27 of the Best Dahlia Varieties for Your Garden
27.02.2024 - 16:01 / gardenerspath.com / Gretchen Heber
Why Autumn is the Best Time for Planting Shrubs
The cooler temperatures of fall are an invitation to leave the blast-chiller air conditioning behind, and step outside and enjoy that certain crispness that characterizes autumn.
And while you’re out there, why not install a few shrubs into your landscape? As with trees, autumn is generally considered to be the best time to plant ornamental bushes.
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Let’s learn why you should plant in autumn, what “fall” really means, and how to plant woody plants!
Why Fall Is BestFor one thing, as we mentioned above, the weather is cooler but still tolerable in fall. Humidity is often lower, too.
Do you really want to be sweating buckets while digging holes in August? Me neither. So, to start with, fall is a comfortable and enjoyable time to be outdoors.
More importantly, however, planting shrubs in the fall allows the plants to establish an extensive root system before winter sets in.
In fall, the plants aren’t programmed to produce shoots or leaves, but in a newly planted situation, they’ll spend their energy developing roots, so come springtime, they’ll be able to draw plenty of resources for above-ground development.
Plants that get a head start on root development in the fall will be in better position for summer’s climatic challenges.
Another good reason to plant in the fall is that garden centers often put plant material on sale at this time of year. And who appreciates a bargain more than gardeners?
A no-duh caveat: If you’re hankering to plant a shrub that’s winter-tender in your area, then it’s best to wait until spring.
It’s September, But Still Really HotIt’s
27 of the Best Dahlia Varieties for Your Garden
A solar water feature is a wonderful addition to the garden, bringing the relaxing sound of a babbling brook into a residential space. Solar water features also have the added benefit of being much better for the environment than their mains-powered counterparts, using clean energy that won’t cost – or harm – the earth.
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The beautiful balcony plants on the terrace at the London house of Henrietta Courtauld of the Land Gardeners
They say that you can tell a surprising amount about a gardener by the kind of potatoes they grow. Some of us, for example, are traditionalists who’ll plump for the floury, fluffy ‘British Queen’ (colloquially known as ‘Queens’) every time. Others are passionate foodies who prefer the firm, waxy, flavoursome, yellow flesh of a salad potato such as ‘Charlotte’, or the heirloom ‘La Ratte’. Individualists, meanwhile, often like to seek out unusual kinds, such as the dark magenta-fleshed ‘Vitanoire’, or the knobbly ‘Pink Fir Apple’, the heritage variety famed for its more-ishness.
Britain is famously a nation of wildlife lovers. But with a 68% drop in wild animal populations since 1970, it’s more important than ever to look out for the natural world.
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Good gift inspiration for gardening mothers can be hard to come by. A thoughtful present for a Mother’s Day could be anything from a comfortable knee pad, to a personalised pot but to give it that special touch for Mother’s Day requires something more than just practicality.
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