While most perennials are very easy to grow, proper care and routine
garden chores will provide you with professional results that really make your gardens
stand out. Like most plants, perennials require only the basics for good growth: a
reasonable fertile soil, proper drainage, sufficient sun
and water and little attention from you the gardener. Provide these basic needs and
your plants will remain healthy for years.
Proper soil preparation:
If you just happen to live in an area with fertile, well drained soil consider
yourself blessed. Most of us will have to amend our soils to prepare them for new
perennial gardens. If we had to offer just one bit of advice to new gardeners it would be
on proper soil building. You will not achieve the results you are after without first
building a loose, well drained soil. The best time to improve you soil is a
few months before you intend to plant. To improve your soil you will need to add
some type of organic material such as compost or manures.
> Learn more on improving your garden soil
Soil pH:
It is always a good idea to test your soils pH before planting a new garden. You
can purchase easy to use kits at most nurseries and home centers that will allow you to
test the soil yourself or you can have it professionally tested by your local county
extension offices. Most perennials will do best in a neutral to slightly acidic
soil, somewhere between a pH of 6.0 -7.0. If you find that your soil is to acidic
you can add limestone to help correct the pH. If alkalinity is an issue you can add
sulfur or ferrous sulfate. Again this is an area where your local county extension office can be of
assistance.
Nutrients:
As with soil structure, most of us are not lucky enough to have a extremely
fertile soil so its always a good idea to incorporate nutrients into the soil during the
soil amendment process. Commercially packaged fertilizers are readily available and
easy to apply. A well balanced fertilizer such as 5-10-5 will do the trick.
We strongly encourage our customers to move away from the practice of using
commercial or chemical fertilizers and learn more about organic gardening practices.
We strongly believe improving the soil with organic methods is far better for the
environment and will yield healthier plants for years to come. Read our introduction to organic gardening for more information.
More Info on caring for your perennials:
Water, weed and feed
Pruning and dividing perennials
Planting your new perennials
USDA Gardening Zones and Microclimates
