from the air. These plants are often sold glued to a piece of wood. They can be pinned to drapes where they will get good light, and continue to grow without the need for water. A good idea is to mist them occasionally in the winter when the homes are very dry. The False autumn crocus is on sale in the summer and will flower the same fall if planted. It will also flower if placed in a bright window without being potted or watered at all. Plant it immediately, the flowers fade so it has time to make roots before winter.

Agave

Folklore says, the century plant flowers once in a 100 years. In fact, the plant may bloom its first and only time in 10 years then dies. Grow agaves outside as container plants, hardy only to 4°C(40°F) in summer. When winter comes store the plants in the basement and keep them dry. Some agaves make goood houseplants, because of their slow rate of growth they do not need repotting often. The Utah agave with a grey-green spikey leaves marked with white stripes and hair like fibres on the edge of the leaves is another hardy species. Do not over fertilize to speed-up flowering, you will only risk damaging agaves without affecting bloom. Also agaves grown in pots may take longer to bloom then 10 to 50 year span of outdoor plants. Some economic uses of the plant are a alcoholic drink, made from the sap which is collected when the flower spike is removed. A source of fibres is used to make string and rope.

Acid Soil

Acids are produced when organic matter decays. They become increasingly sour as humus is worked in and chemicals are leached out. Soil acidity is measured by pH. A pH of 7 is neutral; any number above is alkaline any number below is acidic. A home test kit is available from most garden supply stores, so you can test your own soil. NOTE: a quick test goes as follows "wet a soil sample and add a pinch of baking soda. If the mix fizzes, the soil is too acidic for most garden plants and vegetables. Most garden plants prefer slightly acidic soil with a pH between 6 and 6.5. Fruits, vegetables, and flowers such as apples and raspberries, beans and peas, pansies and delphiniums prefer it this way. But other plants like more acid. Azaleas, foxgloves, heather, gardenias, blueberries, and camellias, for example need a soil pH between 4.5 and 6. If you want to lower the acidity in your garden soil, apply 1 to 5 kg of dolomitic limestone per 9m²(2½-10 lb per 100 ft²) of soil, depending on soil type― a heavy(clay) soil will require more amendment than a sandy one. If you need to raise the pH even higher, till the limestone into the top 15cm(6 in) of soil. Another way of sweeting the soil (lowering acidity) is to use ashes from a wood burning stove. Spread 2.5 to 5kg per 9m²(5-10 lb per 100²ft) to raise the pH by one unit. Regions with high rainfall, will have soil that acidifies more quickly, as calcium leaches through the soil. Even if the pH is at the right level sprinkle the soil with limestone, which will slowly work it's way downward.