Perennial garden geranium - planting and care

Garden geranium is one of the most common perennial or annual plants. Geranium is beautiful at any time of the year. Readers will be interested to know what a garden geranium looks like a long-term planting and care for it.

Garden geranium perennial

This beautiful flowering plant belongs to the Geranium family. The shrub is winter-resistant, sometimes evergreen. The bush grows from 10 to 75 cm in height. Depending on the variety, the leaves are colored from silver to dark green. Their sizes may vary: from small to large.

Garden geranium

On the stem of the perennial there are several buds. The flowers are simple, have 5 petals. Coloring - from white to almost black.

The plant grows for a long time in one place, tolerates drought and frost, resistant to diseases. Even without flowers, it is attractive and beautiful in its own way.

Potted geraniums on the street

The plant can be successfully grown in pots or planters on the street and in the suburban area. Due to its aesthetic properties, it is perfect for landscape design. Provided good care will bloom throughout the summer.

For the winter, the pots with the plant must be removed to the room, otherwise it will freeze. Geranium will bloom all summer if the soil in the pot is slightly acidic or neutral. Be sure to include peat and river sand in the composition of the soil.

Geranium on the street

When and how it blooms

The shape, type of geranium flowers differ significantly from grade to grade. The size of the flower varies depending on the conditions of the plant, fertilizing, watering, etc. The plant blooms continuously and abundantly. The size of the flowers varies from 2 to 5 cm.

Geranium flowers

Types of flowers

There are many varieties of flowers. They all differ in color. Most often you can meet:

• delicate pink flowers of the varieties Sanguineum Vision, Cantabrigiense;
• bright white-blue or blue Pratense Splish Splash;
• dark red, burgundy or purple flowers of the Phaeum Samobor variety;
• bright red in the Balkan geranium;
• pinkish in marsh geraniums;
• purple, terry geraniums magnificent or royal.

Flower shapes

The shape of a geranium flower is a regular corolla of five petals.

Flowering period

Active flowering begins in late May and lasts until early September, sometimes even longer in favorable weather.

Care Features

Planting and caring for geraniums on the street do not require special skills. Even a novice amateur gardener will look after her perfectly. The main requirement is regular watering. Plants are not particularly demanding on the composition of the soil, some varieties feel great on rocky soils. They are equally good in the sun and in semi-shaded areas. In wetlands, the plant grows poorly and is sick.

Where to plant

Since there are a lot of geranium varieties, the plant can be planted in almost any areas with different levels of illumination, moisture.

What type of soil does geranium like

The land for geraniums must be fertile. There should be no stagnant water at the landing site, due to which the site is able to swamp. If the earth contains too much clay, then peat and compost are added to it.

Watering

The plant requires regular and moderate watering. Watering should be under the root. Moisture is retained using mulch.

The ideal option for irrigation frequency is to do it at a time when the soil has dried out.

Care for geraniums at home

Top dressing

Geranium does not need intensive top dressing. For normal flowering, normal humus is sufficient. Excess fertilizer adversely affects the process of flower formation.

Before flowering, fertilizers containing phosphorus are used. Potash fertilizers are used during the appearance of flowers and provide the growth of lush beautiful inflorescences.

What temperature can it withstand on the street?

The normal average temperature for a flowering plant is from 18 to 25 degrees. If there are flowers, geraniums in a pot should be removed to a room at a temperature below 10 degrees.

The plant is able to withstand temperatures up to 5 degrees. When the temperature drops, the vegetation stops. Since geranium is winter-hardy, it wintes well under the thickness of snow. If winter is not snowy or snowless, then when the cold weather sets in, it is enough to cover it with leaves or spruce branches. In the south, geraniums can winter without shelter in warm winters.

Pruning

Geranium needs to be cut. This is done to keep the optimal shape of the bush and the density of flowers. By trimming, the decorative appearance of the plant is maintained.

It also helps keep the shoots healthy. Dried shoots are a favorable environment for the reproduction of gray rot.

How garden geranium propagates

The most common methods of propagating geraniums at home are cuttings, dividing the bush and sowing seeds.

Seed germination

The stages of growing geraniums in the country from seeds are as follows:

1. Choose the freshest geranium seeds.
2. Prepare boxes or pots for sowing, filling them with peat mix and sand. Humidify the earth.
3. To spread the seeds on the surface of the mixture, lightly sprinkling them.
4. Cover the drawers with foil to form a greenhouse.
5. Periodically moisten the ground, ventilate until the first shoots appear.
6. Periodically open the film so that the shoots get used to the drier air in the room.
7. When the seedling has 2 or 3 leaves, carefully transplant it into a pot, leave it at home. When it gets stronger, it can be taken outside.

Geranium sprouts

Rooting cuttings

The algorithm of actions in this case will be as follows:

1. In an adult plant, young shoots are cut off, always with small leaves.
2. The resulting cuttings are placed in a vessel with water and kept in a warm room.
3. The roots will appear in about 3 weeks.
4. Shanks with a strong root system are planted in the flower garden.

Sometimes freshly cut cuttings are immediately planted in open soil. The cut site is treated with a root forming solution. It is recommended to cover the handle with a plastic bottle with a cut neck.

When to plant geraniums on the street

Many flower lovers are interested in planting geraniums in open ground in spring. Geranium can be planted on the street in spring. It is best to make a flowerpot in the suburbs and the middle lane when the threat of spring frosts has passed. Geranium on the street in a flowerpot feels great all summer.

Dividing the bush

At the same time, the old bush is updated, and several new ones are obtained. Division is best done in the fall, because the plant is at rest. The following actions must be performed:

1. Dig holes. They should be slightly larger than the roots of the plant. The distance between the seedlings is about 30 cm.
2. Dig a bush for dividing, shake off excess soil from the bushes.
3. Find buds on the roots. The kidneys must be healthy and strong.
4. With a sharp knife, divide the rhizome so that at least one kidney for renewal is on one part.
5. Pour a small amount of sand, peat into the hole, plant parts of the plant there, carefully spreading the roots.
6. Sprinkle the hole with earth and water it. The buds should be at the same depth as the previous plant.

Geranium transplant

The plant is in satisfactory condition in one place for many years. However, it is prone to overgrowth, so it needs to be transplanted. Optimal planting of geraniums in open ground in spring.

Pelargonium in the garden is transplanted with islets. They should be placed at a distance of at least 30 cm. The ideal time for the procedure is spring. The hole for planting geraniums on the flowerbed should be deep - so the root system will branch and feel good. The roots should be vertical. When transplanting, the seedling is laid so that the roots do not bend and do not go to the side.

After planting, care for geraniums on the street is standard. It is abundantly watered, the soil is mulched. This avoids drying out.

Diseases and pests of garden geraniums

Geraniums, like other flowering plants, are exposed to diseases and pests. The most common of them are:

1. Rust. Brown or rust spots appear on the leaves. If the plant is not treated, then the leaves fall off. You can get rid of the disease using fungicides.
2. Gray rot is found in the form of spots of a bluish tint and plaque. They cover almost the entire plant. Rot progresses in high humidity. In this case, geranium should be treated with fungicidal preparations - Fundazol or Vitarol.
3. Alternariosis. With the development of the disease, brown spots grow on the leaves. You can improve the condition of the plant with the help of fungicides: Scor and the like.
4. Verticillin wilt causes yellowing and wilting of leaves. In the future, inflorescences are affected. To prevent the disease, Trichodermin is used.

Verticillus wilting

5. Blight causes rotting of the whole plant. You can get rid of the disease by reducing the frequency of watering and treating geranium with Ridomil and Previkur preparations.
6. Aphids, whiteflies are excreted with the drug Marathon.
7. Caterpillars can be destroyed with Monterey.

You can eliminate many diseases with Messenger or aspirin tablets. One tablet is dissolved in 8 l of water, after which the plant is sprayed with the resulting solution.

With proper care, garden geranium blooms perfectly and pleases the eye with its beautiful flowers. Geranium bushes in open ground for the summer do not require special care, unless regular watering. Thanks to its many varieties and varieties, garden geraniums are ideal for design.

Video

Watch the video: GERANIUM CARE BASICS & 4 GERANIUM TYPES (April 2024).