Summer Getting started
By Dorothy Dobbie Photos by Gayl Punzalan
This is a guide for novice gardeners. It can’t answer all your questions, but it will help you get started. I have tried to identify some of the most common problems found in the garden.
Fertilizing
(look for the directions on the package). Assuming your grower sold you a well-rooted plant, a balanced fertilizer product where all three numbers are the same will do just fine for most plants. If your soil is good, It is not essential to fertilize perennials al- though they might appreciate the occasional topping up. If you do fertilize your perennials, stop the first week of August to give them time to begin shutting down for winter. Fertilizing at that time will keep them in a growth mode and unable to prepare their cells for the onslaught of frost to come. However, just before freeze up when the plant is dormant, give perennials
W 20 • Summer 2012
hat should I fertilize? Fertilize your potted annuals once a week with a water-soluble (powdered) fertil- izer at half strength or every two weeks at full strength
a good watering and, if you like, you can throw down some slow release fertilizer (the kind that comes in pellets) to get them go- ing in spring. Can I over fertilize? Yes. You can burn your plants with too
much fertilizer. Follow the directions for strength – generally one tablespoon of fertilizer per gallon of water – and NEVER add fertilizer to a dry pot. If your container has dried out, water first, then wait awhile and water again with the fertilizer mix- ture. You can also promote excessive leafy growth by adding too much fertilizer. This can be done at the expense of flowers, especially among perennials but also for hardy annuals such as cosmos, and it can also attract those pesky aphids, which adore fresh green growth.
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