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)

Whether we like it or not, winter is here and it is time to do some cleaning and winterize our gardens. There are lots of tasks that need to be done around our gardens now in the fall before the real cold days of winter arrive.

Autumn is the time that we can prune and trim plants 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.

While there are no set standards to winterize your garden because every garden is different, there plenty of chores that can be done now without much effort. For example, 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.

Avoid scalping the 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.

You can 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. You can also take a look for branches that look like they are crossing and prune back the smaller ones. 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. Photo courtesy of Wikepedia.org.

If you have a rose garden like I do, be sure to prune them in the fall or winter. 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. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org.

Flowering shrubs that you planted as hedges should be trimmed with smooth hedge trimmers. The thing to remember for pruning flowering shrubs is that if it flowers after May, they should be pruned in late winter or early spring and you will have lots of blooms in the summer. Flowering trees like crepe myrtles should be cut back in late winter but spring flowering such as dogwoods and crabapples should be pruned right after they bloom. Photo courtesy of hgtv.com.

To your gardening success,
Diana