The Best Way to Grow Climbing Plants

Climbing plants are a great garden feature. They add depth and can be used to cover old fencing or alternatively be used to help create different areas within your garden. Climbing plants provide privacy which can be highly beneficial especially in built up areas.

Successful climbing plants

The best way to grow climbing plants is to use garden trellis. This can either be attached to a wall or fence panel and provides your plants with a solid secure structure to climb around. Buying planters with trellis is another great way of adding height to your garden. Planters with trellis give you far more freedom to choose where you want to grow your climbing plants as the trellis does not have to be secured to an existing structure.

* To begin with use string to train plants to grow up and around trellis, this will provide additional security for plants which are not yet strong enough to grow upwards unaided.

* If you plan to grow vegetables with trellis, the trellis will give you easier access to the fruits of your labour as well as reducing the amount of rotten fruit or vegetables as the plant has less contact with the soil. More air can circulate around your vegetable when grown in this manner which will result in healthier fruits and better veggies!

Trellis essentials

* Find a sheltered spot that is out of the wind.
* You will need to spend time initially training your plats to climb
* If you are planning to grow heavy fruit and vegetables on trellis you will need to check that they are being fully supported on a regular basis.
* Water regularly. Climbing plants require more water due to this kind of growing technique enabling faster water absorption.

Top climbing plant for 2010

Lophospermum - Begin by planting seeds in 7.5-10cm pots under cover in pots and plant out in late May. I would advise using a planter with trellis which will allows the new shoots to twine around the structure and grow vertically. Throughout summer you will be rewarded with trumpet shaped flowers.

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Growing Tomato Plants Tips

Wondering how to nurture a healthy plant to produce succulent tomatoes? Here are a few but successfully tested tips to give you the healthiest harvest of tomatoes to give you that lip-smacking salad!!

Firstly, tomatoes love heat! So, preheat the soil in your garden by placing a black or red plastic cover over the area intended for sowing, for a couple of weeks. This provides extra degrees of warmth to the area where the tomatoes are to be grown. Secondly, make sure the tomato plant is sown deep in the soil.

Seedlings are typically planted after they have developed about six leaves. Plant the seedlings deep enough so that only the top four leaves are showing. This also helps the tomato plant to create a stronger root system. The seedlings can also be sown sideways within a shallow trench. Care should be taken while inserting a stake into the soil, for the tomato plant to lean on while growing, so that it does not pierce the root system. Following these steps will definitely yield a great harvest.

Maintaining the plant requires a lot of attention from the growers. Pruning the suckers that develop in the joint of two branches of the plant essential as they suck the energy from the plant since they do not bear fruit. Leaves should also be pruned, although not too many, to allow sunlight to reach the ripening fruit. It should be noted that the leaves are the "kitchens" of the plant where, by the process photosynthesis, food in the form of sugars are prepared to provide the plant's much needed sustenance. The tomato plants need to be watered regularly and enough to allow water to seep deep into the soil. Missing a few days of watering and trying to make up for it later leads to the rotting and cracking of the blossoms. However once the fruit begins to ripen, less watering should be done to allow the sugars in the plant to become concentrated. Stress and wilting of the plant will result in drooping of the blossoms and fruits if too much water is withheld

These well proven suggestions have been heeded by many tomato plant growers which have helped to support the health of the tomato plants and have led to an increase in the quantity and quality of tomatoes.

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Tomato Growing - Proper Nutrition For Huge Tomato Plants

Every tomato grower has a "secret recipe" for tomato growing success. An integral part of high tomato yield is proper plant nutrition. Plants need food, too! Giving a plant the right food at the right time will not only increase fruit yield, it will also help prevent damage from diseases and pests.

Plant Nutrients

Plants do not eat hamburgers and French fries, but they do still need "nutrients." Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium are the three nutrients most commonly fed to plants. Most fertilizers are a combination of the three. When reading a fertilizer package, a three number series such as 3-0-3, or 15-10-5, presents the ratio of all three nutrients in the fertilizer. Other nutrients and minerals, in smaller amounts, help tomato plants grow robustly and healthily. Plants get nutrients from the soil in which they are planted, so soil preparation is integral to providing plant nutrients in proper amounts.

To determine which nutrients your garden soil needs to promote healthy plant growth, prepare a soil sample and send it to your local cooperative extension office for analysis. The soil sample will allow you to properly prepare the garden soil and add just enough of each lacking nutrient to grow healthy plants. Another important test is the soil pH. Soil pH affects the way plants are able to take in nutrients. If your soil is too high or too low, you will want to amend the pH by adding mulch (to increase acidity) or lime (to increase alkalinity.)

When to Add Nutrients Tomato plants need nutrients at differing amounts at various stages of growth. After receiving soil test results and before planting tomatoes, work a general fertilizer into the soil. Ratios of 5-10-10 or 8-16-16 are good to start. The soil test results will tell you if you are seriously lacking one nutrient or another.

Once the plant begins growing, different ratios of nutrients promote best growth. Once the plant starts flowering, it needs a higher ratio of potassium.

Soil Composition for Plant Nutrition

Adding fertilizer is only one step to providing plants with proper nutrients and increasing crop yield. Soil composition and structure directly affects tomato plant health. Tomato plants thrive by growing roots deep into the soil. Hard clay soils must be broken and amended with compost to promote healthy root growth. Overly sandy soils need addition of organic matter in order to hold water and nutrients.

Compost for High Fruit Yield

Organic matter is an essential component of soil. Adding proper organic matter will greatly improve soil health, while adding improper organic matter is detrimental to soil. Organic matter can be added by top dressing or double digging. Top dressing with organic works exactly as it sounds-you add organic matter to the top of the soil, almost like a mulch. Double-digging requires digging and removing soil, mixing the organic matter into the soil, and replacing the newly combined soil.

Great organic matters are already composted, or broken down. As wood chips, leaves and other compost breaks down, it uses nitrogen. It is important to add composted organic matter rather than fresh, as fresh matter will remove essential nutrients from the soil. If fresh organic matter is all that is available, be sure to add nitrogen along with the organic matter.

Soil composition is one key to tomato growing success. Structure, pH, and nutrient availability all contribute to plant health. For more detailed information on soil health and how to manage nutrition (including diagnosing nutrient deficiencies), consult a comprehensive tomato growing reference such as How to Grow Tasty Juicy Tomatoes.

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How to Care For Your Plants

Sunscald is an injury prevalent in the prairie sections of the country. It appears as dead sunken areas of bark on the trunks of trees particularly on the south and southwest sides. Exposed trunks of fruit trees, especially apple and pear, and some ornamental trees such as the mountain ash, suffer from this condition. Apparently the injury occurs in late winter. Day temperatures above the freezing point followed by below-freezing nights cause damage to the wood on the exposed side of the tree. Most damage occurs on the southwest side of the trunk.

This kind of damage can be lessened if young trees are trained so they branch low to the ground. Growing mountain ash in a clump form instead of to a single trunk aids in lessening sunscald injury. Growing shrubs near the base of susceptible trees assists in protecting tender bark. Painting trunks with white paint is another "old timers" method followed.

Rodents can do considerable harm to ornamental trees and shrubs during winter months. Lawns are also scarred by the burrowing activities of these animals. Field mice migrate into a cultivated area especially if their regular feeding areas become covered with heavy snows. As their regular source of food is cut off, they build runways to favorite trees and shrubs and feed on the soft bark of these plants near ground level.

Protect from Animals

Rabbits often completely girdle trees and shrubs and in that way, kill them. Rabbits feed at snow level, so if the snow is drifted high, the feeding will occur above the ground level of the plants. Just like having fungicides to control pests, a number of repellents on the market are effective in the control of this pest. Maybe you prefer the old fashioned cure -the shotgun. In a deer area these animals may become troublesome because they feed on young tender growth of many kinds of deciduous shrubs and trees. One of the plants especially relished by deer is the native Red Osier Dogwood.

Adequate fencing provides the best solution for preventing such damage. It is an expensive method, but is effective. Wrapping trunks of valuable fruit trees with coarse screening is another way to prevent girdling by rodents. These coverings must reach high enough to take care of changes in snow level during the winter. If the snow drifts above the protective covering, better get out the shotgun (just kidding)!

Snow is one of nature's important mulches, since it protects tender perennial plants over the cold winter months of the north. The snow acts as an insulation, protecting plants from extreme changes in temperature which happen so often in this section of the country. The greatest danger is ice formation at ground level. If this happens, much of the insulating value of the snow is lost. Providing good sub-surface, and especially good surface drainage, is one way of reducing ice formation at the base of perennial plants.

Keep from Losing Snow

When we witness a cold, blizzardy day in January, we can realize the importance of not cutting down the stalks and tops of perennial plants such as peony or delphinium. A perennial border cleaned bare of its plant growth in the fall, often loses its protective snow cover when the first blizzard of winter strikes. A good shrub border, hedge or fence placed adjacent to the perennials serves much the same purpose, to keep the snow from blowing off.

Long winter months in this area make us appreciate plant materials that give color to our landscape setting at this time of year. Evergreens are especially suitable for this purpose. We should be reminded not to plant all our small evergreens around the foundation of the house. Some evergreens placed elsewhere in the yard aid in brightening the winter scene as viewed from our windows. The colorful bark of red and yellow twigged native dogwoods and willows will brighten the winter landscape picture. Think, too, of using berried shrubs and trees such as viburnums, flowering crabapples, mountain ash and haws. Many such plants offer food for our visiting winter birds.

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14 Tips to Grow Happy Tomato Plants

Just dropping in for a quick list of successful tomato tips.

DETERMINATE tomato plants produce a heavier yield at one time and are best for canning. INDETERMINATE tomatoes bear fruit throughout the summer and tend to sprawl. Best for continual eating enjoyment. Transplant tomatoes when all danger of frost is past. Put in well drained soil, and mix in some humus or compost if needed. Putting plastic jugs over the plants creates a greenhouse effect and can help them grow faster. Just keep an eye on daytime temperatures. Transplant on a cool evening to prevent wilt and transplant shock. Space plants two feet apart in rows three feet apart. Snip off bottom leaves and plant DEEP. Leave about 4-6 inches of crown above the ground with the leaves on. The plant shoots roots from the entire stem underground, developing a better system. "Mud in" your new tomatoes. Dig the hole three times larger than the root ball, place the plant in, and fill halfway up with water. Then carefully pack dirt around the plant. Always "side dress" your new tomatoes. Make a ring around the plant about one foot away, sprinkle 10-10-10 garden fertilizer in the ring, and water well. READ THE DIRECTIONS on all fertilizers so you don't burn your plants. Keep the plants watered according to weather conditions. Don't overwater, as this results in poor aeration and stem rot. Mulch if desired. Keep the area weed free, but don't hoe too close to the plant. This breaks off the roots that supply water to the fruit. Before they start setting fruit, dust the plants about every ten days with a good combination insecticide and fungicide. Do this before they show symptoms, because it's difficult to stop blight once it's started. If blight does infest your plants, DO NOT plant tomatoes in the same area the next year. Two common problems with tomato plants are "leaf roll" and "white shoulders." Leaf roll is caused by too much fertilizer or herbicide spray. White shoulders appear on the tomatoes and are caused by extremely high temperatures. Plants may be allowed to sprawl over the ground, but they produce better fruit if tied to stakes at least four feet tall. All indeterminate plants should be staked. Before first frost, pull up your tomatoes and hang them upside down in a protected place. Many of the green tomatoes will ripen. Keep dry or mold will occur.

These tips will keep your tomato plants happy, and you happy, all summer long.

Use your summer bounty to its best advantage by canning plain tomatoes and seasoning them when you actually cook them in the winter. Try the Savory Herb and Spice Adventure which features Oregano, Basil, Rosemary, Fennel, Caraway and Tarragon, or choose the Beyond Basil Herb and Spice Adventure which features Thyme, Sage, Dill, Marjoram, Rosemary, and Bay. If you reap more than you thought you would, try both of these culinary adventures!

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My garden plants part 2 (2009)

Annotations Show what cultivare are planted. Year 2009 Be sure to see part 1 and any other future additions.

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