The most intense time of the gardening season for Southerners is Mid-February to mid-March. Looking out your window early in the new year, it may be hard to believe that Spring is just around the corner and soon your garden will begin to come alive. |
The Coastal South stretches from the Gulf coast of Texas to the Atlantic coast of South Carolina.
The region as a whole shares a number of distinctive characteristics: long, hot, humid summers; mild winters; abundant rain and sunshine; many native plants; and best of all, the opportunity for year-round gardening. |  |
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| Living in this southern part of the United States means you can garden pretty much all year round. This might sound good to some, but there are trade offs. You may never get any rest. Gardeners in the North may not have much sympathy as they give up gardening each fall. While the northerners are planning the next year's garden, their counterparts further south never get a chance to stop gardening. Planning with seed catalogs by the fire and snuggling under a blanket are usual occurrences in the northern climates. |
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| Annuals and perennials |
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| Annuals and perennials are the main ingredients of a garden, providing spectacular color and texture which we all enjoy so much! |
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An annual completes its entire life cycle in a single season and usually dies back after the first frost. This includes flowers such as petunias, inpatiens and marigolds. Perennials live from year to year. They might die down during the winter but their roots remain active and they reappear each spring. Both types of plants are available in all colors, shapes and textures, this is why careful planning is so important to create a well designed, visually appealing garden. |
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| A pleasing flower border generally includes both perennials and annuals. This is because perennials do not bloom as long as annuals but yet perennials are some of the most beautiful flowers in the garden and they also provide unique textures and characteristics that annuals do not. Often gardeners will use annuals to fill in areas when perennials are not in bloom. This provides continuous color. |
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| Planning and preparing your garden |
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| The winter months are a good time to plan your spring garden. Select plants that will do well in hot, humid and often dry summers in the South, such as gazanias and diascia. |
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Think about ways to combine plants and flowers in your garden. Consider plant size and color. In a border, you want to place tall plants at the back, mid-size plants in the middle and lower growing and trailing plants in front.Read the label on the plant for height and spread. |  |
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| Fertilize plants in early Spring and plant shrubs and cool weather vegetables. Try to get a head start on garden chores before the warm weather gets here, and make sure your tools are sharp and ready for the season. In March, you can divide and transplant chrysanthemums and other late blooming perennials.
Those of you who live in coastal Georgia and South Carolina as far North as Hilton Head Island can actually grow cool season vegetables like lettuce, spinach and other greens in December and January, as well as hardy annuals such as dianthus, dusty miller and pansies. If you live in some areas of Florida you can even grow warm season vegetables like tomatoes. |
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| Here are some general garden planning tips |
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| • Choose plants that are suitable for the site (light, soil, etc.) |
| • Arrange plants according to their height (taller at back, short in front) |
| • Arrange them according to the plant form and texture |
| • Arrange according to plant flowering periods |
| • Arrange in groupings by type and color considerations |
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| Soil preparation |
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| When it comes to planting, good soil is the foundation on which you build a good garden. And building good soil involves analyzing what you've got and supplementing what it needs.
Check the soil pH and add lime if necessary. Adding compost is always a good idea, and till or dig in last season's crops in areas where you will plant early spring vegetables. You can leave the other crops until later in areas where you will plant warm season crops.
Very few plants can thrive by simply digging a hole and planting. Most of us do not have the ideal soil for annual or perennial bedding plants. Roots of bedding plants have to penetrate soils quickly, anchor plants and absorb water and nutrients, often under adverse conditions. This is why it is so important to amend the soil whenever possible so that roots can access nutrients, oxygen and water to thrive.
Soil texture is most important in determining whether those three needs are met sufficiently to allow the plant to perform well. Tight, heavy clay soils challenge the best of gardeners.
Amending your garden soil is one of the best ways to overcome these conditions. Add organic matter such as leaf mold, compost, peat and sand, also add a 3 to 4 inch layer of organic matter. Your garden bed can be built up, as a raised bed, which provides excellent drainage. The soil should be loose for young plants. These mixes are available by the bag or in bulk at most garden centers.
Prior to planting, prepare the soil in the bed area with 2 pounds per 100 square feet of a slow-release, 12-6-6 fertilizer with minor nutrients. for more information, see soil smarts. |
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| Working with colors |
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| Color is a little more involved and is usually more an individual taste. Some gardeners will plant all colors together with no real design in mind, but the discriminating gardener will consider which colors work best together and follow basic color theory guidelines.
Consider a color theme that appeals to you, such as pastel colors or more vibrant, brighter colors. Maybe you prefer a garden all in one color. Experiment and see what appeals to you. Containers are great for experimenting with color because you can move them around.Click here for more tips on color. |
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| Selecting plants |
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| It is important to select the right plant for the right spot, especially in Southern gardens. Many gardeners attempt to stretch the plant's limits by planting in locations not suited for optimum growth. Gardeners will run out of space and place sun plants in partial shade and shade plants in sunny locations. |
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| Select healthy, younger plants, they often transplant better. Choose plants with compact foliage and healthy leaf color. Keep in mind the visual arrangement or design of the bed you are creating and choose sizes and colors that complement each other. |  |
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| Snapdragons come in a wide variety of beautiful bright colors and can be planted early in the season. They are quite hardy and once established, they can easily withstand sub-freezing temperatures. Snapdragons can be completely covered with a layer of pine straw during a period of extremely cold weather.
Garden centers will also be stocking annual bedding plants such as geranium, marigold and dusty miller. Another good choice is dianthus. With good soil preparation and a layer of mulch they are tough, heat and cold tolerant plants. These plants provide spectacular color in red, pink, and white. They are a fragrant flower as well.
Celosia works well in a garden or patio container with colorful plumes and is generally pest-free. This flower always looks fresh, and requires very little maintenance. Celosia blooms from summer through fall. It has the ability to withstand drought and extremely hot temperatures. |
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Boston ferns are one of the most attractive and admired foliage plants. They are a beautiful addition on shady porches in the spring and summer months.With proper lighting, humidity, nutrients, and care the Boston fern can be a spectacular addition to your home. Water frequently and thoroughly and keep the soil evenly moist to touch but not saturated. |
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| Your pansies are probably still blooming from the previous fall's planting and will benefit from a biweekly application of liquid fertilizer. Deadhead the faded blooms as well. Many garden centers are stocking fresh pansies in various sizes and many colors.
For pansy lovers everywhere, welcome to the ultimate celebration of pansies - Pansymonium. Chances are if you planted them last fall you are still enjoying them as we approach spring. Make your garden simply spectacular with this collection of exotic and unusual pansies. Ideal for fall planting if you live in the Southern US, cold-hardy Pansymonium plants will give you knock out color, and are super easy to grow. |
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BigShot Pansies™ are the world's biggest pansies. They make a huge splash of color in your garden.
Flamenco Pansies feature wonderfully ruffled petals and exotic luminescent colors.
Hot Chilly™ Pansies provide an exceptionally long blooming season with superb overall garden performance. | |
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| Southern sun and heat |
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| Some night time temperatures won't dip below 70 in parts of the southeast, where as daytime temperatures can reach 95 starting as early as May through to October. This is what makes southern gardening unique. In this climate southerners grow pentas, lions ear and many different types of ornamental grasses.
Many garden books are written for northern gardeners, and much of the information is lost on southerners. The caretag may indicate full sun, but that may not mean full sun down south. Many plants, that like full sun up north, can only take a few hours in the south before they fade from heat. Although some perennials can withstand the summer heat if they are given shade for part of the day. |
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| Garden centers will soon be stocked with a wide selection of colorful annuals, hanging baskets and flats of vegetables. Select plants with a variety of textures, shapes and colors to add interest and beauty to your garden. |
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| Gardening in the south is truly a wonderful experience! |
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