Planting the garden
Planting and caring for garden plants properly requires some work. But if the basic requirements are right and a few activities are carried out regularly, nothing stands in the way of a colourful, healthy garden.
Contents
The basic requirements:
Before you start caring for and planting garden plants, you need to determine what conditions prevail in the garden. This is because every plant has different requirements in terms of soil, light and climate. The choice of gardening tools and equipment is also a factor that influences the planting of the garden.
Soil:
What is generally referred to as soil actually comprises many different types of soil. Soil differs in its composition, nutrient density and pH value. The right soil is crucial for plants to grow well: It gives their roots support and provides them with all the nutrients they need.
Soil can be roughly divided into three categories:
- Sandy soil is light and water-permeable. It dries out quickly and stores nutrients rather poorly. It is unsuitable for particularly thirsty plants and heavy feeders.
- Clay soil is considered the ideal garden soil. It stores water and nutrients well and is not too water-permeable at the same time.
- Silt soil has an even higher water and nutrient storage potential. However, it is usually so dense and heavy that the risk of waterlogging is increased.
Another indication of the quality of the soil is its pH value. It can be easily measured using a suitable test from a specialist retailer. A pH value of 0 indicates extremely acidic soil, while high pH values indicate alkaline soil.
Acidic soils usually contain a lot of humus and therefore nutrients. However, the lime content is rather low.
Alkaline soils are more calcareous.
Determining the pH value can therefore provide information on whether a soil needs additional liming. This is because too much lime prevents nutrient uptake. A pH value between 6 and 7 is ideal for most plants.
Any soil can be improved by adding the appropriate substances such as lime, sand or compost. Specialist retailers sell special soil mixtures for many plants, such as roses or tomatoes, which are precisely tailored to the needs of the plants.
Garden utensils:
The right garden tools and equipment make planting and tending the garden much easier. If you want to buy larger tools such as lawn mowers, hedge trimmers or chainsaws, you should consider where they can be stored beforehand. In large gardens, a tool shed or garden shed can serve you well.
For gardens in which mainly flower beds and smaller shrubs are to be planted, a small set of basic equipment is sufficient. Secateurs, a Hand Trowel, Rake and Watering Can are sufficient for basic work.
Climate:
Temperature and humidity determine which plants can grow in the garden and when. The right soil temperature is particularly important when sowing seeds or setting out pre-grown plants. Many young plants do not tolerate frost, the tender roots die immediately. After mid-May, frost is no longer to be expected, so most plant species can be planted in the ground by then at the latest.
In a greenhouse, temperatures are consistently higher, so the sowing, germination and harvesting times are often earlier or shorter than indicated in the planting calendar.
Locations for garden plants:
Roughly speaking, garden plant locations can be divided into three categories: sunny, semi-shady and shady. The different species require different amounts of sunlight for healthy growth. A tomato plant will not bear plump fruit in a shady environment, while cabbage and lettuce will thrive without much sun.
When planting the garden, you should therefore pay attention to how the light conditions change during the course of the day and which trees or shrubs will cast larger shadows in the near future due to their growth.
Plant protection:
Various measures can be taken to protect garden plants from pests, weeds and diseases. For example, cleverly planted mixed crops, crop rotation and regular tilling of the soil have a preventative effect. Proper care is also crucial: for example, damp leaves on tomato and strawberry plants are more susceptible to diseases and fungi. They should therefore never be watered from above, but always directly at the root ball. If it is already too late for preventative measures, direct measures such as applying pesticides, setting up pest traps or removing weeds can limit the damage.
Tasks in dealing with garden plants:
Once the perfect conditions for planting have been created, the gardening work can really begin. Depending on the type of plant, the time of year and your personal ideas, there are various tasks to be carried out.
Young plants that have been grown indoors or in a greenhouse must not be planted outdoors abruptly. Both too much sun and too low temperatures would be too much of a shock - the plant would not survive. Therefore, the cultivation must be hardened off slowly
Hardening:
Instead of immediately planting tomato seedlings in the sunny vegetable patch, for example, the pots with the young plants should first be placed in a semi-shady, wind-protected spot so that they can acclimatise slowly. The pots and containers should be brought back inside if there is a frost at night.
Pull offshoots:
Some plants do not reproduce by dispersing their seeds. Instead, offshoots are formed which are separated from the mother plant and can later live as an independent plant. To grow offshoots, the so-called cuttings are cut off and planted in a container with potting compost. After around two weeks, the offshoot can then be repotted or planted out. Plants that can be propagated quickly and easily using cuttings include:
- Blackberries
- Cucumbers
- Raspberries
- Elderberries
- Lettuce and lamb's lettuce
- Lavender
- Peppers
- Roses
- Spinach
- Thyme
- Tomatoes
Fertilising:
Over time, garden plants extract the available nutrients from the soil. This is why even the most nutrient-rich soil needs to be fertilised regularly - especially if heavy feeders, i.e. plants with high nutrient requirements, have been planted in it. Whether artificially produced mineral fertilisers or organic fertilisers such as compost or manure are used is a question of personal preference and the specific nutrient requirements. Mineral fertilisers are available as complete fertilisers, which contain all nutrients and trace elements, and as individual fertilisers, which only add certain substances.
Watering:
Garden watering is especially important in summer. Early morning watering is generally recommended: the water evaporates more slowly due to the lower temperatures, and the risk of burns is lower. Whether you use a watering can, a garden hose, or another system depends on the size of the area to be watered and the vegetation.
Watering Plants when away:
If you don't have neighbours to take care of watering the garden while you're away, an automatic watering system is a good solution. Watering computers or timers are connected to lawn sprinklers or drip hoses, so that watering is carried out fully automatically at the scheduled time. This is known as an irrigation system.
Separating Seedlings:
If you're raising seedlings indoors or in a greenhouse before placing them in a bed or container, you need to prick them out. Prick-out involves separating the numerous seedlings from the seed tray and placing them individually in pots. This is necessary so that the delicate plants can develop better and become strong enough for the final transplant. A dibber or dibber fork is helpful for pricking out.
Pruning:
Trees, hedges, and shrubs need to be pruned regularly to maintain their shape, grow healthily, and—in the case of fruit trees and shrubs—produce a good harvest. A pruning calendar helps you decide when to prune which plant. For example, pruning apple trees should take place in the winter, while spring is ideal for pruning roses.
Planting and Sowing:
When planting pre-grown seedlings and scattering seeds, the right timing is crucial. If the seeds are planted or sown too early, the young shoots may die due to frost or a lack of sunlight. Planting and sowing too late gives the plants too little time to fully develop. The result is underdeveloped flowers and a poor or even nonexistent harvest. A look at a planting calendar helps you determine the right time for sowing and planting.
Supporting plants correctly:
Plants with weak stems and those that grow particularly tall need support or trellises to prevent them from bending or breaking under their own weight. These include tomatoes, raspberries, or hydrangeas. The supports are simply inserted into the ground, and the young plants are secured with string or ribbons. Important: The attachment must not hinder growth and must not cut into the stem. Prefabricated trellises made of various rods or homemade structures made of wood, metal, or plastic can be used as supports.
Winter:
Perennial plants must be properly cared for over winter to ensure they survive the cold season and bloom again the following season. Exotic plants that originally come from warmer regions must be kept indoors, as they cannot survive the low temperatures. These include lemon trees and oleander, for example. Other plants are less sensitive. For roses, it is sufficient to wrap the plants in linen or jute sacks. Rhododendrons can even survive the winter completely uncovered. Tuberous plants such as dahlias and amaryllis are ideally dug up and the tubers stored in a cool, dry place indoors.
Repotting:
Pot and container plants need to be repotted regularly to continue growing. If the pot is too small or the soil's nutrients have been depleted, it's time to repot. The ideal new pot is 2 to 5 cm larger than its predecessor. How often repotting is necessary depends on the type of plant and its condition. However, repotting is not necessary more than once a year for any variety.
Grafting:
Grafting involves combining the advantages of two plants and thus creating a hybrid of two identical (for example, an apple tree and an apple tree) or two related species (for example, an apple tree and a pear tree). However, grafting does not involve breeding new species. Fruit trees, tomatoes, and roses are particularly suitable for grafting. To do this, a branch or bud from one plant is attached to the trunk or branch of the other. For example, a cherry tree with weak roots can be improved by grafting it with a cherry tree with strong roots.
Breeding:
In contrast to grafting, breeding involves the deliberate selection and crossing of two individual plants (parent generation) with the goal of creating a genetically improved version and then propagating it (daughter generation). The simplest method of breeding is selective breeding, in which plants with the desired traits are simply planted and allowed to reproduce naturally, while plants with undesirable traits are removed.
Planting Bulbs:
Many popular flowers are not sown, but planted in the garden as bulbs. The right time to plant the bulbs depends on the flower variety. Hardy bulbs, which are intended to bloom in spring, are planted in the fall. Cold-sensitive varieties should not be planted until spring. Hardy varieties include crocuses, tulips, and daffodils. For begonias, dahlias, and gladiolas, planting should wait until the end of March.