Basic Plant Care to Keep Yours Looking Gorgeous!
Every plant needs some form of basic care to grow and develop. Understanding its seasonal cycles is an important part of knowing how and when to do all the chores that will keep yours looking lively and fresh.
Watering isn’t the only thing, either. The basic care aspects of gardening are easy to sum up: transplanting, pruning, fertilizing, cleaning, and spraying. But because each species is different, you should always figure out the specifics of how and when to do all these things for each plant.
You don’t necessarily need to talk to a specialist to get the information you need. The main thing is to understand that the changing of the seasons is a natural conditioner that will determine when you do your garden work.
Plants – what to do based on the season
The seasons of the year will determine what kind of plant care you need to be doing. Make sure you have a handle on the differences to keep your plants healthy.
Fall
This is generally seen as the best part of the year to do pruning and transplanting. By doing both of these things, you’re helping the plant to absorb more nutrients so that it can get through the winter.
Winter and spring
In the winter, the main thing to do is water less. Once spring comes, then it’ll be time to fertilize. Doing that will give your plant all the energy it needs to flower and blossom. Spring is also the time of year when you need to start watering more again. Just remember not to turn the soil into a puddle. Too much water can be bad.
Summer work
In the summer, you should keep adding a bit of fertilizer to help the plants get back the energy they used to blossom. This is also when you should be cleaning them more. That involves taking off any dead leaves, branches, and flowers. Use a pesticide spray at the beginning of the season, because the higher temperatures lead to parasites.
Basic plant care – going down the list
You’re probably wondering more about the exact order you need to do basic plant care tasks in to keep your plants fresh. Pay attention, because we’re going to give you some great tips.
Transplanting
This is the part where you transfer the uprooted plant from one pot to another, or into the ground. You generally do a transplant just after you’ve bought a plant to get it into a proper pot or if it has grown bigger than the one it’s currently in.
It’s also time to transplant if you see that the roots are peeking out of the drainage holes of the pot. This is when it’s good to know which plants need annual transplants. If you transplant it into the garden, you need to move the soil around a good bit to oxygenate it, dig a hole, put the plant in, and fix it into place with some soil on top.
Pruning
Get rid of the dead, sick, or dry branches and trim down any that are too long. That’s basically all pruning is. More extreme pruning is for the wintertime.
By doing this, you’re stimulating the plant’s growth, making it stronger, and helping it look better. Never cut the structural branches. You should also figure out when it’s best to prune based on the species of the plant before you start doing anything.
Fertilizing
In order for plants to grow properly, they need to get constant nutrients from the ground. This is why it’s important to use the right fertilizers in the soil. Talk to someone at a plant shop to find out what the best fertilizers are for your species, and how and when you should use it.
Cleaning
Routine cleaning includes removing withered flowered and leaves and dry branches. Doing that will keep the plant shiny and healthy.
It’s also important to keep the leaves from accumulating dirt or other residues. That prevents them from photosynthesizing and breathing. You can clean them with a light water bath or by passing a damp sponge over the leaves.
Pesticide spraying
The first days of summer heat are the time you need to start taking precautions against potential insect infestations. This means using pesticide sprays. If your plants have already been overrun, you should talk to a professional to figure out the best way to get rid of the parasites.
We’re sure that after reading this post, you feel like getting out into the garden and getting to work. Well then, don’t let us stop you! Use these simple tips and you’ll see how fun gardening can be!