Annual Maintenance Guide
Whether you are growing annuals from seeds or transplanting them, planting them properly will ensure you have a beautiful view of the flowers or leaves.
Starting annuals from seed is a great way to save money, especially if you are growing a large number of plants. You can sow many varieties in the garden loose soil including sunflower, cosmos, marigold, bachelor buttons, annual poppy, balsam, morning glory, castor beans, and larkspur. Or start early by sowing them within the season.
Garden replacement cultivars are essential if you prefer special varieties that cannot be grown from seed or start sowing indoors. To plant them, dig a hole at least twice the width of the plant growing container, but not deep. Loosen the plant gently before placing it in the hole and spread it away from the roots (especially if the plant is rooted). Then cover the roots with soil and water.
Test Garden Tip: You can divide the year into two basic types - winter and warm season. Winter-season annuals perform best at temperatures below 70-75F and are ideal for spring or autumn views (or winter, deep south). Popular winter-winter annuals include pansy, viola, nemesis, daisy, osteosperm, um, and flowering kale. Plant winter-season annuals before your average last frost date.
Warm-season annuals, on the other hand, work best in warmer climates and should be planted after your last frost date and when the soil has warmed up. These varieties work best in the summer. Examples include agarwood, angelonia, impotence, begonia, morning glory, petunia, dusty miller, geranium, nasturtium, and moss rose.
More planting tips
Water your annuals well after you plant them - they are more likely to dry out within the first few weeks of you putting them in the ground.
Place 2 to 3-inches deep mulch around your new plants on top of the soil. This helps to retain soil moisture and prevents weeds from growing.
Once you have mastered the growing annuals, try the perennials with our complete growing guide.
Deadheading and pinching are two easy tasks that will make your anniversaries look better.
Pinching
Keep your annuals beautiful and concise by pinching the first two inches of new growth from time to time. By removing the main growing point, you encourage the plant to branch, becoming a shrub instead of being tall and slender.
Irrigation
Because each year has its own water requirements, not all regulations apply to providing the plants with the moisture they need.
Drought-tolerant varieties including Landana, California Poppy, Kazania, Nasturtium, Pitilotus, and Moss Rose do not require any additional watering once installed in your garden. Others do not tolerate drought well and require constantly moist soil.
No matter how often you water, keep your plants healthy by using a soaking hose. This permeable tube slowly penetrates the water into the ground in the root zone. It dries the leaves of the plant, which helps your plants fight disease (many diseases prefer moist leaves).
Deadheading
Deadheading sounds harsh, but it's very simple: it cuts off the withered flowers of your plants. It makes your plants look good and it prevents the seeds from forming, so undergraduate buttons, California poppy, cosmos, calendula, clean, tatoora, and verbena seedlings will appear in your garden.
Many annuals bloom because deadheading stops seeding them, so you can enjoy your favorite flowers.
Learn more about deadheading.
If your garden is blessed with fertile soil or regularly fertilized with compost or other organic matter, you probably do not need to feed your plants. But if you are cursed for growing plants in poor soil or pots, fertilizing can be helpful.
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