Growing ferns

Many people do not realize that ferns play a vital role in the ecology of gardens. Ferns are very durable plants and some are exceptionally beautiful. Ferns can generally be recognized by their leaves or fronds. These fronds can vary from plain to dark green, leathery to lacy, shiny to dull and small to big.

Ferns are hardy plants and not very susceptible to pests and disease. Ferns can grow in places where most plants will not. These beautiful plants have an exciting diversity that can only be appreciated by growing them.

Ferns generally thrive in the shade and in areas where the soil is moist but well drained. The soil must be rich in organic matter. If you can supply shade and well drained rich soil, you can grow any type of fern.

There are many types of ferns for the landscape. The deciduous grow well in summer and die back to the ground during winter. The evergreen ferns are durable and can grow even in freezing cold temperatures. Ferns can even be grown inside the home. Ferns usually grow best in zones 2-6. Ferns can be used for ground cover or to make a fence. Ferns do not require a lot of space. Some well-known ferns that love shade and moist soil include the primroses, astilbes and hostas

What should one know prior to developing a good landscape? part 1

The majority of individuals who start out in landscaping or gardening have very little idea about the different plants and growth requirements. The average consumer simply walks into a store or goes online and buys the most colorful plant. And the result in most cases is an inevitable failure. For successful gardening or landscaping, one should start to read or ask questions about plants before buying them. Good plant selection is the chief requirement for successful landscaping. The landscape can only look as good as the plants you select. If you select poor plants, you will get an awful scene and vice versa.

The other criteria when choosing plants is to know where you will place them. Many consumers buy a plant, then find it is too big for the house, and then place it somewhere in the back yard. This is considered poor planning. Secondly, if you do not want to work hard, buy plants that require low maintenance. Plants can grow wild and make your landscape look very messy if you do not maintain them. Other things one should know before buying a plant is what size it will grow to, what season it blooms and whether is it susceptible to insects.

Bulbs 101

BULBS

A bulb is an underground vertical stem that has tailored leaves with thick bases. The leaves of bulbs are frequently used as food storage pedicles when the plant is dormant.
The leaves of the bulb generally do not support the leaves. Plants that form true bulbs include onions, garlic, lily, tulip, amaryllis, and Iris.

Most flower bulbs necessitate a cold climate to bloom perennially. In southern part of the country, bulb species have evolved that do not always need this recurrent frosty weather to multiply. These bulbs, which grow in Florida, Tennessee, Arizona, and Texas, include several species of narcissus, French Roman Hyacinth, and the tulip.

Bulbs are easy care plants. They are a lot easier to handle than tiny seeds. However, there are two provisos; you must choose the right bulb to grow. Once grown, bulbs are hardy with a good reputation for reliability and can be left in the ground to come up year after year. There are many bulbs to choose from like, Botanical tulips, snowdrops, grape hyacinths, narcissi and daffodils. There are others that have to be lifted out of the ground and stored for the year after; these are garden tulips, hyacinths and nearly all gladioli. You usually do that once the foliage is shriveled.

The second proviso is you must plant bulbs in the right place. There are two important things one must remember; the main one being that once the foliage dies down once the flowering is over- this can be quite unsightly with large plants. You must not cut these large plant off until it is brown and withered. The next important thing is to remember where to plant bulbs, since many bulbs spread quite rapidly by self-seeding. Thus, one should not set them too close to delicate plants which maybe over run.

What is a Nursery?

A nursery is a setting where plants are produced by a variety of methods and grown to a size where they are sold. There are two basic types of nurseries- retail stores that sell their plant products to the general public and wholesales nurseries that sell only to other recognized nurseries, privileged nurseries and to industrious landscape gardeners. Today many nurseries have established themselves online and sell their plants products by mail order.

Type of plants in a nursery

The majority of nurseries grow a wide variety of annuals, perennials, woody plants, trees, and shrubs. The plants sold at nurseries can be used to beautify the landscape, make the home garden pretty or one can even buy vegetable and agricultural plants. Nurseries can also be very focused and may be involved in only one period of plant growth. Some nurseries only propagate plants, others grow the adult plants, some only sell plants for landscaping and other sells plants for ground cover (e.g. shade trees, rock garden plants).

There are several ways to propagate plants but most nurseries use methods like budding, grafting or layering.