Gardening Articles

Spring-flowering bulbs are an excellent choice for containers. They provide interest by their bright colors early in the season and after flowering you can clean and use the pots for summer bedding displays. You can try to combine bulbs with spring-flowering bedding plant for a better spring display. You can also combine bulbs in permanent displays with trees, shrubs and perennials.

One of the most effective and easiest way to grow bulbs is to plant them in a natural setting where they can be left undisturbed to spread and multiply. The bulbs will flower year after year with the minimum of maintenance, adding interest to otherwise dull areas. Bulbs can be naturalized in lawns, in borders or under the canopy of trees.

In a bed system the cropping area is divided into semi-permanent or fixed beds. The beds should be narrow enough to bring their central areas within arm’s reach so that all cultivation tasks can be done from the dividing pathways without stepping onto the bed soil. This has the advantage that avoids soil compaction and that harvesting and other tasks can be done soon after the rain without the risk of damaging the soil structure.

There is a growing fashion for topiary these days and you can buy ready-clipped shrubs in any shape, from simple sphere and cones to any imaginable shape. Traditional topiary is usually created using very slow-growing plants. That is why you need a lot of patience if you want to create your own topiary.