Our days are getting warmer signaling the coming of summer and it is time to get our gardens in shape. There is a lot of work ahead for me as we had the coldest winter on record here in Florida this year. As a result, most of my flower gardens died and I just finished cleaning up all the dead plants, shrubs and some trees. Of course this is an extra expense that I don’t need but it has to be done. I need to buy lots of new plants and shrubs for my gardens but will be careful to stay on budget. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

What I plan to do to save some money is to shop around for bargains at our local garden places and also change the landscape of the gardens and plant less than what I had last year. I am grateful that my rose garden survived the cold weather and the roses are coming back so no need to make changes there. For the rest of the gardens, here is what I will do and you can do this too and save some money.

Buy lots of Ground Cover Plants

Last year, I had many different species of small flowers planted in various areas of the gardens. This year, I will buy lots of ground cover of the same flower and plant them to cover large areas. Buying the same plant will save me some money as opposed to buying different species that are all different prices. Annuals are bountiful now and add gorgeous color to any garden so I will get a bunch of these keeping in mind that one Petunia plant can cover up to four feet of ground in the garden. The best thing about Petunias is that they require very little care. (photo courtesy: flickr)

Buy Flowering Gardening Herbs

Plant flowering gardening herbs mixed with other flowers. I will buy rosemary plants for my gardens and benefit from its beautiful flower and also use it in the kitchen for cooking. Definitely a way to save some money! Rosemary plants are very fragrant and have pretty violet blue flowers. Since Rosemary comes as a trailing plant, I can use it as a ground cover in some of the bare areas of my garden. There is an upright version of Rosemary but it grows up to 4 feet tall so be sure to plant it away from the smaller plants in your garden. Basil is another flowering herb that can be planted in your garden in between your other flowers. (photo courtesy: flickr)

Buy small Flowering Shrubs or Trees

On one of my gardens, I will buy a small flowering tree or an evergreen shrub and planted in the center of that garden. I will then buy a contrasting color ground cover to fill in the rest of the bare area around the shrub. Don’t do this in your garden in front of your home as it may diminish the view from your windows. This one garden I have is on the side of the house and away from the front windows. This will save me some money as I will spend approximately $20.00 for the shrub and maybe $15.00 for ground cover. Buying a variety of all different types of plants to cover that garden will cost much more than this. The possibilities are endless on how you can have a gorgeous garden and stay within budget to save money. So go ahead and experiment with some of these ideas and more importantly, have fun working on your garden. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

Most of us feel the fresh air and warming temperatures signaling the coming of spring and want to get out and start gardening. We also know that it has been a long, miserable winter and look with anticipation to those gorgeous spring days ahead. You are probably wondering why I am talking about a long winter when I live in the sunshine state of Florida. Well, let me tell you that we had the coldest winter on record here in central Florida this year. With two very cold spells that brought down our temperatures to the mid-twenties, all my flower gardens are basically dead with the exception of roses that seem to be coming back slowly. All my other plants look dead so I have lots of gardening to do this year. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

During the month of March, most gardeners want to start planting new flowers. But be careful and watch your weather patterns carefully before you plant any new flowers. If you live in a colder region, be sure that dangers of frost are gone before planting anything new in you garden. If it is still cold in your area, just go out to your garden and start doing some clean up and get rid of plants that didn’t survive the winter. If you have snow in your flower garden that is beginning to melt, you can start removing it from the roots of the plants carefully to allow the sun to reach the roots and promote growth. Don’t do any cutting for now, just remove the snow.

In warmer climates like mine, it is time to go out there and start gardening. In my case, I need to first assess how many of my gardens survived the cold winter spells we had and start cleaning up all the dead plants. So far, it looks like my roses survived and I see some growth especially with my knock out roses. I am grateful for this as I have 16 of these planted and don’t want to loose them. The hibiscus shrubs look dead and I am surprised because hibiscus is usually very hardy. This week, I will cut the hibiscus short and wait to see if new growth begins within a few weeks. It is really sad for me to see my beautiful gardens so dead and lifeless but we have no control of weather patterns.

Once I clean out all the dead plants in my flower gardens, it is time to buy new plants and start planting. I will most likely start replacing the flower beds around the rose garden and buy colorful pansies and pentas. The next task will be to get rid of all the tropical shrubs that are dead and decide what I will plant in that area. One idea here might be to look for shrubs that survive cold weather and Indian Hawthorne comes to mind. Not sure if my clematis vines will make it as they look dead right now. What I will do here is to cut them back and wait and see if new growth starts. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

Yes, my work is cut out for me this year with my gardening and it is time to get started. And you can do the same, so go out there and start gardening too. Also remember that if you want to plant summer flowering bulbs, the time to order them is now. Summer flowering bulbs ship in the spring and you can get a great selection at Breck’s. This is the company that I use for all my flowering bulbs and love doing business with them because of their great quality bulbs from Holland.

In my humble opinion, yes, flower gardening can be addictive. The addiction referred to here has nothing to do with food cravings or other known additions but rather the compulsion of shopping in abundance for roses, different types of plants, flowering shrubs, bulbs and even seeds. For me, the compulsion is roses as these are my favorite flowers. For some, it’s the stunning colors of annuals come spring time. And those of you who love bulbs completely ignore your budget and buy tons of these. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

It goes without saying that most flower gardening enthusiasts love to have a beautiful and colorful garden but tend to overspend when buying plants, trees and shrubs. For example, I have a friend who loves irises and she always has to have the latest type of iris that is available. Recently she confided in me by saying that she was spending a fortune on her iris garden. My reply to her was that if she loves her iris garden and has the money to spend, she should just sit back and enjoy every minute of it. I also suggested to her to shop online for irises and she could spend less money than going to her local gardening place. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

When redoing my gardens, I am tempted to just buy everything on site when I visit my local garden stores or even when I buy from online places like Breck’s. Knowing that this is not a good idea, what I normally do is to design the garden area first. If you design your garden area before shopping for plants, you can basically count how many plants you will need for your garden. Believe me this will save you lots of money. You will be tempted when you visit your local gardening place but just make a decision to buy the plants you need and nothing more.

So yes, flower gardening can be addictive but this is one addiction that is easy to combat and it is a positive one. Don’t be tempted when you see a two for one sale at your local gardening place and just buy what you need to redo your flower garden. Be sure to take you garden design plan with you when buying your plants and this will help you to control your spending. Whatever you decide to spend on your flower garden will be money well spent. Remember that a beautiful flower garden adds value to your home and your heart and soul. There is nothing more satisfying than stepping outside and seeing a flower garden in full bloom. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

It is October and cooler temperatures are in the horizon signaling the end of busy summer gardening chores. There are no set standards to winterize your garden because it really depends on where you live and weather conditions in your area. But there are some things you can do now without much effort. Start by taking inventory of what worked well in your garden during the summer and what you would like to change. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

Remove all the annual plants that should be just about gone by now and figure out if you want to plant fall flowering plants in the bare areas left by the annuals. Choose your fall flowering plants carefully as not all do well in cold weather. But it is still early enough for you to have a beautiful fall garden. Also, the fall season is the time when perennial plants need to be pruned and trimmed before these go dormant for the winter months.

There are lots of branches that need to be cut from trees and bushes and this is actually good for the plants in the coming spring season. Most gardeners agree that pruning and trimming at this time of the year is good for the dormant plants as these will support new growth during the spring.

If you need to trim some trees of branches that can be easily removed, be sure that you have the right tool for the job. In general, big tree trimming should be done by a professional arborist. However, if a pole pruner is all you need, then be sure to remove no more than a third of the total bud and leaf-bud bearing branches. (photo courtesy: hometips.com)

Avoid scalping a tree and be sure to cut to the tree’s natural shape. Remove dead branches but make sure these are not dormant ones that can stay on the tree. One way to find out is if the branch looked dead and had no leaves in the summer, it is time to remove it. Take a look and prune out diseased limbs and cut below the diseased areas. If you see branches that are in your way where you walk or mow, trim them. Branches should be cut next to the branch collar which is the area that the bark and trunk meet.

If you have dogwood, walnut, birches and maple trees, these should be pruned in the summer or fall because these will bleed sap when pruned in early spring or late winter. Use caution when pruning evergreens that have needles such as pine or spruce because these will not bounce back from a bad pruning. My recommendation is to only remove diseased or dead branches from evergreens.

And don’t forget your roses. If you have a rose garden, be sure to prune them in the fall or winter if you live in northern regions. Somehow, roses do benefit from fall and winter pruning and will come back stronger in the spring. Climbing roses should be pruned right before the leaf buds break and in colder climates this should be done late winter or early spring when danger of frost has passed. If you live in southern regions, chances are that you will have roses all year round and pruning can be done several times a year. (photo courtesy: missouri.edu)