By Lee Dobbins

When planting garden plants there are many things to consider in order to end up with lush thriving plants and a great looking garden. The color of the flowers, the bloom time and the overall garden design are all a big part of this but, perhaps, the most important thing to consider is the amount of sun the plant needs.

When you are choosing your plants, you’ll notice that the type of lighting is marked clearly either in the catalog or in a tag on the plant itself if you are shopping locally. These tags will indicate either partial shade, full shade or full sun. If you want your plants to look their best, you really need to plant them in a spot that gets the right amount of sun. If your plant needs full sun this means that you need to plant it in a garden spot that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight during the day. That means sun that is not filtered by any type of shading like a canopy of tree leaves or other plants. If it needs partial shade then the sun can be filtered and plants that require shade can be planted in shady areas where they will do well but don’t try to plant them in the full sun as they will die off.

Sometimes the tags will say something like – full sun to partial shade – and such is the case with the Foxglove. If you plan it in a partially shady area it will do well but since it prefers full sun it will do better the more sunny the area is. If you give it a spot with enough water and where the soil is warm enough this beautiful plant will yield flowers the whole summer long.

In addition to planting them in the proper place, your garden plants need plenty of food and water. Particularly when gardening in full sun, the moisture levels in your soil are very important. Fertilization is food for your plants and they have certain requirements particularly for nitrogen and phosphorus and some soils simply do not provide enough so you need to give them added fertilizer.

Fertilization should not be difficult and you can get the proper fertilizer at your local garden center. A good liquid fertilizer should work fine and just follow the directions for the size of pot or type of plant.

If you have a very large garden you may want to consider buying manure from a local farm or purchasing it at your garden center which you can usually find in bags of 50 pounds or less. Just spread it out directly on the soil or mix it in if you haven’t yet planted.

Most plants like to be watered every day particularly in the heat of summer but as the weather gets a little cooler you can go with every other day. Make sure the soil is moist but with no standing water. Of course there are many types of plants that don’t need a lot of water such as cacti and other succulents. These plants store water inside the stems and have few leaves so water loss is minimal. Other popular garden plants like pansies and irises lose moisture through their many leaves and flowers so need to get their moisture through soil every day.

Yarrow, Verbena and Aloe do not need so much water and there are other types of vine like plants such as Bougainvillea and Wisteria that will not need excessive watering either.

Planting your garden plants in the right area and providing them with the right food and water throughout the growing season will help yield a lush vibrant garden that you can be proud of and have fun puttering around in!

About the Author: Lee Dobbins writes for Backyard Garden And Patio where you can learn more about planning and maintaining a garden.

Source: isnare.com

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