Jasmine The Gardener
Member
For most of us our garden is our own private refuge, a place where we can satisfy our need for beauty, tranquillity and personal achievement. The garden provides a link with nature, a balance and harmony of the living world. Each garden is an entity, created from its share of the sun and rain and the qualities of the soil, with its own unique character.
The majority of plants we grow today have been brought from far-flung regions of the world, giving us variety and the opportunity to experience growing different species than those found locally. Many native species are cultivated to improve appearance and stamina, strengthening their immune system to resist pestilence and predators, creating larger flowers with better form, colour and features and give longer flowering periods. However, those people with an interest in cultivating plants which are extremely tender to the area where they garden, must go to some lengths to enable their choice of plants to flourish and must give them winter protection.
There are many factors affecting a plant’s hardiness, or rather its ability to succeed in any particular place. The type of soil, its ability or inability to release nutrients, or to drain, or to allow roots to penetrate to sufficient depths, can all affect plant growth. The level of rainfall, and when it falls, is vital. In many places around the world drought is a problem, particularly in the hottest regions.
In Northern Europe, it is often not the lack of water but excess, especially if it is accompanied by cold spells. Shelter, in a larger area as provided by hills and mountains or more locally by buildings, walls and trees, these affect what can be grown successfully.
Towns and cities are usually a few degrees warmer than rural areas. Frosts can be preceded by snow, which provides protective insulation for plants; frost before snow, especially if it is accompanied by drying winds, can damage plants. An overnight frost on a calm night maybe harmless; a prolonged frost can prove fatal even for some of the hardiest varieties. Northern and eastern winds, or salt-laden winds from the sea, can be disastrous. Day length, the angle of the sun and brightness of the light, are as important as the temperature.
Climates repeat themselves around the world due to weather patterns, latitude, proximity to large bodies of water (oceans and major lakes) and other factors. Many of us garden in temperate to sub-tropical climates and these are the ranges of climate in which the vast majority of our “hardy” garden plants originate.
If we can identify the broad type of climate where we garden, and we know where a plant is native and can identify the broad type of climate of that area, we are then moving in the right direction for successful gardening.
The Plant Hardiness Zone System devised by The United States Department of Agriculture was created to help plant growers identify areas where each particular plant can be grown successfully. Most plant information will include a zone number, indicating that the plant is capable of withstanding the average minimum winter temperature of that zone and those zones with higher numbers. Therefore it is imperative when choosing plants that we take this information into consideration, it will enable us to make the right decisions for successful cultivation of each plant we acquire. This will inevitably save a great deal of expense and avoid disappointments.
European Zone Hardiness Map
USA Zone Hardiness Map
Visit my website for more tips on gardening : http://gardeningsecrets.net
The majority of plants we grow today have been brought from far-flung regions of the world, giving us variety and the opportunity to experience growing different species than those found locally. Many native species are cultivated to improve appearance and stamina, strengthening their immune system to resist pestilence and predators, creating larger flowers with better form, colour and features and give longer flowering periods. However, those people with an interest in cultivating plants which are extremely tender to the area where they garden, must go to some lengths to enable their choice of plants to flourish and must give them winter protection.
There are many factors affecting a plant’s hardiness, or rather its ability to succeed in any particular place. The type of soil, its ability or inability to release nutrients, or to drain, or to allow roots to penetrate to sufficient depths, can all affect plant growth. The level of rainfall, and when it falls, is vital. In many places around the world drought is a problem, particularly in the hottest regions.
In Northern Europe, it is often not the lack of water but excess, especially if it is accompanied by cold spells. Shelter, in a larger area as provided by hills and mountains or more locally by buildings, walls and trees, these affect what can be grown successfully.
Towns and cities are usually a few degrees warmer than rural areas. Frosts can be preceded by snow, which provides protective insulation for plants; frost before snow, especially if it is accompanied by drying winds, can damage plants. An overnight frost on a calm night maybe harmless; a prolonged frost can prove fatal even for some of the hardiest varieties. Northern and eastern winds, or salt-laden winds from the sea, can be disastrous. Day length, the angle of the sun and brightness of the light, are as important as the temperature.
Climates repeat themselves around the world due to weather patterns, latitude, proximity to large bodies of water (oceans and major lakes) and other factors. Many of us garden in temperate to sub-tropical climates and these are the ranges of climate in which the vast majority of our “hardy” garden plants originate.
If we can identify the broad type of climate where we garden, and we know where a plant is native and can identify the broad type of climate of that area, we are then moving in the right direction for successful gardening.
The Plant Hardiness Zone System devised by The United States Department of Agriculture was created to help plant growers identify areas where each particular plant can be grown successfully. Most plant information will include a zone number, indicating that the plant is capable of withstanding the average minimum winter temperature of that zone and those zones with higher numbers. Therefore it is imperative when choosing plants that we take this information into consideration, it will enable us to make the right decisions for successful cultivation of each plant we acquire. This will inevitably save a great deal of expense and avoid disappointments.
European Zone Hardiness Map
USA Zone Hardiness Map
Visit my website for more tips on gardening : http://gardeningsecrets.net