Our summer here in the mid-Atlantic has been bearable this year. We had a week or two with high temperatures and humidity, but for the most part it has been a rather pleasant summer. What has been different this year from recent years is the amount of rain. It has rained rather regularly all throughout the summer, which is very unusual for us.
Rain or no, flowering pots usually start to look a bit "bedraggled" at this time of year. Such was the case with the two pots on the front porch.
These beautiful sherbet colored petunias were quite stunning in the early spring when I first planted them. And they stayed lush for five long months. But they were starting to look a bit worn.
This pot was looking even worse. This did not make for a very inviting entrance and did nothing at all for curb appeal.
When I planted the petunias, I added a liriope in the center of each pot to bring some height to the arrangement. This one was, in a word, unhappy. I do not know why.
The liriope in the matching pot on the other side of the porch did well. It even bloomed. You can see the little purple conical flower buds in this picture. But they were starting to fade as well. The whole thing was no longer working. Time for something new.
I decided Compact Japanese Holly were what we needed. I prefer evergreens in the landscape over flowers. They give a beautiful, consistent look and they are less fussy.
These lifted right out of the plastic nursery pots. This is the case with most nursery plants. Very seldom do I need to cut away the plastic pot. But remember, the root ball cannot be left like this.
You need to loosen the root ball from the nursery pot before replanting. Sometimes you can achieve this by grabbing the shrub at the base of the trunk and hitting the root ball on the ground. Not so this time. I used a piece of one by four to loosen it up and to remove the potting medium that was used at the nursery.
Then into the pots with a good potting soil. Miracle Gro or Sta Green are both very good brands of potting soil.
I simply replaced the plantings in both pots on the front porch with these holly shrubs. I have had good luck with evergreens in pots. Sometimes they will last forever. Sometimes you need to remove them and plant them in the landscape. But they are so beautiful in these weathered clay pots.
Again I sprinkled a little Miracle Gro Shake 'n Feed on top of the potting soil in each of the pots.
As we did with the Mandevilla towers, just a couple shakes is all you need. Don't completely cover the soil with this fertilizer. I believe that would only have disastrous effect. This is a time-released fertilizer which slowly feeds the root system over the course of three months.
Compact Japanese Holly is so pretty. I hope you will use it in your landscape projects.
Rain or no, flowering pots usually start to look a bit "bedraggled" at this time of year. Such was the case with the two pots on the front porch.
These beautiful sherbet colored petunias were quite stunning in the early spring when I first planted them. And they stayed lush for five long months. But they were starting to look a bit worn.
This pot was looking even worse. This did not make for a very inviting entrance and did nothing at all for curb appeal.
When I planted the petunias, I added a liriope in the center of each pot to bring some height to the arrangement. This one was, in a word, unhappy. I do not know why.
The liriope in the matching pot on the other side of the porch did well. It even bloomed. You can see the little purple conical flower buds in this picture. But they were starting to fade as well. The whole thing was no longer working. Time for something new.
I decided Compact Japanese Holly were what we needed. I prefer evergreens in the landscape over flowers. They give a beautiful, consistent look and they are less fussy.
These lifted right out of the plastic nursery pots. This is the case with most nursery plants. Very seldom do I need to cut away the plastic pot. But remember, the root ball cannot be left like this.
You need to loosen the root ball from the nursery pot before replanting. Sometimes you can achieve this by grabbing the shrub at the base of the trunk and hitting the root ball on the ground. Not so this time. I used a piece of one by four to loosen it up and to remove the potting medium that was used at the nursery.
Then into the pots with a good potting soil. Miracle Gro or Sta Green are both very good brands of potting soil.
I simply replaced the plantings in both pots on the front porch with these holly shrubs. I have had good luck with evergreens in pots. Sometimes they will last forever. Sometimes you need to remove them and plant them in the landscape. But they are so beautiful in these weathered clay pots.
Again I sprinkled a little Miracle Gro Shake 'n Feed on top of the potting soil in each of the pots.
As we did with the Mandevilla towers, just a couple shakes is all you need. Don't completely cover the soil with this fertilizer. I believe that would only have disastrous effect. This is a time-released fertilizer which slowly feeds the root system over the course of three months.
Compact Japanese Holly is so pretty. I hope you will use it in your landscape projects.
