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 Flowering
Shrubs: How to Get More Blossom
Just
as we can't work well if we don't eat enough and get the
right kinds of food, the same goes for plants including
flowering shrubs.
Just because you aren't expecting
to produce fruit or vegetables from your ornamental flowering
shrubs, you must still feed them. Benign neglect is not
an option if you want a good show of blossom. You must also
check that they have ideal conditions, or as close as you
can come to the ideal, for that plant.
For example, it is no good
putting rhododendrums or azaleas in alkaline soil
and then expecting them to to thrive. They are acid lovers
and they will do badly and eventually die in chalky (alkaline)
conditions. If you can't provide these conditions in your
garden beds and you really want to grow these shrubs, your
best option is to grow them in containers in an ericaceous
(acid) compost. Even so, you will still have to feed them
with a specially formulated fertiliser containing sequestrated
iron otherwise you will see the leaves go yellow. Acid loving
plants in a chalky soil cannot take up iron and so suffer
a deficiency.
If you don't know whether
your soil is acid or alkaline you can buy easy to use testing
kits from any good garden centre.
Although bulky manures and
homemade
composts are not a reliable source of micro nutrients
for plants, they are still very beneficial. They improve
the structure of the soil, improve water retention and encourage
earthworms. Similarly, organic mulches
like cocoa shells or wood bark, reduce or stop evaporation
as well as reduce fluctuations in temperature keeping roots
cool in summer and warm in winter.
Finally, flowering shrubs
must be fed. They need a fertiliser low in nitrogen and
potassium (potash), higher in phosphorus. Nitrogen promotes
vigorous growth, phosphorus root growth and potassium improves
flowering. The commonest deficiencies in garden soils are
nitrogen and phosphorus.
The reason for using low
nitrogen fertilisers on flowering shrubs is because you
don't want the plant putting all its energy into producing
new branches and leaves—you want flowers.
The easiest way to get the
correct balance is to buy a fertiliser specially formulated
to promote flowering.
Take care of your flowering
shrubs and they will produce wonderful displays of flowers
for years. Neglect them and they will look very sorry for
themselves.
Further Reading
The Flowering Shrub Expert (Expert Books)
from Amazon.co.uk
or from Amazon.com.
Ortho's All About Flowering
Trees and Shrubs from Amazon.co.uk
or from Amazon.com.
Flowering Shrubs (RHS
Practical Guides) from Amazon.co.uk.
Continuous Color: A
Month-by-Month Guide to Shrubs and Small Trees for the Continuous
Bloom Garden from Amazon.com.
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