Hellooooooo! and WELCOME to Tootsie Tip #3!

I hope you guys are ready to get your Tootsie Tip of the day! This is a good one….and one that I have had several requests to write.

Now that we are seeing signs of life in the greenhouse, it is time to start making plans for what we will do with all the little plants, where we will put them and how they will be arranged!

LETS PLAN A FLOWER BED!!!!

Yea, I know. There is three feet of snow, layers of ice and no end in sight of the nasty ugly cold weather here. How the heck am I going to teach you about gardening when I could be building an igloo? Easy.

Now that we are seeing signs of life in the greenhouse, it is time to start making plans for what we will do with all the little plants, where we will put them and how they will be arranged!

Come with me.

First I want to tell you a little story.

When we first moved into the house that I am in now, I had a HUGE chalkboard that I had purchased for the kids at a garage sale. I intended to hang it on the fence for them to color on while they were playing in the yard over the warmer months. It was fall already so I had it stored in the garage for the winter. All winter long I would go out to the garage and “map” my future yard plans on this big board. When we moved here there were no flower beds…just grass and an enormous vegetable garden…(which my dog pooped all over in the winter…therefore…no veggies..but that’s a whole other story…hee hee)

I had a wonderfully detailed diagram of all the things I would be doing and building and getting done.  It was fabulous, loaded with details…but two things were wrong…One…the snoopy woman next door thought I was some sort of mental patient for spending so much time playing with my kid’s chalkboard (she never bothered to ask what I was doing when she was spying on me through the garage window). The second….My kids erased it!

My son was 4 at that time, and thought he would take a quick turn one day…and it was GONE!!!!

yea….I cried. (they “chalked” it up to hormones- I was 8 months pregnant)

But I learned two things…one curtains for the garage could NOT wait..and second…use pen and paper!

Now back to the lesson.

First of all you need to grab a couple of things.

1. pen ( or pencil) and paper (grid paper helps)

2. crayons

3. ruler

4. a few photos of your last year gardens if possible

5. an idea or list of what type of flowers you would like to use.

Next…

Draw yourself a “map” of your yard to scale….I include sidewalks and structures, existing trees etc.

Keep in mind that I do not have a lot of perennial plants in my gardens and therefore this post does not address much of that. You can use perennials instead of annuals, but you will need to plan ahead for their mature size of the future. Annuals are much smaller, and will not mind being a little crowded.

Draw any of the existing perennial plants into the sketch before you begin to add to the map.

Planning for a flower bed that is up against a wall is much like planning seating to a show. You want to make sure that all of your plants are arranged in a proper height pattern. If you put the taller ones in front of the shorter ones you will not be able to appreciate their foliage or their blooms.

By drawing out a map of the bed, you can not only plan what types of plants you will be using, but how many and where you want them to go: do you want them in straight line rows, or would you like to “mix” it up a bit by adding some variation to the flow of the bed?

Will you plant in singles or will you be planting in “drifts”?

What color arrangement?

Will your colors be random or planned?

For the sake of proper instruction, I am going to show you how to plan for two different types of flower beds.

The first will be a bed that backs onto a structure such as a building or a fence. The plants MUST be arranged from the tallest plants at the back to the shortest at the front. If this rule is not observed, the shorter plants will not be seen.

(HEY…I AM A GARDENER…NOT AN ARTIST!!!!! excuse the wonderful drawing and printing please)

The second is one that is free standing in the middle of your garden. This one is planted in rounds. Start in the middle with your tallest flowers and plants and work your way out. You can work in drifts of plants and colors or in straight circles. The preference is yours to decide.

The diagram below is of a bed up against a structure that has been arranged with geraniums, snap dragons and some marigolds. Dusty miller has been used to accent the corners and either pansy or portulaca are used as a border for the entire bed. Each square on the grid paper is used to represent 6 inches of soil in the bed.

This is an example of planting in drifts, and straight lines.

The snapdragons are carefully arranged at the back of the bed in because they are a tall plant. The geraniums are in the middle in a grouping in order to accentuate their prolific blooming and vibrant colors. Pansy and portulaca are short plants and therefore are placed in front of the marigolds which are also clumped together for high color impact. Adding the Dusty miller to the corners in a diamond shape, will pull the eye to them as well as allow the color of the other blooming flowers to pop off of the soft silver of their leaves.

Planning a bed on paper leaves you room to change your mind over and over again. It also can help you to estimate how many plants of each type you may need to purchase.

If you are going to plan for color schemes, it is possible to try out different combinations by using the crayons that you brought to the table and marking the different colors on the letters you used to “legend” your map. You could also use color to define the different plants, instead of the letters of the alphabet.

The possibilities are endless.

Another way to plan for your gardens is to use photographs. If you had the forethought to take some photos in the fall just before the snow fell and the annuals have been removed, you could print the photos off onto regular paper and draw directly onto the actual bed! Using photos of your gardens from the previous season, will also help you to remember what you did and did not like about the plantings that you had that year, and either add or delete to your taste!

I can read my maps with ease…but am not able to read a road map to save my life!
Have fun with your planning and get creative!  If you have any questions…or need some help…you know where to find me!

I know I am not perfect, and if I have confused you…I am happy to try to unravel what ever I may have wound! lol

Until next time….happy gardening!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

Window boxes are among the containers that every gardener dreams of having.

This one hung on the front of my house. It faces North.

There are  unlimited options for planting a window box, and this can be daunting for many people. When I first started to plant pots and containers, I was overwhelmed with all the different things that the garden books and the garden centers offered for such a task.

ALL I WANTED WAS A WINDOW BOX!

How HARD can that be?

I am here to tell you that it does not have to be a tough choice or a high maintenance project!

You simply need to make a few decisions.

First, you will need to decide WHERE you plan to put the window box in your garden. Will you be placing it on the fence?  On the side of your house? On the patio?  Will it be in the sun or the shade?  Do you wish for it to have flowing/trailing plants or just upright and tidy- or both?  Do you want loads of glorious color or just foliage…..

Once you know where and how big your window box will be, you will need to plan for the things you will need to have in order to make your plan a reality!

If you don’t already have a window box you will need to purchase one and the appropriate brackets to hold it.
There are several different types of window box available to us.  The only prerequisite is your decorative preferences!

There are the wire ones that you will need to add a liner to in order to keep the soil from falling out. These are very decorative and can be found in almost any style, size,and price range.
I have used this system before. I purchased a pretty wire window hanger, and added one of the moss-type liners to it. I did not use anything else in it but the liner, and was very disappointed. Not only did I need to replace the liner the following year (and they are not cheap), but the whole container garden did not do well at all! The soil would leach out and run down the side of my building every time I watered. I also had to water much more often , as the liner is all natural, and it allowed the soil to become very dry very quickly. (much like a clay pot versus a plastic pot does) It did not retain much moisture for the reserve that the plants needed during the warmest parts of the day.

This issue called for some serious Tootsie Thought. I mulled it over during the winter months, and this is the solution I came up with:

I took my wire window box, and put the new (and rather hard to find -not to mention over priced) window box liner inside it. Next I added a small kitchen garbage bag. I simply opened a garbage bag, and positioned it the same way I would if I were putting it into a garbage can. It did not fit perfectly, but that’s okay, as no one would see it anyways. I filled the open bag with potting soil, and proceeded to plant my annuals into it. Once the planting was done and enough soil packed into the bag to fill the liner…I watered the whole thing. After I watered, I took a pencil and poked a few holes in the bottom, and  a couple on the sides. Just stab through the basket liner into the plastic bag to allow for proper drainage. This will solve the issue of over watering the pot, but will not allow the whole thing to dry out as quickly. After all the planting, watering and drainage hole creation, trim your bag with a pair of scissors. Tuck in the last bits of plastic that may be showing and you are done!

The photo below shows the finished project!

Once the window box has matured, you will never know that the plastic bag is there! You can use any color of bag-even clear-or perhaps a grocery bag….just so long as it is a piece of plastic that will help retain the necessary moisture! It’s just that simple!

(above: sweet potato and lobelia)

Now…what exactly will you be wanting to plant in these window boxes?

(above:  a window box planted with swedish ivy that has been set onto a saw horse…gone wild!)

A window box can be placed anywhere. The style or type does not matter a bit. It is the plants you put into that window box that will determine your over all outcome.
If you are planting in a very sunny location, and want some plants that enjoy hot summer days….perhaps considering portulaca as the edging all the way around would be practical. Portulaca is a drought resistant and very heat/sun loving plant. Marigolds, petunias, short snap dragons, Osteospermum and Dwarf Dahlias are nice choices for window boxes. Wave petunias  or Bacopa will flow over the edges and cause a nice hanging display….the plants available in your local garden center will help determine this.

This one hangs on the door under the sunroom….it has lobelia, Trailing Geranium….

Full sun!  Gerber Daisys…

Same box…different look…..Geranium and wave petunia.

These have cheap plastic window boxes inside the wooden frame…full sun/part shade….

(above : Swedish Ivy and lobelia mixed with Geraniums)

If you are planting in a partly shaded location, lobelia, alyssum, bacopa, impatiens, snap dragon, Gerber daisy, and nicotana are nice to use. They thrive in a little cooler conditions, but will also do well in sunny locations.

Plants in partly shaded locations do not need as much watering as do those in the hot summer sun. The one below is in my shadier area…on the kid’s play set.

This one hangs across from the other on the side of the garage…again…no liner at all…just plastic grocery bag….Pansy and Lobelia

Same planter…different year…the one below has Calibrachoa and Swedish ivy.

So you see…with a little planning and some creative thought…a window box is a thing of simple beauty!

What do you plant in a window box?

If you would like to share some of your window box photos…click over to the Growing 4 Seasons Facebook page and leave a photo there!  We would love to see!

Until Next time…Happy Gardening!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

Okay kids!!!!  Today we are going to plant a pot or two together!  Lets get started…

When you plant a container garden for your patio do you fill your pot with dirt? Do you leave the plants lots of room? Water every few days? Well if you answered yes to one or all of these questions….you desperately need my help. The information I am about to relay to you is such that I got about 20 years ago while cutting classes in college. I was sitting home watching T.V. and hanging out, flipping channels, when a show caught my eye. It was the first season of Martha Stewart’s television show. I believe it was called Martha Stewart Living or something like that. It is the only episode I ever watched of any Martha Stewart show, and it is on one of those things I can say I learned and use a lot in my gardening life. I am now happy to pass this little secret or two on to my friends.

Yes even back in my early twenties I was a very passionate plant fanatic. I was known to cut classes to go plant shopping…I LOVED skipping school for any reason, but well, you know….   Now…. Stop picturing me skipping school, and get back on topic here! *)When planting annuals there is one major thing you need to remember. They are called ANNUALS, because they die after a short period of time. Therefore they do not have a lot of time to get done what needs to be done. That’s where you come in. You are the hands that will make it happen for these tiny short lived plants.  They are already fast growing…we are just going to give them the ideal conditions to make them grow (and maybe even a touch quicker)

White Alyssum

The first thing you will need to choose is a pot. In this case I will use both a hanging basket, and a patio pot. My patio pot is 17 inches in diameter, and the hanging basket is 10 inches in diameter.

I keep any soil that is not sealed in a bag, in a garbage can with a lid that fits tightly.
This keeps any unwanted bugs from making a house out of my soil.

The scoop is a chicken feed scoop. It is larger than the average shovel, and makes life a lot easier.
In the case of the hanging basket, you will need to purchase a bag of potting soil. There are brands that boast that they are made specifically for this type of planting. I am not going to say that they are wrong, but I will say that I have never bothered with it. I just use regular potting soil.

Fill your pot about 4 inches from the top of the pot with your soil of choice.

I would not recommend you using dirt from your garden. Regular soil tends to become hardened after a couple of watering’s, and may not offer enough nutrients in such a small quantity. Potting soil also offers ingredients that will hold the water you give your plant for a little longer than the run of the mill dirt your garden offers.
Once your pot has been filled to the 4 inch level, you need to choose your plants. I use several plants per pot. It may be tempting to use one or two and call it finished. This will work, and may be pretty, but it will not be as full or large as if you use several. In my hanging baskets or 2007, I used 7 wave petunias per pot. I could have used more, but these plants are very aggressive growers and did not require more.
In my 2008 pots I used 5 wave petunias, 5 trailing lobelia, and 5 alyssum plants. WOW that seems like a lot doesn’t it? Well, here is the reason. Some of the fillers may not live, and some will not be as large as others.

When planting annuals, or any plant for that matter, you need to remember that a plant has leaves, stems, blooms, and roots. The plants will concentrate on establishing their root systems before they will begin to show any progress on top. Once they are root bound and “comfy” in their pots, they will begin to grow. After all they are full down below the soil, so they have no where to go but up! So stuff those plants into that pot, add a little soil if necessary to make sure that the roots are not being exposed to the air, and firm lightly to make sure there are no air pockets in the soil.
In the case of the pots I am using for this issue….I used 6 wave petunia, and 20 alyssum for the large 17 inch pot, and 8 pansy, and 12 alyssum for the 10 inch pot.
Once you have finished stuffing the pot, you should water. I suggest watering with a liquid plant food. This fertilizer will not only help your plant to overcome the planting shock quicker, it will give them a kick in the roots to encourage vigorous growth. Water well, and place in a nice shady location for the first day or two. High heat and full sun will end up making them wilt and  will set them back a bit. For an annual, even a few days is critical growing time. Once the plant has bounced back from the planting, you can place in the chosen area or home in your garden. Water daily, and use your plant food weekly.

Fertilizer for plants is like chocolate for us. It goes straight to work. It makes things grow. In the plants case it makes the roots and the foliage and flowering more vigorous. In the case of me and the chocolate…it goes straight to my rump and makes it grow too! Ha ha… Did I just say that?

Now…lets get on to bigger pots.

If you are like me…I am protective of my pots and if there is a storm coming, I like to move them to a more sheltered location. If I fill my pots with nothing but soil, I would not be able to easily move them. Wet soil is HEAVY, and lets face it…none of us are iron men and women. (and if you are….kudos)

What I like to do is use large chunks of Styrofoam. I save all the packing from items that we purchased over the last several years. I have also been known to use a small garbage bag filled with empty pop cans, or an old pot inverted to fill the pot some before I add the soil. There are chunks of foam in my stash that have been used again and again for about 12 years!  I have received much criticism about this for years now.  People screaming that it is not ‘green’ for me to use the stryo…well what could be greener than me re-using it again for years and keeping it out of a landfill?  Just sayin’,  let’s get back to our pot…

I like to fill my pot at least 1/2 way with the “spacer” material, before I use my soil. Again use potting soil, and fill to at least 4 inches below the rim. You will want to poke the soil in to the filler a little so as to ensure that there are not any air pockets in your pot. I tend to poke around to make sure that all the little crevices are filled in and that the soil is not falling in anymore before I move to the next step.

Choose your plants. In my large patio pots I used 1 dracena spike (optional) 3 geraniums, 6 wave petunias and lobelia and alyssum to fill it in between the others. I tend to fill my baskets super full. Once you have added your plants, and are satisfied with the arrangement, top fill to leave about 2 inches from the rim. Water with your fertilizer solution, set aside (in the shade) to recover…and voila! You have a successful patio pot.

Watering your pots daily is a must. They are more prone to dry out than the gardens we plant. Pots are smaller, and not as deep. We have also just filled those shallow pots to the brim with plants. Water generously and choose one day of each week that you will use as your fertilizing day. I use Feeding Fridays, or Fertilizer Fridays. Something like that is easy to remember. I will also be making a post one day each week to remind you to feed your gardens both ground and potted.

I certainly hope this has helped take the mystery out of planting a container garden. If you should have any questions….absolutely leave them for me to answer…if I can.  Coming up soon, is a post about window box plantings…stay tuned!

Until next time…happy gardening!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

Very Green Space Where Moss Grows

We gardeners are a special breed of people, and we do get excited about many things that others do not…we also get excited about cooking with things from our gardens…but this is not a recipe that we can eat/drink!  (Thank goodness)….but it is recipe day here on Growing 4 Seasons!

One of my online friends asked me a question about wanting to move a patch of moss that she thinks would look better elsewhere. WELL…..It just so happens that a few years back, I had the same issue!  In my case I did not own the property that the moss was on, and had to sneak (in shame) and steal it….My sister and I had garbage bags filled with moss in our baby strollers….oh yes…we were very classy that day! (we must have been a sight to see!)  I went to all that trouble only to come home and find out that my moss didn’t stand a chance!  Moss does not grow and/or transplant the way most other growing things do. Moss is made up of spores. It is the spores that make it grow…..and to make more moss, you need to stir up a few spores.  How do you do it? Well I am so glad you asked….YOU MAKE A MOSS MILKSHAKE!

Here’s what you will need:

• Blender (preferably one you don’t want to use again to make milkshakes for yourself to drink)
• Moss
• 12 oz Buttermilk OR 1 can of beer OR one tub natural plain yogurt (personally I used buttermilk—why waste a good beer? tsk tsk)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• plastic container
• spray bottle and or a paintbrush

Here’s what you need to do:

• Gather your moss and clean it up a little bit. Remove as much of the mud/soil as you can by soaking it in water.
• Place some moss in a blender and add the rest of the ingredients, and blend until you have a thick creamy liquid-much like a thick milkshake.
• Pour your milkshake into a plastic container, or spray bottle. (or both)Choose the location for your moss. \Paint or spray it into the areas you want it to grow and keep it well maintained and moist. Misting /watering it daily will help encourage it to grow. It doesn’t take long before you will see the little bits of blended moss will recover and begin to spread and grow in your new location.
• Now…when I did this, I did it on a fairly windy day, and as luck would have it…not just my garden path got moss…but the rest of the area as well. Some of the people next door were not very happy with me! lol (they got over it)

So there you have it.  A garden recipe…that you just don’t want to eat!  I hope it works for you!

Until next time…Happy Gardening!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.