Often, We are Asked... {questions about care and feeding}

After spring bulbs finish flowering, you may deadhead the faded flowers. Allow the foliage to continue growing until it yellows and shrivels away. At that time, you may cut it back entirely. This maturation process is the bulb’s way of rebuilding its strength so it can bloom again the following year. An exception, however, is the steadfast daffodil. In our gardens, we have found green daffodil foliage in August! So, now, we give it about six weeks to mature. Cutting back at that time has not harmed our bulbs. We do use a bulb fertilizer and follow the directions. And the daffodils increase yearly.

Here is a list of annuals that will perform very nicely in this light. We especially enjoy creating a basket that shows off several different plants, chosen for their unique characteristics. This season, see what you can create to make your garden unique!

Ageratum, Begonia, Coleus, Impatiens, Ivy, Sweet Pea, Lisianthus, Lobelia, Alyssum, Nicotiana, Fuchsia, Viola and Torenia

One of the best things about perennials is their portability. Even after several years, you will still be physically able to move a clump of daylilies. Try that with a tree. But move them at the wrong time and you will have problems. Most will be OK if moved in earliest spring or fall, but Oriental poppy can be moved ONLY after flowering, when they go dormant. Otherwise, they will probably die. Peonies prefer to move in fall, as do many spring-blooming species. The more time they have to reestablish, the better. After moving, it is always a good idea to water carefully and mulch to maintain the moisture.

Most perennials prefer to be divided in early spring and this can be done as soon as the soil can be safely worked. Division isa technique of vegetative propagation that results in many young plants coming from one. A few simple directions will help you divide successfully.

1. Dig around the plant completely and deeply to get under the roots.

2. Shake off the excess soil.

3. Pull apart, cut apart or pry apart the root into smaller pieces. For ornamental grasses, a chain saw works well.

4. Discard the woody center of the original plant.

5. Replant the divisions with compost for a good start.

More than any other part of gardening, we believe that soil is the most important aspect to help you grow a successful garden. All the expensive plants in the nursery will not thrive without a good soil. And the secret to that is adding compost - which is any organic material that will decompose and add quality of the clay that you may have in your garden. Use mulch, grass clippings, leaves or manure - use it all to make great compost. Add this to a new area and add more as mulch (top-dressing) when you finish planting. Add more the following spring by spreading amidst the plants. Done annually, the garden will be healthy.

Soil testing is highly recommended for gardens and lawns. It eliminates guess work when applying fertilizer and incorporating amendments, such as compost. The rule: if you don’t need it, don’t use it. This is especially important with lawn fertilizers. A test tells you what soil needs to be healthy and productive.

The test kits available in your local garden center are very effective. If you want even more detail, call your local Cooperative Extension office (in Cumberland County, call 780-4205) to obtain the kit you will need to get a test from the University of Maine at Orono. The cost is $15.00.

Sandy soil, which is often found here, especially near the coast, can be a challenge. It drains very quickly and needs frequent watering and fertilizing during the summer.

To improve this soil, add compost and then add more compost. Work it into the sandy soil and you will see the difference immediately. Add any organic waste you have - grass clippings, manure or leaves . Till this into the soil directly.

After planting, add more compost as topdressing. This will work into the soil, adding to the organic content. Over the next few seasons, these techniques will improve the soil greatly and your garden will know the difference.

Gardeners use this term to describe one aspect of soil chemistry . It affects the availability of certain necessary chemicals to growing plants. Soil is described as either acid or alkaline using the pH scale, running from 0 to 14. 0 is completely acidic and 14, completely alkaline. 7.0 is neutral. Most growing plants prefer a slightly acid soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8. This can be measured using a home soil test kit or using the testing services of UMO. To raise the Ph, lime or peat is added to the soil. If you needed to decrease the acid, ground sulfur is added. Azaleas, rhododendrons and hollies are acid-loving and will benefit from the addition of an acid fertilizer. Most perennials prefer a neutral soil. Fall is the best time to add these slow-release products, as they will have all winter to blend with the soil.

Usually much less than people do.

We recommend preparing the garden soil so well that frequent fertilization is not only unnecessary, it is wasteful. By amending the soil with compost, the garden gains long-term benefits. And the gardener is not buying expensive liquid fertilizers and spending hours applying them.

A newly established garden can be fertilized with a light broadcasting of 5-10-5 or 10-10-10. But once the garden is established it is merely a matter of topdressing with compost every other year in the fall or when convenient.

A little maintenance in early June will help bring things back to a tidy order.

Hard pruning of pulmonaria and lamium , after the first flush of flowering, produces a gorgeous new flush of foliage growth that seems to begin the season anew. For the rest of the season, these plants will add superlative color, texture and grace to the shady garden. So lovely are the leaves, they could actually be considered “foliage” plants - grown only for the foliar effects, with little consideration of the less significant flowers (an excellent example is asarum europeum).

Unfortunately, this technique will not work with the tattered foliage of declining dicentra. Once the old-fashioned bleeding heart has entered the first phases of dormancy, gardeners may just as well cut back then. They do not produce a second flush of growth. Hopefully, the gap thus remaining will be curtained with the emerging foliage of woodland asters, astilbe or late-to-emerge hosta. Note that the fern-leaved dicentra requires nothing but an admiring eye,as it continues blooming well into August.

Other spring blooming plants, commonly called ephemerals, also begin dormancy immediately after flowering. Included in this group are dodocatheon, hepatica, mertensia, sanguinaria and trillium. Once the foliage has turned brown or tan, it may be removed quickly with a sharp pair of garden scissors, our favorite tool for dealing with soft leaves and stems. The gaps remaining after removal of these leaves is far smaller and far less noticeable than with the dicentras.

In the sunnier areas, this same technique is useful for aquilegia, trollius and papaver. With trollius, rebloom may even occur. Remember that any foliage, once damaged, will never heal itself. Remove it! This applies to damages by any cause - dormancy, insects, disease, weather or animals. And, as a bonus, know that removing old, possibly diseased foliage contributes to the health and longevity of your garden.

By this we mean the cutting back of stems to manage growth. By pinching the emerging flower stems back by half during June, late blooming varieties, such as asters, phlox, chelone and monarda, can enjoy greatly improved performance - the number of flowers are usually doubled, the plants are shorter and do not require as much staking.Fungal problems will also be reduced, as well, because the density of foliage is reduced, allowing better air circulation.

The only tools you need are your fingers, although some stems will be so tough that shears are needed.

Pinching stems back is the gardeners secret to extending bloom times of plants.