How to Grow Verbena? Detailed Family Planting Tips
Verbena is one of many flower species, commonly planted in gardens and along roadsides, but it can actually be grown at home too. If potted and placed indoors, it has the effect of beautifying the room. Below are methods for growing verbena at home that you can learn from.
Flowers refer to plants that have a certain ornamental value and are cultivated and maintained through certain techniques. In the broad sense, flowers are not limited to those grown for their blooms; they can also be grown for their leaves, fruits, buds, stems and roots. Some are appreciated for their posture and color, while others are appreciated for their fragrance and charm. From lower plants to higher plants, from aquatic plants to terrestrial plants, from herbaceous plants to woody plants, they are truly diverse and extremely rich.
Growing flowers is a health-beneficial activity, and it costs very little. It can also beautify the room. After a busy day, when you return home and see the brightly blooming flowers with waves of fragrance rushing to your nose, your fatigue and irritation will immediately disappear completely.
Below, we introduce the related issues of verbena cultivation:
Habits:Native to Brazil, Peru, Uruguay and other places. It likes warm places with ample sunlight. It is not strict about soil requirements, but it blooms more luxuriantly in moist, loose and fertile soil. It has a certain degree of cold resistance and tolerates high temperatures.
Propagation and cultivation:Propagate by sowing or cuttings. Before flowering, generally pinch the tips twice to encourage more flowering branches to sprout: one to two weeks after potting, or when the seedlings are 6~10cm tall and have more than six leaves, remove the top shoot and keep the lower 3~4 leaves to encourage branching. Three to five weeks after the first pinching, or when the side branches grow to 6~8cm long, carry out the second pinching, that is, remove the top shoots of the side branches and keep the lower 4 leaves of the side branches. After two pinchings, the plant shape will be more ideal and the number of flowers will also be greater.
Key cultivation points:1. Pot soil selection. For the potting medium, it is best to choose loose, fertile culture soil with good drainage. Before planting, apply decomposed organic fertilizer and some superphosphate at the bottom of the pot as base fertilizer. 2. Watering and fertilizing. Because verbena likes fertilizer and moisture, in addition to base fertilizer, thin liquid fertilizer needs to be applied monthly during the growing period. The pot soil should be kept moist, but watering should not be too frequent, otherwise it will cause the branches and leaves to grow excessively or wither, affecting bud formation and flowering. In winter, the pot soil should preferably be on the drier side. 3. Pinching and pruning. When the seedlings grow to 10cm tall, they need to be pinched to encourage side branches to sprout and make the plant compact. At the same time, in order to keep flowering continuously, promptly cut off spent flowers after each bloom and strengthen water and fertilizer management so that new branches and flowers can develop again. 4. Light and renewal. Verbena is a light-loving plant, so during the growing period it should be placed in a sunny place for cultivation, and before Frost's Descent it should be moved indoors to a sunny spot. The mother plant ages easily and needs to be renewed every 2 years.
Purifying function:Verbena can remove indoor formaldehyde and has strong pollution resistance. It is also suitable for planting along roadsides with heavier pollution and near factories.
Uses:Verbena has dense branching and is suitable for ground planting. It can cover the ground and can be planted in patches in courtyards and under windows, accenting rocks. Dwarf varieties are only 20~25cm, also suitable for potting, placed on study windowsills, balconies, or hung under corridors and on windowsills, elegant and fresh, swaying gracefully; placed on dining tables, desks and coffee tables, small and natural, pleasing to the eye.
Verbena has high ornamental value and strong survival ability. As long as you learn the verbena cultivation tips shared by the editor, you are guaranteed to have a sea of flowers.
April Family Flower Growing Tips
April is an important month for flower lovers, an important time for planting flower seeds and so on, and the care of flowers and plants in April is also very important.
Courtyard flower arrangement
(1) Flower species suitable for courtyard display. In areas south of the Jianghuai region, after Qingming Festival a considerable number of potted ornamental plants can be displayed in courtyards, such as Norfolk Island pine, camellia, five-needle pine, Hall crabapple, Japanese quince, sago palm, king palm, broadleaf lady palm, fishtail palm, areca palm, Canary Island date palm, Buddhist pine, bird of paradise, rubber tree, Swiss cheese plant, Philodendron bipinnatifidum, banana shrub, nandina, Aspidistra elatior, Chinese yew, red maple, ornamental peach, longevity peach, Japanese aralia, Cymbidium faberi, palm tree, Aucuba japonica, etc. In northern regions, courtyards can display Japanese black pine, lacebark pine, Korean pine, Chinese juniper, spruce, yew, Prunus mume 'Jimei', Prunus mume 'Meiren', leatherleaf mahonia, Huashan pine, Butia capitata, windmill palm, European fan palm, Chilean wine palm, etc.
(2) Propagation of courtyard flowers. 1. Sowing. Courtyard herbaceous flower species suitable for sowing in April include: spider flower, cockscomb, garden balsam, scarlet sage, globe amaranth, dahlia, Aster, China aster, kalanchoe, petunia, snapdragon, red-yellow chrysanthemum, Kochia scoparia, etc. Courtyard woody flowers suitable for sowing in April include: sand-stored magnolia species, banana shrub species, manglietia species, red maple species, horse chestnut species, camellia species; others include wisteria, wintersweet, summersweet, nandina, coral ardisia, etc. Sand-stored seeds should preferably be sown when the seed coats have just cracked. Seeds with harder seed coats, such as wintersweet, wisteria, silk tree, redbud, Chinese tulip tree, etc., can first be soaked in cool water for 24 to 36 hours before sowing. Seeds of Japanese aralia can be sown as soon as they mature at the end of April. Nipplefruit can be sown in April in plastic tunnels for seedling raising. Bulb flowers such as tuberose, gladiolus, and dahlia can be planted out at this time.
2. Cuttings. From south to north, most easy-to-root flower and tree species whose leaf buds have not yet sprouted can be propagated by cuttings, such as leatherleaf mahonia, Mahonia fortunei, Japanese aralia, boxwood species, nandina, Japanese quince, plum (cultivars such as Gongfen and Green Calyx), Buddhist pine, pomegranate, crape myrtle, firethorn, spiraea, Chinese rose, etc. Chrysanthemum can also be propagated by cuttings at this time.
3. Grafting. Flower and tree species that can be propagated by grafting in April include: Aucuba japonica, golden bullet tree; on female plants such as ginkgo, grafting branches from male plants that have already flowered can promote fruiting and avoid the trouble of pollinating every year. Woody flowers such as Hall crabapple, Midget crabapple, wintersweet, Chinese pagoda tree, black locust, ornamental peach, osmanthus, red maple, banana shrub, white orchid, longevity peach, etc., can also be grafted in April. In addition, in southern regions, Christmas cactus, golden barrel cactus, red crown cactus, etc. can also be grafted at this time.
4. Division. Courtyard flower species that can be propagated by division in April include: Mahonia fortunei, leatherleaf mahonia, nandina, bamboo, Japanese quince, winter jasmine, pomegranate, fig, purple magnolia, banana, canna, dahlia, iris, Cymbidium goeringii, autumn zephyr lily, lotus, water lily, etc.
5. Layering. Courtyard flowers and trees that can be propagated by layering in April include: plum, wintersweet, red maple, gardenia, banana shrub, camellia, Buddhist pine, osmanthus, Japanese quince, etc.
(3) Management of courtyard flowers and trees. 1. Management of courtyard field-planted flowers and trees. (1) Transplanting. This month is the best time for transplanting courtyard field-planted flowers and trees. Whether deciduous or evergreen, as long as their leaf buds have not unfolded or the new shoots are not long, they can be transplanted with soil balls, such as southern magnolia, camphor tree, banana shrub, ginkgo, white magnolia, horse chestnut, photinia, persimmon, wintersweet, plum, red-leaf plum, red maple, etc. Generally, the diameter of the soil ball is about 6 to 7 times the diameter of the trunk, and depending on the damage to the root system, some branches and leaves should be pruned as appropriate to reduce leaf transpiration. For plants that have already sprouted and grown shoots, transplanting should increase the soil ball diameter and at the same time heavily prune their branches and leaves. Plum should not be transplanted after leafing out, otherwise it easily leads to poor growth or death. Tree peony and Chinese peony should not be transplanted in spring. Field-planted herbaceous flowers such as pot marigold, verbena, garden balsam, scarlet sage, zinnia (when 4 to 5 true leaves have formed), petunia, California poppy, snapdragon, iris, autumn zephyr lily, variegated dwarf lilyturf, hosta, grass-leaved lilyturf, dwarf lilyturf, pink reineckea, etc., can also be transplanted at this time.
(2) Pruning. For plants such as wintersweet, plum, Forsythia, peach blossom, winter jasmine, etc. after flowering, cut back from the base of the flowering branches and adjust the appearance of the tree shape; for field-planted flowering shrubs such as redbud, Hall crabapple, Japanese quince, Amelanchier, papaya, Hubei crabapple, banana shrub, summersweet, Prunus triloba, etc., shaping and pruning should be carried out, cutting off excessive growth branches, misshapen branches, inner canopy branches, weak branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, etc., so as to help form a good flowering plant shape.
(3) Fertilizing. Whether evergreen flowers and trees or deciduous shrubs, as long as they have not yet sprouted and grown shoots, at this time a ring-shaped ditch can be dug around the outer part of the root system and decomposed organic fertilizer (cake fertilizer) or compound fertilizer buried in it, using 0.5 to 1 kg of fertilizer per plant.
(4) Disease and pest prevention. Cut off branches and leaves on plants that have already been infected by diseases or pests, clear away dead branches and fallen leaves on the ground, and destroy them in a centralized manner. For Rosaceae flowers and trees prone to disease, such as Chinese rose, Japanese quince, Hall crabapple, Midget crabapple, papaya, pear trees, etc., spray Bordeaux mixture promptly to prevent the occurrence of rust and brown spot disease.
2. Management of courtyard potted flowers. (1) Repotting. For plants that were not repotted in March and whose leaf buds have just begun to move but have not yet unfolded leaves, repotting can be carried out in April. When repotting, do not remove too much old soil or prune the root system too much. Species include ginkgo, Norfolk Island pine, golden larch, Buddhist pine, Japanese black pine, Korean pine, Japanese red pine, five-needle pine, Osaka pine, Podocarpus macrophyllus, pomegranate, crape myrtle, etc.; plum plants that have already unfolded leaves generally are not repotted.
(2) Shaping. In southern regions, money tree seedlings can be dug up at this time, spread out to air-dry for 1 to 2 days to let them lose part of their moisture, and then the stems of 3, 5, 7 odd-numbered plants can be braided into a braid. After braiding, press them down with a heavy object to fix the shape, and then choose suitable pots for planting.
White orchid should not be pruned randomly. Its branches have a relatively large pith, and after pruning, a dead section of branch will appear below the cut. For this reason, the cut should be at least 5 cm away from the strong bud to be retained.
For trident maple bonsai, pruning should also not be carried out at this time, otherwise a large amount of wound sap will be produced, causing the branch below the cut to die and affecting the normal growth of that branch.
Ornamental plants suitable for shaping in April include: Buddhist pine, Serissa japonica, cypress, true cypress, banyan tree, ginkgo, five-needle pine, Japanese black pine, Podocarpus macrophyllus, Hall crabapple, cypress, Chinese elm, Japanese apricot, water myrtle, oak, Chinese fringe tree, Syzygium buxifolium, Euonymus pendulus, plum, etc. For pine bonsai, the male and female cones should also be removed promptly to reduce nutrient consumption.
(3) Watering. In April, potted flowers and trees moved outdoors should have their watering increased to promote the plants to sprout and unfold leaves as soon as possible. For bonsai such as five-needle pine, Japanese black pine, Korean pine, Japanese red pine, etc., watering should be controlled and more sunlight given so as not to let the needles grow too long. It is best to follow the principle of not watering until dry, watering less and spraying more. In southern regions, sago palm should also undergo "water withholding" to prevent newly sprouted leaves from growing too long and affecting ornamental value. For camellia, azalea, poinsettia (plants that have been cut back and repotted) that have just finished flowering, as well as epiphyllum, orchid cactus, plum, white orchid, jasmine, Chloranthus, kumquat, etc., special attention should be paid to controlling the amount of watering, and do not let water accumulate in the pot and cause root rot.
(4) Fertilizing. For Chinese rose, camellia, plum, wintersweet, azalea, Cymbidium goeringii, large-flowered cymbidium, Cymbidium sinense, etc., because after flowering the root system has just begun to grow tender fibrous roots, the fertilizer concentration should not be too high. If using cake fertilizer water, a concentration of about 10% is suitable; with urea and monopotassium phosphate solution, 0.2% to 0.3% is preferable. If the topdressing concentration is too high, it will damage the tender fibrous roots. A small amount of thoroughly decomposed solid organic fertilizer or multi-element quick-acting compound granular fertilizer can also be buried in different parts of the potted flowers.
(5) Disease and pest prevention. For potted orchids, when moving them outdoors, carefully check whether scale insects are parasitic on the leaves, and spray the plants with Bordeaux mixture or mancozeb, etc., to prevent leaf diseases. For tree-stump bonsai such as pines and cypresses, Chinese elm, wood, Japanese apricot, plum, trident maple, etc., while removing and burning diseased and pest-infested branches and leaves, apply lime sulfur mixture and the like to the parts of the trunk where the xylem is exposed for antisepsis. For potted plants previously infected indoors with whiteflies and scale insects, such as bitter orange, kumquat, lemon, gardenia, camellia, etc., omethoate and other pesticides should be sprayed promptly after moving outdoors for control.
(1) Potted flower species suitable for indoor display. In April, still in the flowering period, flower species suitable for indoor display include: camellia, pocketbook plant, phlox, European primrose, California poppy, longevity peach, tree peony (flowering plants), nasturtium, pansy, Cattleya orchid (spring-flowering), Dendrobium orchid (spring-flowering), bird of paradise, verbena, freesia, narcissus, red calla lily, tulip, Chinese rose, Cymbidium faberi, etc. Foliage plants include: Aspidistra elatior, Norfolk Island pine, sago palm, coin tree, cinnamon, rubber tree, variegated saxifrage, croton, fiddle-leaf fig, Dracaena fragrans, ponytail palm, pothos, Swiss cheese plant, Philodendron 'Little Angel', broadleaf lady palm, asparagus fern, snake plant, Tradescantia spathacea, bromeliads, Aucuba japonica, Japanese aralia, etc.
(2) Propagation of balcony flowers. Propagating flowers on the balcony is generally done in flower pots, and the quantity is relatively small. Due to special reasons such as strong wind and low humidity on the balcony, management is a bit more troublesome, but as long as you are careful, you can still carry out a small amount of propagation for your own potting or to give to flower friends.
1. Sowing. If you collect a small amount of asparagus fern or clivia seeds, you can sow them in pots. In colder northern regions, they should first be placed indoors, and only when the outdoor temperature reaches 10°C to 15°C can they be moved to the balcony. In addition, a small amount of scarlet sage, marigold, globe amaranth, primrose, winter cherry, petunia, cockscomb, garden balsam, etc. can also be sown in pots on the balcony, to be used to decorate the balcony and indoors when they bloom, so that the surrounding environment has continuous flowers and feels like spring all year round.
2. Cuttings. Cuttings on the balcony generally can only propagate a small number of flower species in large flower pots. The cutting medium can use clean sandy loam, fine sand, vermiculite or perlite, etc. In my personal experience, a medium mixed with water-rinsed rice husk and fine sand at a 1:1 ratio has a better effect for balcony pot cuttings. Ornamental plant species suitable for cutting propagation on the balcony in April include: finger citron (south), Chinese hibiscus, geranium, Chinese rose pomegranate, poinsettia, rubber tree, jasmine, Chloranthus, Excoecaria cochinchinensis, nandina, hydrangea, small-leaf Buddhist pine, Podocarpus macrophyllus, miniature Chinese rose, firethorn, true cypress, cypress, Aucuba japonica, banana shrub, Japanese aralia, etc. Evergreen types should have as many leaves cut off as possible. After cutting, cover with plastic film to retain moisture. In northern regions, they can be placed in front of a sunny indoor window to avoid freezing.
3. Grafting. Grafting on the balcony is somewhat more difficult than in the courtyard. The rootstock must be planted in a pot in the previous year and required to grow robustly in order to help the graft survive. Flower and tree species that can be grafted on the balcony in April include: 1) stem grafting red maple, five-needle pine (north), Chinese rose, golden bullet tree, variegated Aucuba japonica, wintersweet (when buds are wheat-grain size), longevity peach, ornamental peach, etc.; 2) approach grafting wintersweet, osmanthus, etc. For stem grafting, bagging should be used to retain moisture to help increase the graft survival rate. Christmas cactus, golden barrel cactus, red crown cactus, etc. can also be grafted on the balcony or indoors at this time.
4. Division. This is the most commonly used method for propagating flowers on the balcony. In April, from south to north, when the outdoor temperature reaches 10°C to 15°C, flower species that can be propagated by division on the balcony include: bird of paradise, spider plant, iris, Swiss cheese plant, clivia, Aspidistra elatior, sago palm, orchid species, hosta species, Japanese quince, bromeliads, snake plant, broadleaf lady palm, Chloranthus, arrowroot, agave, sword fern, umbrella plant, peace lily, etc. It is worth noting that for suckers separated from the mother plant, including those of sago palm, bromeliads, clivia, etc., plants with roots can be directly potted, while rootless daughter plants should first be buried in moist fine sand to promote rooting. Only after they have developed a good root system can they be switched to culture soil for planting; otherwise, the daughter plants easily rot, causing division failure. In addition, for cut daughter plants, if the root system is not very ideal, besides applying plant ash, charcoal dust and sulfur powder to the cut for antisepsis, a portion of the branches and leaves should also be pruned appropriately to maintain a balance between water absorbed by the roots and water transpired by the leaves, so as to ensure success in division propagation. For clivia, bromeliads, etc. after division, after planting they can also be covered with plastic bags and opened every 1 to 2 days for ventilation to increase local humidity, which is very important for balcony flowers and trees. For leafless and rootless suckers separated from the sago palm mother plant, creating a dark environment is beneficial for rooting and leaf growth.
5. Layering. Ornamental plant species that can be propagated by air layering on the balcony in April include: Buddhist pine, rubber tree, red maple, banana shrub, camellia, white orchid (south), azalea, wintersweet, plum, Aglaia odorata (south), etc. If 100ppm to 200ppm ABT rooting powder (No. 1 or No. 2) solution is applied to the girdled and wounded part of the branch, and then wrapped with peat moss, etc., it is beneficial to the healing of the girdled part.
(3) Management of balcony potted flowers. 1. Repotting. Whether in the south or north, as long as the temperature on the balcony reaches 10°C to 15°C, most potted flowers can be moved to the balcony, but before moving outdoors there should be a process of hardening off. Whether evergreen or deciduous species, as long as the potted plants have not yet sprouted or have not sprouted much, they can all be repotted at this time. Generally, small potted plants are repotted once a year, and large potted plants are repotted once every 2 to 3 years. Common flower and tree species that can be repotted in April include: white orchid, Aglaia odorata, Chloranthus, jasmine, rubber tree, Swiss cheese plant, Philodendron bipinnatifidum, camellia, plum, wintersweet, crabapple, clivia, Aspidistra elatior, Norfolk Island pine, Schefflera, bougainvillea, beautiful date palm, etc. Generally when repotting, some yellowed or misshapen branches and leaves should be removed, and part of the aged or rotted root system should be pruned. When repotting white orchid, even most of the remaining old leaves should be removed to help promote the growth of new leaves.
Balcony potted herbaceous flowers that can be potted in April include: five-color pepper, petunia, pot marigold, verbena, California poppy, amaryllis (bulb), iris, marigold, dahlia, caladium, etc.
2. Pruning. For azalea, camellia, etc., after flowering promptly remove spent flowers and buds, and slightly prune diseased and pest-infested branches and misshapen branches. For plants such as wintersweet, plum, ornamental peach, Forsythia, etc. after flowering, their one-year-old branches should retain only 1 cm to 2 cm at the base, and all the rest should be cut off. For bromeliads, large-flowered cymbidium, etc., promptly cut off the spent stems after flowering and repot them anew. Special care must be taken when cutting off the flower stalk of clivia, as a slight mistake can easily cause the plant to rot at the core. The method is: stop watering the pot soil for a week to let it dry, and after cutting off the spent flower stalk, do not let the sap seeping from the wound flow into the leaf tube. The pot can be tilted in advance, watering controlled, and after the wound dries, straighten the pot again, avoiding dirty rainwater and dirty water from pouring into the leaf tube, and let the remaining flower stalk naturally dry and shrivel.
3. Watering. In April, balcony potted flowers should keep the pot soil moist, with more spraying and controlled watering, because the temperature is still low at this time, and watering too much must be avoided as it can cause root rot. When the temperature rises to about 20°C, then increase the amount of watering, generally watering once a day is enough. Among them, a small number of potted flowers placed indoors can be sprayed and watered with cooled boiled water, but residual tea leaves must not be poured into the flower pots.
4. Fertilizing. Fertilizing balcony potted flowers should be especially careful. Types with strong offensive odors should not be used, as this is not conducive to the cleanliness and hygiene of your own balcony and will also affect relations with neighbors, so do not do as you please. For balcony flower growing, you can use decomposed and sun-dried solid organic fertilizer granules, or long-acting multi-element compound granular fertilizer, fertilizer sticks, and urea and monopotassium phosphate solution, etc. The overall principle is: give consideration to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, apply thin fertilizer frequently, use inorganic and organic fertilizers together, and avoid raw fertilizer, concentrated fertilizer and heavy fertilizer.
5. Disease and pest prevention. In mid-to-late April, newly emerged adult whiteflies will appear on plants such as bitter orange, kumquat, finger citron, etc., and low-concentration pesticides such as deltamethrin and fenvalerate can be sprayed to kill them. For foliage plants such as Aspidistra elatior, rubber tree, sago palm, etc., a small number of parasitic scale insects on the plants should be promptly wiped off with a damp cloth or removed with clear tape. For Chinese rose plants, Bordeaux mixture can be sprayed once every half month to prevent diseases such as black spot.
December Family Flower Growing Tips
Entering December, it is almost the coldest time in most regions, and flower cultivation has also reached its most critical moment. As for how to care for flowers, Succulent Nursery introduces it for everyone below.
1. Transplanting. In early and mid-December, herbaceous flower species that can be transplanted and planted out in courtyards include: Dianthus species, ornamental kale, pansy, snapdragon (south), pot marigold, daisy, hollyhock, mallow, verbena, phlox, autumn zephyr lily, dwarf lilyturf, lilyturf, etc. In addition, bulb flowers such as tulips, hyacinths, and red-spotted narcissus can also be planted in patches or rows on both sides of courtyard paths. Note that in areas north of the Yangtze River, cold protection should be taken when planting or transplanting herbaceous flowers and bulb flowers.
December is a relatively good period for transplanting and planting out deciduous flowering shrubs in courtyards. Species include: rose of Sharon, pomegranate, redbud, wisteria, Chinese trumpet creeper, dwarf flowering cherry, Prunus triloba, purple magnolia, white magnolia, Yulan magnolia, wintersweet, lilac, red-leaf plum, purple-leaf cherry, purple-leaf peach, ornamental peach, longevity peach, Prunus mume 'Meiren', Chinese rose species, red-leaf barberry, golden-leaf privet, golden larch, red fragrant, spiraea, Viburnum macrocephalum, snowball viburnum, Forsythia, jasmine, winter jasmine. Try to keep good soil balls and water thoroughly after planting to ensure survival after transplanting. Evergreen flowering shrub species that can be transplanted in courtyards include: osmanthus, French holly, golden larch, golden-edge oriental arborvitae, dragon juniper, windmill palm, Canary Island date palm (should not be below -10°C), azalea, gardenia, red loropetalum, nandina, boxwood species, Mahonia fortunei, etc. It is worth noting that when transplanting evergreen flowering shrubs, good soil balls should be kept, moderate pruning should be done, and misting and moisture retention should be done well. In order to have potted flowers in full bloom indoors for display during the Spring Festival, in early December field-planted plum, wintersweet, winter jasmine, Forsythia, camellia, Japanese quince, etc. can be dug up and potted, placed in a double-layer greenhouse with better insulation performance, and management strengthened so that they can bloom on schedule around the Spring Festival.
2. Pruning. The ornamental plants in the courtyard that should be pruned mainly fall into three major categories: first, field-planted flowering shrubs; second, hedges, green walls and color blocks; third, geometric or other shapes. Pruning should adopt different standards according to different functions. For field-planted flowering shrubs, in addition to cutting off diseased and pest-infested branches, weak branches, dead branches and misshapen branches, efforts should also be made to achieve a naturally beautiful crown appearance and good ventilation and light transmission inside the canopy. For hedges, green walls, color blocks, etc., flat surfaces, straight lines and distinct edges and corners are required. For shapes such as balls, roundness and generosity are required.
3. Watering. For plants transplanted and already surviving at the beginning of this year, unless the soil is very dry, watering may be omitted. For plants transplanted in spring and summer that have not yet fully survived, if the weather is clear for a long time without rain, spray the crown about once every 10 days. For flowering shrubs or herbaceous flowers newly transplanted in late autumn and early winter, attention should be paid to watering management, and they can be watered once a week to ensure they survive smoothly. For evergreen flowering shrubs in the courtyard covered with dust, spray the crown around noon on clear days to wash off the dust attached to the leaf surface, which helps the leaves carry out photosynthesis.
4. Fertilizing. For field-planted flowering shrubs that have already been pruned, such as camellia, wintersweet, winter jasmine, Forsythia, white magnolia, purple magnolia, Chinese rose, crape myrtle, redbud, crabapple, edgeworthia, osmanthus, banana shrub, etc., ring-shaped trenches can be dug around the outer part of the root crown, with a depth of more than 15 cm, and an appropriate amount of compound fertilizer or cake fertilizer buried in them to meet the needs of their growth in the coming year. For flowering shrubs newly transplanted in late autumn and early winter, all forms of fertilizing should be stopped. In southern regions, for field-planted herbaceous flowers such as Dianthus, hollyhock, ornamental kale, verbena, phlox, daisy, pot marigold, pansy, etc., low-concentration thin liquid fertilizer can continue to be applied?
5. Disease and pest control. For flowering shrub species with a trunk diameter of 2 to 3 cm or more, prepare whitewash yourself and apply it to the trunks, which can reduce the occurrence of diseases and pests in the coming year. For plants with part of the trunk xylem exposed, lime sulfur mixture can also be prepared or purchased for application, which can prevent the xylem from rotting or being damaged by insects. Check the trunk, bark and root crown area, and if egg masses or pupae are found, they can be removed and destroyed. Dead branches, fallen leaves and weeds in the courtyard should also be cleaned up together and burned after being gathered.
6. Soil preparation. For the small plots in the courtyard planned to be used next year for sowing, cuttings and transplanting, deep plowing can be carried out in December, and at the same time cake fertilizer, pond mud, barnyard manure, etc. can be applied. The cutting plot may not be fertilized and temporarily not made into beds. After overwintering and freezing, beds can be made again in the following spring, which can greatly reduce the harm of underground pests in the coming year.
7. Preparing fertilizer. Using free time, crush rapeseed cake, soybean cake, etc. and pour them into a vat or pool, add water and seal for fermentation to make fertilizer. Mix pig and cow manure, chicken manure, pigeon manure, etc. with garden soil and pile them up, cover with plastic film and compost, which can be used next year for preparing culture soil and topdressing. Stack the dead branches, fallen leaves and weeds cleared from the garden in alternating layers with garden soil and burn them. The sifted burned soil can be used for covering seeds after sowing or for preparing culture soil.
8. Seed collection. Woody ornamental plant species from which seeds can be collected mainly include: wisteria, glossy privet, small-leaf privet, firethorn, coral ardisia, camphor tree, photinia, Photinia davidsoniae, red maple, green maple, nandina, large-leaf holly, Chinese holly, wintergreen, etc. Most of these species, after treatment, must be sand-stored to promote germination, and only after the seed coats crack and show white in the following spring can they be sown in the ground. Herbaceous flowers from which seeds can be collected are mostly species moved into simple greenhouses, such as scarlet sage, globe amaranth, marigold, French marigold, and clivia, etc., but clivia seeds should be sown as soon as they are collected.
9. Root storage. For dahlia tuberous roots, large-flowered canna underground stems, etc. stored in sand indoors, frequent checks should be made. First, the room temperature should be maintained no lower than 4°C to 5°C; second, the fine sand should be kept slightly moist to avoid rotting.