Here are some landscaping tips on half hardy annual technique:
Uses
- Half hardy annuals for bedding out in late spring
- Hardy annuals for growing in cold and wet sites
- Hardy annuals for early flowering
- Perennials where trueness to varietial type is not important.
Timing – March – April
Containers
Landscaping designers should use a seed tray, pan or ordinary flower pot. Drainage holes or cracks are necessary. Wash used containers before filing – soak clay pots overnight.
Compost
Landscapers can use a peat based seed compost which provides an ideal medium for germination. Fill the container with compost. Firm lightly with a piece of board. Sprinkle the compost with water the day before seed sowing – it should be moist when you sow the seeds. Scatter them thinly and cover with a thin layer of compost, small seeds would not be covered. Firm lightly with a board. Now choose the standard under glass method or simple windowsill method.
Standard Underglass Method
- Landscapers should place a sheet of glass over the tray or pot and put brown paper on top. Keep at 60 – 70 degress Fahrenheit. Wipe and turn the glass every day.
- As soon as the seedings break through the surface, remove the paper and prop upthe sheet of glass. After a few days the glass should be removed and the container moved close to the light. Landscaping gardeners should keep the compost moist but not wet.
- As soon as the first set of true leaves have opened the seedlings should be pricked out into trays, pans or small pans filled with potting compost. Landscapers should handle the plants by the seed leaves, not the stems. The seedlings should be set about 1 half inches apart. Keep the container in the shade for a day or two after pricking out.
- When the seedlings have recovered from the pricking out move they must be hardened off to prepare them for the life outdoors. Increase the ventilation and move the container to a cool room or to a cold frame. Then move outdoors during daylight hours. Finally leaving them outdoors all the time for about 7 days before planting out.
- Landscapers should place transparent polythene bag over the pot. Fit with a rubber band and keep at 60 – 70 degrees in a shady area of your garden.
- As soon as possible after the seedlings break through the surface landscapers should remove the polythene bag and move the pot to a windowsill which does not receive direct sunlight. Turn the pot regularly to avoid lop sided growth and keep the compost moist but not wet.
