Plants and Flowers

Great number of consumers around the world found out, that so called Lucky Bamboo is the perfect office or home plant, which needs so little care to be happy and thriving.
Known for many years as Lucky Bamboo, this plant is not a bamboo, as its botanical name is Dracaena. And grows it in Southeast Asia and Africa dark tropical rainforests.
This plant likes lavish watering, so always keep water levels at about an inch from the base of the canes. It prefers plenty of indirect sunlight and room temperatures at 65-70o F. Though opinions on feeding differ, your Dracaena is a living organism, so it will be useful to add a mild fertilizer from time to time. Since growth depends on feeding, small amounts of fertilizer will keep it at a suitable size.
Like any other plant in your house, Lucky Bamboo can be transferred to a container or pot 2″ larger than the original, or planted for some time into a loose sand or soil mixture providing lots of bottom drainage. To avoid root rot, be sure to let the top of the soil dry out between watering.

Recently planted bamboos require frequent and generous watering. Give your plant good watering two times a week if the weather is mild, and perhaps even daily during hot or windy weather. Check whether each plant under 18,93 liters pot size gets at least 1,89 liters of water. If your plant is over 18,93 liters size more than 3,79 liters is needed. When bamboo reaches the desired size, it can grow with less watering. But until then you must water and fertilize abundantly to get best growth. Insufficient watering mainly in hot or windy weather is the main cause of failure or bad growth of new plants. Over watering of the newly planted bamboos can cause excess leaf drop. Well-acclimatized bamboos are rather lenient to flooding, but newly planted bamboos can suffer from excessive as well as insufficient watering.
Planted in a suitable site, full sun for most of the species, partial shade for some and given sufficient water, Bamboo can grow and eventually flourish. But if you want to see a healthy and attractive plant, you should fertilize it. You may use a lawn fertilizer, as it is high in nitrogen, or an organic fertilizer, though it is more expensive.

In areas with mild climates Bamboos can be planted at any time of the year. In colder parts of the world they should be planted outdoors early in the spring to become acclimatized and to harden off enough to outlive their first winter. If you plant bamboo late in the year, you should mulch the plant heavily and provide additional protection from any rain and cold and drying winds. In colder climates where bamboos may be casual, successful growing usually depends upon heavy mulch through the winter. Even in very cold climates in an established bamboo copse with a thick layer of bamboo leaves on the ground, the soil will be soft and fragile when surrounding soil is hard and deep frozen.
If you don’t have suitable place to put Bamboo in the ground, you may grow it in a container, but this time you should more care for the plant. Watering is crucial factor as bamboo does not like to dry out, nor to be swampy. In containers bamboos, especially those that are not well adapted to hot sun, need more care in placement as the pot may be overheated in sun. And during winter, container bamboos are sensitive to freezing and may die, unless they are well protected. Nevertheless, Bamboo can become a nice pot plant if its requirements are met.

Although most people plan where to plant their bamboo, you should bear in mind that most large bamboos grow quicker in full sun. They must be given enough water, fertilizer, and protection from weeds. Smaller plants will benefit from a windscreen and light shade when first planted as well. Actually the Fargesias and most Thamnocalamus are happier when they are in shade during the hottest part of a day. Most bamboos can be spread by their underground rhizomes and this must be viewed when planting.
Most bamboos like a moderately acidic loamy soil. If your soil is very heavy you can add organic material. The easiest thing is to mulch very heavily soil where the bamboo will be planted, and let the earthworms do their work. Bamboo is a forest plant and does well if mulch is kept over the roots and rhizomes. You shouldn’t rake or sweep up the bamboo leaves from under the tree, as they keep the soil soft, and damp, and recycle quartz and other natural chemicals necessary to the plant. Nearly any organic material will be good as mulch. Grass is one of the best, as it contains nitrogen and silica. Made at home or sold compost is great. Hay is a good mulch also but it is often a source of weed seeds, so that can be a problem in the future. Any kind of dung is good, unless it is too hot.

We are going to tell you how to plant what’s called a “mixed border” in which small flowering trees and bushes join flowers in a planting that can look pleasant all season.
This style is appropriate for today’s smaller ownerships, which don’t have much space for separate beds of shrubberies and flowers - yet another reason not to limit width of your beds. Planting of trees and shrubberies is the easiest way to create all-season color and variety. And if you choose heedfully, they can be among your easiest in care plants.
A garden overloaded with various plants in different separate areas tends to look littery and need something to pull it all together. Garden designers recommend planting all except some of the largest stand-alone or specimen plants in casual-numbered groups of three or five. But all depends on available space; this is also a good idea for shrubberies, which also may be of various sizes and function.

Study the dampness, soil and sunlight requirements of the chosen tree or shrub, so that they match the conditions in your yard or garden. For example, woody plants that grow best in damp conditions will do badly in areas with dry soil, unless you are going to give enough attention to watering.
Think over the full-grown size and shape of the small trees and shrubberies you want to plant. The main mistake people make in planning their gardens, it’s that they always seem to forget that plants grow! And then they spend much time pruning (generally that means cutting and maiming) their trees and shrubberies to make them smaller. To make your gardening easier and more pleasant for the long time, take some time to search the necessary-sized trees and shrubberies before you plant them.
Sorrowfully, but most neighborhoods are stuffed with just a few basic trees and shrubberies. There’s a great number of beautiful woody plants to choose from, so it’s not so hard to add some plant variety to your garden. Don’t just plant what your neighbors have.

If you have never planted a tree and have no idea, how to do it, anyway it doesn’t have to be an intimidating project for you.
Planting a tree or bushes is similar to planting perennials, and demands only more physical strength.
You shouldn’t change the soil when planting woody plants, except for that cases, when there’s no topsoil at all, such as in the yards of new-built houses where builders haven’t spread nearly enough good soil. In that case, an area far wider than the planting hole should be enriched with plenty of compost and leaf mould.

But in most home gardens, it’s better not to change soil, so that your tree or bush gets acclimatized to the soil where it’s growing; otherwise roots can stay in the amended area instead of growing into surrounding soil.

This perennial vegetable is marked with attractive, feathered fern-like leafage that can grow to 3 feet tall. To prepare the asparagus bed you will need time and effort, but if the bed is done properly, it will last for years.
In the North plants should be set out in early spring. In the South, set them out in the autumn because it can be so hot in the summer that the young plants may die. Asparagus grows well in most types of soil, but it should be well drained. Put plants 2 feet apart with 5 feet between the rows. One established bed will grow for three seasons; 25-30 plants will produce enough asparagus.
Dig a ditch 12-18 inches deep and the length, which you may wish. Add 6-7 inches of aged dung or compost or a little bog moss. Add some balanced fertilizer and add a couple of inches of soil from beside the trench and mix this well.
With the prepared mixture, build up mounds at the bottom of the ditch about a foot apart. Set each crown on top of a mound and drape the roots down the sides. If roots are placed flat, growth will be slow.
Fill the ditches ensuring that the plants are at least four inches below the soil surface. The soil level of the row should be a little below the rest of the garden. When the sprouts grow up, fill in the ditch with a little more soil to give the stems additional support.

Put thick mulch around the small sprouts after they come up to prevent weeds growth and hold plants in moisture. Let the new plants grow during the summer and autumn without cutting grafts or ferns. Let the tops die in late autumn without interference form your side.
You may begin with two-year-old roots ordered from garden supply store. One-year-old plants will be cheaper for sure but younger plants often don’t survive transplanting. Very persistent gardener may try to sow seeds in special boxes and transplant them to their permanent places when they are two years old.
The next spring and every spring in future you need to cut the old ferns that died over the previous autumn or winter and clear them out before asparagus begin to grow. Also remove any mulch which has left in the bed. Fertilize and cultivate the soil well, but be careful of spreading roots.
The third year repeat the process of cutting back the ferns, removing the mulch and fertilizing. Reap some shoots by cutting with a sharp knife just below the soil when they are 6-8 inches tall. Cut only that ones that are as thick as your finger and let the thin ones grow into ferns.
Each year you will need to leave some shoots to grow into ferns. After the last harvest, pull all weeds and fertilize the bed. Mulch heavily to prevent the growth of weeds.

Weeds may appear, even if you used mulch and add herbicide to the soil. Remove weeds as soon as possible as they also need water and nutrients and will take them. Remove them carefully especially when your annual flowers are young, not to disturb their roots.
Changing of color areas
In most cases color areas can be changed out 2-3 times per year. Spring planted flowers are usually set out from late February till the first of June. The second planting of annuals tolerant to the summer heat, such as verbena or periwinkle is frequently used from June till the end of the summer. Managing color change outs is an important part in making flowers to look their best.
Purchase all the colorful plants that you may see and put them into any empty spaces left in the landscape. It’s the easiest way and the most simple. However, sooner or later, most gardeners want more from flowering plants than bright marks of random color.
There are several simple “rules” you should know. First, color is more visually effective when used in mass in your landscape. Try to avoid placing small color areas in the landscape. It’s too hard to see them.