Spacing Leaf To Leaf

Gardeners tend to have very tight plant spacing in window boxes and containers, but in open beds, the best strategy is to space seedlings so that they’ll barely touch each other when they reach full maturity. Because different annual flowers grow to different sizes, the amount of space they require varies. The plant tags tucked into the containers of bedding plants often suggest the best spacing.

Instead of setting your annuals in straight lines, try staggering them in a concentrated zigzag pattern so that you have two or more offset rows of plants. This planting design fills a large space more uniformly and looks less rigid than plants lined up in rows. Better yet, plant groups of similar annuals in teardrop-shaped clumps (called drifts); this design often looks more natural and helps create focal points in the design. The clump approach also allows you to more easily care for many flowers. When planning your planting arrangement, you can estimate the plant spacing and simply make little holes in the prepared bed where you intend to set the plants. Or you can mark the planting spots with craft sticks or lightly dust each spot with plain all-purpose flour. If you already purchased plants in individual containers, simply place the plants where you intend to plant them, and move them around as needed until you’re happy with the arrangement.

Extras And Understudies

Frequently, after planting your garden, you end up with a few extra bedding plants. Don’t throw them away. If your garden follows a formal design, where even one additional plant would stand out, transplant the extras to slightly larger individual pots. This way, if a few plants spontaneously expire or get dug up by your neighbor’s dog, you can quickly plug in a replacement that’s an exact match. Another way to use annual orphans is to plant them together in large containers. Place the tallest, most upright flowers in the middle and surround them with smaller plants. In a few weeks, you’ll have a remarkably pretty container bouquet that looks like you spent hours designing it.

Digging Up Some Dirt

Whether you buy your seedlings or grow them from seeds, follow these steps to ensure that your plants get off to a good start in your garden:

• The day before transplanting, water the planting bed so that it will be lightly moist when you set out your plants.
  Transplant during cloudy weather or late in the day. Hot sun during transplanting causes unnecessary stress to the little plants.
• Water your seedlings thoroughly a few hours before transplanting, and then carefully remove the seedling from the container.
  If small roots are knotted around the outside of the drainage holes, pinch off the roots and discard them before trying to remove the plants. Then push and squeeze on the bottom of the container to make the entire root ball slip out intact. If it won’t come out easily, use a table knife to gently pry it out, the same way you might remove a sticky cake from a pan. Pull on the top of the plant only as a last resort.
• Gently tease roots apart.
  Use your fingers or a table fork to loosen the tangle of roots at the bottom of the root ball, which encourages the roots to spread out into the surrounding soil.
• Make final spacing decisions and dig planting holes slightly larger than the root balls of the plants.
  Set the plants in the holes at the same depth they grew in their containers.
• Lightly firm soil around the roots with your hands to remove any air pockets around the plant’s roots.  ....read more