Adding Colorful Shades Of Grass To Your Garden
May 30th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
When most people picture a garden, they immediately have thoughts of colorful flowers complementing each other with different sizes and variations. However, as a gardener, you should consider adding grass to the mix. grass and flowers arranged accordingly can be made to be the perfect partners together. There is nothing like beautiful grass to bring out the texture and enchantment of your perennials and other flowerbeds.
Of course not all grass is created equal and the last thing you want to do is lay down grass that will create more frustration than it’s worth. Like crabgrass or even quackgrass, you want to stay away from such invasive types of grass because they will prove to be extremely tenacious and could even damage your perennials. For your flowers to be complemented, it is best to search out a garden-friendly grass that will be easy to maintain.
What are the benefits of adding grass to your flower garden?
Adding the right grass to your garden can create very attractive fillers when planted in groups. They can create seedheads which will attract beautiful birds, specifically songbirds. The right grass can also compensate for those times of the year when your perennials are not blooming by helping maintain a colorful appearance. And of course, your garden will take on a new sense of grace and liveliness as the grass sways back and forth with each windy breeze.
What types of grass is available to complement your perennial garden?
grass comes in many different types, from desert grass to swamp grass, so you should consider a few factors before making a choice. Such factors include the climate, weather, soil, etc. However, to better help you decide, below is a list of the best grass choices that are most fitting for a perennial garden:
1. Blue Fescue: This is a beautiful shade of grass, also known as “Festuca Glauca”. The colors are that of steel blue and the blades are in the shape of very fine needle-like tips. Blue fescue grass blooms during the summertime.
2. Silver Variegated Maiden Grass: This type of grass also has very fine blades and form into a silver color. Also known as “Miscanthus Sinensis”, it grows very tall and complements flowers that lean towards reddish colors.
3. Feather Reed Grass: One of the most durable of all grasses, this grass is also known as “Calamagrostis Acutiflora”. It grows straight up and stays vertical even when sustaining heavy breezes. Feather Reed grass tends to bloom early in the summer.
4. Blue Oat Grass: This grass, also named “Helictotrichon Sempervirens”, grows thin blades of grass that arch as they get taller. Blooming early in the summer months, the color of this grass comes in with silver overtones and changes to a straw-like color when extremely dry.
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What Texture Is Your Soil?
May 24th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Soil is the lifeline of any garden. It is made up of a mixture of:
- decayed organic matter,
- water,
- living organisms,
- air, and
- different types of weathered down rock material.
Soil ingredients can vary dramatically from one region of land to the next due to factors such as the composition of bedrock and the climate.
New gardeners sometimes confuse a soil’s texture with that of its nutrient makeup. However, texture has nothing to do with the makeup of soil at all. Rather, texture is described by its coarseness or how fine it is. You’ll find that soil texture is described by the following three types of particles:
1. Silt: Silt is very similar to the texture of sand. However, its particles are much smaller in size. Silt is so fine that when it is dry it runs through your hand like powder. Silt will hold water to a strong degree, a little better than sand will, but not quite as tight as clay.
2. Sand: Sand is extremely coarse and very gritty to the touch. Although sand drains well, it typically dries out far too fast, especially for perennials. Soil that is made up of a lot of sand is very easy to cultivate but unfortunately the nutrients tend to wash away far too easily.
3. Clay: Interestingly enough, clay is made up of such fine tiny particles that each one can only be seen with a high-powered electron microscope. Soils that are high in clay are sticky when touched and they drain slowly. Various types of clay is will liquefy when wet and then harden like concrete when dried. Clay is very high in nutrients, but unfortunately the nutrients are often not available for plants to utilize.
How To Determine What Texture Your Soil Is
If you are investigating the texture of the soil in various parts of your garden, you have learn what to look for when you give your dirt the “feel test”. This test is very simple. All you have to do is grab a handful of moist soil and then squeeze it as tight as you can into a ball. You can examine your results by the following guidelines:
1. Your soil may be made up of a large percentage of sand if it feels very gritty and does not hold well together in the ball.
2. Your soil may contain higher amounts of silt if you notice that the ball shape holds fairly well and has a smooth coating. You should be able to roll the soil in your palm as it forms a nice clump, yet doesn’t create a lasting shape.
3. If your soil is made up of mostly clay, it will fill slippery in your hands and will hold to any shape formed.
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Watering Your Perennials
May 20th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Proper watering is a crucial element of growing and maintaining perennials, or for any garden variety for that matter. But when is the best time to water them and how often should you do it?
For the majority of perennials, watering is only required when the top of the soil dries out. However, do not wait until they are dry as a bone before giving them water.
Watering is required before any visible signs of drought stress appears. If you are growing perennials in an arid environment, it is ideal to prolong the time between watering. On the other hand, if your plants are located in a wet habitat, it is best to not let them dry out completely.
Watering Problems Can Be A Disaster
Getting too much or too little water on the soil for long periods of time causes several problems for your perennials. However, determining whether your plants are getting too much or too little can be a bit tricky since both conditions show the same symptoms. When perennials are under-watered or over-watered, their leaves turn yellowish with brown edges. They look dull, droopy, limp, and their growth is suppressed. Their leaves and flowers also begin to wither and drop off, and the plant eventually dies.
It’s Best To Test The Soil
It’s hard to tell if you are watering too much or not watering enough by simply looking at these symptoms. So before reaching for the watering can, you must first check the soil to see if it’s too dry or too wet. When you check the soil, don’t just look at the surface to see if it’s wet or dry, because the top of the soil will be different once you go several inches underneath. When you start to see symptoms of stress from your plants, dig a tiny hole a few inches deep and touch the soil. If it feels wet, reduce the amount of water. If it’s dry, you need to water more often.
If you have clay soil, it’s a little more complicated to figure out if you’re watering too little or too much. This is because clay has tiny particles that hold in the moisture and restrict the water from getting to the plants. Therefore, the soil may feel moist but the plants are still not getting enough needed water. To solve this problem, the clay soil should be amended with organic matter.
In addition to manually checking the soil, you can also purchase an electronic moisture monitor that indicates when it’s time to water. Another simple alternative is to use a long screwdriver and probe the soil. You know that your plants are getting enough water if you are able to penetrate the soil with the screwdriver.
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