ACHIEVE planting success

Still in high summer, but no harm in planning forward. So, let’s green our thumbs..

If you have achieved planting success you now probably have a pretty garden that makes you happy and content without asking too much more of you. If not, take heart as planting success relies on easy words like ‘climate’, ‘planning’, ‘position’, ‘preparation’ and ‘care’.

1 Climate concerns

One of the main reasons why some plants sometimes disappoint the gardener (even if pampered endlessly) is that they cannot adjust to difficult climatic conditions. Although you can create artificial microclimates in any garden to please one particular must-have plant, it makes no sense to do it for an entire garden.

If you garden in an area that is prone to heavy winter frost and cold winds, think about the following choices:

• will go into winter dormancy, shedding all their leaves and hardening the cells in(bush willow) and (wild pear) are good examples, and they aren’t boring as they will either give autumn leaves or spring blossoms.• with tough leathery leaves can be used as nurse maids, protecting tender plants from cold winds and frost. Use (kei apple), viburnums, (heavenly bamboo), (sagewood) and ‘Iveyi’ extensively as screening or hedging plants. These are also good choices for frost-free coastal gardens in both summer and winter rainfall areas.• die off above ground, but their root systems tick over below the soil to emerge once again when temperatures rise. Examples of these clever survivors are shasta daisies, gauras, cannas and hostas. Simply cut them back at the beginning of winter and mulch them with straw. Mark their sleeping places with sturdy labels on stakes to remind you where they are.• Bulbs that flower in late winter and spring, like freesias, daffodils, ixias, anemones, tulips and ranunculus, love the cold, are easy to grow and are guaranteed to flower successfully if watered deeply every four days after emerging. Plant these bulbs from April to the end of May. • Sow great swathes of African daisies, Virginia stocks, poppies, nemesias and linarias directly, and plant seedlings of violas, pansies, primulas, petunias and Iceland poppies. • Identify potential frost-prone areas in your garden and change the layout into a design featuring hard elements like gravel and steppingstones. Soften the look with lots of grasses like (sedge), (fescue), restios like (Cape thatching reed) and (nGongoni grass). All are frost-hardy and will add winter grace and summer pleasure.