The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Landscaping Basics
The improved public appearance of a nicely landscaped home is the most obvious return for your effort. For example, careful selection of flowering plants will insure you a nearly continuous series of flowers throughout the local growth season. In many areas fruit trees can provide decorative accents and till your larder with edibles for the winter. Shrubs and groundcovers can be bought to suit the local climatic condition. It is more than the reduction of work and improvement in appearance that makes preplanned landscaping so well worthwhile. The quiet pride of ownership that results from a well groomed home is another of many benefits obtained through this use of your spare time. Another result is the reduction of maintenance in well planned landscapes. Plant management and pruning is also simplified. The cost of watering and irrigating the landscaping is greatly reduced, and the possibility of storm damage to your valuable landscape is almost eliminated.
Container Gardens
Choose containers for all potted plants that are large enough to allow the roots to be planted without crowding. Cleanse old pots thoroughly and wash and dry new ones before using them. Place drainage material in the bottom and set the plant's main stem directly in the center of the container. Fill it with soil, beginning gently and carefully, tamping about the roots. The soil level, after settling, should be about a half inch below the rim to facilitate watering.
Established plants need to be repotted in the next larger size container at intervals determined by their rate of growth. Repotting is required when the earth ball of the plant has a number of fine roots on the outside of it, and these roots are being crowded against sides of the container. Plants not ready to be repotted should occasionally have a little fresh topsoil added to the pot.
When planting a container which will hold a number of specimens, line the plants up in the planter before planting; then shift them about until you get the desired effect. Plant the larger specimens first and the smaller ones last.
Roses in the Landscape
Roses have more universal appeal than most other flowers. Since ancient times they have been one of the best loved and most popular flowers throughout the world. Today their popularity is increasing.
The rose is considered the favorite flower by 19 out of every 20 Americans and therefore is most often placed first in thought and budget when consideration is given to landscaping a new yard or garden. Few plants are as easy to grow and so rewarding in producing lasting color and charm. But this singular beauty and universal appeal of roses can be further enhanced by careful landscape design.
Roses have many uses, according to their different classifications, which include the hybrid tea varieties, the floribundas and polyanthas, and the general group of ramblers, pillars and climbers. Hybrid tea roses have been developed to a magnificent degree with emphasis placed on their perfect form, bud formation, long stems and brilliant colors. In addition to furnishing lovely arrangements in the house, the hybrids provide sensational effects when planted in beds.
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