Seasonal Guide to

MAINTAINING your PERENNIALS

Follow these simple instrustion for healthier flowering plants.

Various means of increasing plants can be used successfully by the gardener and can be accomplished without high-tech tools or elaborate equipment. The four methods of spreading your perennials are by seed, division, stem cutting, and root cutting. Use the following guideline throughout the season for healthier and beautiful flowers plants. Reder Landscaping offers a complete line of landscape maintenance services to help keep your investment healthy & growing for years to come!

Early Spring: (Early April)

Clear garden of all dead plant matter. Many people are reluctant to cut down perennials in fall or spring for fear they'll kill them. Over come your reluctance and keep cutting. Weed garden and give your bed a nice crisp edge. This is also the best time to fertilize. Use a balanced fertilizer such as a 10-10-10 at a rate of 1lb per 100 sp. ft.

Mid Spring Garden Chores: (May-June)

Divide plants and replant. The trick is to reset small healthy divisions every 2-3 years in the spring and water them in well. This is also the time to stake plants. Staking early is easier and provides a frame that will quickly disappear with new foliage. Don't forget to water!

Mid-Summer Garden Priorities (July)

Watering is crucial this time of year, so be sure to check moisture levels often. This is also time to "deadhead" or remove spent blossoms from flowering plants. Doing this regularly will give your beds a neater appearance and will encourage new blooms, often even in perennials which normally only bloom once per season when left on their own. Additional staking may also be necessary for taller perennials.

Late Summer (August & September)

Time to enjoy, but be sure to provide supplemental water if necessary. As always, simply pull back the mulch and insert your finger into the soil. Water if it's dry. Now through October and early November is also a great time for planting spring bulbs.

Early Autumn (Early October)

Shorter days and cool nights bring out the magic in many plants. Sit back, relax and enjoy the fireworks in shades of yellows, oranges, reds and purples.

Late Fall (October-November)

Allow plants with attractive winter foliage such as ornamental grasses to remain, but cut other herbaceous plants back to the ground. It will make spring clean up much easier.