The Fall is a great time to consider planning renovations or additions to your garden.  Fall in New Orleans is the second spring in the Big Easy.  As the temperatures turn favorable for planting and the humidity starts to decline making our plants actually smile.   

Here are a handful for gardening ideas that can entire you into the hall of Gardening Fame in your neighborhood.  

1. Start by looking at all the plants and the condition have this summer and recent Gustav challenge.  If you notice broken limbs, damaged leaves, fungus or insect damage then consider replacing.  

2.Revisit your long term gardening plan.  Maybe its time to remove those old hedges by adding some new hedges.  There are new varieties of plants released every year with improvements as well as pest resistant. 

3.Make sure you are feeding our plants as this will provide a return on your investment 10 fold.  A solid feeding program throughout the year will make all your plants healthier as well as stronger.  Healthier plants need less care.  

4.Add colorful potted accent plants at entrance ways and focal points in the yard.  

5.Plan your garden thinking about all 4 seasons.  Fall-Winter-Spring-Summer with annual rotations for each season. Planning will give you something to look forward to in your yard and rather than be a follower..you will be the leader.  

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It is important to select plant materials that are healthy and in a growing state. Look closely for insects, disease or signs of stress. It is always recommended that a small more compact plant will transplant easier and easier to control its growth than a leggy plant. Make sure to inspect the root stock of the plant. The root system provides all the essential food for the plant. Make sure not to select plants that have become root bound. Take the opportunity to look at the mature plant variety you are selecting to be able to determine if this plant will work for situation. During the selection of the plant material, make sure the plant is hydrated, foliage is clean and foliage colors are dark green or bright. Check for spotting, leaf edge burn or other common plant problems. (A single burned leaf can be snipped, but if the entire plant shows signs of distress, forget it.) Flowering plants should have young, tight buds. It’s nice to see the plant in full bloom, but if it is fully flowered now, you may not see it bloom in your garden until the following year. This is especially true with Azaleas and other flowering shrubs. Some perennials and most annuals have an extended blooming period, so with these plants this is not a major concern, but should be carefully examined for quality. Understanding the importance of soil is an understatement. It always said that it’s better to have a $5 hole with a $1 dollar plant than a $5 plant in a $1 hole. The majority of annuals and shrubs prefer well-drained soil with moderate humus content. If your soil has high clay content, you can amend it with pine bark fines or well-rotted manure; after the first year, you should need only a light reapplication in spring. Shrubs require regular feeding 3 times per year to maintain a balance between flowering, foliage and rooting development. Use Sta-green fertilizer for Azaleas and Camellias during early spring at 1-2 lbs. of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. All other shrubs should be fertilized with Sta-green Nursery Special at 1.5 lbs. per 1000 square feet. Some annuals, including cosmos, gazania and nasturtium, require little in the way of fertilizer and, in fact, do better in relatively infertile soil. Portulaca is at its best where the soil is poor and the same holds true for poppies, whose gorgeous blooms are at their best in the dry, fast-draining soil of stony banks and alpine rock gardens as well as lavender. Use Peter’s 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer applying with a hose end applicator with 1 tablespoon per gallon water every 7 days.

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 Planning is the critical factor to the success of any garden.  Before planning a garden, it is important to think about the function or functions of the garden.  Is it a place to entertain, a shaded arbor for seating, a water feature for noise, a sculpture, screening of a neighbor or open areas for play? All these are questions you should answer before buying plants. To have a unified garden, where all the components function together, planning is essential. If the idea is to work on the garden in stages, planning or developing a plan is a necessity.  Planning will help make decisions about where to place garden elements. In addition, planning will help you begin to visualize how the garden will look or function together.   Start by gather your ideas, take photos of the proposed garden, cut out pictures from magazines that may inspire you and write everything down you want in your garden.   Begin by taking pictures of the area that you are going to create your new garden. Once you have these pictures, scatter them on your table so you can visualize the space.  Begin to make a list of elements that you want in the garden. 
Consider how you are going water this new garden, are you going to add lighting, drainage, and what about children’s equipment.  Once you have made your list, prioritizes the list based on need or want.  It is important to recognize that in the beginning of building a new garden, you should not compromise on quality materials.  Using poor quality materials leads to multiple problems later with the garden.  You will encounter insect, disease, drainage and other problems cutting corners during the building of the garden. 
   Drainage problems will be the death of any garden.  It is important to work on correcting the drainage problems before the any other steps are taken.  Review the existing area, note if after a hard rain visible water is standing. Investigate if gutters are clean, does the gutter downspout connect into subsurface drainage, are there visible signs of erosion and identify low areas in the lawn and or garden.  Correct the low areas in the lawn or garden by adding fill.  Make sure to use clean pump sand for lawn areas and an organic based soil for the garden.  Both of these soils will assist with drainage.  To correct more difficult drainage problems you will need to call a company that is experience in correcting drainage problems.  Consider having sub surface drainage installed to eliminate standing water and gutter downspout run off.
Plan to water y our garden.  Make sure that you are not planting more than you can maintain.  Watering is the most important care plant material requires being healthy and providing years of enjoyment.  One solution is an automatic irrigation system which once you get over the initial investment, it actually pays for itself.  Automatic irrigation systems last on average 10-15 years but can be extended with proper maintenance using an irrigation service company.  Another less expensive solution is a movable sprinklers which can be automated with a timer.  This will allow regular watering but will give everything the same equal amount of water.
Think about creating perennial planting layouts.  Make sure to consider height as well as light requirements.  I would suggest adding Rubeckia in sun areas as a taller planting with an accent of Artemisia as a border to create a mounding effect. For a shading area, Lobelia will work as the taller planting and chocolate chip ajuga for the lower planting.  You can also plant masses of hosta in conjunction with the Lobelia for foliage contrast.    It is important to consulate with an experience perennial gardener to make these additional successful.
  Now that you have put some thought into your garden, the property needs to be surveyed.  Surveying the property is simply locating all the elements that exist and measuring their exact location.  Once you have the exact locations of all the elements from the property, use the graph paper in Designing My Garden to sketch the property. Let’s say we have decided to have a patio, a water feature, and an arbor in the newly planned garden.  Where will all this be placed?  Functionally the patio will be located at the door from the house to the yard.  If I want to enjoy the water feature and hear the sound of water while on the patio, this will need to be located very close or within the patio.  Existing trees could be a factor for the features location as well. The arbor will be located at the sunny part of the yard where you can go sit and enjoy filtered sunlight while reading.  This area should be connected to the back patio. This is an example of how the garden should functions together with consideration for circulation, function, interest, color, water, fragrance, shade, openness, activity, privacy.
 

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It is important to select plant materials that are healthy and in a growing state. Look closely for insects, disease or signs of stress. It is always recommended that a small more compact plant will transplant easier and easier to control its growth than a leggy plant. Make sure to inspect the root stock of the plant. The root system provides all the essential food for the plant. Make sure not to select plants that have become root bound. Take the opportunity to look at the mature plant variety you are selecting to be able to determine if this plant will work for situation. During the selection of the plant material, make sure the plant is hydrated, foliage is clean and foliage colors are dark green or bright. Check for spotting, leaf edge burn or other common plant problems. (A single burned leaf can be snipped, but if the entire plant shows signs of distress, forget it.) Flowering plants should have young, tight buds. It’s nice to see the plant in full bloom, but if it is fully flowered now, you may not see it bloom in your garden until the following year. This is especially true with Azaleas and other flowering shrubs. Some perennials and most annuals have an extended blooming period, so with these plants this is not a major concern, but should be carefully examined for quality. Understanding the importance of soil is an understatement. It always said that it’s better to have a $5 hole with a $1 dollar plant than a $5 plant in a $1 hole. The majority of annuals and shrubs prefer well-drained soil with moderate humus content. If your soil has high clay content, you can amend it with pine bark fines or well-rotted manure; after the first year, you should need only a light reapplication in spring. Shrubs require regular feeding 3 times per year to maintain a balance between flowering, foliage and rooting development. Use Sta-green fertilizer for Azaleas and Camellias during early spring at 1-2 lbs. of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. All other shrubs should be fertilized with Sta-green Nursery Special at 1.5 lbs. per 1000 square feet. Some annuals, including cosmos, gazania and nasturtium, require little in the way of fertilizer and, in fact, do better in relatively infertile soil. Portulaca is at its best where the soil is poor and the same holds true for poppies, whose gorgeous blooms are at their best in the dry, fast-draining soil of stony banks and alpine rock gardens as well as lavender. Use Peter’s 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer applying with a hose end applicator with 1 tablespoon per gallon water every 7 days.

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It is important to select plant materials that are healthy and in a growing state. Look closely for insects, disease or signs of stress. It is always recommended that a small more compact plant will transplant easier and easier to control its growth than a leggy plant. Make sure to inspect the root stock of the plant. The root system provides all the essential food for the plant. Make sure not to select plants that have become root bound. Take the opportunity to look at the mature plant variety you are selecting to be able to determine if this plant will work for situation. During the selection of the plant material, make sure the plant is hydrated, foliage is clean and foliage colors are dark green or bright. Check for spotting, leaf edge burn or other common plant problems. (A single burned leaf can be snipped, but if the entire plant shows signs of distress, forget it.) Flowering plants should have young, tight buds. It’s nice to see the plant in full bloom, but if it is fully flowered now, you may not see it bloom in your garden until the following year. This is especially true with Azaleas and other flowering shrubs. Some perennials and most annuals have an extended blooming period, so with these plants this is not a major concern, but should be carefully examined for quality. Understanding the importance of soil is an understatement. It always said that it’s better to have a $5 hole with a $1 dollar plant than a $5 plant in a $1 hole. The majority of annuals and shrubs prefer well-drained soil with moderate humus content. If your soil has high clay content, you can amend it with pine bark fines or well-rotted manure; after the first year, you should need only a light reapplication in spring. Shrubs require regular feeding 3 times per year to maintain a balance between flowering, foliage and rooting development. Use Sta-green fertilizer for Azaleas and Camellias during early spring at 1-2 lbs. of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. All other shrubs should be fertilized with Sta-green Nursery Special at 1.5 lbs. per 1000 square feet. Some annuals, including cosmos, gazania and nasturtium, require little in the way of fertilizer and, in fact, do better in relatively infertile soil. Portulaca is at its best where the soil is poor and the same holds true for poppies, whose gorgeous blooms are at their best in the dry, fast-draining soil of stony banks and alpine rock gardens as well as lavender. Use Peter’s 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer applying with a hose end applicator with 1 tablespoon per gallon water every 7 days.

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