Gardening Basics: Your Recipe for Success
Whether cooking or crafting, following a recipe improves the possibility of a successful outcome. Understanding the necessary ingredients and applying these ingredients in the correct order makes all the difference. The same principle can be applied to ensure success in the garden. Plants to improve your landscape, especially woody ornamentals (trees and shrubs), or to put food on your table represent big investments of time and money; following this basic gardening “recipe” protects your investment and creates a healthy, beautiful garden. Print "Gardening Basics: A Recipe For Success" pdf 2 pgs.
Feed the Soil Not the Plant
Good soil is full of living organisms that release nutrients to plant roots; healthy soil is essential for healthy plants. If needed, amendments are worked into the soil to improve nutrient levels and soil chemistry. Test your soil to know if amendments are needed. Soil test boxes are available at your county’s Cooperative Extension Service; test instructions are available at NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. The test measures key nutrients such as nitrogen (N), potassium (P), phosphate (K), and calcium (Ca), as well as soil pH and organic content, and indicates the rate at which to supply additional nutrients if needed. NC Piedmont soils are typically acidic due to their clay content and applications of lime may be required to raise pH. Extreme acidic or alkaline conditions restrict nutrient availability, starving plants for food. Some crops like grass need more alkaline soil than others like azaleas and blueberries. Ideally, a slightly acidic pH of 6.5 keeps most plants happy. Soil pH adjustments take time; so test in early fall to take advantage of winter rains to incorporate lime into the soil. Improve your soil with regular additions of finished compost, ground leaves, or composted manure - the right ingredients to build needed populations of microorganisms and earthworms. Resources: NCSU Soil Facts , UGA Extension on Amending Soil Organically , Building Great Garden Soil Mecklenburg Extension Master Gardener volunteers
Right Plant, Right Place, Right Time
Even a gardening novice can excel by using the tools available to determine which plant is the best choice for a particular application. Consider the scale of your home and its relationship to the landscape with the goal of buying plants that achieve your landscape objectives. Evaluate your landscape: Observe the light conditions - sun, shade or part shade? Is the site protected or open? What is the soil moisture level? In the garden center, study the culture card that describes the plant, research the plant online and ask for expert advice about the mature size of a plant and its growth rate; notice if the plant is better suited to sun or shade. If planting for screening, ask how far apart to place plants to ensure good air circulation. Choosing well minimizes the need to prune and fertilize, strengthens your landscape design and protects your investment. Planting at the right time of year promotes a healthy start for your selections. For trees and shrubs, autumn is ideal offering dependable rainfall to encourage root growth. Many perennial flowers and bulbs also prefer to be planted in fall but check plant requirements as some benefit from early spring planting. The best time to plant annuals varies according to their optimal growing season.
Resources: National eXtension on Landscaping: Design and Plant Selection NCSU NCCES Plants Database , UDEL Extension on Livable Ecosystems , Right Plant Right Place Mecklenburg Extension Master Gardener Volunteers |
Plant it The planting hole needs to be 2-3 times the width of the root ball and the same depth. The risk is in planting too deeply! The root flare (where plant stem or trunk begins to spread out into roots) needs to be at or above landscape grade when planted. Test for the correct size by sitting container-grown or balled-and-burlapped plant in the hole. Carefully remove the plant from its container or packaging, examine the root ball and, if needed, work compacted roots apart so they can grow. Roots left in a tight ball compromise plant growth and in the case of trees and shrubs may eventually girdle the woody stems and suffocate the plant. Eliminate all the soil from the root ball if necessary to untangle roots - new research indicates that roots are not as sensitive to disturbance as once thought, especially roots of woody plants which actually benefit from vigorous root detangling and separating at planting. Locate the root ball on solid soil and not loose backfill. Additional soil may be added back into the hole to keep the plant at ground level so backfill as needed and tamp it down to avoid air gaps that may take the plant deeper into the hole after watering. Add soil until the top of the root ball sits even with the ground surface. Plant with the native soil excavated from the hole so that the roots can grow into the soil out and beyond the hole; do not add soil amendments (fertilizers, compost, or soil from other sources) to individual holes. When placing multiple plants in a garden bed, till or dig amendments into the entire bed and then begin planting.
Resources: NCSU Extension Successful Gardener Tree Planting Guide UGA Extension on Soil Preparation and Planting Procedures for Landscape Plants UFL Extension on Planting Trees and Shrubs 
Add Water: Generally, plants need a total of 1” of applied water and rain per week; use rain gauges or shallow cans, to capture both precipitation and your irrigation to verify that combined 1”. Most plants like many annual vegetables, perennial flowers, and grass benefit from being watered deeply. Tree roots grow wider than deep so a more shallow approach to watering is best. Depending on the type of tree, ½” twice a week or ¼” four times a week is a good watering schedule. Take care to water newly planted material more often in the first year especially if planted in warm weather. For trees and shrubs, the root ball medium retains moisture differently than native soil often drying out more quickly; so irrigate 2 or 3 times per week in the first few months after planting at a rate of 2-3 gallons per inch of trunk diameter.
Resources: KSU Extension on Watering New Plantings Clemson Extension on How Much Water |
Finishing Touch: Organic mulch reduces moisture loss and is important to your successful recipe. Decomposing organic mulch feeds the soil by promoting microorganism activity which improves soil quality and lessens compaction. Good options include pine bark fines or needles; seasoned, shredded hardwood; and ground leaves. Avoid mulch “volcanoes” (piles of mulch against sides of plant) - keep mulch at least 6” away from the trunk or crown of the plant to improve air circulation and discourage insect activity. Apply only 2-3” - if mulch is too thick, moisture has a hard time penetrating down to the root zone. The root zone of trees and shrubs grows 2-3 times beyond the canopy so increase the mulch zone outward as plants mature to continue to protect the roots. Resources: Clemson Extension on Mulch Matters , CSU Extension on Mulching
Diversify: Including a variety of plant species in your landscape protects from the potential disaster of a monoculture - think willow oaks and canker worms! A rose bed is stunning but invites pests and diseases that marginalize its beauty. A savory recipe often calls for combinations of herbs that deepen the flavor of a dish making it more dynamic. The same is true of your landscape when you incorporate plant diversity, especially using native plants from our region that bring year-round interest, provide cover and food for wildlife and contribute to a healthy ecosystem. Kids delight in the birds, butterflies, and wildlife that are attracted to a diverse, beautiful garden inviting many valuable teaching moments. Now that is a recipe for success!
Resources: NCSU on Going Native: Urban Landscaping for Wildlife with Native Plants , UDEL Extension on Supporting Biodiversity in the Garden
Understanding Plant Light Requirements
Different plants need different amounts of sunlight to grow and be healthy. Standard definitions of sun, shade, part shade, and part sun are not required of commercial growers but good guidelines to help consumers understand terminology used for sunlight exposure are provided in University of Illinois Extension on Sunlight.
Diversify: Including a variety of plant species in your landscape protects from the potential disaster of a monoculture - think willow oaks and canker worms! A rose bed is stunning but invites pests and diseases that marginalize its beauty. A savory recipe often calls for combinations of herbs that deepen the flavor of a dish making it more dynamic. The same is true of your landscape when you incorporate plant diversity, especially using native plants from our region that bring year-round interest, provide cover and food for wildlife and contribute to a healthy ecosystem. Kids delight in the birds, butterflies, and wildlife that are attracted to a diverse, beautiful garden inviting many valuable teaching moments. Now that is a recipe for success!
Resources: NCSU on Going Native: Urban Landscaping for Wildlife with Native Plants , UDEL Extension on Supporting Biodiversity in the Garden
Understanding Plant Light Requirements
Different plants need different amounts of sunlight to grow and be healthy. Standard definitions of sun, shade, part shade, and part sun are not required of commercial growers but good guidelines to help consumers understand terminology used for sunlight exposure are provided in University of Illinois Extension on Sunlight.
Got GARDEN questions? Get answers!
The more you know, the more you can grow.
growing & gardening in the Southeast
Mecklenburg Extension Master Gardener Volunteers
mastergardenersmecklenburg.org
The more you know, the more you can grow.
growing & gardening in the Southeast
Mecklenburg Extension Master Gardener Volunteers
mastergardenersmecklenburg.org
