Campbell & Ferrara

          Outdoor Living®

                    http://www.campbellferrara.com/


DESIGNING CONTAINER GARDENS & WINDOW BOXES

Selection, arrangement and location of your plants will determine the overall visual impact and success of your planting design. The following tips will help you to create a display that you will enjoy for months. Do not be afraid to experiment and above all - enjoy this gardening experience!

• The location of your displays determine your choice of plants. You must know the amount of sun exposure your selected display area receives per day. If you have less than four hours of sun you will need shade plants. Some plants prefer morning sun rather than scorching afternoon sun. Others will be happy to sunbather all day long!

• Annuals or perennials? Annuals have a longer flowering period than most perennials. You will get five or more months of color from annuals if you plant them as soon as the last frost is past. Perennials with proper care will come back next year. If you choose to plant perennials in pots, beware of frost damage.

• A good display requires lots of plants. Do not be afraid of over-filling your containers.

• Beware of plants that take over the display; it’s a delicate balance.

• Use a good potting soil in your containers; MIRACLE- GRO POTTING SOIL.

• When you first bring your plants home you may find that they are root bound. If so, gently pair away some of the roots so that the roots will no longer wrap around each other. They will then spread out and down, enabling quicker growth. For planting in a container, make a hole twice the size of the root ball in width, but the same size of the root ball in height. This enables the roots to spread out without hitting a wall of earth which hasn’t been turned.

• Keeping your containers looking good means deadheading! It is important to know where to snip off the flower head. If you don’t know where to snip, you may be leaving the seed head behind; the plant won’t flower from that point again and will “go to seed”. Deadheading also prevents ‘die back’. Die back occurs from the point of flowering and causes some plants to become woody and stop flowering. When you cut off the flower head, you need to go right back to the stalk or back to the first leaf of the stalk. If you need further advice, either myself or another of our plant experts will be happy to help you.

• Fertilizing your plants once a week with a liquid or leaf feed generates new growth and continuous flowering, right up until the first frost; MIRACLE-GRO PLANT FOOD.

• Water your plants as needed. For containers, try to judge the need by inserting your finger into the soil. If the first 2 inches of soil are wet, you don’t have to water. In hot weather you may have to water containers everyday. After a light shower, your plants may still require a good soaking. Use a water meter to accurately determine the moisture in the soil.

Our friendly plant experts would love to help you with your plant selections!