Every couple of months, depending on where you live, gardening catalogs come in the mail. If you’re eco-savvy you get them sent to your email box but there’s something about the paper versions that are comforting. In fact, I’m way into green living, but I still get a few garden catalogs in print form – just be sure to recycle them. Either way, you’ve now got a load of plants to choose from and it can be hard to make up your mind. Especially when catalogs only highlight the pretty side of gardening – the end results. Here’s how to narrow down your choices…
Zone in on climate: No matter how beautiful a plant looks in a catalog, if it’s not hardy for your particular climate zone, you may have problems. Find your zone via the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Once you determine your zone you’ll be able to tell which plants will survive in your garden best when it’s cold. I’d also check with the AHS Plant Heat Zone Map (pdf) as well which shows the opposite – which plants are well suited to your area during the warmest times of the year. You can ask your local county extension about local frost dates or use a resource like the Farmer’s Almanac.
Choose your method: Plenty of catalogs offer your choice of seeds, young plants, and bulbs. There are pros and cons of each. Seeds rock because you get to grow your garden all on your own, which is fun and rewarding, but there’s a time factor involved, and seeds, like full grown plants require different care depending on type. Young plants can be harmed during shipment and don’t pack the same punch as growing right from the seed. Also plants often need to be planted within a small time frame (24-48 hours) but do offer a quicker and a little bit of an easier gardening experience. You may want to grow old favorites from seeds since you know how it’ll go and try some new varieties in plant form.
Don’t be sold on gloss: Glossy seed and plant catalogs are so flipping alluring. I think every gardener I know has been seduced by the beautiful images in a great garden glossy once or twice – it’s tempting to buy all sorts of cool and lovely items that really don’t belong in your garden. Always have a plan of attack, which means plan your budget, general plan, and type of plants before hand.
Plan ahead for plant shipments: If you’re ordering plants, as noted above you’ll have a small time frame in which to plant them. If you order plants that grow on the same schedule to arrive in the same shipments it can save you some time. Once your plants arrive keep them in a cool dark place (unless noted otherwise on the plant care insert) until you plant them, but remember to plant them very soon after arrival. Try to plant in the late afternoon, when the sun is lower so that your plants transition better to outside the arrival box conditions.
[image via Jennifer – some random garden catalogs]
Post from: Blisstree