Planter pointers
Our gardening expert shares his simple tricks to keep potted plants alive and well and showing off until the first fall frosts.
Potted plants are the perfect solution for adding instant botanical interest outdoors to a sidewalk, porch, window, patio or deck this summer, and while they tend to be low-maintenance, there are plenty of simple tricks to fine-tune the art of keeping these contained creations alive, well and showing off until the first fall frosts. Here are a few such pointers for your planter pleasure.
Clay or plastic? Clay pots are popular because their weight permits plant groupings to grow tall with less risk of becoming top-heavy. However, unlike with lighter plastic pots, soil moisture can leech through the clay sides, so they need to be watered more often.
Baby your soil. Mixing SAP (Super Absorbent Polymers) with the soil lessens the need to water plant containers so often. SAP products can usually be found in garden shops, but the soil can also be pampered—literally—for less. Simply place a clean absorbent diaper plastic-side down 6 to 12 inches (depending on the size of the plants) under the dirt in the pot or window box. Make a few cuts to expose the moisture-retaining polymer flakes.
Fertilize on a regular schedule. The more a planter is irrigated, the quicker nutrients are washed out of the soil, so make it a habit during the growing season to substitute plain water with a diluted fertilizer solution every three to four weeks.
Made in the shade. Many summer containers are filled with sun-worshiping plants, but, in such small spaces, too much of Ol’ Sol is not necessarily a good thing. To moderate the solar sizzle, place planters where they will be shielded from the worst of the sun's rays in the afternoon. Also, keep in mind that light colors reflect more of the sun’s heat than dark hues on containers, and in doing so, help keep enclosed root systems cooler.
Plant some company. Visually soften the edges of pots and window boxes by including such wandering, low-growing plants as lysimachia, creeping thyme, ornamental sweet potato or even mint that will readily, playfully flow down the sides. On a practical note, these creative plant coverings also act as living mulch to deflect sun rays from contained soil, which helps cool the enclosed dirt and prevent moisture loss.
Lighten the load. A pretty planter doesn't have to be a heavy planter. To make it less of a beast to move around, add Styrofoam peanuts to the bottom quarter to third of the container and then finish filling with a quality potting soil.
___
July in the garden
• Don't mow grass when it is wet! This could not only result in an uneven, raggedy cut across the entire lawn that nosy neighbors might talk about, but it can also encourage the spread of grass diseases.
• Pesky squirrels, dogs and cats enjoying your garden too much? Their romps through your plants can be made less fun with liberal sprinklings of sneeze-inducing, finely ground black pepper. Additional applications will be necessary after each rain.
• Have you made any mud lately? Fill a large, shallow bowl, such as a large planter saucer or old birdbath, with about an inch of rich garden dirt, add water until it is the consistency of muck, and moisten it frequently to maintain the mix so it is more like goo and less like concrete. Then, see how many butterflies flit in for the moisture and nutrients they like to find in wet dirt.
___
Tip of the month
When the flowers of daylilies fade away, pick off the spent blossoms. For reblooming cultivars, this will encourage even more flowers, but for all daylilies, it will prevent seed production, which saps energy that would otherwise be stored and used for next year's fancy floral show. Thinking about letting some seeds mature to try growing more of your daylilies? Think again. More likely than not, they will yield uncertain, substandard offspring. Dividing daylily clumps is a faster way to propagate these beauties, and the progeny will be true copies of their parents. Early fall is a good time to dig and divide your pretties.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.